LAS VEGAS — The Mountain West Conference, in the process of going through a major membership transition, will “pause” adding new schools, commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Wednesday at the conference’s football media days.
The conference will add Grand Canyon in all sports except football beginning this year. Hawaii, which plays football in the Mountain West, will join as a full member in 2026, as will Texas-El Paso. Northern Illinois will play only football in the Mountain West and UC Davis will be a non-football member.
Five schools will leave the Mountain West for the Pac-12 next year — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State.
Both conferences are in a legal dispute about poaching fees and are headed back to court after failing to reach an agreement.
“We’re going to pause right now as far as additional membership,” Nevarez said at her annual football news conference. “Never say never, but we really want to get through our media rights negotiation, take a deep breath and then we’ll readdress the issue.”
Nevarez said she hoped to announce a new media deal soon.
She also touched on several other topics:
-
The Mountain West is paying for any costs associated with adding Grand Canyon a year early.
-
Conference headquarters will relocate from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Las Vegas in July 2026. The Mountain West has been in Colorado Springs since its inception in 1999.
-
Nevarez said the Mountain West did not support conferences receiving more than one automatic berth to the College Football Playoff. The Big Ten prefers such a format but has lost support from the SEC for that type of model.
