It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in the Mountain West (MW), and there is still uncertainty in the air in regards to the conference.
It all began when Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State announced that they would be leaving the MW beginning in 2026, joining Washington State and Oregon State in the Pac-12. This was only two short weeks ago on Sept. 12, but it’s already beginning to feel like a long established fact with the pace that conference realignment moves.
The Pac-12 wasn’t done however, and began to hone in on Air Force and the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) as potential targets to expand the conference beyond their 6 members, along with other teams from the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
On Sept. 23, UNLV and Air Force would make statements reaffirming their commitments to the Mountain West however, seemingly putting these rumors to rest. After this however, Utah State received and accepted an offer to join the other departing schools, causing UNLV to backtrack their original statement, considering the new conditions.
The Pac-12 and MW conferences were in a deadlock, with the Pac-12 holding 7 full members and the MW with 6. The NCAA requires 8 full members to be a conference, and gives a two year grace period to allow rebuilding. With this being the situation as of Sept. 25, all eyes were on UNLV as they considered their various options.
Further complicating the situation, UNLV’s starting QB Matt Sulka announced on Tuesday, Sept. 24 that he would redshirt for the remainder of the season. With NIL money now in the scope of the NCAA, it wasn’t a good look for the program. This statement only further casted doubts over UNLV’s program and called into question its ability to pay MW exit fees.
Meanwhile, the Pac-12 has opted to take legal action against the MW after they became obligated to pay hefty “poaching” fees to the MW, totaling over $50 million with the addition of Utah State. When a scheduling agreement was signed between the conferences last year, the MW put these fees in the contract in order to protect itself from losing its members.
“The fees at issue were included to ensure the future viability of the Mountain West,” said Gloria Nevarez, MW commissioner in a statement on Tuesday, Sept. 24. “The provision was put in place to protect the Mountain West from this exact scenario… The Pac-12 has taken advantage of our willingness to help them.”
The Pac-12 however, contends that the MW took advantage of their situation last year after their own conference troubles, and that the fees are “unlawful”. It’s unclear how long this legal battle will take to conclude.
On Sept. 26, the Mountain West’s remaining schools would collectively sign an agreement to remain together until the 2032 season, finally putting doubts to rest. “In a demonstration of shared commitment and unity, the Mountain West announced today that seven member institutions have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to remain in the league,” the statement read.
“The Conference and the institutions have also formally agreed to execute a Grant of Media Rights from the member institutions to the Conference from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2032,” it continued.
With 6 full members being locked down, the MW now turns to the task of finding 8 full time members to keep up with NCAA guidelines. The very same day, the MW reached out to another conference about adding more schools.
“Mountain West [has notified] the MAC of its interest in NIU and Toledo as football-only members in 2026,” Brett McMurphy of the Action Network reported. “MW…would still need 2 full-time members in addition to NIU and Toledo,” he said.
Unfortunately for Pokes fans, all of this movement comes with the loss of two of its biggest rivals in Colorado State and Utah State. Colorado State expressed its commitment to keep the rivalry alive in non-conference scheduling, but it’s unclear how these rivalries will remain in the same capacity in the new landscape.
As mentioned, both conferences are seeking a full 8 members now, and it’s still up in the air where those teams could come from, whether it will be an FCS program moving to the FBS or whether it will be another conference switch is yet to be decided. Nevertheless, this era of the NCAA is far from over.
