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

The Pac-12 board of directors unanimously approved the four schools’ requests. They will join the conference’s two remaining schools, Oregon State and Washington State, in the summer of 2023 after the league folds.

“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as the leading brand in college sports,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement. “We will continue to pursue bold, innovative opportunities for growth and advancement to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes. I am grateful to our Board of Directors for its efforts in welcoming 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.”

MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez released a statement late Wednesday regarding reports that the four schools would leave the conference.

“The Mountain West Conference is aware of media reports regarding the potential withdrawal of several of our members and we will have more to say in the coming days,” Nevarez said. “All members must abide by the Conference’s bylaws and policies should they choose to withdraw. The appointment requirements will apply to the Pac-12 should it accept members from the Mountain West. Our board is meeting to determine our next steps. The Mountain West has a proud 25-year history and will continue to thrive in the years to come.”

Mountain West charter requires departing schools to pay an exit fee of about $18 million with two years’ notice. That’s the amount the four schools intend to pay, one source said. (With one year’s notice, that amount would rise to $36 million.)

The Pac-12 is expected to be able to help schools with exit fees, in part because of fees retained for distributing media rights to departing members and other conference assets. The conference would also have to pay $43 million in poaching fees as stipulated in the scheduling agreement between the conferences this year, which resulted in Oregon State and Washington State playing six Mountain West opponents.

“We are thrilled to join the Pac-12 Conference,” said San Diego State Athletic Director John David Wicker. “We are grateful to be a founding member of the Mountain West and to have enjoyed 26 years of success in the conference, and we look forward to the new opportunities ahead.”

The six members will collectively decide which schools to target for further expansion, as the conference still needs to add two more schools to meet the NCAA’s minimum requirement. The conference is in the first year of a two-year grace period provided by the NCAA’s bylaws to stay below the minimum in the event of departures.

It is unclear how many schools the conference plans to have in its new guise by 2026.