The Pac-12 is adding Utah State as its seventh member and is in discussions with basketball powerhouse Gonzaga to join the rebuilding conference in 2026, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday.

Utah State and UNLV were the main targets for the Pac-12 after a group of American Athletic Conference schools decided to stay put, following a pitch to join the rebuilding Conference of Champions. But the Mountain West was working to keep its remaining schools together and UNLV’s decision remained uncertain Monday night, according to two of the people.

The Mountain West received commitments from Air Force and San Jose State earlier in the day, according to two others with knowledge of that conference’s situation, but it was unclear if anything was binding if the rest of the remaning members were not on board. Air Force had been drawing interest from the AAC to join Army and Navy in that conference.

The other Mountain West schools include New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada and Hawaii for football only.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because both conference’s strategy and internal discussions were not being made public.

The Pac-12’s latest expansion move came after four American Athletic Conference schools announced they remained committed to the AAC.

Memphis, Tulane, South Florida and UTSA released a statement that made no mention of the Pac-12, but several people with knowledge of those talks told AP the conference had targeted those schools as potential new members.

“While we acknowledge receiving interest in our institutions from other conferences, we firmly believe that it is in our individual and collective best interests to uphold our commitment to each other,” the schools said.

The Pac-12 began to restock for a 2026 relaunch two weeks ago by landing Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State from the Mountain West to join Washington State and Oregon State, the only two Pac-12 schools left after a dramatic round of realignment took effect this summer.

The Pac-12 needed at least two more members in all sports to reach the eight required to be a recognized conference with access to NCAA championships and the College Football Playoff in 2026.

With Utah State on board, that’s down to one and the conference is exploring options beyond just UNLV.

Zags>> Adding Gonzaga would give the Pac-12 one of the best men’s basketball programs in the country. The Bulldogs have thrived in the West Coast Conference, reaching the NCAA Tournament every year it has been played since 1998, with two Final Four appearances and eight seasons of at least 30 victories. Gonzaga does not have a football program.

Adding Gonzaga would still leave the Pac-12 in need of another football-playing member for CFP purposes.

Money matters>> One person with knowledge of the discussions between the Pac-12 and AAC schools said the conference’s pitch included a projected $12 million to $15 million annual media-rights distribution to each school. The schools were also presented with options to join solely in football and basketball to alleviate travel costs associated with other sports programs making trips across one or two times zones.

All the Pac-12 schools are in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. The Pac-12 was targeting new members in the Central time zone as a way to increase value for possible television partners.