Utah State, 4 other conference rivals are officially leaving Mountain West for reformed Pac-12

LOGAN — It's official: Utah State's time in the Mountain West has a formal exit date.

The Aggies — along with four conference rivals — officially submitted a notification of departure to the league last Thursday in time for the 2026-27 academic year, according to public records obtained by KSL.com via public records request.

In an electronic correspondence dated May 29 that was addressed to Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez and the league's board members, USU interim president Alan L. Smith provided written notice that the school "intends to resign its membership in the Mountain West Conference, effective June 30, 2026."

"Utah State appreciates the years of competition and collaboration within the Mountain West and wishes each of the member institutions success in the future," wrote Smith, whose letter also included notice of a $5,000 wire transfer intended as a deposit towards the school's exit fee for leaving the conference.

The expected move was made official before the Mountain West's June 1 deadline that required schools to provide a formal notice of withdrawal to avoid doubling their exit fee from an estimated $18 million to $36 million, according to conference bylaws.

Not among the schools that notified the Mountain West of their withdrawal? UNLV, Air Force and other schools in the league, according to Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune who first reported the notification of withdrawal Sunday via multiple sources.

That means the Rebels and Falcons, among others, likely won't be leaving the conference that was founded in 1999 as eight schools broke away from the former 16-team Western Athletic Conference.

Utah State announced its intention to leave the Mountain West for a Pac-12 that would include Oregon State, Washington State, Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State beginning with the 2026-27 academic year in the fall.

In a release announcing the move, athletic director Diana Sabau noted the Pac-12 "exemplifies our commitment to elevating USU academics and athletics."

"This will positions all our teams in a multi-bid league for the NCAA postseason and championships," she added. "This is an incredible opportunity for our student-athletes, as well as our alumni, investors, the HURD and our Logan and Cache Valley communities and all of Aggie Nation."

The Pac-12 later announced the addition of Gonzaga in men's basketball and most other sports to give the conference an eighth member. But the league still must add one more full-time member — one that also plays Division I FBS football — by July 1 in order to be certified as a conference by the College Football Playoff beginning with the 2026-27 season.

The next step for the reforming conference is also underway: mediation to potentially resolve several lawsuits related to the Pac-12-bound schools' exit fees to the Mountain West, which promoted Hawaii from a football-only to an all-sports member and added UTEP in all sports, UC Davis and Grand Canyon as non-football members, and Northern Illinois as a football-only member beginning July 1, 2026.

Texas State has reportedly been among the candidates in expansion discussions, as noted by several reports including Jon Wilner of the Wilner Hotline.

But the Pac-12 is also seeking to avoid paying $55 million in "poaching" penalties for bringing the five schools into the new league after agreeing not to when the two conferences signed an agreement to fill out the schedules of Oregon State and Washington State when the Beavers and Cougars were left alone in the Pac-12 following a round of departures to the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12.

The initial clause called for payments to the Mountain West of $10 million for the first team that left, with the amount growing by $500,000 for each additional team. That was in addition to the $17 million (or more) exit fees that each school was responsible to pay as part of its own agreement with the conference, according to the Associated Press.

"The goal is to resolve the parties' disputes through terms mutually agreed to by the parties," the Mountain West said in a statement when mediation talks began in February. "While the Conference remains confident in its legal positions, the ongoing litigation matters are a distraction from our main priorities: serving our member institutions and our student-athletes."

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