Pac-12 Wrestling strengthens its membership with additions of Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State and South Dakota State

Key Points:

• The Pac-12 Conference will add four new affiliate members in wrestling—Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, and South Dakota State—starting in the 2026-27 season, joining previously announced Northern Illinois to form a nine-team wrestling league.
• This expansion meets the NCAA requirement of six members for automatic qualification and marks the largest Pac-12 wrestling membership since the 2008-09 season.
• The nine programs have a strong competitive history, sending 31 wrestlers to the 2026 NCAA Championships with two All-Americans, and collectively producing 166 NCAA qualifiers and 34 All-Americans over the past five years.
• Individual programs have demonstrated consistent success, with Air Force placing in the Top 25 three times in four years, Northern Colorado producing recent national champions, North Dakota State sending multiple wrestlers to NCAA Championships, and South Dakota State achieving multiple All-Americans and strong dual meet records.
• Coaches from existing Pac-12 programs expressed enthusiasm about the new members, highlighting the positive impact on competition, conference strength, and the growth of wrestling in the western United States.