In 13 months Utah State University’s 13-year membership in the Mountain West Conference will end.
Anticipating changes, Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez set a deadline, requiring schools withdrawing to make their plans known by June 1 or their required exit fee would grow from $18 million to $36 million.
In an electronic notice dated Thursday, May 29, USU interim president Alan L. Smith wrote the school “intends to resign its membership in the Mountain West Conference, effective June 30, 2026.” The letter included a $5,000 wire transfer to serve as a deposit toward the school’s exit fee.
Additionally, Utah State athletics issued the following statement about the announcement.
“Utah State University informed the Mountain West in writing of its decision to depart the conference on May 29, 2025, and paid the mandatory deposit for exit fees. Utah State will compete in the Mountain West in 2025-26 and begin competition in the Pac-12 in the fall semester of 2026.”
Beginning in the fall of the 2026-27 academic year Utah State will join the “new” Pac-12 with Oregon State, Washington State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State. The PAC-12 has announced Gonzaga is joining in men’s basketball and most other sports.
The PAC-12 faces another deadline: by July 1, one more Division 1 FBS football-playing school must be added in order to be certified as a conference by the College Football Playoff beginning with the 2026-27 season.
The two leagues entered into mediation talks in February seeking to resolve several lawsuits and litigation continues. The two conferences signed an agreement to work together to fill out schedules for Oregon State and Washington State, when they were left alone in the PAC-12. Now the PAC-12 is trying to avoid $55 million in “poaching” penalties for bringing the five schools into the new league after agreeing not to do that.