Surprise!
San Diego State is finally on its way to the Pac-12.
The university issued a press release early Thursday morning confirming media reports from the previous evening that it would leave the Mountain West and join Oregon State and Washington State in a reformed Pac-12 in all sports beginning in 2026-27. A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Snapdragon Stadium.
Three other Mountain West members will go with the Aztecs: Boise State, Colorado State and Fresno State.
That would put the Pac-12 at six schools, two short of the NCAA minimum. Oregon State and Washington State, the only holdovers in the 12-team conference after it spectacularly broke apart last summer just hours before SDSU was invited, were given a two-year grace period to continue with just two schools, which expires after 2025-26.
Oregon State and Washington State had applied for an invitation to follow their 10 former members into a powerful conference, most realistically the Big 12, which had swallowed Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. But a source said the two Northwestern schools received “a resounding no” last week and moved on to Plan B, which was to accept members under the Pac-12 name and brand they legally retained when the others left.
UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington joined the Big Ten. Stanford and Cal were the last two to move to the ACC.
Talks with the Mountain West Four have intensified over the past 48 hours, a source said, and a deal was finalized Wednesday night. Yahoo Sports was the first to report that invitations were imminent; two hours later, the Union-Tribune reported it was done.
In the press release issued at 6 a.m., SDSU President Adela de la Torre called it “a transformative moment for our entire university (that) opens the door to exciting partnerships and financial growth.”
Athletic Director John David Wicker added: “We are grateful to be a founding member of the Mountain West and to have enjoyed 26 years of success in the conference. At the same time, we are excited about the new opportunities ahead.”
On its social media accounts, the Pac-12 posted the logos of the four new members, as well as OSU and WSU, with the message: “Good morning! It’s a beautiful new day.”
That won’t be cheap. The current alliance with the Mountain West requires Oregon State and Washington State to pay transfer or “poaching fees” that can range from $10 million for one school to up to $43 million for four schools.
In addition, each university must pay Mountain West exit fees of three times the annual distribution for those with more than one year’s notice, an amount expected to rise to $6.5 million per school by 2024-25, or three times $20 million.
There were rumors over the summer that OSU and WSU would set aside some of their war chest from the Pac-12’s dissolution to attract new members. They are expected to pay the poaching fees for the four schools, but the Mountain West defectors will have to pay their individual exit fees themselves.
“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,” Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement released late Wednesday night. “All members must comply with 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. Mountain West has a proud 25-year history and will continue to be successful for years to come.”
The Mountain West was formed in 1999 after a similar move when SDSU, Colorado State and six other members of the Western Athletic Conference split off to form a new league. Boise State joined in 2011 and Fresno State a year later.
Now these four are going to the Pac-12.
In total, the Mountain West is set to receive more than $120 million in compensation, a significant sum for a conference that earns less than half that annually from its media rights deal. But it also loses its two top members, SDSU and Boise State, and two others in the upper echelons, at a time when its current contract with CBS and Fox is expiring.
The big losers are UNLV and New Mexico, both founding members of the Mountain West. The Rebels have a rich basketball history (they reached four Final Fours and won the national title in 1990) and have improved significantly in football, with updated campus facilities and a new NFL stadium for home games. New Mexico continues to struggle in football, but arguably has the most resources in the league in basketball.
Air Force almost left a few years ago to join the American Athletic Conference, where the other two military academies play football, and is now barely being held back. That would give the Mountain West seven members in football, one less than the NCAA-mandated minimum, and six in basketball, since Hawaii is in the Big West for all other sports.
The 6-Pac will spend the coming months looking for at least two more members to bring it to eight, although industry insiders expect them to aim for nine or 10. Cal, Stanford and SMU are possible candidates if Florida State and Clemson are successful in their legal battle to leave the ACC and the conference breaks up. Other candidates include current AAC members such as Memphis, Tulsa, North Texas and UTSA.
If you get to nine, you can follow the standard eight-conference football schedule, playing everyone else once. One source said the reformed Pac-12 could even out the numbers with a 10-member “that doesn’t play football,” which is code for Gonzaga and its strong men’s basketball program.
“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as the leading brand in college sports,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould. “We will continue to pursue bold, innovative opportunities for growth and advancement to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes. … Today marks the beginning of an exciting new era for the Pac-12 Conference.”
Technically, this isn’t the first time SDSU has left the Mountain West.
That’s what happened to Boise State for the Big East in 2012, only to collapse as a football league and drop both teams back again. SDSU almost left last June, thinking it would get an invite to the Pac-12, but 10 members of the conference went to the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC, and the Aztecs stayed in the Mountain West.
This time it seems as if the Aztecs are finally leaving.
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