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OREM — The long chain of conference realignment that began when USC and UCLA joined the Big Ten or Texas and Oklahoma left for the SEC (depending on who you ask) touched down in Utah last week when Utah Valley announced its intention to leave the Western Athletic Conference for the Big West, effective July 1, 2026.
The Wolverines will take refuge in one of the most stable mid-major conferences in Division I athletics, while its soon-to-be former conference continued to crumble. But with the move (and Utah State's earlier move to help reconstitute the Pac-12 last fall), are the lines of league boundaries going to solidify any time soon?
Don't count on it.
The Big West will return to 11 members in 2026, with Utah Valley and fellow WAC migrant California Baptist joining the fold. But that odd number leaves league schedule makers in a bit of a quandary, with many preferring an even number of member institutions for schedule purposes (and possibly reasonable travel partners, as well).
"Nobody wants to be the sore thumb sitting out there, feeling like they're competitively disadvantaged," Big West commissioner Dan Butterly admitted with candor. "I can tell you that the board continues to discuss membership for the Big West, and as conference commissioners, we all know the big date on everyone's calendar generally is June 30."
Any decisions to leave a conference (and subsequently join another one) must be made before July 1, or schools risk heavy exit penalties from their departing conferences. And Butterly admitted the conference still has "institutions that we're speaking with."
"There are still institutions that want to join the Big West as they see the strength of the strategic plan moving ahead," he added.
While Big West leaders and UVU administrators tried to keep the focus on the Wolverines' move to the Big West — a conference that "is not called the Big California," one school's administrator continuously reminded during a press conference with local media Friday — the decision of the state's largest university leaves the WAC with five members that include fellow Utah System of Higher Education colleges Southern Utah and Utah Tech.
Utah Valley athletic director Jared Sumsion told KSL.com following his school's conference move that SUU and Utah Tech will continue to play the Wolverines in as many sports as possible, even if it requires nonconference scheduling agreements between all parties.
That may be the case with the Big West, which along with the Big Sky is not immediately interested in adding the two southern Utah schools either separately or as a package deal, as reported by Extra Points.
They aren't alone, either.
"I'm told the Summit League is not particularly interested in the two Utah schools without UVU," wrote Extra Points writer Matt Brown, "and that the Big Sky and Big West are also not immediately interested."
Sacramento State has been seen as a potential Big West addition in the weeks since the Hornets filed a petition to join the Football Bowl Subdivision as an independent, and would need a home for their other sports. The West Coast Conference could also be an option if the NCAA-required waiver is approved, for geographic similarities.
Other options for Southern Utah and Utah Tech could include the Atlantic Sun, which includes several schools from the unofficial, football-only United Athletic Conference including Central Arkansas and Eastern Kentucky; the WCC, which has admitted openness to adding public schools recently; and non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, an 11-team football-only conference with members from San Diego to upstate New York and Florida.
While the Thunderbirds and Trailblazers are undoubtedly among the schools scrambling for their next move (along with UT Arlington, Abilene Christian and Tarleton State), the next domino to fall may involve their Aggie friends to the north.
The Pac-12 and Mountain West are currently wrapped up in mediation attempts to eliminate or lower stringent poaching penalties of reportedly more than $100 million levied against the Pac-12 for swiping Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State. The outcome of those mediations — or any subsequent legal action that follows — could have a dramatic impact on the Mountain West's future outlook, per Jon Wilner of the Wilner Hotline.
If the outcome favors the Pac-12 (which is to say, the Mountain West receives less money than expected), the league could be destabilized just enough that UNLV and Air Force may seek an exit, likely for the Pac-12 and American Athletic Conference, respectively. While the Mountain West recently added Grand Canyon (as a non-football member), UC Davis (in all sports but football), Hawaii (in all sports including football) and UTEP (in all sports) as well as Northern Illinois as a football-only affiliate, the loss of the Rebels and Falcons could see other schools scurry.
"If the Mountain West loses a bunch of members, they have to decide (if) they want to survive," Big Sky commissioner Tom Wistrcill told the Hotline.
"If they want to survive," he added, "they could come calling to some Big Sky schools. And that could have a dramatic impact on us."
