Conference realignment was prize all along for Fresno State. ‘We are second to nobody’

Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval had targeted conference realignment and a bigger stage for the Bulldogs’ athletic programs for some time. It was a way to elevate the California university, its brand and the San Joaquin Valley. He does not separate the three. They are one and the same, vital to one another.

So Thursday, when Fresno State was one of four schools from the Mountain West Conference to join a rebuilding Pac-12 starting in 2026, it was not just a good day.

“It’s a great, great day for Fresno State and for Bulldogs athletics,” Jiménez-Sandoval said during a late-morning meeting with media. “This day is one that many of us have waited for, for a very long time.

“This is a landmark decision and it marks a new chapter for Fresno State. For over 100 years the legacy of Bulldogs athletics has been truly the pride of the Valley, the heartbeat of the Valley, and becoming a part of the centennial legacy of the Pac-12 Conference will allow the rest of the world to know what the Valley has known all along: That we are Bulldog proud and that we are going to shine very brightly.”

The Fresno State president had worked conference realignment almost from the start of his tenure — he was appointed to the position in 2021 — believing in the value that championship seasons can bring to a university.

Jiménez-Sandoval had discussions with the Big 12 Conference leadership a year ago, and kept Fresno State in play even after Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah joined the Big 12 as the Pac-12 imploded with 10 of its members departing for other leagues.

After that, it was wait and watch while Oregon State and Washington State, the only remaining teams in the Pac-12, worked to rebuild the conference.

They won control of its board of directors in court. The conference appointed a commissioner, Teresa Gould. In the short term, it entered a football scheduling agreement with the Mountain West, which it has now decimated by taking Fresno State, Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State, four of the conference’s best brands. The Pac-12 also signed a television deal for the 2024 season with The CW Network and FOX.

The aim there, also, was always a rebuild, realignment. The conference will add two more schools to get to the NCAA minimum eight to qualify for the FBS (football bowl subdivision).

The athletics departments at Oregon State and Washington State are highly dependent on media rights and conference and NCAA distributions. Oregon State receives $39 million of its $91.6 million in athletics revenues from media rights and conference and NCAA distributions; at Washington State, it’s $35.9 million of $79 million.

A reverse merger, simply joining the Mountain West would leave both in financial holes.

It plotted a course forward, and Fresno State fit.

Challenges to exiting the Mountain West

Gould and the conference’s board of directors evaluated expansion candidates on academic and athletics performance, media and brand valuation, commitment to athletics success, geography and logistics, and culture and student-athlete welfare.

Fresno State is on shaky ground in some of those categories and there are challenges in making a transition to the Pac-12, including an exit fee of $17 million to $20 million.

The Pac-12 could provide its four new members with assistance there, though through its scheduling agreement with the Mountain West it must also pay the conference a hefty fee starting at $10 million per team for poaching its members. “That’s in the works right now,” Jiménez-Sandoval said. “It’s in flux.”

The Bulldogs’ exit from the Mountain West does not figure to be easy.

But Fresno State has taken a big step forward, one fans of its athletics programs have wanted to take for decades through years in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, the Big West and the Western Athletic Conference.

Jiménez-Sandoval said he was grateful for the Mountain West, where since joining the league in 2012 the Bulldogs have won four conference championships in football and regular-season or tournament titles in basketball (one), women’s basketball (three), softball (three), baseball (four) and women’s volleyball (one).

But conference realignment has always been part of the vision for the Fresno State president, because the university and the region would be showcased on a much greater level.

“For me, it has been a labor of love and it has been a mission of mine to really elevate the brand of Fresno State,” Jiménez-Sandoval said. “We need to change the mentality of ourselves. I grew up here, thinking that we are second to other people. We are second to nobody. We are first in so many ways and we are so proud to be part of this region.

“My efforts in promoting Fresno State, in elevating the brand of Fresno State, have always been in tune with really highlighting the strength, the diversity, the food, the economy, the society, all of the incredible things that this region has to offer. So, I’m glad that this has come to us. I’m glad that we’re part of these four (universities) that are now going to go to the Pac-12 and I believe that the future is very bright for Fresno State and for the region as well.”