4 MWC schools to join Pac-12 expansion as conference realignment takes major turn to rebuild ex-P5 conference 

The Pac-12 added four Mountain West Conference schools as part of its college football realignment to rebuild the conference. As the league was decimated by conference realignment, the Pac-12 vowed to rebuild.

After all the realignment, the Pac-12 was down to Oregon State and Washington State. However, on Thursday, the conference announced it has added four Mountain West schools.

Which MWC schools will join the Pac-12?

The Pac-12 announced that Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State have joined the conference, as all four schools leave the Mountain West in the next academic year.

It's the first major move by new Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould, who's looking to rebuild the league to return to being a Power Five conference.

“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics,” Gould said in a statement. “We will continue to pursue bold cutting-edge opportunities for growth and progress, to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes.

"I am thankful to our board for their efforts to welcome Boise State University, Colorado State University, California State University, Fresno, and San Diego State University to the conference. An exciting new era for the Pac-12 Conference begins today."

Although the Pac-12 has added four more schools, bringing the conference total to six, it still needs to add two more schools to be an official FBS conference. But after the additions of the four Mountain West schools, it does seem likely that the Pac-12 will end up finding two more schools to join the conference.

According to college football insider Kyle Bonagura of ESPN, the Pac-12 will help pay the four schools' exit fee from the Mountain West.

"The Pac-12 is expected to help the departing MWC schools -- Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Boise State -- with their exit fees, sources said. Roughly $18 million per. Still need two more to get to 8 by 2026-27," Bonagura reported.

The new schools will join the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 academic year.