can get other teams to budge off their stance. UNLV is the most curious one - the PAC will obviously have the prestige of better teams and higher $$/school in their TV deal in the long term, but somehow the MWC threw them enough bonus $$ to stay put.

The PAC is too proud to just merge, and there aren't a lot of good other options for them if the AAC stays intact. So the MWC just moves on down the food chain and picks up more bottom-dwellers, and the PAC has to go get Texas State from the Sun Belt (I think that's the most likely at the end of the day).

Then they might as well rebrand as the Pac State conference:

Wash St
Oregon St
San Diego St
Fresno St
Boise St
Colorado St
Utah St
Texas St