The Pac-12 Mountain West schools are looking to join Oregon State, Washington State in their bid to defend the league

According to Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports, the Pac-12 is on the hunt for four Mountain West schools to join Oregon State and Washington State in an attempt to defend the league. Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State are the Mountain West schools expected to apply for conference membership. An announcement could come as soon as Thursday.

These four schools arguably represent the top brands in the legacy Mountain West and schools considered for power conference membership in the past. If four schools transfer by the 2026 season, the Pac-12 would need to add two more programs to reach the minimum of eight schools from FBS conferences.

Ten of the 12 legacy Pac-12 schools officially left the conference in 2024 when their existing grants of rights expire. Four schools moved to the Big Ten (USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington), four to the Big 12 (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah) and two to the ACC (Stanford and Cal), leaving Oregon State and Washington State without. A long-term home. The duo will compete as de facto FBS independents over the next two years and are ineligible for an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff.

However, the legal status meant that the two Pac-12 schools still had a massive war chest of $250 million in available resources, primarily payments such as NCAA tournament units and existing contracts. According to Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, buying the four schools from the Mountain West in one year would cost about $187 million. The Pac-12's existing resources can help offset that difference.

The long-term goal of expansion will be to rebuild the Pac-12 as a power-level conference. The league legally retains “Autonomy Five” status and will conceivably retain this in a new form. The next step for the league will be to find two additional schools to round out the league, preferably ones that can match or exceed the standard of the six schools.

Presumably, Stanford and California will be courted, though it's unclear whether the schools can opt out of the deal with the ACC. Other top five teams from across the country may also be in the mix. However, the biggest question mark will be finding a profitable television partner that can pay power-levels, the key conflict that killed the legacy Pac-12.

Within the past week, the Mountain West and Pac-12 have picked up don't stretch A schedule partnership through the 2025 season. According to multiple reports, the Pac-12 had hoped to cut payments to the Mountain West to keep the schedule going. Both Pac-12 schools still have about half the schedule to fill. If the expansion plans go ahead, the schools will be in better shape by 2026