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Pac-12

Pac-12 Reloads with Four Schools

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SAN RAMON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Mountain West representatives Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State will join the Pac-12 in the 2026-27 academic year, the latter conference announced Thursday morning.

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The Pac-12 board of directors unanimously approved the additions of the four schools to join Oregon State and Washington State, the last two remaining schools after an offseason that saw 10 members jump to other power conferences. Oregon, Washington, UCLA and Southern California moved to the Big Ten; Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State shifted to the Big 12; and Cal and Stanford joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State officially will join the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026.

“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.”

The NCAA gave the Pac-12 until July 2026 to have a minimum of eight universities if the league is to remain part of the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Mountain West additions still leave the league two short, although officials are pursuing additional options.

The four schools joining the Pac-12 would have to pay an exit fee of $18 million. The Pac-12 also would owe the Mountain West $43 million for taking schools away, part of the deal it reached to arrange scheduling of football matchups for Oregon State and Washington State this year.

MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez released a statement late Wednesday to address reports that the four schools were exiting the conference.

“The Mountain West Conference is aware of media reports regarding the potential departure of several of our members, and we will have more to say in the days ahead,” Nevarez said. “All members will be held to the Conference bylaws and policies should they elect to depart. The requirements of the scheduling agreement will apply to the Pac-12 should they admit Mountain West members. Our Board of Directors is meeting to determine our next steps. The Mountain West has a proud 25-year history and will continue to thrive in the years ahead.”

Colorado State and San Diego State have been in the Mountain West since the league’s founding in 1999. Boise State joined the conference in 2011, and Fresno State followed in 2012. One of those four schools won or shared the league’s football championship in 10 of the past 12 seasons.

“We are ecstatic to be joining the Pac-12 Conference,” San Diego State athletic director John David Wicker said. “While we are grateful to be a founding member of the Mountain West with 26 years of success in the conference, we are excited at what lies ahead with these new opportunities. We will continue to compete for conference championships on the field and to graduate leaders in the community.”

–Field Level Media

Sports Biz: The Pac-Two?

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WASHINGTON STATE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Oregon State and Washington State earned a legal victory on Tuesday that gives them control of what remains of the Pac-12 Conference.

Whitman County (Wash.) Superior Court Judge Gary Libey granted the schools’ request for a preliminary injunction that strips representatives of the conference’s other 10 schools — all of whom are leaving for other conferences next season — of votes on the Pac-12 board.

Libey said he made his ruling, after a 2 1/2-hour hearing, based on the fact that Oregon State and Washington State could experience “irreparable harm” if the exiting universities would remain in control of the Pac-12’s assets.

“Voting will be by the remaining two board members, but this is not a shutout,” Libey said, according to The Athletic. “The preliminary injunction will be modified or whatever you want to call it to make sure that the other 10 schools are still treated in a fair, open manner. Nobody is going to take advantage of somebody else. If that starts to happen, I’ll either hear about it here or somebody down the street will. I do not believe that the two plaintiffs here, the two members of the board that are left, will do anything directly to harm the other 10 members.”

Washington State president Kirk Schulz and athletic director Pat Chun said in a joint statement, in part, “It has always been our view that the future of the Pac-12 should be determined by the remaining members, not by those schools that are leaving the conference.”

Oregon State president Jayathi Murthy and athletic director Scott Barnes added in a statement, “We look forward to charting a path forward for the Pac-12 that is in the best interest of the Conference and student-athletes. Our intentions are to make reasonable business decisions going forward while continuing to seek collaboration and consultation with the departing universities.”

The schools departing the Pac-12 — Washington, Oregon, Cal, Stanford, Arizona State, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Southern California and UCLA — responded in a statement: “We are disappointed with the decision and are immediately seeking review in the Washington Supreme Court and requesting to put on hold implementation of this decision. As members of the Pac-12, participating in ongoing and scheduled competitions, we are members of the board under the Pac-12 bylaws.

“We have the right to the revenue earned by our schools during the 2023-2024 academic year, which is necessary in order to operate our athletics programs and to provide mental and physical health services, academic support, and other support programs for our student-athletes.”

According to CBS Sports, Oregon State and Washington State plan to compete as a two-team football league next year, though the two schools have contacted representatives of the Mountain West Conference, Sun Belt Conference, American Athletic Conference, Conference USA and Mid-American Conference as they seek games for 2024.

–Field Level Media