UC Davis sports to join Mountain West conference, with one major omission

DAVIS – Almost all UC Davis sports will be joining the Mountain West Conference come 2026, the school announced Tuesday.

“Our transition to the highly regarded conference will introduce our Aggie community to a broader audience, in major metropolitan areas and through increased media coverage,” said UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May in a statement.

The school’s football program won’t be joining the new conference, however, instead remaining in the Big Sky Conference.

In a statement as to why the football team is staying behind, UC Davis officials said they “aim to build on our historic season.” Currently, the UC Davis football team is competing in the NCAA Division I Football Championship and are scheduled to play South Dakota on Saturday in the quarterfinals.

Notably, Mountain West is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conference, while Big Sky is part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

UC Davis’ move comes as five schools are set to depart the Mountain West Conference come 2026: Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, San Diego State, and Utah State.

Along with UC Davis, three other schools have accepted invitations to the Mountain West Conference by 2026: Grand Canyon University, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and University of Texas at El Paso.

United States Air Force Academy, University of Nevada Reno, University of Nevada Las Vegas, San Jose State, and University of Wyoming will be the other members of the Mountain West.