Basketball powerhouse Gonzaga will become the latest member of the rebuilt Pac-12 Conference, the school announced Tuesday, while the Mountain West Conference moved quickly to secure its future adding UTEP.

Gonzaga will move from the West Coast Conference where it has dominated for most of the last quarter century into a conference that was being rebuilt around football, but should be pretty stout on the basketball court. Gonzaga will become the eighth Pac-12 member along with holdovers Washington State and Oregon State, and fellow newcomers Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Utah State and Colorado State from the Mountain West.

Gonzaga will join the conference in all of its sports beginning July 1, 2026, as the Pac-12’s only private college up to this point.

“Today represents an exciting milestone for the Pac-12 as we welcome another outstanding institution with a rich history of success into our league,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said.

Adding Gonzaga still leaves the Pac-12 in need of another football-playing member for CFP purposes. Gonzaga does not have a football program.

The Mountain West is in the same position of still needing to add one more football-playing member even with the addition of UTEP. The Miners will leave Conference USA beginning in 2026.

“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,” Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. “We welcome and look forward to competing against the student-athletes of UTEP.”

Both conferences have been in a scramble to secure their futures outside the Power Four of college sports, but the addition of Gonzaga clearly gives the Pac-12 the advantage on the basketball court.

Last year, Washington State, Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Utah State and Gonzaga all reached the NCAA Tournament in men’s basketball and two seasons ago San Diego State reached the national championship game.

College volleyball

San Jose State gets another forfeit >> The Wyoming volleyball team has forfeited its match scheduled for Saturday against San Jose State, becoming the third team to do so this season as the debate about transgender athletes in women’s sports swirls around the Spartans.

“After a lengthy discussion, the University of Wyoming will not play its scheduled conference match against San José State University in the UniWyo Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 5,” a statement posted to the Wyoming athletics’ website read.

The school did not say why it was forfeiting the match, but San Jose State player Brooke Slusser in a lawsuit she joined earlier this month said that she has a transgender teammate who, she argued, has physical advantages over other women athletes. This news organization is not identifying the player named in the lawsuit.

Southern Utah and Boise State both forfeited matches against the Spartans last month without citing a reason.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon supported the university’s decision in a post on Twitter/X: “I am in full support of the decision by @wyoathletics to forego playing its volleyball match against San Jose State. It is important we stand for integrity and fairness in female athletics.”

-- Michael Nowels

WNBA

Liberty top Aces 88-84 to take a 2-0 lead >> Sabrina Ionescu of Orinda scored 24 points and the New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 88-84 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series.

Game 3 is Friday night in Las Vegas, with the two-time defending champion Aces trying to avoid being knocked out by the team they beat in the WNBA Finals last year.

No team has rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-five playoff series in WNBA postseason history. Only Phoenix was able to force a Game 5 in 2018 against Seattle.

The game was tied at 81 before Ionescu hit a jumper with 1:15 left to give New York a two-point lead.

The Liberty’s Breanna Stewart hit two free throws with five seconds left to seal the win.

Tennis

Alcaraz reaches final in China >> Third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz’s athleticism was again on show as he advanced to the final of the China Open with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Daniil Medvedev.

The four-time Grand Slam champion — including this year’s French Open and Wimbledon — extended his head-to-head record against the Russian to 6-2.

The 21-year-old Spaniard has now won eight straight matches — across the Davis Cup, Laver Cup and in Beijing — since his loss to Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round at the U.S. Open.

Meanwhile, Paula Badosa scored a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Jessica Pegula.

College football

Alabama-Georgia most-watched since 2017 >> Alabama’s 41-34 victory over Georgia on Saturday night averaged 12 million viewers on ABC and ESPN’s streaming platforms, according to Nielsen.

It was the most-watched regular season prime-time game since 2017, when Alabama-Florida State on the season’s opening weekend averaged 12.3 million. It was also ESPN’s most-streamed regular-season game.

Nielsen reported the audience peaked at 14.1 million from 8:15-8:30 p.m. PDT, when Alabama was holding off a second-half rally by Georgia. With the win, Alabama moved from No. 4 to No. 1 in the AP poll.