Colorado State to leave Mountain West as Pac-12 tries to reform

The Colorado Buffaloes were the first to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 spurring what many thought would be the death of the west-coast-based conference but only a year later the Colorado State Rams are leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12 as the conference attempts to reform.

Currently down to just two members in Oregon State and Washington State, the Pac-12 needs to get to eight members to be recognized as a conference by the NCAA. On Thursday, an announcement showing that the conference will take a major swing was made. The Pac-12 is set to add Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State in the 2026-27 academic year.

“We are taking control of our future at CSU by forming an alliance of six peer institutions who will serve as the foundation for a new era of the Pac-12,” CSU President Amy Parsons said in a  news release. “This move elevates CSU in a way which benefits all our students, bolsters our core mission, and strengthens our reputation for academic and research excellence. CSU is honored to be among the universities asked to help carry on the history and tradition of the Pac-12 as a highly competitive conference with some of the nation’s leading research institutions.”

The four schools leaving the Mountain West will each pay an $18 million exit fee, which would jump to $36 million if the schools decide to leave a year earlier. Meanwhile the Pac-12 will not only help pay the exit fees as they’re flush with cash from the exit fees of schools like Colorado, Arizona State, Stanford and UCLA, but the conference will also pay $43 million in poaching fees—from a deal that outlined a scheduling agreement between the two Pac-12 schools and the Mountain West this fall. That agreement was recently announced as one that will not remain in place moving forward and now the reason for the change is clear.

Now with six schools, the Pac-12 will ask all of its members for help in the next step which is adding even more schools. It’s unclear how many members the historic conference will have but it is important to remember that the two-year grace period afforded by NCAA bylaws to exist below the minimum in the case of departures will be up by the time CSU joins.

Meanwhile Colorado State says it will work to preserve its traditional rivalries through non-conference scheduling. One such rivalry is with Wyoming, who for now remains in the Mountain West.

“This moment has been a long time coming,” CSU’s Director of Athletics John Weber said. “I know our students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and fans are hungry for this move and are going to love what comes next as CSU charts a transformational new course as a member of the Pac-12.”

Colorado State was a founding member of the Mountain West in 1999 after the the big realignment of college football in 1996 which saw the Buffs go from the the Big 8 to the Big 12. Again it’s CU triggering a move for CSU, as the Rams look to be in a power conference something that has been close to happening both in their WAC days and more recently when they were a candidate to join the Big 12. Most will not call the new Pac-12 a power though but depending on the additions and the history of the conference that could change, vaulting CSU athletics into a new tier.