Conference realignment continues to rage out west, much to the confusion of many people in the rest of the country. Why didn’t the two Pac-12 schools and the Mountain West just merge? Why are there almost $150 million in exit fees to just recreate the Mountain West? Why are the conferences bracing for a court battle after a lawsuit filed by the Pac-12 on Tuesday?

Let’s answer your questions and explain how we got here.

Why does the Pac-12 need more schools?

The Pac-12 dropped to two members this fall when USC and UCLA left for the Big Ten (a move the schools announced in 2022), Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah left for the Big 12 (announced in 2023) and Stanford and Cal left for the ACC (announced in 2023). Those two remaining members were Oregon State and Washington State.

NCAA bylaws provide a two-year grace period for conferences to get back up to a required eight members to be a full conference. College Football Playoff leaders determined late last year that conferences must have eight members for their champions to be eligible for an automatic qualifying CFP spot, and the NCAA Division I Board of Directors announced the Pac-12 no longer had “autonomous” status, a designation that grants some leagues certain rule-making powers.

With the addition of Boise…

The latest twist in the Pac-12’s conference realignment efforts could next involve a courtroom. The Pac-12 on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West, arguing that the tens of millions it owes the Mountain West in poaching fees due to a prior scheduling agreement between the two leagues amount to an antitrust violation.

Two weeks ago, the Pac-12 officially added four Mountain West schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State — which would put the fee owed to the Mountain West at $43 million, on top of an estimated $18 million per school in exit fees.

“The Poaching Penalty saddles the Pac-12 with exorbitant and punitive monetary fees for engaging in competition by accepting MWC member schools into the Pac-12,” the complaint reads. “The MWC imposed this Poaching Penalty at a time when the Pac-12 was desperate to schedule football games for its two remaining members and had little leverage to reject this naked restraint on competition. But that does not make the Poaching Penalty any less illegal, and the Pac-12 is asking the Court to declare this provision invalid and unenforceable.”

In late 2023, the Pac-12 and Mountain West signed a 2024 football scheduling agreement, through which the Mountain West added Oregon State and Washington…

The dramatic conference realignment tug-of-war between the Pac-12 and Mountain West remained ongoing and unstable late Monday night. After four American Athletic Conference schools announced Monday they would remain with the league following a strong push from the six-member Pac-12, sources briefed on the situation told The Athletic that Utah State agreed to become the fifth Mountain West member to join the Pac-12, bringing the reconstructed league that began September with just two schools up to seven members by 2026.

But neither the Mountain West nor the Pac-12 can remain at seven members long-term and would need to return to at least eight schools to remain recognized as an NCAA and Football Bowl Subdivision conference beyond 2026.

The Mountain West spent the weekend working to get its eight remaining members committed to each other through a grant of rights or other financial agreements, with more than $111 million in exit fees and poaching fees set to come the league’s way from the Pac-12. Air Force, which was receiving interest from the AAC and the Pac-12, committed to stick with the Mountain West. Other Mountain West schools began to do the same.

But Utah State didn’t. Instead, the Aggies opted to move forward with the Pac-12, got an offer and accepted it, putting…

In the record-breaking Las Vegas heat this July, the fate of a West Coast college football conference was in the air.

Inside one small conference room in the Bellagio, Boise State star running back Ashton Jeanty held court for any media who wanted to talk ahead of a season in which he has made an early case for Heisman Trophy consideration. Jeanty was in the room because Mountain West media days were being held within the sportsbook over at the Circa, and Jeanty couldn’t enter, as he is not yet 21 years old.

A few rooms down from Jeanty in the Bellagio, the two Pac-12 remnants held a cocktail hour, “After Hours with the Beavs and Cougs.” Washington State mascot Butch T. Cougar walked around in a red jacket with chest fur laid bare. It was not meant to be a night of mourning. Former Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf said the Pac-12 defectors would regret their decisions. A few curse words were uttered over the situation the two schools found themselves in.

Pac-2 After Dark in Vegas is fully underway. pic.twitter.com/qSBUONAioR

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 11, 2024

“If anybody has earned the right to drink, it’s the Pac-12,” new commissioner Teresa Gould told the crowd, which responded with cheers.

But in private conversations over those few days in…

The Oregon State players who departed after the team’s Elite Eight run have started to land on new teams across the country. On Monday, forward Raegan Beers announced her commitment to Oklahoma, and Talia von Oelhoffen announced her commitment to USC.

Their commitments come after the majority of Oregon State’s roster entered the transfer portal due to the Beavers heading to the West Coast Conference.

Raegan Beers

With Oklahoma — the Big 12 regular season champions — moving into the SEC, the Sooners were looking to grab a big interior player able to own the glass, and in Beers they got just that. As a sophomore at Oregon State, Beers averaged 10.3 rebounds and 17.5 points per game while shooting 66.4 percent from the floor. She had narrowed her choices to Oklahoma and UConn for her final two seasons of college basketball.

Beers joins a veteran group led by reigning co-Big 12 player of the year Skylar Vann (who is expected to return for her fifth season). Seniors Lexy Keys, Aubrey Joens and Naveah Tot are also all expected to use their COVID-19 seasons and with Payton Verhulst and Sahara Williams in the fold, the Sooners don’t just return their top six players, they now add one of the best bigs available.

With Beers anchoring the center, this spaced-out offense will have…

The college basketball season might be over, but transfer portal season is here and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Our first ranking came out three weeks ago, and since then, much has changed in the sport’s landscape. We’ve crowned a national champion. Tara VanDerveer has retired. Tennessee hired Kim Caldwell. On the players’ front, it’s hard to imagine we won’t see more big names jump into the portal over the next week or so, and because of that, we’ll keep the updates coming. Until then, here’s a look at the top 15 prospects in the portal:

1. Raegan Beers

Oregon State sophomore forward

Key stats: 17.5 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 66 FG%

With multiple Beavers in the portal, it felt like only a matter of time for Beers to enter, too. As a first-team All-Pac-12 selection and former Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and conference Sixth Player of the Year, she’s going to hear from a lot of programs. She’s an elite offensive talent and an excellent defender who could be a foundational player for almost any program in the country. She shoots 69 percent at the rim, according to Pivot Analysis, and has a Mackenzie Holmes-like game, except Beers is only a sophomore. The loss of the Pac-12 is a loss for every women’s basketball fan. Because she was playing in the Pac-12…

The 2023-24 season is over. The transfer portal is (still) open. Tara VanDerveer has coached her last game. Two of those three statements would’ve made zero sense to me even a few years ago.

But here we are. Times, they are a-changin’. We at The Athletic are here to make sense of all the movement. Let’s dive into this week’s mailbag to examine some of the big changes and project how they might have an impact on the sport.

Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.

Do you think Geno retires end of next year? He will get the all-time wins record early in the season and Paige will be leaving. If so, who do you see as his replacement? (Sue Bird has already said no interest ). I assume CD will retire when Geno goes. — Thomas S.

I don’t think Auriemma will retire until he has another run at a national title with a fully healthy team. Even this year, with a group that ran six deep and had shifting rotations until the tournament, the Huskies still managed to put together a Final Four run. Among his many impressive coaching jobs, this one is near the top. But even when VanDerveer announced her retirement this offseason (even though I thought she’d want at least one go-around in the ACC), I never thought we’d see Auriemma step down. Let’s see…

The college basketball season might be over, but transfer portal season is here and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Our first ranking came out three weeks ago, and since then, much has changed in the sport’s landscape. We’ve crowned a national champion. Tara VanDerveer has retired. Tennessee hired Kim Caldwell. On the players’ front, it’s hard to imagine we won’t see more big names jump into the portal over the next week or so, and because of that, we’ll keep the updates coming. Until then, here’s a look at the top 15 prospects in the portal:

Stanford junior forward