The cascading effects of USC and UCLA deciding to leave the Pac-12 already arrived in Salt Lake City, sending the University of Utah to the Big 12, and in Logan, as Utah State will leave the Mountain West Conference for a revitalized Pac-12 — one that looks to have a strong basketball presence — in 2026.

The Mountain West pulled Hawaii (as a full member) and UC Davis (everything but football) out of the Big West in response, and now the Big West may look to refill its membership.

That’s brought Utah Valley into the scope. According to reports from college sports journalists Brett McMurphy and Matt Brown, Big West presidents are targeting the Wolverines — with UVU men’s basketball currently in first place in the seemingly disintegrating WAC — and Cal Baptist as new members.

Adding a potential conference champion in UVU to UC San Diego and UC Irvine, both having historic seasons that have the Big West flirting with two NCAA Tournament bids, would be a strong move from the California-based conference that once included Utah State.

Those dominoes may be knocking into other Utah universities. Brown and Mike McFeely, the latter of The Forum in Fargo, North Dakota, report that Southern Utah and Utah Tech are looking at joining the Summit League.

That would send Southern Utah to its fifth conference change since becoming a Division I university in 1988 and back to the league it called home (when also called the Mid-Continent Conference) from 1997 to 2012.

Such a move from SUU and Utah Tech would give the Summit League 11 members. Those two schools would continue to play football in the FCS’s United Athletic Conference, which was already a joint venture between football-playing schools from the WAC and the Atlantic Sun.

Because Seattle (back to its historic home in the West Coast Conference) and Grand Canyon (now leaving the WAC to the Mountain West instead of the WCC) are also out the door, potential moves from the Utah schools would leave the WAC with only Abilene Christian, Tarleton State (who has FBS football aspirations) and UT-Arlington remaining.

Elsewhere in Utah, BYU is in its second year in the Big 12 Conference after finally landing in a power conference and Utah is in its first. Weber State, meanwhile, remains in the stable Big Sky Conference as a charter member since 1963.

In other realignment news: With Gonzaga already in the new Pac-12, several reports say Saint Mary’s is also showing some smoke to the rumors that the Gaels may jump with them. Currently, the Pac-12 has the following schools lined up for 2026: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Washington State and Utah State.