Pac-12 Still Playing Conference Tetris As Realignment Heats Up

More conference realignment in college sports is starting to take shape, even if there won’t be the same type of landscape-altering moves that happened last summer.

This week, Sacramento State announced that in 2026 it would move from the Big Sky to the Big West for all of its sports except football. The Hornets, an FCS team, have been attempting to move to the FBS level, and will have their transition application heard by the Division I council next week. 

However, Sacramento State does not yet have an invitation from an FBS conference. The university’s president, Luke Wood, said geography was why they didn’t have an invite, in a lengthy statement, but claimed that could be overcome.

Last year, local politicians and business leaders tried to push for Sacramento State to join either the Mountain West or Pac-12, as the latter was raiding the former in its own attempt to rebuild.

The Pac-12 has seven football-playing members lined up for the 2026 season, but needs at least one more to retain its FBS status. Gonzaga is one of six schools set to join the conference (which currently consists of Oregon State and Washington State), but the Bulldogs don’t have a football team.

Texas State, currently playing in the Sun Belt, now appears to be the Pac-12’s top target, according to multiple reports this week. That would give the conference its required eight football members, but it wouldn’t stop the Pac-12 from expanding further in the future. If Texas State left the Sun Belt, it would give that conference 13 football members.