The Pac-12 is adding Gonzaga as a member in all sports the school plays starting in July 2026, the conference announced Tuesday.
Gonzaga brings a rich basketball tradition to the refurbished Pac-12, as the Zags have reached the round of 16 of the men’s NCAA tournament nine consecutive times.
According to sources, talks intensified over the past three days. Gonzaga brings strong media value to the league from a basketball perspective, as it’s one of the sport’s top brands and most consistent winners. The Bulldogs have reached every men’s NCAA tournament that has been played since 1999 — a streak of 25 straight years.
Gonzaga has one of the country’s most respected men’s basketball coaches in Mark Few, who has been at the school since 2000, a run that includes a pair of Final Fours.
In a statement, West Coast Conference commissioner Stu Jackson said they had been notified of Gonzaga’s decision, saying Gonzaga had been a “valued member of the WCC for more than four decades.”
Gonzaga is the overhauled Pac-12’s eighth member, but it does not count as the league’s eighth full-time member, as the school doesn’t have football. The Pac-12 still needs to add another member to reach minimum conference thresholds.
The Zags’ press release is here. As it happens, one of my nieces is now a freshman at Gonzaga; her parents and my parents are there visiting for parents weekend. I’m sure this is a big topic of conversation for them – my folks in particular have been big fans of the basketball team for awhile. The Big XII had sniffed around them shortly after UT and OU left and the four other schools joined, but clearly that never developed. This move is unlikely to have any major domino effect, but as noted the PAC-12 is still on the lookout for another full member, so stay tuned.
And along those lines:
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.)
The Miners’ press release is here. I wasn’t aware of any UTEP rumors – or at least, I didn’t blog about them – but this makes sense. They are geographically close and have a past history with several MWC schools. I liked being in the same conference as UTEP and was sad that they didn’t move to the AAC when Rice did. Just as well in retrospect as far as that’s concerned. This is also unlikely to cause a big chain reaction, but I’m sure what’s left of C-USA will be looking for a replacement. And as noted, the MWC still needs an eighth member, too.
Which brings me to the most gobsmacking paragraph I’ve read in awhile, and as someone who follows politics as closely as I do you know that’s a big thing to say:
The Mountain West has also issued a verbal offer to Texas State in recent days, according to sources. No clarity or timeline has emerged on Texas State’s decision. The Pac-12 has also expressed interest in Texas State, sources said.
I for one did not have Texas State, which for the record has only been an FBS school since 2012, being an object of desire for two different conferences on my bingo card. Congrats to the Bobcats for being the belle of the ball right now. We live in such interesting times.