After a three-year absence from major college athletics, the Pac-12 is back. What once looked like a relic of college football history has been rebuilt with an entirely new identity.
And with realignment always comes consequences, both expected and unexpected.
Here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from the Pac-12’s return.
Winner: Boise State
Fans in Boise have waited decades for this opportunity.
Ever since Ian Johnson’s famous Statue of Liberty play stunned Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State has repeatedly shown it belonged on a bigger stage. Year after year, the Broncos proved themselves nationally, yet the sport’s top leagues continuously looked elsewhere. Now, after years of frustration and near misses, Boise State finally has its invitation.
The résumé speaks for itself.
Since 1999, the Broncos have captured 16 conference titles, made frequent appearances in the AP Top 25, and remarkably never posted a losing season during that stretch. Chris Petersen’s legendary 92-12 run helped establish Boise State nationally, and the program has been able to sustain that standard after his departure.
The move also carries major financial value. Pac-12 officials believe Boise State’s addition strengthens a future media rights package projected to exceed $100 million annually, comfortably surpassing the current Mountain West television deal.
“Boise State University has excelled in every metric in which the university has demonstrated its capabilities,” president Marlene Tromp said during the realignment announcement.
On the field, the Broncos immediately enter as one of the favorites to win the rebuilt league.
Winner: Oregon State and Washington State
These programs refused to disappear.
While much of the original Pac-12 scattered toward bigger paydays and greater stability, Oregon State and Washington State stayed committed to preserving what remained. For two years, the schools operated in limbo without a stable home. Now they finally have one again.
The new Pac-12’s full membership includes Oregon State, Washington State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, and Texas State. Gonzaga will also join for every sport except football, and several additional schools enter as sport-specific affiliates.
The conference will feature a television agreement with CBS and The CW alongside an eight-game football schedule beginning in 2026.
More importantly, Oregon State and Washington State maintained control over their future instead of sacrificing identity for survival. Unlike programs that bolted for the Big Ten or Big 12, they preserved more than a century of tradition while retaining significant influence over the league’s direction moving forward.
Patience ultimately paid off.
Loser: The Mountain West
The Mountain West will survive, but it will look dramatically different moving forward.
Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State represented the backbone for years. Those programs drove television interest, national relevance, and much of the league’s football credibility.
UTEP and Northern Illinois are joining, while Hawai’i transitions into a full-time member. Even with those additions, though, the financial outlook takes a substantial hit.
A merger between the Pac-12 and Mountain West likely would have created significantly larger revenue opportunities. Instead, the Mountain West now faces a future with far smaller media payouts despite receiving exit fees and poaching penalties totaling as much as $145 million.
That money helps soften the immediate blow, but it does not fully repair the long-term damage created by losing several cornerstone programs at once.
Loser: The Pac-12 Itself
Even with its revival, the Pac-12 is obviously no longer what it once was.
When the original membership collapsed, the league also lost its standing as an autonomous Power Five entity. That distinction mattered financially, especially regarding College Football Playoff revenue distribution.
The rebuilt version will not receive the same treatment.
As a result, future playoff appearances will generate far less income than what schools previously received during the conference’s peak years. The financial losses during the transition period were staggering. The Pac-12 reportedly lost $381 million in media revenue during fiscal year 2024 before generating only $3 million in 2025.
New television agreements with CBS and The CW finally provide stability beginning in 2026, but those deals fall well short of the conference’s previous media contracts.
Commissioner Teresa Gould has repeatedly described 2024 and 2025 as transition years. The larger question now becomes how long that transition truly lasts.
The rebuilt iteration also remains financially tied to its aggressive expansion efforts. Boise State, Colorado State, and Fresno State each agreed to $17 million exit settlements with the Mountain West, with the Pac-12 helping fund portions of those agreements. Beyond that, the league still owes more than $50 million in poaching penalties tied to the 2024 scheduling partnership between the two sides.
The Pac-12 may officially be back, but the modern version operates in a completely different reality from the one that existed before realignment reshaped college athletics.
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