If you thought the opening of the college wrestling transfer portal would dominate the conversation, think again.
Realignment found its way back into the spotlight. And this time it’s the sport of wrestling.
The Pac-12 Conference announced Wednesday morning that Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State and South Dakota State are set to leave the Big 12 Conference and join the Pac-12 as wrestling affiliate members beginning with the 2026-27 season. With the addition, the Pac-12 will grow to nine programs, its largest wrestling membership since the 2008-09 season, while also securing the minimum needed to maintain an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championships.
You can read the full release here.
All four programs joined the Big 12 Conference as affiliate members in July 2015 ahead of the 2015-16 season. Their departure brings the conference’s wrestling membership to nine programs.
What does it mean to be an affiliate member?
These programs are not leaving their primary conferences. They will compete in the Pac-12 for wrestling only, while the rest of their sports remain in their current leagues. As affiliates, they are fully eligible to compete for a conference title, participate in the postseason and earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. They follow the Pac-12 schedule and operate within the conference competitively, even if they have limited influence in broader league decisions.
Moves like this are often driven by necessity as much as opportunity.
Conferences need a minimum number of teams to maintain automatic qualification status, and programs need a stable, competitive home. The Pac-12 gets both with this addition. It strengthens its wrestling footprint overnight with four established programs and continues its rebuild in Olympic sports.
For the Big 12, the impact is more subtle but still notable.
The conference will drop to nine wrestling programs, continuing its identity as a league built heavily on affiliate membership.
Big 12 wrestling programs
Full-time members:
Arizona State
Iowa State
Oklahoma State
West Virginia
Affiliate members:
Missouri
Northern Iowa
Oklahoma
Utah Valley
Wyoming
The larger point is simple: staying competitive on the national stage, especially against the Big Ten Conference.
