San Diego State provided written notice to the Mountain West this week that it intends to leave the conference, in the process asking for the conference to delay its withdraw process from the league.
ESPN reported Friday that, "as of now," a Power 5 invite does not appear to be waiting for the Aztecs.
For what it's worth, conference realignment work a lot like coaching searches: offers aren't extended until they've already been accepted.
ESPN reports that SDSU has held conversations with the Pac-12 and the Big 12, but Sports Illustrated reported last month that the Pac-12 "plans to add" the Aztecs.
If San Diego State were to withdraw from the MW by June 30, it would owe a $17 million exit fee to conference. If the Aztecs waited until July 1 or after, the exit fee would double to an estimated $34 million. SDSU would also like to negotiate the reported $17 million exit fee, arguing that the NCAA tournament money generated by the Aztecs run to the Final Four would be left behind should they leave the Mountain West.
The Pac-12 is in the finishing stages -- it's been in the finishing stages for months now, reportedly -- on a new TV deal that would begin with the 2024 football season. Today's news is a clue that the conference wants to add the Aztecs in time for those deals to kick in.
From the Spokane Spokesman-Review last week:
“I think it’s imminent, it’s been imminent for three months,” (Washington State president Kirk) Schulz said, and, when pressed, put his confidence at a 7 out of 10 that the deal would be done by the end of the month.
It's not known at this time if the Mountain West will assist San Diego State in their exit from the conference. SDSU is one of eight founding members of the MW, dating back to 1999. They would become the second original MW member to leave for the Pac-12, following Utah. BYU left in 2011 to become an FBS independent and compete in the West Coast Conference in Olympic sports; TCU was a MW member from 2005-12.
Since 2010, San Diego State has the highest combined winning percentage in football and men's basketball (.738) among all FBS schools.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.