College Sports Chaos: Rebuilt Pac-12 to stay on CBS Sports

The new Pac-12 has landed CBS Sports as its primary media partner, leading to more questions about how the redeveloping conference will continue to expand after poaching five teams from the Mountain West.

In a deal announced Monday that extends the partnership between the two, CBS’ main network will broadcast a minimum of four football and men’s basketball games per season in addition to providing viewing options via streaming and cable when the Pac-12 officially debuts as a league in the 2026-27 season.

Financial details were not disclosed, but commissioner Teresa Gould called the agreement, which will last until 2031, a “transformational partnership” aimed to help the league grow.

The Pac-12 needs to add an eighth football-playing member as required by the NCAA of all Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. Despite early indications that UNLV could fill that spot, those rumors have cooled. The Pac-12 has pivoted to poaching Texas State from the Sun Belt, according to a report from Yahoo Sports.

This development comes as the Pac-12 and Mountain West remain enveloped in a lawsuit over penalty and exit fees related to Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State leaving the Mountain West to join the Pac-12. There have been no updates in the legal dispute, which could yield the Mountain West more than $145 million, since the conferences began mediation weeks ago.

The Pac-12 was forced into a rebuild after failing to secure a media deal in 2023, losing every team but Oregon State and Washington State to the Big 12, Atlantic Coast and Big Ten conferences. The two remaining teams’ football games will be broadcast on the CW, ESPN and CBS this season.

To replace the departing schools, the Mountain West added Hawaii and UTEP as full members, Northern Illinois for football only, and Grand Canyon and UC Davis for all sports except football.

It’s unclear whether the expanding Pac-12 will extend an invitation to a program in addition to Texas State. But UNLV’s candidacy became complicated after the school signed a binding grant of rights to remain in the Mountain West and keep the league viable.

UNLV, along with six other schools, signed commitments to the conference in September that will run through June 30, 2032, and all indications reaffirmed a plan to remain in the Mountain West as recently as last month.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.