Colorado State volleyball — along with CSU’s 15 other Division I programs — woke up the morning of Sept. 12 to the announcement that CSU would be joining the Pac-12.

As CSU’s current largest women’s athletics program, the volleyball team finds themselves in a position to grow CSU women’s athletics to horizons previously untouchable while they were part of the Mountain West.

“We’re trying to compete with the biggest schools and the big dogs, which is exciting.” –Ted Kopacz, CSU volleyball assistant coach

The Rams’ current media deal with the MW earns them nearly $4 million a year in media rights. The Pac-12’s 2012 media deal had an average annual valuation of around $21 million a year per school. When the conference’s media rights deal expired in 2022, ESPN offered them a deal with an AAV of $30 million per school.

While the exact finances of the deal have yet to be worked out, coach Emily Kohan said she believes this is an exciting time for the team moving forward.

“It’s a great opportunity — there’s a lot of upside,” Kohan said. “I applaud the leadership — the administration — for taking control of our fate and saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to try to be as aggressive as possible — to play at the highest levels as possible.'”

Along with the increased media attention, joining a potential Power Five conference means CSU volleyball will face a much higher level of competition throughout conference play.

In addition to CSU, three other schools will be joining the migration from the Mountain West to the Pac-12: Boise State, San Diego State and Fresno State. They will join Washington State and Oregon State, the only two remaining teams after the conference dissolved last year. The Pac-12 was given a grace period by the NCAA to get its total members to eight by 2026 in order to remain an eligible conference.

“It’s awesome to put Colorado State in a Power Five — potential Power Five — situation to play new teams,” setter Emery Herman said. “It’s been a while, and so getting to play better competition just (by playing) the higher caliber universities — I think it’s great.”

Herman, CSU’s starting setter, transferred from Arizona, a former member of the Pac-12, in 2023.

As the 2023 Mountain West Newcomer of the Year, Herman is certainly familiar with the level of competition in the conference. Out of the 64 matches she competed in in her junior and sophomore years at Arizona, she started in every single one. Since her transfer to CSU, Herman has shown that her experience against that level of competition made her a force to be reckoned with, earning her All-Conference and All-Tournament honors at the end of the 2023 season.

Now as CSU throws itself into the fire of the Power Five competition, Kohan said she is excited but remains cautious due to the volatile nature of conference realignment.

“I don’t think conference realignment is over — we’ve got to add more schools,” Kohan said. “The court case with the ACC kind of falling apart, you know, what does that do to the ACC? … For 2026, it’s kind of waiting and not making any long-term decisions for our scheduling.”

While the future remains unclear, the news that CSU will be joining a branding powerhouse like the Pac-12 means new possibilities for the Rams’ recruiting.

Assistant coach Ted Kopacz, who previously coached at Colorado — another former member of the Pac-12 — said the news sends a message to recruits that CSU is ready to take that next step.

“It means we’re serious about athletics,” Kopacz said. “We’re putting money into it. We’re trying to be on the biggest stage possible. We’re trying to compete with the biggest schools and the big dogs, which is exciting. And it’s more money for volleyball, all the TV money — all that comes back to the athletic department. It means better resources for everybody, so I think it’s a great thing for recruiting.”

Reach Will Engle at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @willengle44.