Pac-12 fires back at Dan Mullen for shot over Kirby Moore’s Mountain West mistake

New Washington State head coach Kirby Moore mixed up the Mountain West Conference for the Pac-12 on Tuesday during his introductory press conference. This led to UNLV coach Dan Mullen to react to his blunder, and the Pac-12 Conference itself to fire a shot back at Mullen for his comments.

“Moving forward, the time is now at Washington State to be the leader in the new Mountain West Conference,” Moore said. The only issue? Washington State never left the Pac-12.

UNLV head coach Dan Mullen to respond: “Welcome to the (Mountain West Conference),” he wrote. “(Kirby Moore) if you want to play with the best this is the place to be.”

The Pac-12 would respond to Mullen’s tweet. They found humor in his response, firing a shot at the Rebels head coach for suggesting the Mountain West’s superiority.

This confident response from the Pac-12 comes at a time when the conference is set to add several members apart from Washington State and Oregon State. They’ll welcome Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State and Texas State to their ranks beginning in 2026.

Perhaps the Pac-12’s response is a nod to the fact that Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State are all coming in from the Mountain West. This has left the MWC with just eight teams set to play in the conference in 2026. This includes returning programs such as Mullen’s UNLV, Air Force, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, Wyoming and newcomers Hawaii and UTEP.

UNLV has been at or near the top of the conference in each of the last two seasons prior to losing those teams to the Pac-12. They’ve gone 21-6 during that stretch, including consecutive trips to the Mountain West Conference championship game. It’s the first time UNLV has ever had back-to-back 10-win seasons and just the third time overall in program history.

Mullen is in his first year as Rebels head coach and led UNLV to a 10-3 record prior to their bowl game later this month. They’re set to take on Ohio (8-4) in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 23. Kickoff is slated for 9 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.