Conference Realignment Resumes in the West
By Tucker Harlin
Conference realignment talks have warmed up once again and two more schools are on the move in the college athletics landscape as of Tuesday.
UTEP was the first school to announce its move, jumping from Conference USA to the Mountain West.
UTEP has accepted an invitation to join the @mountainwest .
— UTEP Miners (@UTEPAthletics) October 1, 2024
📰 :https://t.co/LadBNKSHwX#PicksUp | #JoiningTheAscent pic.twitter.com/eYpwQpYUMM
The second move, announced less than an hour later, was Gonzaga heading into the Pac-12 from the West Coast Conference. The Zags will be members of the Pac-12 in all non-football sports.
The Pac-12 Conference and Gonzaga University are proud to announce their partnership, as the Bulldogs will join the conference effective July 1, 2026.
— Gonzaga Athletics (@GonzagaBulldogs) October 1, 2024
📰Press Release: https://t.co/N1MISXXxcE pic.twitter.com/NKmyyweKqH
Both of these moves are set to take place in 2026.
The Mountain West and Pac-12 are currently in a race to stack members in order to have enough schools to consider themselves a conference.
The Pac-12 was down to Oregon State and Washington State at the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic calendar. The conference is adding Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, and San Diego State as members in 2026 in addition to the Zags, and there are discussions of Sacramento State making efforts to join as an eighth member.
The Mountain West is losing all of these schools to the Pac-12. With the addition of UTEP, the Mountain West now has seven schools as full-time members with Hawaii as a football only member to complete the necessary eight in football. For the time being, Conference USA will have 11 members in 2026 which is still above the necessary eight to qualify as a conference.
Geographic distance is one of the primary complaints about realignment, but that’s not a huge concern with either one of these additions.
With UTEP about as far west in Texas as possible, it’s less than a four hour drive from the next closest Mountain West school in New Mexico, placing it somewhat within the footprint. UTEP is the first Texas school since TCU was a member before running for the Big 12 in 2012.
Gonzaga and Washington State are within an hour and a half of each other in the Pac-12. Among other things, adding the Bulldogs not only strengthens the Pac-12’s basketball credibility but also forces Gonzaga to compete against tougher basketball competition than Pepperdine or San Diego every year.
