Who will the Pac-12 target next?
The Pac-12 might live after all.
The 108-year-old college league announced earlier today that its remaining members, Oregon State and Washington State, will be joined by at least four Mountain West Conference programs: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State.
The league and its latest additions made the move official earlier today.
The MWC programs will join the Pac-12 (until then, the “Pac-2”) in 2026.
Good morning! It’s a beautiful new day #BackThePac pic.twitter.com/jfIU1Gk22u
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 12, 2024
The programs are reportedly looking to add at least two more programs, which would bring its team total from two to eight. The NCAA requires FBS conferences to have six members.
The Pac-12 this morning https://t.co/9RWnkCR9QN
— BetMGM (@BetMGM) September 12, 2024
But if not UNLV, Hawaii and the other six remaining MWC programs, then who?
As Yahoo! Sports also notes, the American Athletic Conference’s programs further east and Conference USA’s UTEP and New Mexico State, or even FCS powerhouses like North Dakota State, could be options. So are Power Five schools, which seems less likely since Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah bolted the Pac-12 for the Big 12 around this time last year.
Of course, this all traces back the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners’ decision to leave the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference, which both programs joined this year.
College football’s latest conference realignment has slowly unfolded ever since.
Next up, it seems, rebuilding the Pac-12 and, presumably, the MWC.