Seven Mountain West schools agreed to remain in the league amid overtures by the Pac-12 to lure more of its teams, the conference announced Thursday.

The move comes after the Pac-12, which was reduced to just two teams after last summer’s realignment, announced two weeks ago that four Mountain West teams would join the league in 2026, including Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State. Utah State agreed to join earlier this week.

The seven remaining Mountain West schools signed a memorandum of understanding to stay in the league. They include Air Force, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, Wyoming and Hawaii.

Because Hawaii is a partial member, the Mountain West needs to add two more schools to be recognized as a conference under NCAA rules, but the league will have until 2028 to do so.

UNLV and Air Force decided to remain in the Mountain West as the conference thwarted attempts at further poaching by the Pac-12 and American Athletic Conference by offering financial incentives to its most prominent remaining members to stay, multiple sources reported on Wednesday night.

Utah State’s departure came as Commissioner Gloria Nevarez was trying to convince her remaining members to agree to a multiple-year grant of rights that would bind schools together and to the conference through media rights.

It appears Nevarez will be able to keep the Mountain West alive with the help of about $100 million dollars in exit fees expected to come the conference’s way from the departing schools.

The Pac-12 is suing the Mountain West over another $55 million in poaching penalties that were part of a football scheduling agreement Oregon State and Washington State entered into with the conference for this season.

Reports said UNLV and Air Force were offered signing bonuses of more than $20 million to stay put, and that was more than other conferences were willing to spend to lure them away.

Golf

U.S. sweeps first day at Presidents Cup >> The United States swept the opening session of the Presidents Cup, 5-0, for the third time behind Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and plenty of help from a putting-challenged International team.

The Americans are going for a 10th straight win in this lopsided series, and the Internationals didn’t put up much of a fight in fourballs at Royal Montreal.

Scheffler and Russell Henley never trailed in their 3-and-2 victory over Sungjae Im and Tom Kim.

NBA

Rose retires at 35 >> Derrick Rose’s last act as an NBA player came in the form of a letter to the game of basketball, addressing the highs and lows that he experienced over a 16-year pro career. And with that, his career ended on his terms.

Rose, 35, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by his hometown Chicago Bulls and the league’s MVP in 2011, announced his retirement on Thursday. He was, and still is, the youngest MVP winner in NBA history, claiming that award when he was just 22.

A major knee injury during the 2012 playoffs forced him to miss almost two full seasons and he contemplated stepping away from the game several times following other injury issues. He played in 24 games with the Grizzlies last season.

NHL

Kings’ Doughty suffers injury >> Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty is undergoing further testing because of a lower-body injury he sustained in a preseason game at the Vegas Golden Knights. Doughty was in a protective boot and using a knee scooter to get around the team facility on Thursday.

Ducks goalie has emergency appendectomy >> Ducks goaltender John Gibson is likely to miss 3-6 weeks, including the start of the regular season, after undergoing an emergency appendectomy Wednesday night.