The two-week turf war between the Pac-12 and Mountain West is over and has ended in … a draw?
Kind of.
After perhaps the most fragile 72-hour period in the 26-year history of the Mountain West Conference, the league announced Thursday that it had received signed memorandums of understanding from its remaining seven schools to keep the league together through the 2031-32 school year.
“The agreements announced today mark a historic moment for the Mountain West and provide much-needed stability and clarity as the world of intercollegiate athletics continues to evolve rapidly,” commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement.
The agreement from those seven schools – Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV and Wyoming – followed an effort by the Pac-12 to poach even more members after five schools joined Washington State and Oregon State in the resurrected league.
Had the Pac-12 convinced UNLV to join, it could have started a domino effect that could have led to the dissolution of the Mountain West.