Amid UNLV to Pac-12 rumors, CFB insider reports MWC retaining its 2 member schools with $25-30 million signing bonus

The Pac-12 has been trying to add more schools to restore themselves as a Power 5 conference. The latest entrant was Utah State, which accepted the invitation to join the Pac-12 conference from July 2026. Amid the frenzy, two Mountain West schools have turned down an offer to join Pac-12.

Air Force and UNLV were the main targets of the Pac-12, but the schools decided to turn the offer down. By turning it down, the Mountain West Conference gave the schools a bonus to retain them, according to CFB insider Brett McMurphy.

"Air Force & UNLV expected to remain in Mountain West, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. The 2 schools are each expected to receive a signing bonus b/w $25-$30 million - 5 times their media rights value - from the pending exit fees the MW will receive, source said. MW still needs 1 more school to reach FBS minimum of 8 members by 2026," McMurphy worte.

It's big news for Mountain West to retain UNLV and Air Force, as the conference already lost five schools to the Pac-12. Those schools are Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State.

The bonus UNLV and Air Force are getting is from the exit fee the schools are paying to leave the Mountain West to join the Pac-12. The Mountain West is expected to receive $155 million in exit fees and "poaching fees" from the Pac-12.

Mountain West Commissioner issues statement on Pac-12 poaching

After the Pac-12 landed five schools from the Mountain West Conference and tried for others, MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez issued a statement concerning the Pac-12's challenge against the poaching penalty.

"The Pac-12 Conference is challenging a contractual provision that it expressly agreed to and acknowledged was essential to the Mountain West Conference's willingness to enter into a scheduling agreement, all while advised by sophisticated legal counsel. The provision was put in place to protect the Mountain West Conference from this exact scenario," the statement said, via Bleacher Report.

"The Pac-12 has taken advantage of our willingness to help them and enter into a scheduling agreement with full acknowledgment and legal understanding of their obligations. Now that they have carried out their plan to recruit certain Mountain West schools, they want to walk back what they legally agreed to."

The Mountain West Conference will need to add at least one more school to remain an FBS conference. Who the conference will look to add is uncertain, but UNLV and Air Force will be part of the conference going forward.