UTEP will join the Mountain West, with competition for all sports expected to start in the league in 2026-27, the conference announced Tuesday.

The move gives the Mountain West seven full members, which meets the NCAA’s minimum required to be an auto-bid conference, but falls one member short of the eight needed to meet the CFP’s requirement for access to the five bids that go to conference champions. The MWC is rebuilding after recently losing five of its schools to the Pac-12.

“We are excited to welcome The University of Texas at El Paso to the Mountain West as the next step in our strategic membership initiatives,” Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. “The addition of UTEP restores historic rivalries with several of our member institutions within the geographic footprint and provides valuable exposure in the great State of Texas. We welcome and look forward to competing against the student-athletes of UTEP.”

UTEP, a member of Conference USA, will owe about $8 million to the league to exit, according to a person briefed on the situation. CUSA has a grant of rights as part of its current television contract.

The Miners have long considered the Mountain West an ideal geographical fit, since UTEP sits in the westernmost part of Texas. The Miners were members of the Western Athletic Conference from 1968 to 2004 before moving into CUSA in 2005.

“There’s no doubt this will be better for our student-athletes, our fans, and for El Paso,” UTEP president Heather Wilson said. “We look forward to rekindling former rivalries and welcoming teams and their fans to El Paso.”

As the MWC looks to add an eighth member, discussions with Texas State — currently in the Sun Belt — are ongoing, according to a person briefed on the discussions. But a resolution may not be imminent, as Texas State is mulling potential options among the Mountain West, Pac-12 and even the American Athletic Conference, where three other Texas schools reside.

The Mountain West has had discussions with Tarleton State, which is part of the United Athletic Conference in the FCS. Tarleton State, located in Stephenville, Texas, has aggressively pushed itself as an FBS option in realignment in recent years as the program has invested heavily in athletics and infrastructure.

The Mountain West has also shown interest in talking with MAC schools like Northern Illinois and Toledo as potential football-only members.

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