Boise State athletics has found a new home for the 2026-27 academic year and beyond after accepting a formal invitation to join the rebuilding Pac-12 Conference.
Boise State will be joined in the transition by fellow Mountain West members Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State. They will join Oregon State and Washington State, the only two schools remaining from the previous iteration of the Pac-12.
The Idaho State Board of Education must approve Boise State’s addition to the Pac-12. The Broncos, pending approval, will join the conference on July 1, 2026.
The addition of the four Mountain West schools brings the Pac-12’s total to only six schools, meaning at least two more programs must join to meet the eight-school minimum required for an FBS conference.
Once the changes take effect, San Jose State, UNLV, Hawaii, Utah State, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Air Force would remain in the Mountain West Conference.
“We evaluated this move from many angles and considered it with our head and our heart, and most importantly, with our 350+ student-athletes in mind,” Boise State Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey said in a news release. “When it came down to making the final decision, we chose this path because it puts Boise State in the best position for success, and is in the best interest of this university and community.”
Under Dickey’s leadership, the athletic department has brought in more than $70 million in donations and commitments over the past three fiscal years. The department raised $20.8 million in fiscal year 2024, the third consecutive fiscal year Boise State surpassed $20 million, following record-setting amounts in FY 2022 ($24.1 million) and FY 2023 ($26.1 million).
Boise State’s move to the Pac-12 comes after the prestigious conference blew up in recent years. Former members USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington bolted for the Big Ten this year, while Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah headed to the Big 12. Cal and Stanford joined the ACC.
The Pac-12 would be Boise State’s fifth conference. The Broncos have previously competed in the Big Sky (1970-96), Big West (1996-2001), Western Athletic Conference (2001-11) and Mountain West (since 2011). Boise State was also set to join the Big East in 2013, but the deal fell apart after the Big East couldn’t provide a similar package to what the Mountain West provided the school.
The Big East also was trying to recover from departures and played its final football season in 2012.
The Pac-12 is one of the oldest conferences in collegiate athletics. It started competition in 1916 as the Pacific Coast Conference. The conference’s founding members include Cal, Washington, Oregon and Oregon State (then called Oregon Agricultural College). Washington State joined in 1917 (as Washington State College).
The Idaho Vandals were part of the PCC from 1922 to 1958. The PCC was dissolved in 1959, and the name Pacific-8 Conference was adopted in 1968. It had grown to the Pacific-10 by 1978 and the Pacific-12 Conference by 2011.
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould and the board of directors considered five factors when reviewing applications to the conference: academics and athletics performance, media and brand evaluation, commitment to athletics success, geography and logistics, and culture and student-athlete welfare.
“Boise State University has excelled across every metric by which we are measured, from the lab to the classroom to the field of play,” Boise State President Marlene Tromp said in a news release. “We have shattered records for research awards, graduation numbers and philanthropic giving. Our exciting trajectory matched by the prowess of our storied athletic programs makes this the moment to advance to the Pac-12 Conference.”
Each departing Mountain West school must pay the conference at least $17 million, with the Pac-12 expected to offset the cost, according to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy. The Mountain West will receive $111 million in exit fees, including a $43 million payment from the Pac-12 as part of a scheduling agreement between the two conferences, McMurphy reported.
Source Agencies
