Four Pac-12 Expansion Targets Confirmed

A year after 10 of its teams all fled for different conferences across college athletics, the Pac-12 is finally making moves in the expansion world.

According to a report by Yahoo's Ross Dellenger, the conference of two is now pursuing Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State as expansion candidates. Dellenger revealed that each of the four schools have either already applied for candidacy, or will be doing so in the near future, which is the first step for them.

With the move, they would be joining the league in 2026.

As for the now-growing Pac-12, it isn't done yet despite being on track to add the four Mountain West programs. The NCAA requires at least eight programs in a conference to be considered an FBS conference, and as Dellenger pointed out, the Pac-12 has until July 2026 to reach that mark.

The report also revealed that a deal could be reached by the end of this week, and it will come at a cost for everyone involved. The four schools will be forced to pay a $17 million exit fee to the Mountain West, while the Pac-12 will have to fork over a $10-12 million penalty fee for each school they poach. This caveat comes thanks to the scheduling agreement they made with the Mountain West for this season.

While things may have gotten a bit scary for Washington State and Oregon State after being left behind by their former conference mates, it seems that being patient will work out for them in the end.