New-Look Pac-12 Returns for First Week of Conference Play
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The Pac-12 begins conference play in football on Saturday, three years after the 100-year-old league was picked apart during a vicious round of conference realignment.
Conference play officially kicks off at 6 p.m. ET, with a matchup between Colorado State and Oregon State. Then, No. 22 Boise State will face off against Utah State at 7:30 p.m. ET. The slate also marks the return of “Pac-12 after Dark”: Washington State will play Fresno State at 9:30 p.m. ET, and San Diego State will play Texas State at 10:30 p.m. ET.
The league’s conference-specific games have begun later in the season than other FBS leagues, since the Pac-12 has only eight full FBS football-playing members. But the smaller, pluckier Pac-12 is still celebrating. On Saturday morning, it posted a graphic on X/Twitter marking the milestone many believed would never come. “It begins today,” the Pac-12 wrote.
The Pac-12 will also show off its new media rights package, with CBS Sports as its “anchor” network, flanked by The CW and Versant’s new USA Network. The league also has a production arm called “Pac-12 Enterprises,” which will produce many of the league’s games. The full value of the Pac-12’s media rights package has not been disclosed.
On Saturday, that new media package will be on full display. Oregon State–Colorado State and Fresno State–Washington State will appear on USA Network, Utah State–Boise State on CBS Sports Network, and the nightcap Texas State–San Diego State matchup on The CW.
An Unprecedented Rebuild
The Pac-12’s demise technically began in 2022, when UCLA and USC announced a stunning decision to join the Big Ten. After the league failed to sign a media rights package, the rest of the conference crumbled the following summer: Colorado bolted to the Big 12, followed by Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah on the same day Oregon and Washington defected to the Big Ten. Later that summer, Stanford and Cal announced they would leave for the ACC, leaving just Oregon State and Washington State.
The final season of Pac-12 football—at least the old version—ended with the 2023 season.
Oregon State and Washington State didn’t give up on the Pac-12, however. Through lawsuits to maintain conference assets, the appointment of Teresa Gould as commissioner, and scheduling and affiliate partnerships for the two schools in 2024 and 2025, the Pac-12 began its rebuild. But the biggest challenge was adding new members. Starting in 2024, the league had two years to get its full-time FBS football-playing membership up to eight teams.
In the fall of 2024, the Pac-12 announced it would poach five Mountain West schools: Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, Colorado State, and Boise State. The league also added Texas State and Gonzaga, a full non-football member.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, however: The Pac-12 also sued the Mountain West, setting off a series of legal battles between schools and the conferences over contracts and exit fees. (That litigation wasn’t settled until this summer.)
Future Aspirations
The league is now considered one of the six non-power conference leagues. It can compete for the one guaranteed non-Power 4 College Football Playoff slot and earn CFP money commensurate with other Group of 6 leagues.
It already has one potential CFP contender in ranked Boise State, which became the first Group of 6 program to appear in the 12-team College Football Playoff in December of 2024.
But the conference may still have more realignment trouble in its future. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told Puck recently that one “west coast” school had reached out to him inquiring about future SEC membership. Luckily for the Pac-12, Sankey said he didn’t even entertain the idea.
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