Canzano: Pac-12 Commissioner starts with 'Border War'
Teresa Gould talks football, expansion, and her mission.
Teresa Gould is heading into the teeth of a long-standing college football rivalry. Her first game of the 2026 season will be the Border War in Fort Collins, Colo.
Colorado State hosts Wyoming in Week 1.
“I have family in that area, and they’ve always talked about how cool it is and the tradition and rivalry,” the commissioner of the relaunched Pac-12 told me on Sunday. “I wanted to experience it.”
Gould’s conference has endured raids by the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC. Ten legacy members left the Pac-12. The remaining two schools punched back, won a settlement, rebuilt, secured a media-rights deal, and relaunched on July 1.
It’s a much different Pac-12.
The new conference prepares for its first football season amid looming questions. As in, how critical is this first season? Is Gould’s conference finished with expansion or just pausing before it takes another bite? And what directives have her presidents given her?
Gould granted an informal, off-the-cuff interview with the football season approaching. We touched on a wide array of topics on Sunday afternoon.