Tulane Green Wave’s Potential Cost to Leave American Set by SMU’s Departure
The Tulane Green Wave is on the list of programs that the Pac-12 Conference is considering for membership. That’s based on a remarkable amount of credible reporting.
The cost to get out, ESPN’s Pete Thamel wrote, may already be set.
Thamel posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday that “as AAC schools are weighing interest from the Pac-12, the schools are facing a potential exit cost of nearly $27.5 million per school.”
That would be to leave the league for the Pac-12, or any other conference, for the 2026-27 athletic year.
Thamel’s post is based on how the AAC approached SMU’s departed for the ACC last year.
The Mustangs accepted an invite from the ACC to join last year on an accelerated timeline. SMU joined in August. To facilitate that, the Mustangs had to negotiate a higher exit fee to get out.
AAC by-laws note that schools must give 27 months’ notice to leave without the negotiated fee. SMU and the AAC negotiated a $25 million exit fee and the school also gave up $2.5 million in revenue.
That got SMU to a negotiated buyout price. Thamel wrote that the $25 million is what “…the league would expect from any potential departing schools.”
The Pac-12 invited four Mountain West schools to join the conference starting in the fall of 2026.
In a scheduling agreement the Pac-12 signed with the Mountain West for the 2024 football season, the Pac-12 agreed to pay buyout fees and poaching fees for any Mountain West school it lured away. The Pac-12 must pay $110 million in buyout fees and $43 million in poaching fees.
The Pac-12 has a considerable war chest from winning its lawsuit with the former Pac-12 schools, but it isn’t infinite. It’s not clear if the Pac-12 would help Tulane with exit fees or not.
The Pac-12 met twice last week, per Oregon-based reporter John Canzano. Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould recently said that the league is working pursuing a second wave members, as the conference requires eight members to remain affiliated with the NCAA by the fall of 2026.
At least one AAC coach — UTSA’s Jeff Traylor — has come out and said that his school is discussing potential membership with the Pac-12. The rest of the rumored targets, including Tulane, have been relatively silent.
That doesn’t mean those schools aren’t planning.
Tulane is reportedly planning for what might happen next. Matt Brown at Extra Points, a newsletter devoted to the business of college sports, wrote that Tulane was one of three American schools he was aware of that had hired a consulting company or a third-party firm to help prepare them for potential realignment in the Pac-12 or other conferences.
MATTHEW POSTINS