You can call it many things—the new Pac-12, the Six-Pac ( and counting ), an elevated Mountain West, or just a good college try—but you ca n’t call the conference a power. At least not by its previous financial requirements.
On Thursday morning, the present, two-member Pac-12 Conference, consisting of Oregon State and Washington State, announced that it had accepted the offers of four MWC schools—Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Fresno State—to join the league starting in 2026.
In a statement, Pac-12 director Teresa Gould called the changes a continuation of the team’s century-long record as a “leading product in school sports”.
Gould added:” We will continue to pursue strong cutting-edge opportunities for growth and development, to best assist our member organizations and student-athletes”.

To achieve the eight-member minimum required by the NCAA, the Pac-12 would still need to add two more institutions.
In 2022-23, before its richest teams were purloined by other power conferences, the average public Pac-12 athletic department spent$ 130.8 million and earned$ 121.5 million in revenue. In contrast, the six current universities that will make up the future conference generated an average of$ 77.7 % in expenses and$ 74.7 % in revenue on that same period. Even more stark is the difference in the average schools’ generated revenue ( leaving aside school and government support ) between the old guard ($ 103.1 million ) and the new crew ($ 55 million ).
At a group levels, the Pac-12 set a profit history in FY23, bringing in$ 603.8 million just before it saw 10 of its few people exit. The conference distributed roughly$ 33 million to each of its members during that fiscal year, which was roughly$ 33 million less than it had distributed on average in FY22. On the other hand, Boise State ($ 7.9 million ) was the only Mountain West school to receive a league distribution of at least$ 6 million in FY23.
In March, Washington State and Oregon State reached a settlement with the Pac-12’s ship-jumpers, who agreed to sacrifice more than$ 65 million in convention distribution. OSU and WSU were far and away the league’s poorest sport agencies, generating$ 91.6 million and$ 78.9 million, both. By contrast, Washington and Oregon generated$ 151.6 million and$ 150.6 million in 2022-23 income.
The Pac-12’s economic collapse started in June 2022 when the Big Ten overwhelmingly approved the admission of UCLA and USC. Oregon and Washington joined the Big Ten a year later, which was followed by that. Eventually, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah glommed on to the Big 12 while Stanford and California went bi-coastal, accepting last-minute protection in the ACC.
Amid the absences, it usually seemed as if the Pac-12 may just go out of business, with Oregon State and Washington State ending up in the MWC.
The group defied those objectives inasmuch as it has endured, for presently, albeit with a little lighter bag.