San Diego State is set to join the Pac-12 officially on July 1, bringing a new member into a league that is being rebuilt around nine teams for the 2026-27 season. The timing matters because the Aztecs are not arriving as a finished product. They are bringing back only two of their ten leading scorers from a team that went 22-11 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
That is why Brian Dutcher’s roster is already drawing attention now, even before the first conference game is scheduled. San Diego State has added mid-major star transfers and international veterans, along with freshman Zach White, redshirt guard Latrell Davis and center Thokbor Majak, in an effort to steady a lineup that changed almost everywhere at once. The question around the program is no longer whether it can get into the Pac-12. It is whether this version of the Aztecs can look like a conference contender once they get there.
The larger picture is a Pac-12 that has been stitched back together with familiar names and fresh uncertainty. Gonzaga remains the headliner and, even after losing 11 players from last season, is still expected to open in the top 10. The Bulldogs brought in center Massamba Diop from Arizona State and former McDonald’s All-American Isiah Harwell through the transfer portal, while returning Braden Huff, Davis Fogle and Mario Saint-Supery after German guard Jack Kayil left for the NBA. That mix is why Gonzaga is still being talked about as a team that could get back to the Sweet 16 after falling in the Round of 32 in each of the past two years.
Utah State is in a similar state of rebuild after head coach Jerrod Calhoun left for Cincinnati and took guard Elijah Perryman and forwards Adlan Elamin and David Iweze with him. New coach Ben Jacobson brought Will Hornseth from Northern Iowa, but plenty of roster spots are still open across the nine-team league. San Diego State’s addition on July 1 is important because it turns a realignment headline into a basketball problem: the Aztecs, Gonzaga and Utah State are all trying to define themselves at the same time, and the first answer will not come until the new season begins.
