Reports: Four Mountain West schools set to join Pac-12

The Pac-12 might be ready to rise again.

Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State are set to exit the Mountain West to join the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 school year, multiple media outlets reported Wednesday night.

The moves reportedly could be announced as soon as Thursday.

Just two schools remain in the Pac-12 -- Oregon State and Washington State -- after an offseason that saw 10 schools join other power conferences. Oregon, Washington, UCLA and Southern California moved to the Big Ten; Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State shifted to the Big 12; and Cal and Stanford joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The NCAA is giving the Pac-12 until July 2026 to have a minimum of eight universities if the league is to remain part of the Football Bowl Subdivision. The reported Mountain West addition would still leave the league two short, though officials are pursuing additional options.

The four schools looking to join the Pac-12 reportedly would have to pay an exit fee of at least $17 million. The Pac-12 also would owe the Mountain West $43 million for taking schools away, part of the deal it reached to arrange scheduling of football matchups for Oregon State and Washington State this year.

Colorado State and San Diego State have been in the Mountain West since the league's founding in 1999. Boise State joined the conference in 2011, and Fresno State followed in 2012. One of those four schools won or shared the league's football championship in 10 of the past 12 seasons.

--Field Level Media