More Conference Movement Coming

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Shortly after my last post, it was official.

ESPN - UTEP 'honored' to join retooled Mountain West Conference

UTEP has officially joined the Mountain West Conference, the league announced Tuesday. The Miners will begin competition for all conference sports in the 2026-27 academic year.

UTEP, which had been in deep discussions with the Mountain West in recent days, alerted Conference USA officials of its intent to leave the league prior to Tuesday's announcement, sources told ESPN.

UTEP was an obvious target for the Mountain West based on its location and the school's athletic tradition across a variety of sports. The school gives the Mountain West a highly coveted addition in Texas as the league rebuilds after five schools announced they were leaving for the Pac-12.

"We are excited to welcome The University of Texas at El Paso to the Mountain West as the next step in our strategic membership initiatives," Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement Tuesday. "The addition of UTEP restores historic rivalries with several of our member institutions within the geographic footprint and provides valuable exposure in the great State of Texas. We welcome and look forward to competing against the student-athletes of UTEP."

The addition of UTEP gives the league seven full-time members -- joining UNLV, San Jose State, Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico and Air Force. The Mountain West needs to build to eight members to become a formal conference. (Hawaii remains a football-only member.) Recently, Utah State, Boise State, San Jose State, San Diego State and Fresno State announced their departures.

"I know the Miners will feel right at home with the other quality athletic programs in this great conference," said UTEP vice president and director of athletics Jim Senter.

Also confirmed that the PAC had talks with Saint Mary's and Grand Canyon, though neither are expected to be added as the PAC focuses on football.

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I'm a little surprised by this, but not completely shocked.

ESPN - Texas State ends Mountain West talks, stays in Sun Belt

Texas State's talks with the Mountain West Conference have ended, with the school informing the Sun Belt Conference that it won't be leaving after the Bobcats program received a verbal offer over the weekend.

At the time of the Mountain West offer, the Pac-12 had also expressed an interest in the Bobcats program, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel, though an offer there had not materialized. As a member of the Sun Belt, the exit fee for the Bobcats to make a league change is expected to be $5 million.

"The recent interest shown in Texas State and its presence across the college athletics landscape speaks volumes about the university and the work our staff and student-athletes have done to build the Bobcat brand nationally," Texas State athletic director Don Coryell said.

"After preliminary discussions with an interested conference, we have decided not to make a change at this time."

I thought Texas State might pull the trigger, but I don't know what the financials for them in the MWC would look like and I believe I'd previously mentioned that it might not cover the added travel costs. Whereas a potential PAC offer might be enough of a financial gain to cover those. While the PAC hasn't offered yet, that could still be a possibility as they struggle to find one more.

As for the MWC, they still need one with the addition of UTEP announced yesterday. I know New Mexico State would love an invite, but I don't think New Mexico will it. There may be some other CUSA/Sun Belt schools. Though the Belt may be difficult as Texas State was the closest. Next closest are Arkansas State, Louisiana, and Louisiana-Monroe. After that you go east of the Mississippi.

CUSA options aren't going to be too attractive as they offer the previously mentioned NMSU, Louisiana Tech, and Sam Houston State that are west of the Mississippi.

After that you're looking at FCS call ups again.

Out of the WAC there's Southern Utah, Abilene Christian, Tarleton, and Utah Tech.

The Big Sky there's Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, UC Davis, and Weber State.

The Southland there's Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls, Northwestern State, and Stephen F. Austin

The Missouri Valley there's North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, and South Dakota State

The SWAC there's Prairie View A&M, and Texas Southern,

I suppose they could redirect SWOMO on their move to CUSA if they wanted.

IF they have to call up FCS, most of these aren't going to fit, but this is nearly every scholarship football team west of the Mississippi.

Most likely to generate potential interest would be Montana, Montana State, Sacramento State, UC Davis, and Weber State out of the Big Sky.

Not sure you could take any out of the Southland or SWAC seriously. Maybe McNeese State? But that's quite the jump to Louisiana.

Out of the MVC would be North Dakota State and South Dakota State. Both of them would be interesting as they don't generally recruit in the west that much so you're not bringing in FCS powers that already recruit where the majority of your schools already do.

I know the MWC doesn't want to go the FCS route, but they're running out of options. Unless they make Hawaii a full member.

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Not completely surprised there are talks, but travel expenses for everyone would go up. I believe Hawaii currently pays some sort of subsidy to the Big West to help cover travel and I wouldn't be surprised if the MWC would want something similar. At least the Big West is, I believe, all California schools which would keep those costs down about as much as possible on both sides. Whereas the MWC would have schools in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Wyoming. And San Jose State is the only remaining California school.

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Sounds like any PAC announcements will be on hold until they figure out their media package. This shouldn't be too surprising as it seems to have been part of the problem with trying to pull in the AAC schools. I believe USF was projecting an optimistic $10M or so which wouldn't be worth it for them. I've seen some projections that the $12M-$15M rumors were based on them landing at least two of the AAC schools and that they're probably looking at less than $10M per school right now.

It will be interesting to see how this proceeds.

Still surprised we haven't seen any FCS call up talks in regards to the MWC. Weber State makes more and more sense the longer I think about it.

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New Mexico State needs New Mexico to leave the MWC, or a way for the WAC to sponsor FBS football.

And West Texas State. What a great road trip.

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ESPN - Commissioner Gloria Nevarez: Mountain West has firm footing

It was just more than a month ago when the Mountain West's future was very much in doubt, and even though realignment seems to be never-ending, commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday she feels the conference is finally in a good place.

The decisions by UNLV and Air Force to remain in the conference, the addition of UTEP and making Hawaii a full member will give the Mountain West the minimum eight full-time programs beginning in 2026 to remain in good standing with the NCAA as an FBS conference.

That was not such a sure thing after five schools departed for the Pac-12 Conference last month.

I must have missed the announcement that Hawaii was indeed being added as a full member as I only recall seeing speculation. Good news for Hawaii in this is that they will apparently stop paying travel subsidies for everyone in all sports. They'd been subsidizing football travel for MWC schools and other sports in the Big West.

So the MWC has the eight members needed to continue on as a full fledged conference.

The PAC, I believe, is still waiting to figure their media rights package out before adding an eighth school. That's probably necessary as the schools they've been targeting wouldn't recoup their exit fees for a few years based on the speculation of what they will get and that doesn't include the increased travel costs for more eastern teams. Where the PAC ends up going next will be interesting.

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The MWC has added another.

ESPN - Grand Canyon flips from WCC move, to join Mountain West by 2026

Grand Canyon will join the Mountain West Conference by at least 2026, the school and conference announced Friday.

The decision comes six months after GCU announced it would join the West Coast Conference in 2025.

"We want to best position ourselves to be nationally competitive, and we are excited about the vision and future of the Mountain West," GU athletic director Jamie Boggs said in a statement. "We are joining a conference that has enjoyed national success, has developed a rich tradition in its 26 years and has financially positioned us for competitive success in this changing collegiate landscape. We are eager to compete for championships with our future peers in the Mountain West."

GCU will compete in 17 conference-sponsored sports, most notably men's basketball. The Antelopes have qualified for the past three NCAA men's basketball tournaments, the most recent of which included a first-round upset of fifth-seeded Saint Mary's.

"Grand Canyon is a tremendous addition to the Mountain West. We are excited to expand our footprint into the City of Phoenix and the State of Arizona," MW commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. "Grand Canyon has been on an upward trajectory both academically and athletically for the past decade, and its addition to the league will enhance the competition across the Mountain West as we strive to earn NCAA postseason bids and compete for national championships."

The MW began targeting GCU for expansion after five of its members -- Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State -- announced they were leaving for the Pac-12 earlier this year.

GCU's decision was not well received by the WCC, which announced in May that GCU -- along with Seattle -- would join the conference in July 2025.

Going to guess that Gonzaga's decision to leave the WCC for the PAC helped GCU make this decision. Also, I think GCU has a lot of upside and are in a great location and are a fantastic addition for the MWC.

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ESPN - UC Davis to join Mountain West in some sports but not football

UC Davis in 2026 will join the Mountain West Conference in several sports, including basketball but not football, it announced Tuesday.

The Aggies will continue to play football in the Football Championship Subdivision as an affiliate member of the Big Sky.

"Adding UC Davis further strengthens the trajectory of the Mountain West as it continues to build its brand that has proven to elevate institutions and student-athletes," commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. "... I believe UC Davis brings a wealth of positives in the continuing growth of the Mountain West."

UC Davis will compete in all 16 Mountain West-sponsored sports, and it is expected to remain an affiliate member in the Big West in sports such as water polo and beach volleyball.

"We are grateful to the Mountain West Conference membership for this incredible opportunity and for sharing our vision of academic and athletics excellence," UC Davis athletics director Rocko DeLuca said in a statement. "Our campus leadership, students, Aggie alumni, fans, the Davis community and the broader Sacramento region all recognize the unique spirit of UC Davis and carry Aggie Pride with them each and every day. They have invested their time, talent and resources in supporting our growth, and the success of our fall sports is a clear reflection of those efforts."

Could be a solid add in the long run and I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually move football over. Being able to work towards that investment while securing a better spot for your other sports makes a lot of sense before making that jump.

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More lawsuits surrounding conference movement

ESPN - Colorado St., Utah St. sue Mountain West over exit penalties

Colorado State and Utah State have filed a lawsuit saying the Mountain West is engaging in "extraordinary and unauthorized actions" to penalize the five schools leaving the conference for the Pac-12.

Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Utah State announced in September they planned to join the Pac-12 in 2026. The lawsuit filed Monday in Colorado state court by Colorado State and Utah State says the Mountain West and commissioner Gloria Nevarez have disregarded the league's bylaws to punish those five schools "in a desperate attempt to prevent further membership departures."

The complaint says the Mountain West is threatening to withhold tens of millions of dollars due to the departing league members, including refusing to reimburse them for travel and other expenses in connection with postseason football games.

"This flouting of the Bylaws and Colorado law is not new," the complaint says. "It is part of the Mountain West's ongoing efforts to restrict its members' ability to freely explore the best options in the marketplace for their student-athletes and penalize certain members for announcing their intent to withdraw from the Conference."

Sounds like they're complaining about a lot of standard practices in regards to teams leaving. They generally forfeit certain payouts and lose a voice within the conference for future conference concerns. They're upset that they're not getting money that would help cover expenses for leaving. I believe these two schools aren't getting the same help from the PAC in regards to helping cover exit fees.