Pac-12 adds four Mountain West schools to join Oregon State, Washington State

Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State have agreed to join the conference effective July 2026

Feb 18, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Pac-12 Conference logo on the court at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Utah defeated UCLA 70-69. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State will join the Pac-12 conference in the 2026-27 academic year, they announced on Thursday.

The Pac-12 Conference Board of Directors voted unanimously to admit the four current Mountain West schools to mix with Oregon State and Washington State, the conference’s last remaining schools after 10 members left for the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC in 2023. 

“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics,” Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement. “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.”

OSU and WSU joined the West Coast Conference in 12 sports except football, which has a joint scheduling agreement with the MWC, as affiliate members for two seasons starting in 2024-25. WCC commissioner Stu Jackson alluded to the Cougars and Beavers’ desire to rebuild their historic power conference once their time in the WCC expired. NCAA rules state that a conference must have at least eight members to be considered an FBS conference.

The plan to extract the four schools from the MWC won’t be cheap for any party involved. According to CBS Sports, it would cost the Pac-12 approximately $187 million to buy the schools from the MWC in a one-year period. ESPN reported that MWC bylaws require departing schools to pay roughly $18 million with a two-year notice, or $36 million with one year’s notice.

The Pac-12 is expected to be in a position to financially help the schools with exit fees, in part, because the conference has $250 million in resources available, according to CBS Sports. Most of that war chest consists of payouts from NCAA Tournaments and existing contracts that OSU and WSU  were able to secure after a lengthy legal saga earlier this year with the 10 schools that departed.

In a statement to CBS Sports, MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez said “We will have more to say in the days ahead” regarding the impending departure of the league’s most prominent brands. 

With the long-term goal of becoming a power conference again, the Pac-12 will need to add two more schools by the 2026-27 NCAA calendar year if it wants to grip onto its “autonomy five” status. Group of Five teams across the country could “get into the mix,” according to CBS Sports. Stanford and California would “certainly be courted,” though It’s unclear how they would get out of their new contract with the ACC, which would also not be in favor of such a move given the uncertain futures of Clemson and Florida State. 

Gonzaga’s name has not been brought up in any way regarding the Pac-12’s plan to expand, as the league will likely prioritize adding two more football schools to meet the NCAA’s standard. 

Gonzaga has had discussions with both the Big 12 and Big East over the past few years about potentially finding a new home for the men’s basketball program. The Big 12 has since moved after adding four Pac-12 schools; the Big East has been focused on retaining UConn and its media rights deal as of late.

As WSU and OSU already make plans to leave, the WCC added more insurance this offseason by bringing in Grand Canyon and Seattle U to the mix as full-time members starting in 2025.