New Era: Colorado State University Sports Joins New Conference

A new era for Colorado State University Sports will be coming in 2026. All Colorado State University sports will officially be leaving the Mountain West Conference and moving to a new one.

Colorado State Joins the Pac-12

Boise State, Fresno State, and San Diego State will also be added to the Pac-12 Conference. All of these schools are also Mountain West Conference schools.

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Colorado State University will pay the Mountain West Conference $17 million in exit fees. Every school that is leaving the Mountain West will also have to pay that sum, which is a total of $68 million.

Additionally, the Pac-12 will also have to pay the Mountain West Conference.

Conference Will Help All At Colorado State

In a press release, Colorado State's President Amy Parson emphasized that the new conference will come with more benefits than athletics.

This move elevates CSU in a way which benefits all our students, bolsters our core mission, and strengthens our reputation for academic and research excellence. CSU is honored to be among the universities asked to help carry on the history and tradition of the Pac-12 as a highly competitive conference with some of the nation’s leading research institutions.

I believe this will be great for Colorado State University. Being added to this conference means that the Rams will get more prime-time games and will put our team on a bigger stage.

There is a ton of opportunity with this and I am incredibly excited for the future of our Colorado State Rams.

Pac-12 Is Rebuilding

This is huge for the Pac-12. Every university, with the exception of two, left the conference this season. Notably, the Colorado Buffaloes left the Pac-12 for the Big 10. In doing so, their schedule and the teams they play have changed.

Since so many Mountain West teams are leaving for the same conference, Rams fans should expect a similar schedule. The teams we play will not change much.

K99 is the home of Colorado State University football. You can listen to all CSU football games on 99.1 FM or on the K99 app.