Report: UNLV, Air Force to stay in Mountain West, will not join Pac-12

UNLV and Air Force will stay in the Mountain West, according to multiple reports. The two schools were in consideration for the Pac-12 as the conference realignment dominoes started to fall once again earlier this month.

Both universities were considered top targets for the Pac-12 after initially announcing four additions from the Mountain West. Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State were all in the initial announcement, and Utah State officially became the fifth incoming member on Tuesday. They will all join Oregon State and Washington State in the league in 2026.

By staying in the Mountain West, UNLV and Air Force will receive significant financial incentives, according to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde. That will keep the MWC at seven schools – meaning, like the Pac-12, it needs one more team by the end of a two-year grace period to be considered an FBS conference.

Multiple schools announced their plans to stay in the Mountain West, but UNLV’s future came into question. The school did not sign an agreement to stay in the MWC, but appeared to be on track to stay with the conference, On3 previously reported. Utah State’s decision, however, forced UNLV officials to step back and evaluate what its next move would be. Now, it appears the Rebels will stay put.

With just two teams, the Pac-12 came to a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West while it worked through what’s next. Ten teams left the conference after a groundbreaking round of realignment, leaving Oregon State and Washington State behind.

But that scheduling agreement is now at the center of a lawsuit filed earlier this week. Specifically, a “poaching penalty” is part of the suit, filed by the Pac-12 against the Mountain West.

Under the agreement, the Pac-12 agreed to a penalty of $10 million for the first Mountain West school acquired, On3’s Pete Nakos reported. From there, the figure would increase by roughly $1 million per school. With five additions on the way from the MWC, the Pac-12 would owe roughly $50 million.

In a statement Tuesday, Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said this situation is why the clause was in the agreement. She then called out the idea that the Mountain West was “taking advantage of” the Pac-12, which consists of just two teams this year after a groundbreaking round of conference realignment.

“The fees at issue were included to ensure the future viability of the Mountain West and allow our member institutions to continue providing critical resources and opportunities for our student-athletes,” the statement read, in part. “At no point in the contracting process did the Pac-12 contend that the agreement that it freely entered into violated any laws. To say that the Mountain West was taking advantage of the Pac-12 could not be farther from the truth.

“The Mountain West Conference wanted to help the Pac-12 schools and student-athletes, but not at the expense of the Mountain West. The Pac-12 has taken advantage of our willingness to help them and enter into a scheduling agreement with full acknowledgment and legal understanding of their obligations. Now that they have carried out their plan to recruit certain Mountain West schools, they want to walk back what they legally agreed to. There has to be a consequence to these types of actions.”

Under Mountain West bylaws, each departing school would owe the league $17 million. The Pac-12’s lawsuit is not related to those fees, though.