Mountain West Conference adds Grand Canyon as a full non-football member in 2026

The Mountain West will add Grand Canyon University as a full non-football member in 2026, the conference announced Friday. It is the latest addition to the MWC as it is being rebuilt following the impending departure of five schools to the also-rebuilding Pac-12 in 2026.

The MWC will also add the University of Texas El Paso of Conference USA. Only football member Hawaii will become a full member, giving the league eight full football members, plus non-football member Grand Canyon.

“Grand Canyon is a great addition to the Mountain West,” MWC Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement.

“Grand Canyon has been on the rise both academically and athletically over the past decade, and its addition to the league will increase competition in the Mountain West as we strive to earn NCAA postseason bids and compete for national championships .”

GCU ✘ MW.#LopesUp pic.twitter.com/M7A44DNMCP

— GCU Lopes (@GCU_Lopes) November 1, 2024

The Grand Canyon men’s basketball team has made the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons of the Western Athletic Conference, including a second-round appearance earlier this year as a No. 12 seed, defeating No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s. The school, which does not have a football program, will participate in 17 sports in the MWC.

GCU announced earlier in May that it would join the West Coast Conference in 2025.

On Tuesday, the World Council of Churches said in a statement that it was “disappointed” in Grand Canyon’s decision to join another conference.

“The WCC Presidents Council will continue to evaluate the current landscape of Division I athletics, (and) move ambitiously forward in exploring expansion and alliance opportunities that position the WCC for NCAA success”

Statement from the West Coast Conference. pic.twitter.com/GdZFnjhmpj

— West Coast Conference (@WCCsports) November 1, 2024

Grand Canyon was founded in 1949 and rose from Division II to Division I in 2013. It is a private university with approximately 25,000 students on its Phoenix campus and more than 95,000 online students. It is considered a nonprofit school by the IRS, but for-profit by the Department of Education, which fined the school $37.7 million in 2023 for allegedly misrepresenting the costs of its doctoral programs. The school has appealed this decision and is challenging its non-profit status.

“GCU continues to grow rapidly as an institution and as an athletics program,” said athletics director Jamie Boggs. “We want to best position ourselves to be nationally competitive, and we are excited about the vision and future of the Mountain West.

“We are joining a conference that has seen national success, developed a rich tradition in its 26 years and has positioned us financially for competitive success in this changing collegiate landscape.”

With eight full football-playing members already in place, the Mountain West meets FBS requirements. The 2026 membership will now be: Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, University of Nevada Las Vegas, UTEP and Wyoming, along with Grand Canyon.

According to league sources, the conference also continues to look at potential football-playing members such as Northern Illinois and Toledo of the MAC. Football drives the television money, and it would be preferable for the conference to have at least eight football games in the league.

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(Photo: Nicole Mullen/USA Today)