Four schools will announce Thursday that they plan to leave the Mountain West to join the Pac-12, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State have applied to become Pac-12 members beginning in the 2026-27 academic year, sources said.
They would join Oregon State and Washington State, the two remaining schools in the conference following its collapse last summer.
Mountain West bylaws require schools that withdraw to pay a fee of about $18 million with two years' notice, which is what the four schools expect to pay, one source said. (That figure would rise to $36 million with one year's notice.)
The Pac-12 is expected to be in a position to assist schools with exit fees, in part, because of the media rights distribution fees retained for departing members and other conference assets. The conference would also be subject to an additional $43 million in theft fees, as outlined in the scheduling agreement between the conferences this year that resulted in both 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's minimum requirement. The conference is in the first of a two-year grace period that NCAA bylaws allow for existing below the minimum in the event of any withdrawals.
Yahoo Sports was first to report on the four schools joining the Pac-12.
