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Pete Thamel, ESPN
San Diego State gave the Mountain West written notice this week that the school “intends to resign from the Mountain West Conference,” sources told ESPN.
In the letter, it asked the Mountain West for a “one-month extension given unforeseen delays involving other collegiate athletic conferences beyond our control.” As of now, there does not appear to be an invitation to San Diego State from a Power Five conference.
The withdrawal letter, which came from San Diego State president Adela de la Torre on June 13, comes with complexities and prompted a terse back-and-forth between the league and SDSU. That included San Diego State subsequently informing the league that the June 13 letter was “not the official notice of resignation,” according to sources.
San Diego State would need to give a year of notice to withdraw next June. If it waits past June 30, the exit fee it’d owe would jump from nearly $16.5 million to nearly $34 million.
San Diego State has long been linked to the Pac-12, which is amid a protracted process of landing a television contract. There’s been no formal invitation for SDSU to join the league, and the timeline for that has been linked to either the Pac-12’s television deal or the departure of a Pac-12 member. “San Diego State does not have an offer from the Pac-12,” according to a source.
San Diego State is attempting to explore all options if it does get to June 30 and the Pac-12 doesn’t have a television deal done, according to a source.
The school has also been part of the Big 12’s realignment exploration, and there have been conversations, per a source. But sources say neither side has prioritized the other to this point.
“SDSU is exploring all of the options and asking all the questions,” the source said. “The intention of the June 13 letter wasn’t that San Diego State is exiting.”
Along with the one-month extension requested in the first letter SDSU wrote to the Mountain West, it also asked the league to be open to discuss the exit fee. SDSU mentioned the income the Aztecs have generated for the Mountain West through the NCAA basketball tournament — estimated this March to be at least $10 million from NCAA units — which it won’t see any of if it leaves the league.
San Diego State also asked that a four-year installment plan be considered for paying the exit fee. As of now, it would have to pay that money by June 2024, which would include the league withholding payment of the Mountain West’s distribution of money to the school.
The Mountain West responded to San Diego State and informed the school in a June 14 letter that the conference had accepted the letter of withdrawal and that the consequences of withdrawing had begun. Those include that de la Torre’s seat on the MW board of directors is being pulled and that the league’s policies on financial obligation tied to withdrawal are going to be withheld.
That prompted another exchange from San Diego State to clarify that the June 13 letter was not an official resignation, just a request for a month extension. It also asked that no payments should be withheld, which is the league’s practice to apply to the exit fee. (Mountain West schools are expecting a check for nearly $6 million in the upcoming weeks.)
“They’re trying to find out what we’re willing to do,” said a Mountain West source briefed on the exchange. “They want to see if the Mountain West Conference is going to handle this nicely. Well, that’s not going to happen. Everyone wants to find the best financial path for themselves, and it’s clunky.”
The Mountain West Conference held a call with athletic directors Thursday afternoon that detailed the back-and-forth between the league and San Diego State. The news didn’t come as a surprise, as SDSU athletic director J.D. Wicker has spoken openly about switching leagues.
That included Wicker telling ESPN in March that SDSU would be “ready to step into a power conference” and telling CBS in January that the Pac-12 would want to give SDSU a full share of the media revenue to prevent it from going to the Big 12 and having that league recruiting in the Pac-12’s backyard.
San Diego State has been in the Mountain West since 1999 and is arguably the league’s top overall athletic department. SDSU reached the NCAA tournament title game in men’s basketball earlier this year and the football program has a new $300 million stadium. The football Aztecs have won 10 or more games five times since 2015.
This isn’t the first time that San Diego State has attempted to leave the Mountain West. San Diego State was part of an announcement to join the Big East in 2011 as a football only member, which would have begun in July 2013. In January of 2013, the Mountain West presidents voted to allow San Diego State to return all sports to the league.
With USC and UCLA moving to the Big Ten in 2024, San Diego State’s allure increased for leagues, as it offers a toe hold in the Southern California market.