Boise State brings the Pac-12 a way to fight back to relevancy

The Pac-12, once known as “the conference of champions” will never be what it once was.

From tremendous football runs at USC, Washington and Oregon to exciting programs like Arizona State and Utah, “Pac-12 after dark” sure gave us a tremendous run as college football fans.

As it stands, the conference has been whittled down to just Washington State and Oregon State, but there is a new era on the horizon for the Pac-12. It came out on Thursday that Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State will join the Pac-12 in the 2026-27 academic year, and while that’s gutting news for the Mountain West, it does give the most historic conference in college football a chance to renew.

All four programs boast interesting football programs but let’s not get it twisted with this news. If it was Colorado State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Nevada this would barely make news in the middle of both the college football and NFL season.

The inclusion of Boise State is a big deal for the Pac-12, though. The Broncos are certainly the headliner of this club and without a doubt, they’ll be the toast of the new Pac-12 unless the conference can somehow pull another top program.

Yes, this same Boise State program that just gave No. 7 Oregon everything it could handle in a 37-34 loss at Autzen Stadium. The very same program that boasts a 273-85 overall record (a 76% winning percentage) since its first season in 1996 as a member of the Big West.

Boise State has won 12 bowl games, including a win over TCU in the Fiesta Bowl in 2009 and the famous win over Oklahoma in 2006 that gave us these moments: