Mountain West’s Future After Pac-12 Realignment: What’s Next?
With the Pac-12 realignment, four top FCS schools — North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Montana State, and Idaho — could reshape the future of the Mountain West.
After the demise of the Pac-12, it was no secret that the conference wanted to make a return to college sports. The last two members, Oregon State & Washington State headed to the West Coast Conference where the Pac-12 had stated it wanted to retain the two schools and then build around them. That work has begun as Colorado State, San Diego State, Fresno State, and Boise State all announced that they’d be departing from the Mountain West Conference to join the Pac-12 starting with the 2026 season.
That leaves the Mountain West with just seven schools, so what does that mean for the conference that’s been on a meteoric rise over the last decade?
There a few different paths that they can go here. Some FCS schools will obviously be chomping at the bit to try and secure a spot that’ll transition them from FCS to FBS. Some tops names that come to mind are South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Montana State, and Idaho which are all ranked in the top 10 respectfully in the FCS. These four schools would make a lot of sense geographically as well, but the question here is, is it worth it for the schools to leave where they are dominating in the FCS.
This question is most relevant for South Dakota and North Dakota State. One of these two schools have won the FCS championship 11 out of the last 14 seasons. North Dakota State reported $6.4 million in operating income (154in all of college football). South Dakota State brought in $6.2 million (158 in all of college football). For comparison in the Mountain West, San Jose State was last in football at $10.6 million. Intriguingly enough, Montana State brought in $11.6 million which was 101 in all of college football. Idaho brought in $6.5 million for 152nd.
If you are looking at purely revenue, Montana State would seem like a good fit, but there’s no denying that North and South Dakota State are the more established programs at this point as they’ve dominated the FCS over the last decade and a half.
Basketball wise, South Dakota State brought in $4 million (200th). North Dakota State brought in $3.4 million (268th). Montana State brought in $4.1 million (224th). Idaho brought in $3.2 million (302nd). In the Mountain West, San Jose State was in last place at $5.4 million.
In both football and basketball, these four options are definitely on the lower end of the spectrum compared to the remainder of the Mountain West, however, they have strong numbers for FCS schools. As we know today, football dominates the conversation, but if these schools moved from their respective conferences to the Mountain West, they’d see a significant jump in revenue as well.
Here’s each school’s record since 2010:
North Dakota State: 181-24
South Dakota State: 131-52
Montana State: 110-55
Idaho: 61-104
18-10 in the last three seasons (they had some rough years in 2011-2014)
There’s no doubt that North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and Montana State would all be homeruns. Idaho doesn’t have the track record, but they are a fast rising team. The Vandals defeated Wyoming and gave Oregon an ultimate scare in week two.
What do you think the Mountain West will do? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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