UNLV and the Mountain West took a sharp right hook to the jaw Thursday.

Four conference institutions — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State — accepted membership into the Pac-12 beginning in the 2026-27 school year.

It was not known whether UNLV received an invitation to join the conference and rejected it or did not get one. The school issued a joint statement from university president Keith Whitfield and athletic director Erick Harper, saying:

“We know that four members of the Mountain West have announced their intentions to leave the conference in 2026. Our focus remains on doing what is best for our institution, current and future student-athletes, alumni, donors and the greater Las Vegas community. We continue to evaluate all options.”

The four departing Mountain West schools will join Oregon State and Washington State, the two holdovers from the Pac-12 after a mass exodus of schools to other power leagues last summer.

“For over a century, the Pac-12 Conference has been recognized as a leading brand in intercollegiate athletics,” commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement. “We will continue to pursue bold cutting-edge opportunities for growth and progress, to best serve our member institutions and student-athletes.

“I am thankful to our board for their efforts to welcome Boise State University, Colorado State University, California State University, Fresno, and San Diego State University to the conference. An exciting new era for the Pac-12 Conference begins today.”

The statement also said that “the collective six universities will collaboratively chart additional membership and other future conference considerations.”

Each of the four Mountain West schools must pay an exit fee of $18 million with two years’ notice.

The Pac-12 is reportedly on the hook for $43 million in poaching fees. It still needs two additional schools to reach the eight required by the NCAA to be considered a conference. It could also add more than that.

Byron Brooks, elected to the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents as the representative for District 3 in 2020, said he is eager to follow the “ongoing development” after Thursday’s bombshell.

Brooks said he had conversations about last-minute meetings on the UNLV and UNR campuses to determine next steps.

“It would be very difficult for UNLV to make a move into another conference without UNR because that should be a package deal,” he said. “And then the financial obligations that these campuses have in moving from one conference to another … I’m not sure that UNLV and UNR are in a place to spend that kind of money to move into another conference.”

While Brooks acknowledged that there is a separation of sports success between UNLV and UNR, he said it wouldn’t be practical for the state’s “largest institutions” to play in separate conferences.

“It would seem really odd to me,” Brooks said. “It makes more sense for the two institutions to have conversations about where they’d like to see their football programs, where they want to land, and what does the future look like for the state of Nevada when we talk about collegiate athletes? I really do believe there has to be alignment with the two institutions.”

Lois Tarkanian, the widow of legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, also serves on the Board of Regents. But she doesn’t quite share Brooks’ perspective.

“My reaction is that UNLV should be in that (Pac-12),” Tarkanian said. “The schools have sort of set themselves above Vegas. They sort of thought of us as not worthy of being in the Pac-12 … A lot of people have the feeling that we’re a gambling town, but you know, so much more now is being done in Las Vegas, with teams at every level. It doesn’t seem right; even the schools that (were selected) don’t play the level of teams we play and don’t have as good a record, so I think it’s sad that they didn’t put us in.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Ed Graney at [email protected]. Follow @edgraney on X. Contact Callie Lawson-Freeman at [email protected]. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.