Pac-12 Absorbs Five Mountain West Teams, Leaving Both Leagues Wide Open

Overview

• Conference realignment moved five Mountain West programs into a rebuilt eight-team Pac-12 while the Mountain West backfilled with schools such as UTEP, Northern Illinois and North Dakota State.
• A settlement resolved pending litigation that had threatened scheduling and revenue, allowing both conferences to set 2026 schedules and confirm members.
• Five-year records show limited recent success versus Power Four opponents, with the reconfigured Mountain West 16-57 and the new Pac-12 14-52, a metric analysts use to question Power Four status.
• Recruiting snapshots and preseason polls place legacy Pac-12 programs lower in the pecking order, while Boise State is singled out as a key asset that could lift the new Pac-12’s profile.
• Both leagues are widely described as open races for 2026 conference titles and College Football Playoff contention, a shift driven by football finances, playoff access goals and the uncertainty of longer-term membership moves.