Not dead yet: Pac-12 expansion is on the way to save the conference

At the end of last season, college football fans seemingly saw the end of the Pac-12 conference. Struggles with money and media deals resulted in programs departing to various other conferences, such as the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12. With that, only the Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars remained. It felt as though the Pac-12 was officially dead.

Well now, there appears to be life in the Pac-12.

According to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger, the Pac-12 "is mobilizing its long-discussed plan to rebuild the league with additions from the Mountain West." In particular, per Dellenger, the Pac-12 is targeting the Boise State Broncos, San Diego State Aztecs, Colorado State Rams, and Fresno State Bulldogs as additions to their conference. The Pac-12 board is expected to approve the deal with these four schools by the end of the week.

Dellenger says that Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, and Fresno State "are expected to soon apply or have already applied for membership into the conference." With that, the soonest all four programs could join the Pac-12 would be in 2026.

Pac-12 looking to expand with additions from Mountain West conference

The Pac-12 would need at least eight schools to qualify as an FBS school, per Dellenger. So, that means the Pac-12 would need two more programs to join to reach that qualification by 2026. The question that remains is if the College Football Playoff would give the Pac-12 an automatic bid if they are to reach the eight-team minimum.

Boise State, San Diego State Colorado State, and Fresno State would each need to pay a $17 million exit fee and a $10-12 million penalty fee to the Mountain West conference, per Dellenger.

As noted, the Pac-12 lost 10 schools in the span of two years. In 2022, USC and UCLA both agreed to terms to join the Big Ten conference. In 2023, Washington and Oregon joined them in the Big Ten as well. From there, Arizona, Utah, Arizona State, and Colorado agreed to join the Big 12, while Cal and Stanford announced they were jumping ship to the ACC. With that, it shaped the course of the major conference realignment.

So, after the 2023 season, the Pac-12 was left with just Washington State and Oregon State.

With Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, and San Diego State set to jump from the Mountain West, who else will join the Pac-12? This appears to be the first step to get the Pac-12 back on track and into a FBS conference again.