CSU sues Mountain West as teams prep for move to Pac-12

DENVER — Colorado State and Utah State universities sued the Mountain West Conference this week, claiming that the athletics conference that both schools plan to abandon in favor of a revived Pac-12 Conference is attempting to impose improper exit fees on its departing members. 

The MWC and its leadership “are threatening to withhold tens of millions of dollars due to Plaintiffs and other departing members, including refusing to reimburse the departing members for travel and other expenses incurred in connection with postseason football games,” said the lawsuit, filed Monday in Denver District Court. 

The conference aims to extract $19 million to $38 million from each of the departing schools, according the the complaint, “despite the fact that such Exit Penalty bears no relationship to the purported harm from Plaintiffs’ withdrawal from the Conference.”

In addition to CSU and Utah State, the following schools have decided to leave the MWC for the Pac-12 in 2026: Boise State University, San Diego State University and California State University, Fresno.

“While it is unfortunate that the Conference and its Commissioner have taken actions designed to penalize the departing members, all five departing members stand united in their duty to protect the rights and interests of their institutions, student-athletes, and fans,” said Steve Olson, a partner is the O’Melveny law firm, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of CSU and Utah State.

“The lawsuit filed today by Colorado State and Utah State is an inappropriate attempt to circumvent their clear financial obligations as departing members of the Mountain West,” the conference said in a Monday statement to Yahoo Sports. The Mountain West rules pertaining to withdrawal from the Conference are long-standing and were developed and codified by the current member institutions – including Colorado State and Utah State. We look forward to responding to the lawsuit to refute several inaccurate and specious assertions included in the filing.”

Beyond the remaining MWC members — Air Force, University of Wyoming, University of Nevada, University of Nevada, University of New Mexico, San Jose State University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas — the conference has added the University of Hawaii, Grand Canyon University, University of Texas at El Paso and University of California, Davis.

The Pac-12, which was home to the University of Colorado until the Buffaloes joined the Big 12 Conference last year, faced an uncertain future after tentpole programs University of Southern California; University of California, Los Angeles, University of Oregon and University of Washington voted in 2022 to abandon ship for the Big 10 Conference, resulting in a mass exodus that left only Oregon State University and Washington State University in the Pac-12.

Before its implosion, the Pac-12 was considered, along with the Big 10, Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference, one of the NCAA’s “Power 5” conferences. So, in theory, a shift from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 is a move up for the Rams. 

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