Pac-12 adds Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State for 2026

The Pac-12 Conference relegated to just two schools this school year after 10 others left for various conferences in July has taken the first step to rebuilding the "Conference of Champions.

The conference announced Thursday morning that, starting on July 1, 2026, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State will join Oregon State and Washington State as members of the new Pac-12.

All four universities are current members of the Mountain West Conference.

The Beavers just defeated San Diego State 21-0 in football last Saturday night and have both Boise State and Colorado State left on the schedule after the Pac-12 and MWC entered a one-year football scheduling agreement that included six games to help the Beavers and Cougars fill out a schedule.

The Pac-12 will be up to six teams in 2026 but still needs to find two more schools to be recognized as a conference.

Per NCAA rules, a conference must consist of at least eight schools.

This is the first of a two-year grace period to get to eight teams.

Boise State running backs Jambres Dubar, left, and Jeanty dance during warmups before last Saturday's game at Oregon.

The Broncos will join the new-look Pac-12 Conference in 2026.

The Pac-12 and the departing schools will likely be on the hook for about $110 million in exit fees and penalties to the Mountain West.

Still, it is a remarkable comeback for a conference left for dead a year ago when 10 members scattered to competitors across the country after it was unable to secure a media rights deal that schools believed would not keep them competitive with other leagues.

For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics, Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a news release.

We will continue to pursue bold cutting-edge opportunities for growth and progress, to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes.

"An exciting new era for the Pac-12 Conference begins today.

The Pac-12 said it evaluated potential new members using five criteria: academics and athletics performance; media and brand evaluation; commitment to athletics success; geography and logistics; culture and student-athlete welfare.

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

We eagerly anticipate their uniquely insightful contributions during this transformative era for the conference and collegiate athletics, they said.

Oregon State and Washington State let a Sept.

1 deadline pass instead of renewing the scheduling agreement for the 2025 football campaign.

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

Oregon State and Washington State should be able to afford it.

While the schools have publicly downplayed having a war chest of funds, they do have tens of millions of dollars at their disposal to work with from the two remaining years of the current College Football Playoff agreement and a contract with the Rose Bowl that will expire after the 2025 football season.

Plus, they have revenue accrued by Pac-12 teams in recent years from NCAA mens basketball tournament units and Pac-12 Network assets.

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

Leaders at Oregon State and Washington State have insisted since the Pac-12 collapsed that unless an invitation came from a power conference their priority was to rebuild and now that has begun.

Whether the Pac-12 will be considered a power conference again, 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 and most consistent football program outside of the power conferences for more than two decades.

The Broncos have 16 double-digit victory seasons since 2002, when they were members of the Western Athletic Conference.

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

Boise State is finally moving up, but the Pac-12 it enters hardly resembles the Conference of Champions it was for more than 100 years.

The collapse of the Pac-12 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, spanning from coast-to-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.

The Pac-12 appears to be taking a different approach, trying to build a slimmed-down conference instead of just merging with the full, 12-member Mountain West.

The Mountain West will be 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 the news of the Pac-12's move leaked that the MWC's board of directors was meeting to discuss the next steps.

All members will be held to conference bylaws and policies should they elect to depart, she said.

The requirements of the scheduling agreement will apply to the Pac-12 should they admit Mountain West members.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Get local news delivered to your inbox!.

This article has been shared from the original article on democratherald, here is the link to the original article.