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Mountain West Strikes Deal With New Member to Join League Year Earlier Than Expected
The Mountain West Conference has struck an agreement with Grand Canyon to bring the school into the conference a year earlier than anticipated.
According to a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo, Grand Canyon is now set to join the Mountain West this upcoming school year, instead of in the 2026-27 academic year as originally anticipated.
Grand Canyon is joining the Mountain West early after five members of the conference left to join the new Pac-12. Grand Canyon does not play football, but its other athletic programs will be added to Mountain West schedules beginning this fall.
Grand Canyon University is a private school in Phoenix, AZ with an enrollment of over 100,000 students. Prior to this move to the Mountain West, it appeared that Grand Canyon would have no conference affiliation for the upcoming academic year.
Grand Canyon went 26-8 (13-3) in men's basketball last season in the WAC, and made the NCAA tournament.
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Mike McDaniel is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where he has worked since January 2022. His work has been featured at InsideTheACC.com, SB Nation, FanSided and more. McDaniel hosts the Hokie Hangover Podcast, covering Virginia Tech athletics, as well as Basketball Conference: The ACC Football Podcast. Outside of work, he is a husband and father, and an avid golfer.