We spoke with a dozen people involved in the discussions and no one sees an easy move, making it hard to predict realignment resolution.

The blueprint for the Pac-12's plan to add the top football programs from the Mountain West had been collecting dust in a filing cabinet.

Cancel that bulk order of beet juice. San Diego State’s basketball team religiously drinks the nitrate-rich concoction in the days before games in high altitude, believing it enhances oxygen delivery to muscles that becomes more difficult for sea-level athletes venturing into the Rockies.

Welcome to Until Saturday, the five-star college football newsletter: How the Pac-12 expansion came together and what’s next.

"I think at the end of the day for Lobo basketball, if we continue to get 15,000 (fans) a game, and we continue to get the support that we're getting,

The Pac-12 is still two schools short of what it needs to be a recognized conference by the NCAA in two years.

UTEP and Texas State are options for the Mountain West Conference after Boise State, others left for the Pac-12 in another expansion move.