San Diego State will not join Pac-12 in 2024, to remain in Mountain West Conference. For now.
The Pac-12 might extend an invite in the future. Not right now though.
It seems the Pac-12 will be a ten team conference for at least a year. After some speculation of a potential exit, San Diego State did not give a notice that they were leaving, essentially ensuring a return to the Mountain West Conference this weekend through at least the 2024 season.
This likely means SMU will not be getting an invite for 2024 either. It wouldn’t make much sense for the Pac-12 to invite two different teams on two different timetables. It is probable that the uncertainty of how the Pac-12 television contract will shake out made the conference hesitant to extend an offer.
San Diego State would have had to pay an enormous exit fee if they chose to leave in 2024 after June 30 ($34 million). Without an offer in hand, it made little sense for the Aztecs to leave at this time and risk a few months of uncertainty.
It does not mean the end of San Diego State and Pac-12 expansion rumors. The exit fee resets to $16.5 million for any move to be made for the 2025 season, and it will need to be settled by June 30, 2024. By then the Pac-12 should have a better understanding of its financials from the newest television deal and both the Aztecs and the Conference of Champions can determine if this would still be a good fit for both programs.
What do you think of San Diego State’s fit in the Pac-12?
The year is 3024 and the Pac-12 media deal is rumored to be nearly complete. The sport of college football is no longer played due to human life being eliminated from the planet. In 2025, a powerful AI was tasked with facilitating the media deal. Upon discovering the impossibility of this task, it sought to and succeeded in eliminating all human complications to the process.
Cal fans: Cal to the Mountain West or Big 12 and the 'Furd to the Big 10? NO WAY! I have a hard time believing that the Big 10 is going to count on the 'Furd, all by themselves, to attract enough bay area eyeballs to make an invitation to the Big 10 worthwhile. Despite all of our struggles in football and basketball, Cal has a much larger fan base in the bay area and probably nationwide. We aren't going to get $C or FUCLA money but the bay area is too significant a media market to simply ignore or leave to someone else.