San Diego State and four other Mountain West teams are heading for the Pac-12 two years from now.
Due to many reasons, including its location, SDSU was a candidate to leave for a power conference. Here’s more about one of the latest chapters in college football conference realignment.
San Diego State’s Pac-12 Move
San Diego State could end up profiting substantially with the Pac-12. However, there are risks to consider.
San Diego State announced the Aztecs accepted an invitation to the Pac-12 after the board of directors unanimously voted to add the team.
This is a unique time for the Pac-12, which is currently down to two teams: Oregon State and Washington State. That leaves San Diego State’s new home in a bit of an odd situation.
First, the Pac-12 needs at least eight teams by 2026 to be deemed a legitimate conference by the NCAA. Some have been rumored to be considered as targets for the Pac-12.
But many of those potential additions haven’t been in “power” or autonomous leagues, which the Pac-12 once was. An autonomous conference – which the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and SEC are – makes more money from the College Football Playoff and has a bigger say with NCAA decisions. Also, the CFP decreased its number of automatic qualifying spots for league champions from six to five after the Pac-12 nearly fell apart.
Only time will tell if rebuilding the Pac-12 will lead to the CFP going back to the way it was and if it receives the benefits it once did once 2026 rolls around.
But, reportedly, Pac-12 leaders believe the conference can strike a media deal worth more than the Mountain West’s, and money has been a key factor in conference realignment decisions recently.
SDSU is certainly excited about the change of scenery.
“We are ecstatic to be joining the Pac-12 Conference,” San Diego State athletic director John David Wicker said in a press release. “While we are grateful to be a founding member of the Mountain West with 26 years of success in the conference, we are excited at what lies ahead with these new opportunities. We will continue to compete for conference championships on the field and to graduate leaders in the community.”
When Is San Diego State Joining The Pac-12?
San Diego State will join the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026. So the Aztecs will have their first football season with the Pac-12 in 2026.
“The move to the Pac-12 is a transformative moment for our entire university,” SDSU president Adela de la Torre said in a press release. “Joining the Pac-12 opens the door to exciting partnerships and financial growth, all of which will contribute to the success of our student-athletes and the vitality of our university community. This is just the beginning – we are poised to attract even more top-tier talent, compete at the highest national level and identify new opportunities that will benefit our One SDSU community and the San Diego region.”
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Mountain West Teams Going To The Pac-12
San Diego State, Boise State, Colorado State, and Fresno State were the first four teams from the Mountain West to announce they were going to the Pac-12. Then Utah State accepted an invite as well.
Gonzaga will also be going to the Pac-12 for all of the sports it participates in, which doesn’t include football.
“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. “We will continue to pursue bold, cutting-edge opportunities for growth and progress to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes. I am thankful to our board for their efforts to welcome 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.”
Pac-12/Mountain West Lawsuit
Several outlets published stories recently about the Pac-12 filing a lawsuit against the Mountain West over its poaching penalties. That number will be more than $50 million depending on how many schools end up going from the Mountain West to the Pac-12.
Those fees are on top of the $17 million per school that the soon-to-be Pac-12 members will have to pay for leaving the Mountain West, though the Pac-12 will cover some or all of that.
The poaching penalties were part of the scheduling alliance that the Pac-12 and Mountain West made for this past season.
The Pac-12’s argument is it’s an antitrust issue. The conference allegedly is claiming it had no choice but to agree to that deal because most of the conference’s teams had left and the league had only a few months to come up with a schedule for the 2024 season.
San Diego State’s Mountain West Buyout & Pac-12 Poaching Penalties
San Diego State and every team leaving the Mountain West will have to pay the conference $17 million just for leaving the league with a minimum notice of one year. Any notice less than that amount of time would’ve been $34 million.
As part of the Pac-12/Mountain West scheduling agreement made last year, the MW will also be owed at least roughly $55 million in poaching penalties for the five teams going to the Pac-12.
One Mountain West team would’ve cost the Pac-12 $10 million, while two would’ve been $20.5 million. Five teams is $55 million, and six would be $67.5 million.
But money shouldn’t be an overwhelming obstacle in the long run. The former Pac-12 teams paid Washington State and Oregon State a $65 million settlement. The Pac-12 will also have at least $190 million in future revenue.
Pac-12 & Mountain West Scheduling Arrangement
The Pac-2, so Oregon State and Washington State, put together a scheduling alliance with the Mountain West for the 2024 season.
Mountain West teams scheduled seven games against conference opponents with another being against either OSU or WSU. But those two weren’t eligible for the Mountain West Championship.
The two schools were to pay the Mountain West $14 million for this deal, per Yahoo Sports.
Teams That Left The Pac-12
USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington went to the Big Ten. Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah are now in the Big 12. And Cal and Stanford are now competing in the ACC.
That leaves just Oregon State and Washington State in the Pac-12 for at least 2024 and 2025.
Pac-12 2024 Conference Realignment News
Texas State is the primary target to become the Pac-12’s eighth full-time member, according to a report from ESPN. If that invitation were to be extended, it seems likely Texas State would take it.
Texas State has long been rumored to be a candidate for Pac-12 expansion. It would give the conference a foothold in the Lone Star State, for starters.
It’s also a solid university by several metrics, and the football team has shown growth in the past couple years. In the two seasons that GJ Kinne has been the head coach, the Bobcats have gone 8-5 in both 2023 and 2024, ending both of those seasons with bowl victories.
La Tech could be looking at an invite from the Sun Belt in the near future and Conference USA would then look at Tarleton State, per the ESPN report, if Texas State were to leave for the Pac-12.
New Pac-12 Media Deal
The Pac-12’s impending media deal will reportedly pay schools between $4 million and $10 million per year, but that’s a wide range and much still needs to be sorted out.
Pac-12 teams are looking to earn more than the $4 million per team per year payout that came with the Mountain West media deal, according to ESPN. But it appears it will be below $10 million per year, which was pitched when the Pac-12 began looking for new members.
The financial details of the Pac-12’s future media deal has yet to be hammered out. However, it’s expected to involve multiple outlets.
The Pac-12, with two teams in 2025, will have games on the CW, ESPN, and CBS. But that may not be the case in 2026 and beyond.
UNLV, Air Force To Remain In The Mountain West
UNLV, Air Force, and the Mountain West’s remaining full-time members have reportedly recommitted to staying in the Mountain West despite interest from the Pac-12 and AAC.
Air Force was reportedly being considered as an addition for the AAC before Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State announced they were going anywhere.
The move would’ve made sense for the Falcons. They could have joined a league with Army and Navy and could have avoided the uncertainty that the Mountain West is looking at. Air Force also doesn’t play too far from Denver, which provides some benefits as well.
Instead, the Falcons as well as programs like UNLV and San Jose State seem to be a part of the Mountain West’s immediate future.
Hawaii recently announced it will become a full-time Mountain West member in 2026, giving the league the minimum eight members it needed, and now Northern Illinois will go to the Mountain West as well for 2026. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the conference won’t want more members in the near future.
Pac-12 Media Deal
The Pac-12’s media deal with FOX and ESPN was reportedly worth $250 million per year and was going to expire this academic school year. The conference was seeking a new deal before teams decided to leave.
Mountain West Conference Media Deal
The Mountain West agreed to a $270 million media rights deal in 2020 with CBS and FOX, according to The Athletic. It would end after the 2025-26 season. Teams are scheduled to be paid $4 million per year.
How Long Has San Diego State Been In The Mountain West?
San Diego State was a founding member of the Mountain West back in 1998 and began MW play in 1999.
Before that, SDSU was in the WAC from 1978 to 1998.
New College Football Playoff Format
Earning a bye in the College Football Playoff became much more difficult for Group of Five teams recently.
CFP executives unanimously voted to move to straight seeding for the 2025 College Football Playoff. That means the highest-ranked four teams will receive byes, not necessarily the highest-ranked conference champions as was the case before.
The five highest-ranked conference champions and the next-highest ranked seven teams will still make the College Football Playoff field. However, where they end up in the bracket could end up looking different.
Proponents of this rule change argue the highest-ranked teams should be rewarded. However, some argue for more incentive for teams to win their respective conferences. For example, Arizona State was on the bubble at No. 12 in the CFP rankings going into the Big 12 Championship last season. If the Sun Devils had lost that extra game, they might’ve fallen out of the CFP picture. SMU lost the ACC title game but squeezed into the CFP field with the last at-large bid.
This exact format has yet to be approved for the 2026 season, meaning the CFP could go back to the old format – which seems unlikely – or officials go in a new direction altogether.
It may be difficult for G5 teams to climb up to the fourth-highest spot. Generally teams from the Group of Five don’t start the season ranked very highly, and if any of those teams lose even once during conference play, they drop further in those rankings than if a P4 team were to lose in October. And it’s much harder for G5 teams to climb back up even if they do only have a loss or two during the regular season.
It’s not impossible for a great G5 team to rise up the rankings, especially with a tough non-conference slate, but the margin for error is very small.
