The Pac-12 will add Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State starting in 2026, joining Oregon State and Washington State in a rebuilt Conference of Champions, the league announced Thursday.

The additions leave the Mountain West without four of its most prominent schools and successful football programs, most notably Boise State, and leave the Pac-12 two schools short of the eight schools needed to become a conference under NCAA rules within two years.

The Pac-12 and the departing schools will likely be responsible for about $110 million in severance payments and fines to the Mountain West.

Still, it’s a remarkable comeback for a conference left for dead a year ago when 10 members spread to competitors across the country after failing to secure a media rights deal, which schools felt would keep them uncompetitive against other leagues.

“For more than a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics,” said Commissioner Teresa Gould. “We will continue to pursue bold, groundbreaking 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.”

The Pac-12 said it evaluates potential new members based on five criteria: academic and athletic performance; media and brand evaluation; commitment to athletic success; geography and logistics; culture and student-athlete well-being.

Pac-2

Oregon State President Jayathi Murthy and Washington State President Kirk Schulz welcomed their new conferees in a joint statement.

“We eagerly look forward to their unique, insightful contributions during this transformative era for the conference and college athletics,” the researchers said.

The Pac-12 currently operates as a two-school conference, with Oregon State and Washington State as the only remaining members, taking advantage of NCAA rules that allow for a two-year grace period.

Oregon State and Washington State have a football scheduling agreement with the Mountain West this season that will give them six opponents out of the league. The initial deadline of Sept. 1 for the agreement extension has passed without a deal being struck.

Part of that deal included paying millions of dollars in additional fees to the Pac-12 if it poached schools in the Mountain West.

Oregon State and Washington State should be able to afford it. While the schools have publicly waived a war chest of funds, they do have tens of millions of dollars to work with from the two remaining years of the current College Football Playoff agreement and a contract with the Rose Bowl that expires after the 2025 football season. Plus, they have revenue generated in recent years by Pac-12 teams from NCAA men’s basketball tournament units and Pac-12 Network assets.

Oregon State and Washington State also have affiliate membership for this school year and next year in the West Coast Conference for men’s and women’s basketball and other Olympic sports.

The best of the rest

Oregon State and Washington State leaders have insisted since the Pac-12 collapse that unless a power conference invites them, their priority is to rebuild. And that’s now underway.

Whether the Pac-12 will again be considered a powerful conference on par with the Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 seems unlikely, but the league is trying to position itself as the best of the rest, especially in football.

Boise State is the most notable addition as the strongest, most consistent football program outside of the power conferences in more than two decades. The Broncos have 16 double-digit winning seasons since 2002, when they were members of the Western Athletic Conference.

“What a great day to be a Bronco!” said Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey.

Boise State is finally climbing the ladder, but the Pac-12 it joins barely resembles the Conference of Champions it was for more than 100 years after 10 members, including Southern California, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, left for the Big Ten last year.

The Pac-12’s collapse was the culmination of three tumultuous years of conference realignment in college sports, all of which went into effect this year and ushered in the superconference era.

The Big Ten now has 18 schools spread across the coast. The ACC has 17 football-playing members, including former Pac-12 schools Stanford and California. The SEC and Big 12 each have 16 schools.

It appears the Pac-12 is taking a different approach and attempting to form a leaner conference rather than merge with the full 12-member Mountain West.

Left Behind

The Mountain West region is left with Air Force, UNLV, Nevada, Utah State, New Mexico, Wyoming, San Jose State and Hawaii and an uncertain future.

Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement late Wednesday night after news of the Pac-12’s move leaked that the MW board of directors met to discuss next steps.

“All members will have to abide by the conference’s bylaws and policies if they decide to leave,” she said. “The requirements of the scheduling agreement will apply to the Pac-12 if they admit Mountain West members.”

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Follow Ralph D. Russo on https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

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