Later Monday, McMurphy reported that Gonzaga is leaving the West Coast Conference to join the Pac-12. Dellenger reported that the Pac-12 has been in “serious discussion” with Gonzaga but that a move is not finalized, and ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and The Athletic’s Chris Vannini reported similarly.

The Pac-12 is in the midst of attempting to expand their conference, currently slated to have six members. A more national approach was taken before multiple schools remained committed to the AAC and publicly announced as such on Monday afternoon.

Utah State becomes the seventh member of the rebuilding Pac-12, which needs to get to eight members by the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

Yahoo Sports national columnist Dan Wetzel, senior college sports reporter Ross Dellenger, and Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde discuss the conference shuffle between the Pac-12 and Mountain West Conference and why they don’t merge into one big conference.

Per reports, the Pac-12 filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference over "poaching" penalties on the five new additions to the Pac-12:

The Pac-12 filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West on Tuesday taking aim at a pricey "poaching fee." The suit, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges that the potential penalty is unenforceable under antitrust law.

The Pac-12 is suing the Mountain West over what it calls unlawful and unenforceable fees that could cost the rebuilding conference more than $40 million for adding Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado