What the Pac-12 is looking like heading into the Fourth of July

There are UCLA fans who clamor for the days of the Bruins being members of the Pac-12 Conference and consistently playing teams like Cal, Stanford, and other teams they used to play on a yearly basis.

So, for those Bruin fans who are happy that the Pac-12 has rebuilt and will continue to, here's a look at where the conference is heading into the 2026 season and the Fourth of July weekend.

This is how the resurrection of the Pac-12 began to build momentum.

The first step was adding schools with football programs to reach the target of eight FBS football schools, which is necessary for any conference to have at least one of its football teams eligible for the College Football Playoffs. Along with the Cougars and Beavers, the Pac-12 will add Colorado State, Fresno State, Boise State, and San Diego State as full members by the beginning of the 2026 season. That gave the Pac-12 six football teams for the 2026 season. They needed to add at least two more schools that have a football program competing at the FBS level.

The Pac-12 continued to add from the Mountain West Conference, with Utah State being named the seventh school to join with an FBS football program, bringing the number to seven FBS football teams for the Pac-12 to begin the 2026 football season. However, the conference still needed one more team to reach the magical eight officially.

Although adding Gonzaga did not increase the Pac-12 to eight FBS football teams, it was important for boosting the conference's basketball profile, as the Zags have a realistic chance of making a run in the NCAA Tournament almost every year.

Now that the Pac-12 had a stable media rights deal with CBS Sports, ESPN, and the CW, they began laying the foundation to rebuild the conference long term.

The comeback story of the Pac-12 is impressive in the new world of conference realignment. In contrast to the Big East in football, the Pac-12 is fully operational for the 2026 football season with the addition of Texas State.

Most importantly, in this new landscape of college athletics, the Pac-12 has signed a long-term media rights deal with CBS/Paramount+ to ensure that its new members, who are leaving their former conferences, such as the Mountain West, are in their best long-term interests.

On social media, certain accounts are happy with the return of the Pac-12, as the communities on various social media platforms revolving around the Pac-12 teams and their fans are looking forward to the 2026 season.