UNLV rejects Pac-12 offer, to remain in Mountain West

An official announcement is expected Thursday morning after the conference receives signed paperwork from all members.

Air Force also is reportedly planning to remain in the conference, which means both the Mountain West and Pac-12 are left with seven members once the departures of five schools becomes official in 2026.

That’s one short of meeting the NCAA’s minimum requirement to be recognized as a conference, but the Mountain West is expected to move quickly to add additional members once UNLV and Air Force’s paperwork becomes official.

UNLV is believed to have accepted a massive retention package that includes a large cash payment upward of $25 million and other concessions from the Mountain West, which is expected to collect nearly $100 million in exit fees from the five schools that are departing for the Pac-12.

Additional poaching fees are in dispute after the Pac-12 filed a federal lawsuit against the Mountain West on Tuesday.

Moving pieces

UNLV appeared to have settled on remaining in the Mountain West on Monday, but Utah State’s decision to bolt for the Pac-12 made UNLV reconsider its options.

Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State announced Sept. 12 they would leave the Mountain West for the Pac-12, which had consisted of just Oregon State and Washington State.

Pac-12 officials originally hoped to expand their geographic footprint by adding Memphis, Tulane and perhaps even South Florida and UTSA, but those schools decided Monday to remain in the American Athletic Conference.

That’s when the Pac-12 turned its attention to UNLV and Utah State.

UNLV, like the other schools leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12, would have owed the Mountain West an exit fee of between $18 million and $20 million.

Mountain West schools currently make almost $6 million annually in overall payouts. League officials have informed UNLV that preliminary negotiations indicate that number should not decrease when a new media rights deal is signed despite the loss of several name-brand institutions.

How much Pac-12 schools will receive when the league is reformed in 2026 is uncertain. The Pac-12 is now left scrambling to fill at least one additional spot.

Founding members

UNLV is one of the founding eight members of the Mountain West, along with Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah and Wyoming. The league began play in 1999.

The Mountain West remained untouched through recent rounds of realignment, which kicked off when Texas and Oklahoma announced their intentions to leave the Big 12 for the SEC in 2021.

The Pac-12 was hurt the most by the resulting domino effect. Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington left for the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, which left the Mountain West in 2011, jumped to the Big 12. Cal and Stanford went to the ACC.

Those departures left Oregon State and Washington State on their own in the Pac-12 trying to find a way to move forward.

UNLV now remains in the Mountain West with UNR, San Jose State, New Mexico, Wyoming, Air Force and Hawaii.

Why not leave?

Staying in the league came down to choosing short-term stability and the opportunity to wield power over pursuit of a potentially splashier media rights deal and the prestige that could await in what would be a higher-profile group the Pac-12 is trying to assemble.

University officials saw the benefit in both scenarios, but sources indicated negotiations with the Mountain West proved so fruitful it would have been difficult to reject the terms.

Athletic director Erick Harper has mostly declined public comment on the deliberations and could not be reached late Wednesday, but he was asked about them during a Wednesday morning appearance on a local news telecast during which he was pushing ticket sales for Saturday’s game against Fresno State at Allegiant Stadium.

“At the end of the day, my job is to evaluate every single piece of what’s best for our student-athletes,” Harper said. “In this case, I have to evaluate every single thing from travel to their experience for home games.

“I think it’s important we do the right thing for our student-athletes, our university and our Las Vegas community as well.”

UNLV now will be able to pay off the athletic department’s debt and perhaps make a big push to keep football coach Barry Odom around for the long term.

The decision could make recruiting, ticket sales and marketing more difficult with less appealing conference matchups. But there also will be an opportunity to become a league powerhouse in football and other marquee sports.

It remains to be seen how Wednesday’s decision could affect UNLV’s long-term plan of joining a power conference, particularly the Big 12.

Based on the rest of the concessions and because the school was negotiating from a position of power, it’s likely UNLV would receive a favorable buyout provision should such an offer come to fruition.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.