With the 3 CUSA schools headed to the Big East, along with Boise St. and SDSU from the west, it seemed like there would be enough stability to entice Air Force into joining the Big East for football only. Yet despite the loss of two Mountain West schools, Air Force has officially opted to remain in the Mountain West.

The Mountain West was set to bring in Utah St. and San Jose St. to replace the lost two schools, but has shelved that plan while it discusses it’s options with CUSA. On the table is an all-sports merger of the 16 all-sports schools, with MWC commissioner Thompson taking over as the commissioner, with CUSA commissioner Banowsky stepping down. The move would include a 17th football school, Hawaii, as a football-only member.

A proposed divisional alignment would look like:

West:
Fresno St.
Nevada
UNLV
New Mexico
Air Force
Colorado St.
Wyoming
* Hawaii
UTEP

East:
Rice
Tulsa
Memphis
Tulane
USM
UAB
Marshall
ECU