Colorado State University to leave Mountain West Conference for PAC-12
Colorado State University will leave the Mountain West Conference after 2025, electing to join the reformed PAC-12 instead. The university announced they have applied to join the PAC-12 conference starting in 2026 in an effort to rebuild the conference from a mass exodus in recent years.
CSU joins Boise State University, San Diego State University and California State University Fresno as the four Mountain West schools jumping to the PAC-12.
Those teams will join Oregon State University and Washington State University in the conference, both of which were remaining teams from the previous PAC-12.
"We are taking control of our future at CSU by forming an alliance of six peer institutions who will serve as the foundation for a new era of the Pac-12," said Amy Parsons, president of CSU. "This move elevates CSU in a way that benefits all our students, bolsters our core mission, and strengthens our reputation for academic and research excellence. CSU is honored to be among the universities asked to help carry on the history and tradition of the Pac-12 as a highly competitive conference with some of the nation's leading research institutions."
The change will be made official on July 1 of 2026.
CSU will take 16 varsity NCAA Division One sports programs with them to the PAC-12, 10 of which are women's and six of which are men's.
The university said it will work to preserve rivalries between schools that it has had in the Mountain West.
"These historic rivalries are important to our fans and institutions, and we very much want to ensure that they continue into the future," said John Weber, director of athletics at CSU. "It will be exciting to see new rivalries come out of this, too. The power of the Pac-12 lies in the fact the member institutions are situated in the West, have passionate fan bases and renowned sports histories."
Many have speculated this move is a great way for the university to bring in more money via a larger media rights contract that could come with the PAC-12.
CSU boasted of its more than $250 million investment in upgrading sports facilities in the last ten years, most of which was the construction of Canvas Stadium.