Washington State and Oregon State are targeting Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State as new additions to a rebuild Pac-12, according to Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger, who reports: “Those schools are expected to soon apply or have already applied for membership into the conference — the first step in the process to complete the deal. They would join the league starting with the 2026 school year. … This is expected to be the first phase in a multi-phase expansion endeavor to reach, at the very least, eight schools — the NCAA’s minimum required to qualify as an FBS conference.” Dellenger goes on to point out that the Pac-12’s board must approve any membership applications “and is expected to soon do so. The deal could be finalized by the end of the week. The expansion is not inexpensive. Each Mountain West school is contractually bound to a $17M exit fee, and the Pac-12 is on the hook for an additional $10-12M penalty fee for every school they acquire as part of a scheduling agreement the conference struck with the Mountain West.” Also from Dellenger: “In negotiations with potential new members, Pac-12 officials and third parties have presented a plan that features a new media rights agreement worth more than the MWC’s current or future television package, as well as the sponsorship potential of the Pac-12 brand.” More. (link); ESPN’s Pete Thamel adds: “The buyout numbers would be big – $18M per school if there's not two year's withdrawal notice and an additional $43M total of poaching fee. (That's tied to the Pac-12/MWC scheduling agreement.)” (link)
