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Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty runs for 267 yards and 6 TDs in win (1:51)
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty shines in the season opener, running for 267 yards and six touchdowns in a win over Georgia Southern. (1:51)
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Kyle Bonagura
Kyle Bonagura
ESPN Staff Writer
- Covers college football.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Attended Washington State University.
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Pete Thamel
Sep 12, 2024, 12:46 AM ET
Four schools are set to announce Thursday they will depart the Mountain West Conference to join the Pac-12, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.
The Pac-12 board of directors unanimously approved applications from Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State for membership to begin in the 2026-27 academic year, sources said.
They would join Oregon State and Washington State, the conference’s two remaining schools following the league’s collapse in the summer of 2023.
MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez released a statement late Wednesday to address reports the four schools were leaving the conference.
“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 days ahead,” Nevarez said in her statement. “All members will be held to the Conference bylaws and policies should they elect to depart. The requirements of the scheduling agreement will apply to the Pac-12 should 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 in the years ahead.”
Mountain West bylaws require departing schools to pay an exit fee of roughly $18 million with two years’ notice, which is what the four schools expect to pay, a source said. (That number would jump to $36 million with one years’ notice.)
The Pac-12 is expected to be in position to help the schools with the exit fees, in part, due to withheld media-rights distribution fees to departed members and other conference assets. The conference would also be subjected to an additional $43 million in poaching fees, as outlined in the scheduling agreement between the conferences this year that resulted in OSU and WSU playing six Mountain West opponents.
Once these four additions are confirmed, the conference would still need to add two more to reach the NCAA minimum requirement. The conference is in the first of a two-year grace period afforded by NCAA bylaws to exist below the minimum in the case of departures.
News of the four schools set to join the Pac-12 was first reported by Yahoo Sports.
