Pac-12 revival: 4 schools will join Oregon State, Washington State in conference rebuild
The Pac-12 is alive and well.
After a year of uncertainty surrounding the future of the conference, the Pac-12 board of directors voted unanimously Thursday to add Boise State University, Colorado State University, Fresno State and San Diego State University for the 2026-27 academic year.
“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 four Mountain West schools will join Oregon State and Washington State in a rebuilt conference following the departure of 10 schools last year.
In a joint statement released Thursday, Oregon State University President Jayathi Murthy and Washington State University President Kirk Schulz said: “We are honored to welcome the distinguished leadership of Boise State University President Dr. Marlene Tromp, Colorado State University President Amy Parsons, California State University, Fresno President Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, and San Diego State University President Dr. Adela de la Torre to the Pac-12 Board of Directors. We eagerly anticipate their uniquely insightful contributions during this transformative era for the conference and collegiate athletics.”
In June of 2022, USC and UCLA opted to join the Big Ten Conference and set off a conference realignment avalanche in the process. The following August, Oregon and Washington officially departed for the Big Ten, too.
Meanwhile, Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Arizona State bolted to the Big 12, while California and Stanford joined the ACC.
This fall, Oregon State's football program is playing a quasi-independent schedule that features eight Mountain West matchups, as well as games against Idaho State, Oregon, California and Purdue.
OSU is slated for another independent football season next fall, and has not yet announced its full 2025 schedule.
The Pac-12 will need to add two more schools before July 2026 in order to reach the FBS minimum of eight. It could continue to raid that Mountain West in order to reach that total — although, that would come at a steep cost.
According to USA Today, the Pac-12's current scheduling agreement calls for the league to pay the Mountain West a withdrawal fee of $43 million if it poaches four of its schools. If six schools leave the Mountain West to join the Pac-12, that total climbs to $67.5.
Jarrid Denney covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at JDenney@salem.gannett.com or on X @jarrid_denney
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Pac-12 expansion adds 4 Mountain West schools as conference rebuilds
