New Missouri State athletic director Patrick Ransdell woke up Thursday morning to the news of the latest domino to fall in college athletics conference realignment.
The Pac-12 announced it will add four Mountain West schools including Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State. The four add to the two remaining Pac-12 schools, Oregon State and Washington State. The four will join the rebuilding league in July 2026. News of the potential movement broke late Wednesday night.
Imaginations are running wild with what the ramifications of the moves could mean. The Pac-12 will still need to expand to eight schools to meet the minimum of eight required for league membership under NCAA rules for Football Bowl Subdivision. The Mountain West may be in a position where it needs to rebuild as well.
Such movement could impact Conference USA with Missouri State set to join the league in 2025. Schools like New Mexico State and UTEP, the league's two most western programs, have been floated as teams that could be on the move in early speculation.
Ransdell had a previously scheduled call with Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod on Thursday morning.
"We'll see where it goes," Ransdell said. "There's a lot of things that can happen. Maybe it's good for the conference and maybe we can do some stuff. At the end of the day, we need to be and I need to be worried about what's happening here, first and foremost."
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Missouri State got out of the FCS at the right time
If anyone still had doubts about Missouri State's move to FBS, those might be put to rest over the months ahead. In rebuilding the Mountain West, the league could look at top-tier FCS programs that make geographical sense.
That could include looks at programs like North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Montana, Montana State, Sacramento State, UC Davis and Idaho. All have been speculated on since realignment news started to leak Wednesday night.
If those teams were to move, the top-ranked FCS programs in the most recent top 25 poll include Villanova, South Dakota, Central Arkansas, Southern Illinois and North Dakota. That's much less attractive than having name-brand FCS programs like SDSU and NDSU.
Emeritus Missouri State President Clif Smart posted on X, formerly known as Twitter , that the new wave and this scenario played into the school's thinking when it departed the Missouri Valley Conference.
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Could UTEP and New Mexico State leave Conference USA?
USA Today Network sports reporter Bret Bloomquist, who covers UTEP for the El Paso Times, wondered aloud what the school's future looks like in Conference USA
"Geography has meant more to the Mountain West historically than other leagues, and the two most obvious fits in that respect if the Mountain West is looking for reinforcements are UTEP and New Mexico State," Bloomquist wrote. "UTEP has typically surfaced in rumors when the Mountain West has considered expansion.
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"The only other realistic options for the MWC in terms of geography and getting teams from a lesser conference to join them would seem to be Sun Belt schools such as Arkansas State or Texas State.
"The Mountain West, with big market schools such as UNLV and San Jose State and old UTEP Wac rivals like New Mexico, Air Force and Wyoming would be a prized destination with the Miners and a better conference than the current Conference USA."
Where would Conference USA look if programs depart?
CUSA would have options if two schools were to leave. The league currently sits at 12 members and it can certainly survive with 10. The league, however, comes across as proactive and likely has a list of schools it could add if it felt like it was the right thing to do.
Right now, there aren't a lot of schools east of the Mississippi River that make too much sense as FCS programs that can elevate to the FBS level. Illinois State may be the best-positioned school out of the Valley considering facilities and budgets. Another obvious target is Tarleton State, a younger program that hasn't been shy about its FBS aspirations.
If UTEP and New Mexico State were to depart, Missouri State and Sam Houston would become the league's two western-most schools. It would be worth watching if the league would try to revert to being a tad more geographical.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: How could Pac-12 poaching Mountain West schools impact Missouri State, Conference USA?
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