Logan • After 13 seasons in the Mountain West Conference, the Utah State Aggies have officially joined the new-look Pac-12 Conference.
And if you ask USU football coach Bronco Mendenhall, it means more than changing logos around campus.
“It’s instant credibility,” Mendenhall said when asked what the reaction from recruits has been to the change.
Utah State coaches and administrators celebrated the school’s move to the Pac-12 during a campus celebration on July 1.
“We’re really excited, not just for Utah State, but for all the schools to be together and try to set the bar at a new level for the Pac-12,” USU President Brad L. Mortensen said.
The former iteration of the Pac-12 fell apart at the conclusion of the 2023 season as USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington joined the Big Ten. Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State soon after joined the Big 12, and Stanford and Cal joined the ACC.
For the last two years, Oregon State and Washington State have been the only schools to fly the Pac-12 flag.
(Sam Foster | Special to The Tribune) Utah State University officially joined the Pac-12 Conference on July 1, 2026.
On September 24, 2024, it was announced that Utah State would join the Beavers and Cougars in the Pac-12, alongside fellow Mountain West members Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State. Gonzaga and Texas State would later be added, making it nine universities in the conference.
Last year was Utah State’s most successful season as a member of the Mountain West, winning conference titles in nine different sports, including men’s basketball, women’s soccer and women’s gymnastics.
“Our last season in that league was really incredible, an all-time high for Utah State,” Mortensen said. “It does build a lot of momentum as we go into the new league.”
(Sam Foster | Special to The Tribune) Utah State University President Brad Mortensen speaks with reporters as USU officially joins the Pac-12 Conference on July 1, 2026.
Utah State football finished with a 6-6 regular-season record in 2025, losing to now-conference foe Washington State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Mountain West champions, Boise State, will also compete in the Pac-12 this season.
For men’s basketball, Utah State might be walking into one of the best non-Power Four conferences in the nation, with former West Coast Conference powerhouse Gonzaga participating in the Pac-12 as well. With the Bulldogs’ impressive basketball background, Utah State winning two NCAA tournament games in the last three seasons, and San Diego State reaching the NCAA championship game in 2023, new Aggies head coach Ben Jacobson thinks the conference might compete with the Big East as the fifth-best conference in men’s college basketball.
“The new Pac-12 … are we able to get level with the Big East,” Jacobson asked. “You still got the Power Four, but the Pac-12 and the Big East are sitting right there next to them, and then, who knows? Maybe we do this in such a fashion that we’re cracking into fourth or third in terms of the best basketball league in the country.”
On campus this week, the first official Pac-12 branding could be seen in parts of the campus, and official Pac-12 merch could be bought at the team store.
While the Utah State administration is celebrating this new era of Aggie athletics, nobody is “satisfied” with just joining the Pac-12, as USU Athletic Director Cameron Walker put it.
“We wouldn’t be making this move if it wasn’t increasing our opportunities to go deeper and further than we have before,” Walker said. “We have our part too, though. We have to schedule competitively and we have to win the games that we need to win.”
After Wednesday’s event, Utah State athletics announced a fundraising campaign in which every dollar raised up to $2 million will be matched, potentially raising over $4 million for its athletic programs.