Nothing lasts forever.
The countdown has begun for Colorado State’s move to the Pac-12, and Director of Athletics John Weber said the Rams cannot afford to limp into their new league. At Fall Media Day, he called this final 2025-26 Mountain West season both a farewell and a launchpad.
“It’s our last opportunity to win championships in each of our sports,” Weber said. “And it’s something that, you know, whether it’s admin or coaches or players or fans or alumni, we all take it very, very seriously. We’re grateful for the time that we’ve spent in the Mountain West.
“It’s been a great conference for us. But the time has also come for us to move to the Pac-12, and that will be official this time next year. July 1 of 2026 will be the first day that we’re headed into the Pac-12, and we’ve got to go into the Pac-12 with a full head of steam.”
That preparation, he pointed out, extends beyond football Saturdays. From academic support and NIL fundraising to the game-day environment at Canvas Stadium and Moby Arena, Weber framed CSU as a program trending upward at just the right time.
But the core of the university isn’t just in sports, and while many other Division I schools posted overall average athletics GPAs ranging from 3.3 to 3.5, the Rams weren’t far behind.
“A 3.253 department GPA for our teams this year is something that we’re all super proud of,” Weber said. “(There were) seven teams with a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Absolutely outstanding work by our student athletes. We had 200 of them earn Mountain West academic all conference membership, and then 149 of them were Mountain West scholar athletes as well. So (we were) just absolutely outstanding on the academic side of things.”
As for being ready athletically, the Rams had a very strong overall year last season, and matching — or even exceeding — that could go a long way in how they’re perceived in a new conference.
“Our football, our volleyball and our men’s and women’s basketball teams owned a combined 42-14 at home last year, so really an outstanding record for us at home,” Weber said. “All of our fans showing up in Moby, showing up in Canvas, made an absolute difference for our teams this past year.”
CSU became one of just 14 schools nationally to send a football team to a bowl, a volleyball team to the NCAA tournament and a men’s basketball team to a national tournament in the same year. Track and field star Mya Lesnar added a national title in outdoor shot put, becoming the second woman to win an outdoor national title in school history.
“The road to the pros absolutely goes through Fort Collins, and it’s something that we’re proud of here as well,” Weber said. “We’re one of 25 schools to have an NBA and NFL draft pick this year, and I believe that we’re the only A4 school that accomplished that.”
The numbers at the next level also impressed.
Currently, Tory Horton plays as a starter on the Seattle Seahawks while Nique Clifford looks to make an impact on the Sacramento Kings after displaying top rookie talent in the NBA’s Summer League.
People are starting to recognize the talent coming out of a mid-major school, and that led to to CSU selling the second-most football season tickets in program history, among other landmarks.
“Last year, we sold out a record four home football games and averaged over 33,000 in attendance, which is also a program record,” Weber said. “(We had the) most men’s basketball season tickets ever sold in program history (and the) largest student attendance in Moby Arena history for a volleyball game. Our volleyball program finished 11th in the country in attendance. That is absolutely outstanding, and Ram country shows up really, really well.”
That support is key as CSU eyes the Pac-12, a conference remade after last year’s realignment, and the new Pac-12 that CSU joins in 2026 will not look the same as the one many fans grew up with. Texas State and others are part of the rebuild, and the media rights package is still being negotiated.
Weber confirmed one piece: football and men’s basketball championships will air on CBS.
“It’s a new conference; it’s a new Pac-12,” Weber said. “And we have to start from scratch in many, many ways within that conference, on how it’s operated. What do conference championships look like? Where are they? Where are we competing? What does the membership look like? There’s a tremendous amount of work that we’ve got to do between now and June 30 of next year, and we’re all headed into the competitive season as well, so there will be a lot of midnight oil that’s being burned.”
For CSU, the challenge is not just adapting to a new league but keeping pace with the shifting business model of college athletics. NIL and revenue sharing will reshape the economics of every program, and CSU is no different.
As former president and CEO of Long Range Systems, Weber understands what goes into building and maintaining a program. But he isn’t doing it alone. CSU hired Alex Collins to serve a GM role for football in an attempt to adjust to the times.
“It’s always been a business,” Weber said. “Collegiate athletics has always been a business. But I assure you, the business focus on collegiate athletics has never been as high as it is now. We have to find every opportunity that we can to generate revenue in ways that we’ve not done before. Our goal that we openly talk about is, how do we become the first non-A4 school to get to that rev-share cap? And it’s going to take sponsorships; it’s going to take naming rights; it’s going to take ticket sales; it’s going to take engagement with our donors to figure out ways to make that happen.”
That growth is tied, again, to fan support.
CSU had a 90% renewal rate on football season tickets, despite massive year-over-year growth. Weber said his team is working on new elements for the tailgating experience and pregame intros across sports.
“We play two games every time that we play,” Weber said. “We play the game outside the stadium, we play the game inside the stadium, and the goal is, obviously, to win both of those.”
Still, the biggest measure will come in competition.
Norvell’s football team went from three to five to eight wins over the past three seasons and returned to bowl eligibility. Volleyball defended its MW title. Soccer reached the conference semifinals again. Men’s golf reached NCAA regionals for the fourth-straight year.
Weber returned to the theme that he and other head coaches often share: “We over me.” The phrase, he said, captures what CSU needs to succeed in a more competitive landscape. And while it may seem like a common saying, it’s become clear how important that is in long-term player retention and building winning programs.
“It’s a concise way for us to really all talk together about what we are trying to achieve here at Colorado State,” Weber said. “We all have to prepare our teams to be competitive. We have to support our teams academically, mentally, physically. We have to find our competitive advantage, and that can be done through coaching, through recruiting, through technology, support services, culture, schemes, and we’re all focused on doing that.”
He widened the scope to include all aspects of the university. It’s evident a big transition will affect every person in the athletics scene, but more revenue from sports means more opportunity for other areas of CSU as well.
“We have to put on the best game-day atmosphere when we compete,” Weber said. “We have to create that competitive advantage inside of our venues every time that one of our teams comes in there and competes. And that’s a lot to do, but we also include everybody. So when we talk about, “We over me,” it is everybody. It’s our students; it’s our faculty; it’s our campus; it’s our alumni, our donors, our partners, our community, our fans. That’s what defines “we.” And we can and will be great here at Colorado State.”
Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on social media @michaelfhovey.
