San Diego State reportedly expected to remain in Mountain West after latest Pac-12 media rights update

With all of the noise that had San Diego State as a lock to join the Pac-12 it appears (for now) that their move to the Power 5 is unlikely.

According to reports by Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger, the Pac-12 has made "accelerated" progress on putting together a new media rights deal which was presented to the presidents on Friday. However, while we already knew that the conference wasn't going to have a deal done by the end of June thanks to reports by insider Jon Wilner, there now appears to be an issue on the expansion front.

At issue now is the Mountain West’s reaction to San Diego State’s letter today. The league considered the school’s original letter to be a withdrawal.

Will San Diego State have a home in 2024? The MWC likely wants them to remain. I’m sure they can, er, work something out. https://t.co/cq5W9oLuXZ
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) June 30, 2023

While San Diego State essentially sent a letter asking for an extension on their end of June deadline to plan to formally announce their plan to leave the Mountain West, their conference took that letter as them notifying the conference of their plans to leave. This now presents what could be a legal hiccup for San Diego State, and also puts into question if the Pac-12 will be able to add them in this wave of expansion.

Something that was expected to happen before the Pac-12 Media Day in Las Vegas on July 21. While it may still happen, it would likely consist of a lot of lawyer meetings and an extremely hefty fee to be paid by San Diego State. The Aztecs have long been viewed as the perfect fit for the Pac-12, as they granted them access to the Southern California market they lost in losing USC and UCLA.