Surprise!

San Diego State is going to the Pac-12 after all.

The university issued a press release early Thursday morning confirming media reports from the night before that it is leaving the Mountain West to join Oregon State and Washington State in all sports in a reshaped Pac-12 beginning in 2026-27. A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Snapdragon Stadium.

Three other members of the Mountain West are joining the Aztecs: Boise State, Colorado State and Fresno State.

That would leave the Pac-12 at six schools, two shy of the NCAA minimum. Oregon State and Washington State, the lone holdovers from the 12-team conference after it disintegrated spectacularly last summer just hours before SDSU was invited, were given a two-year grace period to operate with just two schools, expiring after 2025-26.

Oregon State and Washington State had pursued an invitation to join their 10 former members in a powerful conference, most realistically the Big 12 that swallowed up Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. But a source said the two Northwestern schools were given a “hard no” last week and went to Plan B, which added members under the Pac-12 name and branding it legally retained when the others left.

UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington joined the Big Ten. Stanford and Cal were the last two to go to the ACC.

Talks with the Mountain West Four have been heating up for the past 48 hours, a source said, and a deal was struck Wednesday night. Yahoo Sports was first to report that invitations were imminent; two hours later, the Union-Tribune reported it was done.

In the press release issued at 6 a.m., SDSU President Adela de la Torre called it “a transformative moment for our entire university (that) opens the door to exciting partnerships and financial growth.”

Athletics Director John David Wicker added, “While we are grateful to be a founding member of the Mountain West with 26 years of success in the conference, we are excited about what lies ahead with these new opportunities.”

On its social media accounts, the Pac-12 posted logos of the four new members plus OSU and WSU with the message: “Good morning! It’s a beautiful new day.”

It won’t be cheap. The current football scheduling alliance with the Mountain West requires Oregon State and Washington State to pay withdrawal, or “poaching,” fees that start at $10 million for one school and go up to $43 million for four.

Additionally, each university is responsible for exit fees to the Mountain West that, with more than a year’s notice, amount to three times the annual distribution. That’s expected to rise to $6.5 million per school for 2024-25, or about $20 million when multiplied by three.

There were whispers this summer that OSU and WSU would set aside some of their war chests after the Pac-12 disbanded to attract new members. They are expected to pay the poaching fees for the four schools, but the Mountain West defectors will be responsible for their individual exit fees.

“The Mountain West Conference is aware of media reports regarding the potential departure of several of our members, and we will have more to say in the coming days,” commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement issued late Wednesday night. “All members will abide by the conference’s bylaws and policies if they choose to leave. The requirements of the scheduling agreement will apply to the Pac-12 if they admit Mountain West members.

“Our Board of Directors is meeting to determine our next steps. The Mountain West has a proud 25-year history and will continue to thrive for years to come.”

The Mountain West was formed in 1999 in a similar move, when SDSU, Colorado State and six other members of the Western Athletic Conference split off to form a new league. Boise State joined in 2011 and Fresno State a year later.

Now those four go to the Pac-12.

In total, the Mountain West will receive more than $120 million in compensation, a significant haul for a conference that earns less than half that amount annually from its media rights contract. But it will also lose its two core members, SDSU and Boise State, plus two others in the upper echelons at a time when its current deals with CBS and Fox expire.

The big losers are UNLV and New Mexico, both Mountain West charter members. The Rebels have a rich basketball history (reaching four Final Fours and winning the national title in 1990) and have improved greatly in football, with upgraded campus facilities and a new NFL stadium for home games. New Mexico continues to struggle in football, but arguably has the most resources in the conference in basketball.

Air Force nearly left a few years ago to join the American Athletic Conference, where the other two service academies play football, and will now have little to hold back. That would leave the Mountain West with seven members in football, one short of the NCAA’s minimum, and six in basketball, since Hawaii is part of the Big West in all other sports.

The 6-Pac will be looking to add at least two more members in the coming months to bring its total to eight, though industry insiders expect the team to aim for nine or 10. Cal, Stanford and SMU are possibilities if Florida State and Clemson win their legal battle to leave the ACC and the conference breaks up. Other candidates include current AAC members Memphis, Tulsa, North Texas and UTSA.

Once you get to nine, you can use the standard eight-game conference football schedule, playing everyone once. One source suggested the reshaped Pac-12 could even the numbers with a 10-member “that doesn’t play football,” which is code for Gonzaga and its powerful men’s basketball program.

“For more than a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould. “We will continue to pursue bold, groundbreaking opportunities for growth and advancement to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes. … An exciting new era for the Pac-12 Conference begins today.”

This isn’t officially the first time SDSU has left the Mountain West.

It did so with Boise State for the Big East in 2012, but the Big East collapsed as a football league and both teams regressed. SDSU nearly left again last June, thinking it would secure an invite to the Pac-12, but 10 conference members dispersed to the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC, leaving the Aztecs in the Mountain West.

This time it looks like the Aztecs are finally leaving.

Originally published: September 11, 2024 at 11:00 PM