Starting July 1, 2026, the new league, headquartered in the California suburb of San Ramon, will include a minimum of six schools, joining current Mountain West members Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State.

The rebuilt conference will need to poach at least two more schools to reach the eight, the minimum for NCAA recognition.

The NCAA has given the Pac-12 two years to form eight teams by the summer of 2026 after a series of shocking defections.

“For more than 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, groundbreaking opportunities for growth and advancement to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes. I am grateful 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 Pac-12 will continue to exist in name, but it is highly unlikely that it will have the same status or potential for immediate money-making as the Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12.

Still, the sports refugees from Corvallis, Oregon, and Pullman, Washington, were happy to have some semblance of a league in which to operate.

“Today’s news is a tremendous start to stabilizing the future of the Pac‑12 Conference and Washington State University,” said a joint statement from Washington State President Kirk Schulz and Athletic Director Anne McCoy. “For more than a year, the partnership between Washington State, Oregon State and the conference has united to forge a future that continues the great legacy of the Pac‑12 Conference.”

The Pac-12’s demise as a major conference began in the summer of 2022, when USC and UCLA shocked the college sports world with the announcement that they would move to the Big Ten, an alliance of Midwestern and Northeastern schools based in Rosemont, Illinois.

These defections, fueled by the promise of big TV contracts for the Los Angeles schools, proved to be the Jenga pull that doomed the Pac-12 as it was known.

Washington and Oregon also joined the Big Ten, while Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado left for the Big 12 in Irving, Texas.

Stanford and Cal moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.