Pac-12 Adds Four New Schools To Join Beavers And Cougars [Video]

(ASSOCIATED PRESS) – The Pac-12 is adding Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State, starting in 2026, to join Oregon State and Washington State in a rebuilt Conference of Champions, the league announced Thursday.

The additions rob the Mountain West of four of its more prominent schools and successful football programs, most notably Boise State, and still leave the Pac-12 two schools short of the eight it needs to have in place in two years to be recognized as a conference by NCAA rule.

The Pac-12 and the departing schools will likely be on the hook for about $110 million in exit fees and penalties to the Mountain West.

Still, it is a remarkable comeback for a conference left for dead a year ago when 10 members scattered to competitors across the country after it was unable to secure a media rights deal that schools believed would …