The college sports world received major news on Thursday morning regarding conference alignments. The Pac-12 is getting a makeover, as it will take in four teams from the Mountain West. These teams will join Oregon State and Washington State to make up the conference’s new look heading into 2026. The new teams are the Boise State Broncos, the Colorado State Rams, the Fresno State Bulldogs, and the San Diego State Aztecs.
Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould commented on the re-alignment decision.
“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics… I am thankful to our board for their efforts to welcome Boise State University, Colorado State University, California State University, Fresno, and San Diego State University to the conference. An exciting new era for the Pac-12 Conference begins today.”
The outlook on each Pac-12 sport will be very different, and that includes baseball. Oregon State is the dominant power in this new-look conference, with three national titles and a record of going to every NCAA tournament since 2009.
One of the newcomers to the conference in 2026 also has a national title to its name. Fresno State took home the hardware in the 2008 season, and its program has had previous success, with four trips to Omaha for the College World Series.
San Diego State has had a string of successful seasons, including 14 appearances in the NCAA tournament, but they have not been back since 2018. However, they did take home the Mountain West regular-season title during the 2023 season.
Current Pac-12 resident Washington State has not seen prolonged success in baseball in quite some time. The last time they made it to the NCAA tournament was in 2010, and they have not been to the College World Series since 1976.
As for the other three programs joining, their baseball culture is miles different. Boise State attempted to bring the program back in 2020 after it had been discontinued since 1980. However, COVID halted the season, and the Broncos never picked it back up, so they are without a baseball team. Colorado State’s baseball program was also discontinued back in 1992.
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WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
Photo Credit: Long Beach St. infielder Matt Gimenez (47) makes a force play on Stanford outfielder Brandon Wulff. (Photo by Douglas Stringer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
