Pac-12, MWC Snatch Up New Schools as Conference Realignment Rages On

The Pac-12 and Mountain West Conference have been dueling it out in the latest round of conference realignment. Both leagues need to reach eight full, football-playing members by summer 2026, per NCAA bylaws. The Mountain West has reached a deal with UTEP, a Conference USA program that fits the league’s geographic footprint and gives the conference a foothold in Texas. The Pac-12 made a major splash on Tuesday morning, adding basketball power Gonzaga. The Bulldogs won’t add to the football league, but their men’s basketball program absolutely moves the needle for the conference as a whole. Both moves are expected to take effect for the 2026-27 season.

Gonzaga’s move was made official on Tuesday morning . The Bulldogs become the eighth program in the reimagined West Coast league. Brett McMurphy of the Action Network first reported the news last week , sharing that the school will receive a full conference revenue share despite not playing football.

The Mountain West followed suit Tuesday afternoon by adding UTEP as a full member. The Miners open Texas to the Mountain West, adding a program that is less than four hours south of another member school, the University of New Mexico.

UTEP is considered one of the more difficult places to win in college football. The Miners have made just six bowl games since the year 2000. Their last back-to-back winning seasons came under Mike Price in 2004 and ’05, and their last postseason win came in the 1967 Sun Bowl. The Miners are 0-4 this season, their first under former Austin Peay coach Scotty Walden.

The Pac-12 landed the opening salvo of this latest realignment wave by poaching five schools away from the MWC. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego state and Utah State. The Mountain West managed to hold on to Air Force and UNLV, which received overtures from the American Athletic Conference and Pac-12, respectively, signing deals with those schools with bonuses worth over $20 million according to The Associated Press .

The two additions bring each league’s membership number up to eight, but they are still both one full football-playing member shy of NCAA requirements. Gonzaga is joining the Pac-12 as a non-football school. The Mountain West has eight members in its football league, but as an affiliate, football-only member, Hawai’i doesn’t count towards the NCAA requirement.

The Mountain West is in discussions with Tarleton State, an FCS program in the WAC, Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports . Another FCS program, Sacramento State, has been aggressively pursuing a move up to the FBS level with the Pac-12 and Mountain West expanding. The Sac12 executive committee, which is heading up fundraising efforts, announced that it has raised an impressive NIL fund pool of $35 million demonstrate the area’s commitment to the school participating in major college athletics, per Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports . The program has also announced plans for a new football stadium for the Hornets.