June 30 update: San Diego State is staying in the Mountain West Conference, according to Brett McMurphy. The Aztecs were a top target for the Pac-12 in expansion talks but the conference is not going to add schools until the media rights deal is finalized and that is still going to take time.
San Diego State has notified Mountain West it will not withdraw from MW & will remain in the league, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Aztecs previously indicated to league it “intends to resign from the Mountain West Conference.” Aztecs had been Pac-12’s No. 1 expansion target, but…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) June 30, 2023
San Diego State has informed the Mountain West Conference that it intends to resign from the league, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The news comes amidst speculation over the school receiving an invitation to join Pac-12 in the near future. Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported in May that SDSU had a deadline of June 30 to give notice to the MWC of its departure from the league or risk its exit fees doubling. The current exit fee to leave the conference is estimated at $17 million. Thamel further report that the school has asked the conference for a one-month extension to that deadline.
In the aftermath of USC and UCLA’s decision to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, San Diego State was almost immediately identified as a potential replacement as it would allow the league to maintain a presence in southern California. Reports directly linking the school to the Power Five league began surfacing this past spring, but the Pac-12’s ongoing negotiations to finalize a new media rights deal has delayed an official announcement. However, Friday’s report brings the school one step closer to what appears to be an inevitable jump.