As several schools have departed the Pac-12, Washington State had to find a clear path forward.
Though it seemed possible Washington State would end up with another conference, that won’t become reality now, as the Pac-12 will be picking up a few important members from the Mountain West in the near future.
Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, Utah State & San Diego State Join The Pac-12
Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State, and San Diego State have announced they are officially going to the Pac-12, beginning during the 2026 season. Gonzaga will also be going to the Pac-12 for all of the sports it participates in, which doesn’t include football.
Those moves will likely create a ripple effect for the rest of the FBS. The Pac-12 needs at least one more team to be technically considered a conference, so others will likely become members of the new-look league. The Mountain West is losing some of its top teams and will be searching for candidates to boost its numbers back up.
Pac-12 officials reportedly believe the league can reach a media deal worth more than the Mountain West’s currently, which could be a key reason for these moves.
The Pac-12 is no longer an autonomous league, meaning it had more influence in regards to NCAA decisions and received more money from the College Football Playoff. It’s uncertain if the Pac-12 could regain that status. It’s also unclear if the CFP would go back to six automatic qualifying spots for conference championship winners, as that number decreased to five following the Pac-12 dropping to two teams.
Memphis, USF, UTSA & Tulane To Stay In The AAC
The Pac-12 was reportedly hoping to add some of the top programs in the AAC as well, but now that’s not happening.
Memphis, Tulane, South Florida, and UTSA publicly announced a recommitment to the AAC. That seriously hampers the Pac-12’s expansion efforts.
All four of those schools are located in good markets, and all four of them were in bowl games in 2023. They were logical targets for the Pac-12 aside from travel costs.
Now the question is what other teams might the Pac-12 be considering.
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 also recently announced it will become a full-time Mountain West member in 2026, giving the league the minimum eight members it needed.
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 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.
Pac-12 & Mountain West Don’t Extend Scheduling Arrangement Past 2024
The Mountain West and Pac-12 didn’t sign off on a deal to continue their scheduling agreement past this season. The deadline to do so was Sept. 1.
Oregon State and Washington State made a scheduling deal with the Mountain West for this year. Mountain West teams scheduled seven games against league opponents with another being against either WSU or OSU in 2024. Those two programs aren’t eligible for the Mountain West Championship.
For one year of this arrangement, the two schools are paying the Mountain West $14 million, according to Yahoo Sports.
Wazzu Staying In The Pac-12
Oregon State and WSU previously took action which indicated the universities intended on seeing if they can keep the Pac-12 alive. And now the four Mountain West teams going to the Pac-12 reinforces that notion.
The presidents of Washington State and Oregon State make up the conference’s board of directors. That means those leaders alone have the power to decide what to do with the Pac-12 and its resources like TV revenue.
Those resources will help make it possible for the Pac-12 to add several new teams.
Pac-12 2024 Conference Realignment News
The Mountain West announced last week the league is bringing in UTEP, which is currently a member of Conference USA and was believed by some to be a potential target for the Pac-12.
UTEP is joining a conference that’s stronger in terms of on-the-field performance.
And that’s not including the five teams which will be members of the Pac-12 in two years. For example, Air Force reached the AP Top 25 as recently as last season, and UNLV was ranked at 25th last week after two wins over Power Four programs.
There’s also familiarity with the Miners and the other current Mountain West teams, as UTEP played against all of those programs while in the Western Athletic Conference.
UTEP’s decision appears to be financially sound as well. The money made from the Mountain West’s TV deal could be more than four times as much as UTEP is making with Conference USA’s. That’s going off of the current numbers of those deals, and that could of course end up changing with so many teams leaving the Mountain West, which has a TV deal that will reportedly expire after next season.
UTEP’s move could also end up making sense from a travel standpoint as well. While Texas State announced its commitment to the Sun Belt, reports have indicated Tarleton State might also end up going to the MW, so that could be another team in the state of Texas. Currently only one other CUSA team is in the Lone Star State (Sam Houston).
UTEP will become a member of the Mountain West on July 1, 2026. The Miners’ football team will begin Mountain West play during the 2026 season.
Could A WSU-Big Ten Move Happen?
The Big Ten does not seem to be a likely landing spot for Washington State.
Though there have been some reports about WSU looking at going to a Power Five league, the Big Ten has not been one of them. The Big Ten seems content at the moment or would look elsewhere for expansion.
USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington are the previous Pac-12 schools which are in the Big Ten. Washington State would likely want to join UW in whatever league it is in, but the Big Ten doesn’t seem like it will extend an invite any time soon.
Would WSU To The Big 12 Work?
Some have speculated Washington State could go with other Pac-12 schools to the Big 12, but that doesn’t currently seem probable.
Multiple national outlets have reported the Big 12 doesn’t seem likely to be adding the Pac-2 schools, which would include Oregon State and WSU. And if that was a possibility, that likely would’ve happened by now.
Four former Pac-12 schools — Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah — are in the Big 12 this year.
Also don’t expect for WSU to go to the ACC any time soon, either, as that league also isn’t in a stable place. Clemson and Florida State have both sued the ACC in recent months over matters related to the ACC’s grant of rights.
Neither school has given official notice that it intends to leave. However, Florida State has reportedly expressed frustration with the ACC’s media deal for months, saying FSU isn’t making enough to keep up with SEC and Big Ten programs seeking to win national championships.
Apple Cup’s Future
Washington State and Washington announced last year their Apple Cup rivalry series would continue for at least another five years, through 2028.
Last season marked the 115th time the two schools played. The Huskies defeated the Cougars 24-21 in 2023.
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CFP’s Move To 5+7 Format
The College Football Playoff changed its format for 2024.
The CFP Board of Managers unanimously decided to alter the setup for the playoff. Now, the five highest-ranked conference title winners will automatically qualify, and the next seven highest-ranked teams will make up the rest of the field.
Previously, the six highest-ranked conference champions would make it. Then the next-highest ranked six teams would consist of the rest of the field.
“This is a very logical adjustment for the College Football Playoff based on the evolution of our conference structures since the board first adopted this new format in September 2022,” Mark Keenum, Mississippi State President and Chair of the CFP Board of Managers, said in a press release. “I know this change will also be well received by student-athletes, coaches and fans. We all will be pleased to see this new format come to life on the field this postseason.”
College Football Playoff Rules
This year is the CFP’s first season of 12 teams making the playoffs.
Despite the 5+7 change, no specific conference will have an automatic qualifier, and there will be no maximum for a number of teams from any one conference.
With this new format, the five highest-ranked conference champions will automatically receive a CFP berth and the four highest-ranked conference title winners will have a bye during the first round. The next eight teams will be seeded Nos. 5-12, and the higher-seeded programs will host.
Then the quarterfinals and semifinals will be made up of the New Year’s Six bowls, and the national championship will keep being played at a neutral site.
Can A Pac-12 Team Make The College Football Playoff?
Washington State and Oregon State, the two remaining Pac-12 teams in 2024, still can earn a spot in the CFP. However, that path will be difficult without a chance to automatically qualify with a conference championship.
Most of the Pac-12’s members are playing in other Power Four conferences this season. OSU and WSU agreed to a scheduling alliance with the Mountain West for 2024. Oregon State and Washington State won’t be eligible for the Mountain West’s conference title.
Pac-12/Sun Belt Scheduling Alliance?
The presidents of Sun Belt Conference schools met last season to go over potential plans by Oregon State and Washington State that would include a scheduling alliance between the Sun Belt and those two schools, according to Yahoo Sports.
However, those discussions were reportedly short. The Sun Belt’s leaders believed there was too much travel and not enough financial gain possible with an arrangement like that.
Washington State-AAC Talks
As the AAC tries to shed the Group of Five moniker, adding WSU seemed like it would’ve helped in that effort. But the AAC reportedly has stopped considering bringing in Oregon State and WSU and instead added Army.
The AAC has been regarded by many as the strongest G5 league. Though it lost UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati last year, it picked up North Texas, UTSA, UAB, Charlotte, Rice, and FAU.
Washington State, Pac-12 History
Washington State has been a member of the Pac-12 since 1962, though it has been called a variety of names over the years.
When WSU joined, it was known as the Athletic Association of Western Universities. Then the league became the Pacific-8 Conference in 1968 before being renamed the Pacific-10 Conference in 1978 when Arizona and Arizona State were added. It officially became the Pac-12 in 2011 after Colorado and Utah joined the conference.
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 several 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. That would mean teams are scheduled to be paid $4 million per year.
The arrangement would end after the 2025-26 season.
