The purple and gold confetti was still falling after the Washington Huskies absolutely stomped Oregon in the 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game, securing their spot in the College Football Playoff, when an unbelievably awkward truth started to hit everyone: this was it. The Pac-12 we knew, one of college sports’ OGs going all the way back to the Pacific Coast Conference in 1915, was basically done. Its death rattle had been going on for years, with the whole media rights deal mess right at the center of the collapse. When NIL money blew up college football, the big programs knew they couldn’t stand around watching the Big Ten and SEC pull further away. Our Dawgs, alongside Oregon, UCLA, and USC, bolted for the Big Ten. Then Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah ran to the Big 12. Cal and Stanford, left hanging, scurried off to the ACC. What was left? Just Washington State and Oregon State, a two-team conference. Gone were those epic Pac-12 basketball tournaments in Vegas. The Apple Cup rivalry got shoved to the beginning of the season. And the chaotic, late-night magic of “Pac-12 After Dark”? Yeah, that was over too.
The Conference That Wouldn’t Stay Down
But guess what? After two years of basically being a ghost, the Pac-12 is back, baby! And it’s not just back, it’s *so* back. The 2026 version is nothing like the old days. You’re still going to get rivalries, heated games, and those classic late-night shockers, but nobody’s calling it a power conference anymore. Now, if a Pac-12 team wants a College Football Playoff spot, they have to be ranked higher than every other Group of Six opponent in the final top 25. That’s a new challenge, for real. And get this for a wild fact: every single Pac-12 football team now has the word “State” in its name. How wild is that?
Meet Your New Pac-12 Contenders
The new eight-team Pac-12 consists of Oregon State and Washington State, joined by five teams from the Mountain West: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State. Plus, Texas State jumps over from the Sun Belt. Boise State, with their famous blue field, has always been one of the top Group of Six programs, and they’re bringing that energy to the bright lights of the Pac-12. Fresno State and Utah State both crushed it enough to snag bowl games in 2025. Colorado State, meanwhile, is looking to turn things around under former UCLA coach Jim Mora. And Texas State? They’ve won a bowl game in each of the last three seasons, so don’t sleep on them! On the basketball side, Gonzaga is also joining the conference, bringing the total to nine members for hoops. The Bulldogs have been a perennial powerhouse, making the NCAA Tournament in each of the past 17 seasons, including those runs to the national championship game in 2017 and 2021.
So yeah, the new-look Pac-12 might not have the same old luster or the insane level of competition we saw before. But let’s be real, this revamped conference is set to be one of, if not *the*, strongest Group of Six conferences in both football and basketball. Get ready, because even though it’s totally different, we’re still going to be staying up late to see what kind of chaos this new Pac-12 delivers. It’s going to be interesting to watch these new rivalries heat up on the field and court.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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