Sources – Boise State among four schools set to join Pac-12

Four schools are set to announce Thursday that they will depart the Mountain West Conference to join the Pac-12, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.

The Pac-12 board of directors unanimously approved applications from Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State for membership to begin in the 2026-27 academic year, sources said.

They would join Oregon State and Washington State, the conference’s two remaining schools following the league’s collapse in the summer of 2023.

MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez released a statement late Wednesday to address reports the four schools were leaving the conference.

“The Mountain West Conference is aware of media reports regarding the potential departure of several of our members, and we will have more to say in the days ahead,” Nevarez said. “All members will be held to the Conference bylaws and policies should they elect to depart. The requirements of the scheduling agreement will apply to the Pac-12 should they admit Mountain West members. Our Board of Directors is meeting to determine our next steps. The Mountain West has a proud 25-year history and will continue to thrive in the years ahead.”

Mountain West bylaws require departing schools to pay an exit fee of roughly $18 million with two years’ notice, which is what the four schools expect to pay, a source said. (That number would jump to $36 million with one year’s notice.)

The Pac-12 is expected to be in position to help the schools with the exit fees, in part, due to withheld media-rights distribution fees to departed members and other conference assets. The conference would also be subjected to $43 million in poaching fees, as outlined in the scheduling agreement between the conferences this year that resulted in Oregon State and Washington State playing six Mountain West opponents.

Once these four additions are confirmed, the Pac-12 would still need to add two more schools to reach the NCAA minimum requirement. The conference is in the first of a two-year grace period afforded by NCAA bylaws to exist below the minimum in the case of departures.

News of the four schools being set to join the Pac-12 was first reported by Yahoo Sports.