It takes eight teams to tango, and the Pac-12 only has seven right now. With NCAA rules requiring at least eight-member teams to preserve FBS status, the Pac-12 is scrambling to find a final school to add to the newly formed conference, which will be adding Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, San Diego State, and Utah State for football on July 1, 2026.
Though the conference is adding Gonzaga to meet the eight-member requirement for non-football sports, the Bulldogs do not have a football program, requiring the Pac-12 to find at least one more team to join the fray.
Pac-12’s Exit Fee Misfire and Realignment Fumble Could Derail Full FBS Return
Nevada Sportsnet’s Chris Murray thinks the Pac-12 “bungled” the initial “hostile takeover” of the Mountain West. By handing the conference over $100 million in exit fees and poaching penalties, the Mountain West now has the needed capital to hold onto the rest of its member schools, including Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico, and San Jose State.
“It was a major screwup, and I say this as somebody who thinks the Pac-12 still has the major upper hand on the MW post-2026 after these changes take place,” Murray wrote.
“But the Pac-12 either had to know it was getting a couple of American Athletic schools, or it could get two more MW members without issue. It’s been unable to do either and is now dragging this thing out through the courts to hardball its way to a better position.”
“The league’s media-right deal seems unlikely to be rich enough to land Memphis, Tulane, Texas-San Antonio or any of the attractive American Athletic schools, who are already getting a TV deal in line with what the Pac-12 is expected to get without incurring the major travel costs (and exit-fee money) associated with a conference move.”
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“So, if schools from the MW and American are out and the Pac-12 won’t take FCS programs (that’s been reported), the options are Texas State (from the Sun Belt) and New Mexico State (from whatever the hell football league the Aggies play in).
“Those are not good options, which have led to this stalemate since Texas State is unwilling to take less than a full share of media-rights money.”
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