By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter | (photo by Christian Vieyra – Co-Executive Editor of The Spear)
Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State will be leaving the Mountain West conference for the Pac-12 conference for all sports effective July 1, 2026.
These teams will join Oregon State and Washington State who are the only two currently active in the conference.
“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a press release. “An exciting new era for the Pac-12 begins today.”
Ten teams left the Pac-12 last year and the conference has been below the minimum eight schools required to be an active FBS conference. Adding these programs is a logical next step to rebuilding the conference but still leaves them two schools short.
The Mountain West has proven to be a force in men’s basketball as it sent six teams to the 2024 March Madness tournament. All of the teams leaving the Mountain West excluding Fresno State received a March Madness bid last season.
San Diego State even went to the national championship game in the 2023 men’s March Madness tournament, losing to the University of Connecticut 76-59.
In terms of football, the Pac-12 poaches the top four teams who have the most alumni on current NFL rosters.
Those numbers being Boise State (12), San Diego State (9), Fresno State (7) and Colorado State (5).
The next closest school being Nevada with four.
The NCAA gives all conferences who dip below the minimum amount of eight programs a two-year grace period to try and add programs.
Failure to do so results in the conference being dissolved.
So now what does this mean for the future of SJSU athletics?
The Mountain West conference is losing some of its biggest draws from a ratings standpoint. Meaning less visibility on a national stage for the Spartans.
The teams leaving all paid a $20 million exit fee to join the Pac-12 and are willing to pay to get more exposure for their programs.
The Pac-12 also pays the Mountain West $43 million for taking four of its teams and the total reaches $63 million if they decide to take six. This is according to a copy of the agreement which was obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
If the Pac-12 decides to take other football programs such as UNLV or Air Force, this would put Mountain West below the minimum requirement for teams and they would enter the two-year grace period.
With uncertainty in the conference’s future and less visibility on SJSU, this could lead to it being harder to attract big name recruits to play for the Spartans.
“Conference realignment continues to be at the forefront of intercollegiate athletics and the Mountain West is not immune to this,” SJSU director of athletics Jeff Konya said in an email sent Thursday afternoon. “Our brand has never been stronger and we look forward to positioning our athletics department in the best possible way in the future.”
Konya will be available to the media on Saturday after SJSU’s football game against Kennesaw State.
The Mountain West will have to look to add teams to the conference and programs such as Sacramento State and UC Davis making sense as potential options. This keeps travel on the low and brings an FCS rivalry to a bigger stage.
While these teams would logistically make sense it would cause a bit of dip in the talent pool of the conference.
A program who could be another option for the Mountain West would be North Dakota State. NDSU would help keep the talent level up in the conference as they have won nine FCS championships, all of them happening since 2011.
The realignment brings up a lot of questions for the future of the Mountain West but the coming months will reveal how the conference plans to answer them.
