The college sports landscape was rocked to its core as the PAC-12, in a move of seismic proportions, confirmed a bombshell report on Thursday.
Mountain West Conference members Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State are all set to become members of the PAC-12 beginning in 2026.
The four schools are joining Washington State and Oregon State as the first big step in the PAC-12’s two-year process of becoming a conference again after losing most of their previous members to the Big 10 and Atlantic Coastal Conference. The PAC-12 needs two more member schools to achieve conference status.
“We continue to evaluate all options,” UNLV President Keith Whitfield and Athletic Director Erick Harper said in a joint statement Thursday morning.
With UNLV being one of the eight remaining members, the future of the Rebels in the Mountain West and the conference’s fate are in a precarious balance. We are shrouded in a cloud of uncertainty.
The ideal proposal is for UNLV to join the refurbished PAC-12, as there is a lot of chatter surrounding it. However, there are reasons being thrown out there about why they weren’t a part of the initial expansion, including financial considerations and the desire to maintain regional rivalries.
The main reason for UNLV’s potential exclusion from the PAC-12 surrounds in-state rivals, the University of Nevada, Reno.
Keeping the Battle for the Fremont Cannon an active rivalry could be a significant hurdle to clear before UNLV could join the conference.
It makes sense from a geological point of view to have both UNLV and UNR, but there are many other attractive options that the new PAC-12 may look at before considering adding the Wolfpack.
A possible move to the Big 12 has also been whispered amongst Rebel fans. While this idea makes sense from a geological standpoint and would be a dream scenario to join a Power 4 conference, it’s unlikely that the Big 12 would add another school after its rapid expansion in 2023 and 2024.
The future of the Mountain West as a whole is now plunged into deep uncertainty. While it looked for a while that the MWC could eventually take the PAC-12’s place, with the recent developments, it seems like the conference may be the one to fade out of existence.
However, like sports themselves, the situation can still change. Outside of confirming the school’s moving conferences, the rest has just been speculation, and no official talks for new conference membership have been made.
