Grand Canyon University has officially joined the Mountain West Conference, as of July 8, 2025, and will immediately participate in regular-season competition and conference championships beginning this fall. The conference's board of directors approved GCU's entry, jump-starting the Lopes' move to one of the nation's premier conferences.

GCU joins a high-profile conference that consists of competitive institutions with national brands, passionate fan bases and first-class facilities. GCU will become the 12th member of a powerful conference that includes the United States Air Force Academy, University of Nevada, Reno, University of New Mexico, San José State University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Wyoming, as well as, for one more year, Boise State University, Colorado State University, California State University, Fresno, San Diego State University and Utah State University. In 2026, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa will move from football only to full member status and new members University of California, Davis, University of Texas at El Paso and Northern Illinois University (football only) will join the Mountain West.

Lopes teams will immediately compete for conference championships in 17 sports, beginning in less than two months when fall sports including women's volleyball, women's soccer and cross country get underway. Conference schedules that have been released previously will be amended for GCU's inclusion.

"The addition of Grand Canyon for the 2025-26 academic year is a significant win for the student-athletes at GCU and in the Mountain West," Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said. "Grand Canyon brings elite recruiting, a passionate fan base, and state-of-the-art facilities, elevating the Mountain West's competitiveness and national profile. In a time when the student-athlete experience is of utmost importance, we felt it was in the best interest to allow them to compete for conference championships and the NCAA postseason immediately. GCU is a great addition to the Mountain West and positively raises the competition level in the league."

The Mountain West is coming off yet another strong year where it ranked sixth in conference strength in men's basketball and softball, seventh in women's volleyball, eighth in women's basketball, 11th in women's soccer and 14th in baseball out of over 30 Division I conferences. Four teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament in men's basketball, continuing a strong history of sending several teams to March Madness. The Mountain West has sent at least four men's basketball teams to the NCAA Tournament in four straight years, highlighted by six qualifying teams in 2024.

GCU has experienced remarkable success in its first 12 years at the Division I level and as members of the WAC, claiming 76 conference championships. The university also won seven WAC Commissioner's Cups including the last five consecutively, given to the league's top-performing athletic department.

"The strong support of President Brian Mueller and the entire university community has led to tremendous competitive success, positioning GCU for this move to a conference as strong as the Mountain West," GCU Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs said. "We are thankful to the coaches, student-athletes and staff, with the backing of the Havocs, the greatest student section in college sports, that have worked tirelessly to build a nationally competitive athletic department to earn this opportunity. We want to thank Commissioner Nevarez and the member institutions, and we are eager to compete for championships with our new peers in the Mountain West."

GCU is coming off another successful athletics year in 2024-25. The men's and women's basketball teams combined to go 58-11 (.841), win conference tournament championships and appear in the NCAA Tournament. The men's basketball program has appeared in four of the last five tournaments and advanced to the second round in 2024 with a win over Saint Mary's. On the softball diamond, GCU made its debut in the top 25 and won a game in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. Men's golf and women's tennis each returned to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, while men's indoor track and field won its eighth conference championship in its last nine tries.

The move marks another step in GCU's remarkable transformation as the largest private Division I university in the nation. Residing in the heart of Phoenix, the fifth-largest city in the U.S., GCU has gone from nearly closing its doors 20 years ago to having an enrollment this fall of over 25,000 on its campus and over 100,000 students studying online. With over 17,000 students living in its 32 on-campus residence halls, GCU is also the largest residential campus among private universities in the country and is ranked No. 21 for best college campuses in America by Niche.com. The enrollment growth reflects significant expansion in academic offerings, growing from 4 to 10 distinct colleges and from 100 academic programs, emphases and certificates to over 350.

"I think, holistically, what has transpired at GCU over the last 15-16 years has been one of the most remarkable transformations I have ever seen," said Jerry Colangelo, GCU Board of Trustees member, former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks and former chairman of USA Basketball. "GCU is doing it the right way on every level – in the classroom, in the community and on the playing field."

As previously announced, GCU will be an affiliate member of the WAC in men's soccer, an affiliate member of The Big West in men's swimming and diving, and will remain in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for beach volleyball.