Mountain West Conference adds California school in latest realignment move
12/10/2024 04:53 PM
In their latest move to restructure the conference, the Mountain West has added another team. The 25-year conference is finalizing a deal to have the California-based UC Davis join them in all sports except for football, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.
Once complete, UC Davis will be the 10th program of the conference after the Mountain West recently added Grand Canyon in November. UC Davis becomes the second member of the current Big West Conference to leave in favor of the Mountain West after it was announced in October that Hawaii would become a full member in 2026. Hawaii currently competes in the Mountain West in football but has been a part of the Big West in all other sports since 2012.
UC Davis has been a part of the Big West since 2007 when it became a Division I program. While the Aggies have a football team, they compete in the FCS and are not attempting to make an FBS move. They will remain a part of the Big Sky Conference in football.
While UC Davis has historically been proficient in baseball, their program is still in a rebuild after an infamous season suspension in 2021. The Aggies will also have a chance to make an impact in basketball, where they recently won the Big West in 2017 for their first and only March Madness appearance to date.
New-Look Mountain West Conference
UTEP, Hawaii, Grand Canyon and UC Davis will now be the four new members of the Mountain West to keep the conference intact. It is unclear when UC Davis will begin competing in the conference as the terms of the deal have yet to be released. The three other schools will make the move in 2026.
The recent additions were made to make up for the losses of five of the conference’s premier programs to the Pac-12. Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State and Colorado State will all join the new-look Pac-12 in 2026.
Once the re-alignment is complete, Air Force, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico, San Jose State and Wyoming will be the only schools consistent through the transition.
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