Four Mountain West schools poised to join Pac-12 as WSU, OSU rebuild the conference

The Pac-12, currently consisting of two teams, is poised to grow — and provide a more stable future for Washington State and Oregon State.

At least four schools from the Mountain West are expected to announce, as early as Thursday, their plans to join the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 competition year, according to a Mountain West source.

Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State are three of the schools, with Fresno State believed to be the fourth.

“It’s no secret that Boise State and San Diego State want out (of the Mountain West),” a source said.

Yahoo was the first to report the news.

The thunderous development comes after the Mountain West and Pac-12 failed to agree to extend their football scheduling partnership for the 2025 season.

The move will be costly for the Pac-12 and the MW schools involved.

According to the terms of the scheduling agreement, there is a so-called poaching penalty of approximately $10 million for every school that leaves the MW for the Pac-12.

But the Pac-12 has cash available.

As part of their settlement with the 10 departed schools, Washington State and Oregon State are withholding a total of $65 million in campus distributions. That cash could be used to pay all, or a portion of the poaching penalty.

Additionally, the Cougars and Beavers have more than $150 million in assets at their disposal (over the course of several years) from the Pac-12’s postseason football and basketball contracts.

“There will be some of those funds set aside that, as different scenarios emerge, we do have some resources available to us for our strategic priorities moving forward and whatever we might need to do to support our conference affiliation strategy,” Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould said recently on ‘Canzano and Wilner: The Podcast.’

In addition, schools that leave the MW are likely to owe a departure penalty of approximately $20 million.

But there is more to come, for the Pac-12 must have at least eight members by the summer of 2026 to comply with NCAA rules.

With the Cougars and Beavers, plus the four MW schools, at least two more additions would be needed.

The move will also be devastating for the MW schools that get left behind — a group that could include San Jose State, Hawaii, Utah State, Nevada and others.

What would remain of the conference would have “zero TV value,” as a source indicated.

This article will be updated.

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