By Keith Antigiovanni
The San Diego State Aztecs (SDSU) football program is back in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) despite never having left in the first place. In a whirlwind one-a-half month span the Aztecs announced their intentions of leaving the MWC without joining a new conference, sent an intention letter to the MWC of their intention to leave effective June 30, 2024 only to announce they had never left the conference in the first place.
This created a difference of opinion on between the MWC and SDSU on whether or not the school left or was leaving which prompted the Mountain West to withhold annual distribution fees that go to each member. The MWC believed the letter of intent was SDSU official announcement they were exiting the conference so the annual distribution fees were withheld as a down payment for an exit fee of $16 million, however the Aztecs later argued that the letter was not an official notice of leaving and that was it was to announce an exploration of other options.
This confusion can be partially blamed on the ongoing conference expansion and reshuffling as now 14 no less than 14 Football Subdivision (FBS) programs are switching conferences. The changes are Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado to the BIG-12, USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington to the BIG-10 in 2024. This season Houston, Central Florida, Cincinnati and BYU are new members of the BIG-12.
Prior to the Aztecs announcement there had been rumors of the PAC-12 interested in adding SDSU to fill the void in Southern California for the conference after USC and UCLA’s impending departure. Following the latest moves the PAC-12 will have only 4 members going into the 2024 season and the Aztecs will have to pay a double exit fee if they plan to leave the conference with less than 12 months notice. Those two factors alone make it extremely unlikely that SDSU will be leaving the Mountain West in the next two seasons if at all in the future however given the current chaotic state of college football anything is possible.
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