The Pac-12 and Mountain West finally put an end to their long-running legal fight on Tuesday, and Boise State is part of the settlement that closes the book on the dispute.
In a joint statement, the conferences and the five schools that left the Mountain West for the Pac-12 on July 1 said they had reached final agreements to settle all pending litigation. The parties had already agreed to a settlement in principle back in May, but the terms were not released.
“The Mountain West Conference, the Pac-12 Conference, Boise State University, Colorado State University, Utah State University, and The Board of Trustees of the California State University for the benefit of San Diego State University and California State University, Fresno have reached final agreements to settle all pending litigation among the parties. With these matters concluded, the conferences and institutions can move forward with certainty and focus on serving their student-athletes, campuses, fans, and communities.”
The Mountain West had been pushing for $55 million in poaching penalties from the Pac-12 and about $100 million in exit fees from Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State. Those numbers are no longer in play publicly, though the settlement amount itself was not disclosed.
Earlier this year, Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the Mountain West would receive “significantly less” than the $155-plus million commissioner Gloria Nevarez had been seeking.
For Boise State and the rest of the new Pac-12, the timing matters. The legal mess is wrapped up before the 2026-27 athletics season begins, which removes a possible distraction as the rebuilt conference gets ready for its first season. It also gives the league and its former Mountain West counterparts a chance to move past the courtroom and back toward a more functional relationship.
That could matter on the field and the court. The Pac-12 and Mountain West are the top two FBS conferences based primarily in the West, and they will likely wind up with multiple non-conference football games against each other every season, along with even more crossover in men’s and women’s basketball.
The scheduling picture is already part of the setup. Each team in the new Pac-12 will need to line up 16 non-conference men’s basketball games each season and four or five non-conference football games in 2027, depending on how flex scheduling is used down the line.
Boise State already has one notable basketball matchup on the calendar this season: a December game against New Mexico.
The legal fight traces back nearly three years, when 10 former Pac-12 members left for the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12, leaving Oregon State and Washington State behind. Those two schools then formed a scheduling partnership with the Mountain West for the 2024 football season, with an option for 2025.
That deal did not survive. In September 2024, the Mountain West said it would not renew the arrangement, and a week later Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State committed to the Pac-12. Utah State followed, along with Gonzaga from the WCC and Texas State from the Sun Belt.
After landing the first four Mountain West schools, the Pac-12 filed a federal antitrust lawsuit challenging the poaching penalty built into the scheduling agreement. Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State responded with a separate lawsuit over the exit fees.
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