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

Starting July 1, 2026, the revamped league, headquartered in the San Francisco suburb of San Ramon, California, will include at least six schools as current Mountain West members Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State come on board.

The newly formed conference must attract at least two more schools to reach eight, the NCAA minimum for recognition as a conference.

After a series of shocking departures, the NCAA granted the Pac-12 a two-year grace period to expand to eight players by the summer of 2026.

“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as the leading brand in college sports,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement. “We will continue to pursue bold, innovative opportunities for growth and advancement to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes. I am grateful to our Board of Directors for its efforts in welcoming 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.”

Even if the Pac-12 name remains, it is highly unlikely that the team will have the same prestige or immediate money-making potential as the Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12.

Nevertheless, the sports refugees from Corvallis (Oregon) and Pullman (Washington) were happy to have even the semblance of a league in which they could operate.

“Today's news is a great 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, Washington State, Oregon State and the Conference have been working together toward a future that continues the tremendous legacy of the Pac-12 Conference.”

The Pac-12's collapse as a major conference began in the summer of 2022, when USC and UCLA shocked the college sports world by announcing their move to the Big Ten, a Rosemont, Illinois-based alliance of Midwestern and Northeastern schools.

These desertions, prompted by the prospect of lucrative television contracts with Los Angeles schools, proved to be the catalyst for the turnaround of the Pac-12 as we knew it.

Washington and Oregon also joined the Big Ten, while Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado moved to the Big 12 based in Irving, Texas.

Stanford and Cal headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference, based in Charlotte, North Carolina.