As San Diego State prepares for its transition into the Pac-12 in 2026, along with Colorado State, Boise State, Fresno State, and Utah State, they will also prepare for a new conference opponent this upcoming fall.

On July 8, the Mountain West board of directors approved GCU’s entry for 2025, allowing the Lopes to compete in regular-season games and conference championships this year.

“The addition of Grand Canyon for the 2025-26 academic year is a significant win for the student-athletes at GCU and in the Mountain West,” Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said. “In a time when the student-athlete experience is of utmost importance, we felt it was in the best interest to allow them to compete for conference championships and the NCAA postseason immediately. GCU is a great addition to the Mountain West and positively raises the competition level in the league.”

GCU will begin competing for conference championships in 17 different sports, including women’s volleyball, women’s soccer and cross country, starting in August. 

In their first 12 seasons as a Division I school, they secured 76 conference championships, as well as seven Western Athletic Conference Commissioner’s Cups, an annual award presented to the institution that achieved the highest athletic success in a set of defined sports.

“The strong support of President Brian Mueller and the entire university community has led to tremendous competitive success, positioning GCU for this move to a conference as strong as the Mountain West,” GCU Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs said. “We are thankful to the coaches, student-athletes, and staff, with the backing of the Havocs, the greatest student section in college sports, that have worked tirelessly to build a nationally competitive athletic department to earn this opportunity.”

However, this early move isn’t all joy and smiles for the opposing schools. Both SDSU and Boise State expressed frustration about the early move due to schedule changes and inconvenience. 

Boise State said this change “significantly and negatively impacts the schedules, opportunities, and budgets of Boise State and the other departing universities.”

San Diego State athletics released a statement regarding the early GCU move:

“While SDSU remains an active member of the Mountain West through June 30, 2026, the university was not consulted or permitted to vote on the early invitation to Grand Canyon University, which is surprising and disappointing given prior representations that the Mountain West and its Commissioner made to SDSU and the negative impact this addition will have on already-planned athletic competition schedules for this academic year. We will need to evaluate this announcement and make adjustments due to this addition.”

One inconvenience is that the number of Mountain West basketball teams has increased to 12, causing an unbalanced schedule compared to the 20-game schedule last season. This also means that one team won’t travel to the Global Credit Union Arena, the Lopes’ home court.

The arena holds 7,000 fans, and it is known for its rowdy student section, named the Havocs. On Dec. 5, 2023, the Aztecs men’s basketball team experienced it to the full extent when they faced an upset loss to the Lopes in their most recent matchup, 79-73. The overflow crowd helped the Lopes secure their first victory against a Top 25 roster.

SDSU is 1-4 against GCU in men’s basketball, but they have only had five total meetings since 1980. The Lopes also got the best of the Aztecs in men’s lacrosse with a 9-1 record since 2013, as well as a 15-3 record in men’s baseball since 2019.

Although the Scarlet and Black have struggled to compete with GCU, they will have a chance to tally some victories now that they will be conference opponents. Whether they’re happy or not to have the Lopes in the Mountain West a year early, this will be their chance to make their mark in their last season before heading off to the Pac-12.