Graney: Don’t call Mountain West defectors disloyal. That idea is dead

Loyalty, it has been said, is the pledge of truth to oneself and others.

Except when it comes to college realignment.

And that’s not a bad thing.

Four teams from the Mountain West have jumped ship to the Pac-12, beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Boise State. Colorado State. Fresno State. San Diego State.

All gone. All headed to what they believe are greener pastures with, yes, lots of green stuff. Money — or the hope for more of it — is always the primary reason for such moves. A concept Las Vegas should understand.

It caught all the remaining Mountain West schools by surprise, UNLV included. Shocked, really.

Call the defections naive. Egotistical. Opportunistic. But it’s not disloyal. Everybody in the country is this way now. It’s the way it is.

Had the Rebels already been extended an invitation to the Pac-12 as others were, you can bet your last scarlet and gray T-shirt they would have accepted.

And yet this is what college sports are all about. Looking out for the best interests of your particular school and student-athletes. It’s what UNLV does. What it should be doing.

You leave for the opportunity of greater wealth via media rights deals. Greater perceived access to things like the College Football Playoff. In theory, greater everything. And you don’t worry about who’s left back.

It’s why the Pac-12 imploded last summer, with a majority of its teams scurrying across the country for membership into the Big 12 and Big Ten and ACC. Everyone is trying to get more money because now they have to pay athletes. It’s the only way you can be competitive. All decisions are being driven by finances.

Geography. Traditions. Conference alliances. All out the window. None of it matters anymore.

Nothing new

USC just signed a partnership with Cookies, a popular CBD/cannabis and wellness company. It makes the Trojans the first school to partner with a cannabis company in NCAA history. Hey, you need those NIL dollars for transfer quarterbacks, right?

In a sense, this is nothing new. The haves and have-nots have defined college athletics for decades. And if you’re convinced switching conferences can better position your bank account and the overall success of your athletic department, not making a move would be foolish. It takes money to compete at the highest levels. To win anything.

Pac-12 schools Washington State and Oregon State weren’t afforded such and were left behind. So this is their first step to rebuild — by poaching Mountain West teams. And probably more to come.

Now, will the four who left and any Mountain West school that might follow actually make more money from such a move? Was it a prudent financial decision? We’re going to find out.

“Those conversations were being had multiple times a day, morning, noon and night,” Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey told ESPN regarding his school’s departure from the Mountain West. “We were together in terms of jumping on calls and just talking through the what-if scenarios and potential opportunities that could exist and concerns and those type of things.”

And none of it had to do with leaving eight other schools.

It’s just reality

Not one Mountain West school wouldn’t have accepted a Pac-12 invite. Not one wouldn’t have been involved in those all-day conversations if possible.

Loyalty isn’t a concept known throughout college sports. Hasn’t been for some time. Not when it comes to coaches leaving for other jobs or athletes jumping into the transfer portal or schools bolting for other conferences.

The four that left for the Pac-12 weren’t disloyal to the Mountain West. They did what everyone does. Looked out for themselves. Did what they believed was best for their institutions.

That’s just college sports.

That’s just reality.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.