Colorado State athletic director: ‘The goal is certainly to gain autonomous status back for the Pac-12’

Five Mountain West schools — including Boise State — joining Pac-12 next summer

Pac-12 | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

In a recent appearance on the Ram Nation Radio Podcast, Colorado State athletic director John Weber spoke candidly about his aspirations for the Pac-12. 

“The goal is certainly to gain autonomous status back for the Pac-12,” Weber said. Colorado State is among five Mountain West schools — including Boise State — who are leaving the conference for the Pac-12 next summer. 

“We are absolutely focused and working hard with all of our new member institutions and the conference itself (to make that happen).”

In April 2024, the Division I Board of Directors voted to strip the Pac-12 of its autonomous legislative powers and remove the conference’s representation from the board. The Pac-12 had lost 10 of its 12 members to the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12, leaving behind Oregon State and Washington State. 

In other words, the Pac-12 lost its status as a power conference alongside the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. 

“I’m not going to rest until Colorado State earns a power designation,” Weber said. “And a lot of people have heard me say, ‘By every measure, Colorado State is a power school.’

“We have 270,000 alumni. We have nearly 34,000 kids on campus, highly-ranked academics, R1 research institution, phenomenal city, great facilities, it’s all there. We’ve got to go prove things in athletics to hold up our end of the bargain, but it is all there.”

It is important to note that the term “power conference” holds no actual authority. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC are the four conferences with historic ties to the New Year’s Six bowl games. 

“And honestly, that’s also assuming that the concept of autonomy or power status actually means something going forward,” Weber said. “And it may very well not. At the end of the day, what we really want to preserve is access to competing at the highest level. That is the most important thing.”

The Pac-12 will still have access to the College Football Playoff as the five highest-rated conference champions in the final CFP rankings receive automatic bids. The Pac-12 projects to be the fifth-best FBS conference in 2026.

The Pac-12 has nine members signed up for the 2026-27 school year: current members Oregon State and Washington State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State of the MWC, Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference and Texas State of the Sun Belt. Dallas Baptist will be an affiliate member for baseball. 

Colorado State will open the 2025 football season at 9 p.m. Mountain time on Saturday at Washington, a former Pac-12 school that is now in the Big Ten.