From the ashes, new Pac-12 is ready to re-introduce itself as ‘disruptor’
It doesn’t take long for Teresa Gould to just pause for a moment and reflect.
“It’s actually really hard to put into words and to really express kind of the emotion around what the last couple years have felt like,” she told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s almost like a blur.”
After a few years in the Pac-12, she became the conference commissioner in March 2024 and was immediately tasked with figuring out its survival. Ten schools were months away from bolting the league. She was handing out conference championships to teams already out the door, all while the Pac-12 Network shut down with massive layoffs.
By the time the dust settled, the league — long promoted as the “Conference of Champions” — was down to just Washington State and Oregon State.
It could have folded. The Cougars and Beavers could have swallowed their pride and left for a stable home, albeit in a non-Power conference structure.
But rising from the ashes is the new Pac-12, and it would like the opportunity to re-introduce itself.
Who is in the new Pac-12?
The 2026-27 season starts the new-look conference, with Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Texas State and Utah State joining. Oh, and don’t forget about Gonzaga and it’s powerhouse men’s basketball team.
It still bears the same name, but you don’t need binoculars to see it doesn’t look anything like it did for over a century.
This isn’t your dad’s Pac-10 — or your older brother’s Pac-12.
And that’s exactly what it wants.
“We’re marrying tradition with transformation,” Gould said. “We’re taking the legacy and the 110-year history, and we’re reimagining it into something new and modern in 2026.”
What killed the Pac-12?
Failure to secure a quality broadcast deal led to the demise of the Pac-12 with 10 schools leaving for the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. By the time the dust settled, the league, Washington State and Oregon State were left trying to figure out what’s next. Gould described it as a “heart-wrenching sadness” all remaining sides felt, but there wasn’t much time to dwell on the outcome; the focus had to shift to survival.
“I don’t know necessarily that there was a grim outlook. I think that was certainly a chaotic time for all sorts of different things that were going on,” said Washington State athletic director Jon Haarlow.
Completely abandoning the Pac-12 wasn’t on the table, with all parties believing there was a path toward rebuilding, even if it didn’t know what that looked like. What really solidified a future, Gould noted, was the legal victory the two schools secured in Nov. 2023 over the departing schools in retaining control of the conference and millions of dollars in assets, allowing it to create a path forward as opposed to literally starting from scratch.
Next? Since the NCAA allowed a two-year grace period to meet the FBS required minimum of eight member schools, the Cougars and Beavers needed new mates to keep the Pac-12 alive. Sure enough, they didn’t have to look far.
Assembling the new Pac-12
“This thing’s going down. It’s happening.”
Those were the words Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey told football coach Spencer Danielson in Sept. 2024. It was about the Broncos making the jump from the Mountain West to the Pac-12. A few weeks later, it was official, with Boise State among the five MWC schools leaving, joined by Texas State and later Gonzaga.
Gould explained the goal was to get schools that were willing to invest and take their programs to the next level, while also trying to find “challenger programs” that have climbed the mountain top of sports and held their own. That was evident in Boise State football, as well as Gonzaga and San Diego State in men’s basketball.
The decision set off a lengthy court battle between the Pac-12, Mountain West and the departing schools over exit fees, one that resulted in a $49 million settlement.
While that was getting handled with lawyers, there was intrigue for Boise State deciding to land at a new home. For seemingly decades, the BCS-buster had long been viewed as a potential candidate to move up to the Power conference level. It once agreed to join the Big East, rumored to join the Big 12 and the previous iteration of the Pac-12.
So, why now? Dickey believes “it was the right time and moment for us to take a chance.”
“It gave us a seat at the table on building something and not walking into something that we inherit and have to operate a certain way,” he said. “It allows us to be different and truly be innovative and not live in insanity.”
The move helped attract people to the schools, rather than being a feeding ground for others. Former Ohio State administrator Kevin Griffin became Oregon State athletic director, and Colorado State hired football coach Jim Mora, no stranger to the conference after six seasons with UCLA from 2012-17.
“The name of the conference is very familiar to me,” Mora said. “The structure and the teams is brand new, and I don’t really know what to expect.”
He isn’t alone in that sentiment.
Can the new Pac-12 be a Power conference?
The name and the two legacy schools are about the only things staying the same in the Pac-12. After that, it’s nothing like you’re used to. The league is trying all sorts of new things, all in the name of innovation and disruption to separate itself from the rest of the country. Dickey summarized it as “building the plane while we fly it.”
“We think about ourselves as a startup, and it feels that way,” Gould said. “We’ve taken very seriously this blank slate mentality that we’re starting over and launching something new and different, we’re rebuilding the league in a very different way.”
One of the boldest things comes in football, with the flex week that comes in the final week of the regular season. After everyone plays seven Pac-12 games, the league essentially determines who plays who in a rematch in the final conference matchup based on the “best interests” and considering College Football Playoff implications. There are some projected matchups, like Oregon State at Washington State, but they can change.
The home teams are already determined in Utah State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Washington State, and the Pac-12 will try to avoid a team playing on the road at the same place.
Is it a bold move? Absolutely. Does it make sense? Sort of. Will it work? That’s still to be decided — and the conference is OK with that. All parties emphasize it needs to push the boundaries in order to stand out.
“We’re going to stay laser-focused on the things that move the needle and make the biggest impact, and we’re also going to think about ourselves as a disruptor and a challenger, and not just accept that status quo and the way everybody else does things is going to be right for us,” Gould said. “We’re going to try things like that, and they’re not all going to land. There’s going to be some misses, I promise you that, but we’re not going to just do what everybody else does. I think we need to distinguish ourselves that way.”
Of course, it’s going to take more than just trying new things to get recognition, something Griffin emphasized. He noted one thing his ticket sales staff has mentioned is Beavers fans don’t know much about their new conference mates, so it’s become a goal to not just familiarize them, but show why they matter.
It can’t stop there; it has to get the message out nationally. The Pac-12 has a media rights deal with CBS Sports, USA Sports and CW Sports where every football game will be featured nationally. That’s a great way to showcase the conference to everyone, but also comes the task of making them worth watching.
Stadiums need to be full and “look vibrant,” Griffin said, and the quality of play needs to look professional.
“We all have to do a really great job of rowing the boat in the same direction to drive attention to the Pac-12 and the West Coast and what we’re doing in this part of the country,” he added. “We have got to make sure we’re telling the story beyond east of the Mississippi, so that the rest of the country understands what’s going on out here. That’s a challenge.”
As it pertains to football, the Pac-12 believes it’s set up for that. Several administrators and coaches touted the parity and competitiveness the league will have.
Boise State is the favorite to win the Pac-12 title, but just about anyone else could make a solid case it can finish as conference champion. Gould mentioned how pretty much every conference has “bottom feeders,” she doesn’t believe there are any in her league.
There are strengths in having a balanced league, but it could also be a disadvantage, namely in getting in the CFP — which also reminds everyone of where the Pac-12 is at vs. how it views itself.
As it stands, the Pac-12 is lumped with the Group of Six conferences fighting to get the one spot reserved for the bunch in the playoff, meaning it is not viewed as a Power conference.
That’s not how the Pac-12 sees it, still believing despite the massive reshuffle in members, it belongs at the highest tier of college sports, even if those outside say otherwise.
“You’ll hear us talk a lot about being a top-five conference,” Gould said. “What we don’t control are these kind of power monikers that are used in the media that you know are kind of ambiguous in terms of what that really means. We’re in this place where we’re going to control what we can control and create our own lane. But what we know is that we’re a top-five league, and the results on the field will show that.”
“We stand right there with everyone else,” Griffin added.
It’s all good talk, but there is only one way to make everyone else believe it.
“We’ll see, but I absolutely believe that it’s in one of those top-five conferences. You call it Power Five with the Pac-12? I believe that,” Danielson said. “Now we have to go prove that, right?”
There are surely plenty of skeptics doubting all the different things the Pac-12 is trying will work and get it back to a status it once held for decades. Danielson was adamant that when it does work, he really believes in the next couple of years “the Pac-12 will be able to add some really awesome universities to an already really good group.”
The Pac-12 isn’t trying to wrangle anymore members at this juncture, Gould said, adding she doesn’t think it’s necessary since it views its size as an advantage. But she doesn’t completely rule it out, mentioning the conference is always going to be on the lookout for any prospects that would be good fits.
The future will hinge on making the first year work. It still is hard to fathom the Pac-12 survived, with all sides giving props to Washington State and Oregon State doing all it can to make a path forward possible. Now it has nine institutions all with a chip on their shoulder to prove it deserves a seat at every table.
Football will of course be the sport everyone pays attention to, but think of the other sports where it be a multi-bid league in NCAA tournaments with Gonzaga in the mix. There is a viable path for it to not only be recognized, but win big in the process.
So in 2026, allow the Pac-12 to reintroduce itself.
“The majesty that is that league and its history can still exist. Does it look different? Sure,” Haarlow said. “Can it still be something really great, really special?
“Absolutely.”