Boise State, SDSU, Fresno State, USU and CSU formally officially submitted notifications of departure to the MWC it was announced today.

This is significant because the deadline for leaving in time for the 2026 season was today. After today the exit fees would have doubled.

This also means it's highly unlikely that UNLV will be joining them in 2026.

The notice of withdrawal, which was accompanied by $5,000, was the first step. Mountain West bylaws also allow the conference to withhold the annual July distribution – estimated at $6 million per school – this year and next from the departing schools.

That can cause financial hardship for athletic departments missing $6 million they budgeted as revenues, particularly with state budget cuts looming for SDSU and Fresno State. One possibility floated when SDSU announced it would leave the Mountain West last September is for the Pac-12 to float loans to the incoming schools over the next two years that would be subtracted from future conference distributions.