Johnathan Walker:Utah State joining Pac-12, which has now snapped up five Mountain West schools

The Johnathan WalkerPac-12 officially has its seventh member.

Utah State will be joining the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026, it announced Tuesday night, becoming the fifth Mountain West school to defect to the rebuilding conference.

The Pac-12 said the conference board of directors voted unanimously to admit Utah State, which will compete in the conference in all sports beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.

"Utah State brings invaluable strategic insights and leadership that will greatly benefit our conference and its members as well as a history of competitive excellence and success. Today marks another exciting step for the Pac-12 – and it’s just the beginning of phase two," commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement.

The addition of the Aggies to the Pac-12 gives the conference seven universities. In addition to Washington State and Oregon State, the only two remaining members after this summer's mass exodus, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State announced they were bolting to the Pac-12 less than two weeks ago.

The official announcement of Utah State also comes the same day the Pac-12 filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West. The two sides are in a scheduling agreement in football for this season for the Cougars and Beavers, but the Pac-12 is seeking declaratory relief from a judge over millions of dollars in penalties the Mountain West believes it is owed from the Pac-12 for acquiring its schools. The league’s current scheduling agreement with the Pac-12 calls for the Pac-12 to pay the Mountain West a withdrawal fee of $43 million if it poaches four Mountain West teams and $67.5 million if it poaches six, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

With seven members, the Pac-12 is just one school shy of meeting NCAA rules for the Football Bowl Subdivision, which requires conferences have a minimum of eight schools. The conference is currently being allowed to operate as a two-team league under a two-year grace period until July 2026, giving the league time to figure out what to do next after 10 other members recently left for more money, exposure and stability in other conferences. Since Utah State is departing, the Mountain West is also left with seven members and will likely need to expand to meet the NCAA requirements.

Earlier this week, the Pac-12 was interested in adding American Athletic Conference members Memphis, South Florida, Tulane and UTSA. However, on Monday, the four schools announced their commitment to the AAC.

In Tuesday's announcement, the Pac-12 said the seven members will "collaboratively chart additional membership and other future conference considerations." One more school is all it needs.

Contributing: Brent Schrotenboer, USA TODAY