Pac-12 adds four more schools beginning in 2026

Dylan Grausz | Sep 12, 2024

Oct 21, 2023; Eugene, Oregon, USA; A view of the PAC-12 field logo before the game between the Oregon Ducks and the Washington State Cougars at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images / Soobum Im-Imagn Images

The Pac-12 lives on after all. After a massive conference realignment changed college football and sent many teams such as Stanford from the original Pac-12 and into new conferences, the Pac-12 Board of Directors announced on Thursday that four new programs would join in 2026, bringing the conference back up to six teams and getting it even closer to once again being part of the Power Five.

Beginning in fall of 2026, Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State will leave the Mountain West and join the Pac-12, bringing the conference from two teams to six teams. This comes in the midst of a two-year grace period that gives the Pac-12 this season and next to expand back up to at least eight teams or else Washington State and Oregon State would need to find a new conference to play in.

"For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics," Teresa Gould, commissioner of the Pac-12 said in a statement via an ESPN.com article. "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."

With Stanford and Cal leaving for the ACC; Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten; and Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado leaving for the Big 12, that left Washington State and Oregon State as the only remaining members of the former conference. Reaching an agreement with the Mountain West for this season, both WSU and OSU will face opponents from that conference this year to fill out their schedules. However, failing to reach an agreement in time to extend the partnership, it is expected that the two teams currently in the Pac-12 will play an independent schedule in 2025, although that still remains to be seen.

In leaving the Mountain West, the four departing schools will have to pay around an $18 million exit fee, which would have doubled had the schools only left a year in advance instead of two, with the Pac-12 expected to help cover the costs of the schools’ fees. 

With six members now officially in the Pac-12, those schools are hoping to be joined by a couple more for the 2026 season as well, so that a conference that has a rich history can remain a prominent conference in college sports and continue to produce some of the nation’s most talented athletes.