We spoke with a dozen people involved in the discussions and no one sees an easy move, making it hard to predict realignment resolution.

"I think at the end of the day for Lobo basketball, if we continue to get 15,000 (fans) a game, and we continue to get the support that we're getting,

The blueprint for the Pac-12's plan to add the top football programs from the Mountain West had been collecting dust in a filing cabinet.

Cancel that bulk order of beet juice. San Diego State’s basketball team religiously drinks the nitrate-rich concoction in the days before games in high altitude, believing it enhances oxygen delivery to muscles that becomes more difficult for sea-level athletes venturing into the Rockies.

Welcome to Until Saturday, the five-star college football newsletter: How the Pac-12 expansion came together and what’s next.

The Pac-12 is still two schools short of what it needs to be a recognized conference by the NCAA in two years.

UTEP and Texas State are options for the Mountain West Conference after Boise State, others left for the Pac-12 in another expansion move.