NOTE: A lawsuit represents only one side of a story.
SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Utah State University and Colorado State University are suing the Mountain West Conference , arguing the conference and its commissioner have “willfully disregarded” the bylaws, threatened to withhold millions of dollars from the schools, and charged “exorbitant” exit fees as a penalty.
The lawsuit — filed in Colorado on Monday, Dec. 16 — claims, in part, that the conference and its commissioner, Gloria Nevarez, are “threatening to withhold tens of millions of dollars” from USU and CSU, as well as other schools that are planning to leave the conference to join the Pac-12 in 2026.
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In addition to USU and CSU, Boise State, Fresno State, and San Diego State are planning to leave the Mountain West to join the Pac-12 in 2026, according to the Associated Press .
The suit says that the “withdrawal fees” leveled against departing members range from $10 million to $12 million per school. The fees must be paid by June 1 of the year before a school plans to withdraw from the conference, but fees increase if that deadline is missed.