The Pac-12 is back (sort of)! What to know about the latest round of conference realignment
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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
In a surprising move Wednesday night, news emerged that Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State will leave the Mountain West Conference to join Oregon State and Washington State in the Pac-12 prior to the 2026-27 academic year.
This latest round of conference realignment stems from the collapse of the Pac-12 last summer, which was put into motion the year before when UCLA and USC announced they were leaving for the Big Ten.
Here’s what to know about the moves.
Jump to:
What set this in motion? | Finances
Value of the conference | What other schools could join?
What’s next for the Mountain West
What set this in motion?
When Oregon State and Washington State sued the Pac-12 last year for control of the conference board in the wake of eight schools departing, they spelled out in legal filings that they wanted to be able to rebuild the conference. That didn’t mean they definitely planned to execute such a plan. But it has always been an appealing option, even if it was going to be complicated to pull off.
The NCAA requires conferences to have at least eight members, and after the Pac-12 fell apart, it was afforded a two-year grace period to exist below the minimum. That timeline informed how quickly the conference had to move in order to continue to exist.
What do the financials look like?
This is part of why several sources within the industry were doubtful this particular path forward was likely. The way the MWC bylaws are written, departing schools must pay an $18 million exit fee if they give two years’ notice. That number doubles if it’s less than that. The departing schools here expect to owe $18 million each, which is more than $70 million collectively, plus the $40-plus million the Pac-12 will owe the Mountain West in poaching fees that were part of the conferences’ scheduling agreement for this season.
The idea that the Pac-12 (OSU and WSU) and the schools leaving the MWC would commit that type of money was dismissed by many within the industry. Over the past year, multiple sources referred to those fees as a nonstarter for this type of rebuild. Obviously, they were mistaken.
The Pac-12 is expected to be in position to help the schools with the exit fees, in part due to withheld media rights distribution fees to departed members and other conference assets.
How valuable will the new conference be worth to media rights partners?
Here’s where it gets even more interesting. These six schools would not have paid the MWC more than $100 million just to get to this point if they did not feel confident the potential for increased media rights payments would make it worth it on the back end. Keep in mind, too, that it’s likely the MWC will try to withhold media rights distributions for the departing schools over the next two years, as it did when BYU, TCU and Utah all left in 2011 and was set to be the case when San Diego State previously flirted with a move to the Pac-12 last year.
The departing schools are expecting to receive somewhere in the neighborhood north of $10 million annually in the Pac-12. How accurate that projection is remains to be seen, but it the expectation is that it would be more than double what the MWC currently distributes.
Who else will the Pac-12 target?
It will likely aim high and move down the list. Cal and Stanford are the dream acquisitions, but making that happen would be extremely complicated given they just went to the ACC, which is a party in four lawsuits relating to the potential departures of Clemson and Florida State. It’s worth wondering, though, if Cal and Stanford might have any remorse about their decisions to join the ACC given they are receiving just a 30% share of the league’s media rights distributions over the next seven years (in 2022-23, the ACC distributed an average of $44.8 million per school). While the ACC schools are closer academic peers than what the revamped Pac-12 will look like, how much that really matters in the big picture is up for debate.
The more realistic targets are Tulane and Memphis. But those two will need a much clearer understanding of the financial picture to leave the AAC than the threshold used by the four MWC schools. There would be appeal in building the top football league outside the Power 4, but it would still have to make financial sense. UTSA‘s location makes it a good fit.
Among the remaining MWC schools, UNLV is still viewed as a likely candidate to also move. It checks all the boxes, but that it wasn’t in this first wave is telling. The MWC’s position is much weaker today than it was yesterday, and that could be used as leverage to bring in UNLV — or other MWC schools — at smaller yearly distribution rates, a la Cal and Stanford in the ACC. Air Force figures to be the other MWC school that has the most appeal.
What’s next for the Mountain West?
As things stand, its membership will be at eight in two years: Air Force, Hawai’i, Nevada, New Mexico, San José State, UNLV, Utah State and Wyoming. One more defection would take the conference below the required NCAA minimum for which it — like the Pac-12 has now — would get a two-year grace period to grow back to at least eight.
There had been previous speculation that members could try to dissolve the conference — a process that requires a 75% vote — in order to avoid exit fees to join the Pac-12, but that would mean nine teams would have had to be on board. It’s even less likely now given the departing members are not expected to be able to vote.
The money from the Pac-12 raid could help the conference rebuild — using the Pac-12 blueprint — but it’s still too early to say what it will look like long term.
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is starting to take shape.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. become the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He has since been followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.
As the entrants are announced, we’ll add them to the running list below — and break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 9 | Longest: 467 feet
Why he could win: Acuna has been crushing it since he returned to the lineup May 23 after knee surgery. Indeed, his numbers are even better than during his MVP season in 2023. It should help that he’ll be hitting in front of his home fans in Atlanta: Todd Frazier in Cincinnati in 2015 and Bryce Harper with the Nationals in 2018 rode the loud support to Derby titles. Acuna’s raw power should also translate well to the Derby: Among players with at least 500 at-bats since 2023, he has the longest average home run distance in the majors.
Why he might not: Will he run into Pete Alonso again? Acuna competed in the 2019 and 2022 contests, losing both times to Alonso by a single home run (in the semifinals in 2019 and in the first round in 2022). The home-field advantage can also perhaps be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first with 41 home runs but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 35 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, with 32 home runs, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he can win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he won’t: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the board after Tommy Pham‘s two-run home run in the third inning at Kansas City on Monday night ended a 30-inning scoreless streak.
The Pirates had been shut out in all three games at Seattle during their previous series.
However, they tallied another loss against the Royals, losing 9-3.
The scoreless streak included Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Mariners in which Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes threw 10 strikeouts in five scoreless innings before the Pirates gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Before beginning this nine-game trip with the sweep by the Mariners, the Pirates had blanked the St. Louis Cardinals in three consecutive home games. Their streak of playing in six straight shutouts matched the longest in major league history.
Pham, a 12-year veteran who is in his first season with the Pirates, bookended the scoreless skid with RBIs. He drove in a seventh-inning run with a groundout Wednesday during the 5-0 victory over the Cardinals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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