The Pac-12 rebuild took a hit Monday as several potential suitors turned down an invitation to join the league, but the league appears to have ended the day with at least one win, adding Utah State to its lineup for the 2026 season.
The Aggies are expected to accept an invitation to join the league, multiple national outlets, including the Associated Press reported Monday afternoon following a tumultuous day which saw the entire American Athletic Conference stand together and turn down any offers from the league. The Pac-12 has also reportedly targeted UNLV, with the AP saying the school had yet to make a decision as of Monday evening.
With Utah State, the Pac-12 now sits at seven members, with Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State announcing on Sept. 12 they were joining Washington State and Oregon State in rebuilding the league after 10 former members bolted for other conferences prior to this season. The Pac-12 will need to have at least eight-football playing members by 2026 in order for the NCAA to recognize the conference.
The back-and-forth day started early in the afternoon when Memphis, Tulane, Texas-San Antonio and South Florida, all of which had been mentioned as potential candidates to help restart the conference, issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to the American Athletic Conference.
“While we acknowledge receiving interest in our institutions from other conferences, we firmly believe that it is in our individual and collective best interests to uphold our commitment to each other,” the statement said. “Together, we will continue to modernize the conference, elevate the student-athlete experience, achieve championship-winning successes, and build the future.”
The other 10 football-playing schools in the American later on in the day reaffirmed their commitment to the league, with each posting a graphic to social media that had a map of the contiguous United States with dots where every school in the conference was located and each school individually having a conference flag planted at their respective location and the word “COMMITTED” on top in their individual school colors.
The American had been seen as a likely spot for the Pac-12 to draw from as it has been one of the premier Group of Five conferences over the last decade. Since the 2015 season, the American has produced the highest ranked Group of Five Conference Champion in seven of the past nine years. Teams like Cincinnati, UCF and Houston have all moved on to the Big 12 since represented the American in a New Year’s Six Bowl game.
After the rejections from the four American schools, AP reported that the Pac-12 began targeting the Mountain West, with UNLV and Utah State being their top two candidates. The AP also reported Air Force and San Jose State gave commitments to the Mountain West, taking two more potential addition off the table.
According to a scheduling agreement contract between Washington State, Oregon State and the Mountain West, the Mountain West will already be owed a combined $111 million from the Pac-12 and its four departing members. Adding Utah State will add $29 million to that total, and taking a sixth Mountain West member would add another $29.5 million to that price tag, bringing the total to $169.5 million.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the league is in talks with basketball powerhouse Gonzaga to join the league. Adding the Zags and Utah State would make the league a force in men’s basketball, with six of the teams having made the NCAA Tournament this past season, and two — San Diego State and Gonzaga — having appeared in the NCAA Championship game in the past four seasons. But the Zags don’t have a football team, so it wouldn’t count towards the eight schools needed if it were added.
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