Pac-12 announces formal additions of four Mountain West teams in league revival

The Pac-12 Conference has formally announced the addition of four Mountain West teams, including Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Colorado State to the conference.

This comes as the first major move by new commissioner Teresa Gould to revive the conference after it suffered a major blow in realignment. 10 previous member schools left the conference for either the Big Ten, Big 12, or the ACC, leaving only Washington State and Oregon State in the conference.

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In the announcement, Gould shared her thoughts on the move to add these new member schools.

“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics,” Gould said. “We will continue to pursue bold cutting-edge opportunities for growth and progress, to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes. I am thankful to our board for their efforts to welcome Boise State University, Colorado State University, California State University, Fresno, and San Diego State University to the conference. An exciting new era for the Pac-12 Conference begins today.”

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This comes after the Pac-12 entered the 2024 season with just two schools, Washington State and Oregon State. It will also get the conference to six total schools, which is just two teams shy of the eight-team minimum that is required to maintain its status as an FBS conference. The conference previously lost 10 conference members, who joined the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12.

The presidents of Oregon State and Washington State, Jayathi Murthy and Kirk Schulz released a joint statement on the additions.

“We are honored to welcome the distinguished leadership of Boise State University President Dr. Marlene Tromp, Colorado State University President Amy Parsons, California State University, Fresno President Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, and San Diego State University President Dr. Adela de la Torre to the Pac-12 Board of Directors. We eagerly anticipate their uniquely insightful contributions during this transformative era for the conference and collegiate athletics.”

The incoming Mountain West schools also made their own announcements about the move to the Pac-12. That included Fresno State posting a graphic with the Pac-12 logo while others had their own press releases. That included from Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey.

“What a great day to be a Bronco! I extend my gratitude to Dr. Tromp, our Office of General Counsel, and the many members of our state board, university, and athletics leadership groups who contributed to this process,” Dickey said. “We evaluated this move from many angles and considered it with our head and our heart, and most importantly, with our 350+ student-athletes in mind. When it came down to making the final decision, we chose this path because it puts Boise State in the best position for success, and is in the best interest of this university and community.”

The new schools are expected to be added to the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 academic year. Before getting to that point, the conference is still going to need to find two more schools to add to get to the eight-team threshold.

Following those 10 schools leaving the Pac-12, the Mountain West entered a scheduling agreement with the Pac-12. That deal saw the Mountain West schools play seven conference games plus one against either Oregon State or Washington State. That helped those two schools to fill in the schedules that had large gaps on them after losing all but one conference opponent.

The two sides previously had been in discussions to extend the scheduling agreement. However, those talks broke down recently.

Per Kyle Bonagura, the Pac-12 is expected to assist the departing schools with their Mountain West exit fee. That exit fee is roughly $18 million per school. In addition to that, thanks to the scheduling agreement between the two conferences, there is a $10-$12 million penalty that each exiting school would be assessed.

The incoming schools are set to begin competition in the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 academic year.