Boise State among 4 joining Pac-12 for 2026-27
Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State will join the Pac-12 in the 2026-27 academic year, they announced Thursday.
New PAC-12 raids the Mountain West, Adds Four Members
- Thread starter MooneyHall07
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So much for them ever getting six teams in the tournament again. I hope they enjoyed it because it was a one time - and erroneous- fluke that will never happen again. And they had such high expectations for the conference…..
Yes, but they have another year to make it happen. They will get two. It now depends on who they ask. There are some in the camp that say wait and see if the ACC crashes.
Don’t really see a fit from the ACC from the PAC’s perspective or from the ACC schools perspective.
New Mexico State seems to fit in a lot of ways. Struggling to come up with a second (assuming no more teams defect from Mountain West).
New Mexico State seems to fit in a lot of ways. Struggling to come up with a second (assuming no more teams defect from Mountain West).
That’s still a Group of 5 (or i guess now you can say 6) conference. Ho hum.
The best remaining brands are probably UNLV and Air Force. Wyoming from a football perspective makes a lot of sense. Other than that you have to start looking at the American: Tulane, Memphis, UTSA etc.
If they don’t want to pay $$$ in conference exit fees, then FCS powers North Dakota State and Montana’s application fee to join would be $5 million each. But i think that there is a probation period and postseason ban initially for new FBS schools so it may not fit the PAC-12’s timeline. It might help the MWC stop the bleeding however, or help the American if two schools jump to the PAC-12.
"I am thankful to our Board..."Boise State among 4 joining Pac-12 for 2026-27
Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State will join the Pac-12 in the 2026-27 academic year, they announced Thursday.www.espn.com
What was that Board meeting like? A single phone call among 2 people? lol
"Thankful to our Board".....pretty funny....
I don't know....they may want to re-brand as the "State" conference....lol and only admit schools with "State" in their name...and therefore "state funds" in their banks...
Agreed on unlv and air force, but I assume that if they didn’t come over with the first wave of mw teams then they probably aren’t being targeted.
Was hoping they’d buck the trend and stay regional, but looks like they’re most likely targeting those American teams you mentioned.
If it is from a football branding perspective, UNLV, Tulane and Memphis have all been good to pretty good recently, but they are also a fertile ground for coaches getting poached, and what you worry about with those schools is sustainability after that happens. Air Force usually solid as well but they are their own unique thing with the military connection IMO.
Give or take, The MWC will get $110 to $120 million from a combination of exit fees and waiver of NCAA basketball tournament funds from the departure of these 4 teams. When there was a scheduling agreement between the Pac 2 and the MWC, the agreement stated approximately 11 million per team that leaves for 2 years. Now, the Pac 2 may have 70 to 90 million dollars left in their coffers from the exit fees of all the ten teams that left for greener pastures. They may help subsidize the exit fees of these four teams of future teams.
Now, I don't suspect the Pac 2 (6) to look at the MWC schools, but if it does, the the premier schools to look at are UNLV, followed by New Mexico or Air Force. UNLV was not a team to look at in the past for football because there was not a facility to play at and avoid the hot weather for the first few games of the season. Now, with Allegiant Stadium, fans will come out for football. The weather still impacts football practice for UNLV. I would suspect Allegiant does allow the team to get a certain number of practice hours at that facility.
I have seen New Mexico State mentioned on this board as a target. But, New Mexico is a better school to go after than New Mexico State. Larger population and there is more money in Albuquerque than Las Cruces. NM State has historically been a second fiddle to New Mexico. Like Texas A&M to Texas. Although, as we know, it's not always the case.
I don't know how Air Force would impact the TV contract - they provide a more national presence, but my hunch would be 3rd choice of these three. Somebody mentioned Wyoming but the tv market is too small and not enough support.
Here's where I think they look --- 1)Stanford, 2)Cal, 3) UNLV, 4) Memphis, 5) Tulane, 6) New Mexico, 7) Air Force, 8) UTSA. Any of the MWC schools will go quickly so the list does not have to get that long.
By the way, I started writing this, and Dehere23 beat me to the punch on some of this.
Now, I don't suspect the Pac 2 (6) to look at the MWC schools, but if it does, the the premier schools to look at are UNLV, followed by New Mexico or Air Force. UNLV was not a team to look at in the past for football because there was not a facility to play at and avoid the hot weather for the first few games of the season. Now, with Allegiant Stadium, fans will come out for football. The weather still impacts football practice for UNLV. I would suspect Allegiant does allow the team to get a certain number of practice hours at that facility.
I have seen New Mexico State mentioned on this board as a target. But, New Mexico is a better school to go after than New Mexico State. Larger population and there is more money in Albuquerque than Las Cruces. NM State has historically been a second fiddle to New Mexico. Like Texas A&M to Texas. Although, as we know, it's not always the case.
I don't know how Air Force would impact the TV contract - they provide a more national presence, but my hunch would be 3rd choice of these three. Somebody mentioned Wyoming but the tv market is too small and not enough support.
Here's where I think they look --- 1)Stanford, 2)Cal, 3) UNLV, 4) Memphis, 5) Tulane, 6) New Mexico, 7) Air Force, 8) UTSA. Any of the MWC schools will go quickly so the list does not have to get that long.
By the way, I started writing this, and Dehere23 beat me to the punch on some of this.
I think it would depend on what they've signed away to the ACC but a good starting point, as Brett mentions would be Stanford and Cal. I'd would also throw in SMU and, if they want to go to 10, UNLV would likely be the next best option.
Or they could sit on nine and throw UConn the football life raft it needs as a partial member. If the Huskies could get a share of a conference's football money and keep it's other sports in the Big East, that might be a win-win for them.
Or they could sit on nine and throw UConn the football life raft it needs as a partial member. If the Huskies could get a share of a conference's football money and keep it's other sports in the Big East, that might be a win-win for them.
This PAC 12 is not the old PAC 12. Its new deal in 2026 will be lucky if it’s worth $10 million per team. No ACC team is coming back to the PAC 12 that will never be a power conference again. It is a Group of 5/6 conference at best. UConn is going to travel 2500 mies for all its away games? Really, for $10 million a year?
I think all schools except Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and perhaps Michigan and LSU worry about their coaches getting poached. In the last few years: UCLA, Washington, Oklahoma and, incredibly, Notre Dame lost their coaches. None of the schools that are being discussed in conference realignment are forever jobs.
No doubt. And when that happens those schools look downward often to fill their spot with the next hot HC candidate, like FSU did with Norvell from Memphis or Houston did with Fritz from Tulane.
Stanford and Cal are likely only an option if the ACC blows up. I should have been more clear. But, the list that I provided was what I perceive would be their priority list.
It's kind of a list of when a head coach opens up. You list your #1 choice on top, but that tends to not happen unless you are at the top of the food chain.
It's kind of a list of when a head coach opens up. You list your #1 choice on top, but that tends to not happen unless you are at the top of the food chain.
The concept of a plan with the origjnal mountain west happened at an airport with the at the time members of WAC which has become a maybe mid major...look these schools are gonna go where the next money flow is...
Basically what we said (and the list I made) except he added the factor the UNLV may not be able to come without Nevada.
We saw that with the UC Regents making UCLA pay money towards Cal to approve UCLA going to the Big10 or whatever it's called. Ridiculous!
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