AccNole2, you have some good points. You may want to replace SMU with UTEP. UTEP has really good attendance and would make a close rival game for New Mexico. UTEP was in the old originial 10 member WAC.

UTEP may help bring the Sun Bowl to the MWC.

Mountain West bidding to expand soon; Fresno target?
May 6, 2003
By Dennis Dodd
SportsLine.com Senior Writer

The Mountain West Conference could be close to expanding to nine or 10 teams, SportsLine.com has learned. The four-year old league will seriously discuss the subject during its league meetings next month.

With national attention focused on the ACC, the Mountain West is probably closer to expanding from its current eight-team alignment, according to commissioner Craig Thompson.

"Just like anybody else in this day and age, if you don't talk about membership and numbers in every meeting you're missing the boat," Thompson said.

The addition of one or two teams would probably come at the expense of the Western Athletic Conference. It is widely known that the Mountain West has long coveted Fresno State. Other speculation has centered on Hawaii, but travel concerns and the time difference with the mainland make that unlikely, according to a source.

"Let's be frank, it's not going to be a Pac-10 school," the Mountain West source said. "It's going to be a WAC school. The question is, what do we do? Do we split the pot more? It would probably help us generally and positively in every sport in scheduling."

The timing is about right. The conference has to start thinking of renegotiation in its current TV deal with ESPN and ABC that expires in 2006. The current seven-year deal pays the conference $48 million.

The eight Mountain West teams pulled out of what was then a 16-team WAC in 1999. Since then, both leagues have been intent on gaining access to the BCS. It is currently almost impossible for the so-called non-equity conferences to get a BCS bowl berth.

SportsLine.com reported last week that those leagues received encouraging signs from the BCS commissioners that there might be a reserved spot for a non-BCS league beginning with the 2006 season. BCS commissioners met with commissioners from the non-equity leagues during the BCS meetings two weeks ago in Phoenix.

A sub-committee of Mountain West presidents has formed to study and push the subject forward, Thompson said. The conference's expansion is unrelated to the ACC speculation.

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Lash,

I was thinking hard about UTEP also. I thought it was UTEP that was rivals with NM and had solid attendance, but couldn't remember. I know so little baout that area, unfortunately. I remember someone commenting that NM wouldn't allow UTEP in. Too bad, because if they're going to 12, they really need to push rivalries.

Based on the article KingCal was kind enough to post, it looks like the MWC really just wants 9 at the moment. Maybe they want to push into the BCS where the BE (theoretically) won't be anymore? They definitely seem eager to avoid splitting the pot too much. Fresno (in addition to serious academic questions....they hired Tarkanian for God's sake) brings good basketball and football, and a decent market by MWC standards. If Boise St. had quality hoops they migh be next in line. Sadly they don't, so will they be willing, at least in the near future, to bring in another member just for solid football and the Boise market? If they go to 12 it's a sure thing, but if they think that even at 12 they'll be shut out, they may just stick with 9 members.

I'm kinda curious why the MWC doesn't make a bid to be the BE of the West. If Boise would be better for football than Wyoming, they could cut Wyoming loose, and with Fresno on board have a very good group of 9 for football.

Then they could try (this will probably show how embarassingly little I know about the WCC tv contracts) to pull in some smaller West coast teams who play quality basketball, like Gonzaga, Pepperdine, etc., and have a 12-14 team bball conference that's as good as C-USA, or at least close. Tulsa could be another addition. If you have Gonzaga, Tulsa, Utah, BYU, CSU, Pepperdine, and San Diego in one conference, you're playing some terrific basketball. But there's probably a very good reason that something like this hasn't happenned. San Diego St. would never let SD in. And the WCC may actually have a better overall tv deal for bball than the MWC. The WCC scholls might also have a tough time traveling to MWC. If the MWC wants to beef up basketball, maybe they should just snag Tulsa. Tulsa is so money in the tournament it's ridiculous.

The travel times would be a barrier from combining the WCC and the MWC. The MWC is a 3 bid NCAA league already, and expanding to 12 won't result in more than 4 bids, so whats the point. Basketball is good in the MWC, but its not the ACC, PAC-10, or even the BigEast. The Big East is good in basketball because its the primary conference on the heavily populated east coast. On the West Coast, the PAC-10 is the primary, and there is nothing that the MWC can do about it.

I do think MWC expansion to 9 teams is a good idea for scheduling purposes. The 5 canidates are: Fresno, Hawaii, Nevada, Boise, or UTEP. If your going to take a new member, you want the one with the most revenue, most recruiting value, and best geographical fit.

Ruling out some of the canidates, I'd say Nevada is too small market, Hawaii too much travel time, and UTEP is too shaky revenue wise. That leaves Fresno and Boise as the best selections for the MWC. Fresno has bigger revenue in both Men's basketball and Football, plus huge recruiting value being in California.

The obvious choice for MWC expansion right now is Fresno. Wyoming is having a hard time with attendance and might drop to Division 1-AA to play in the Big Sky with North/South Dakota and Montana/MontanaSt. If Wyoming drops to 1-AA, I think Boise is the frontrunner to replace.

The other schools, Hawaii, UTEP, Nevada will hang around in 1-A and probably be backups in the case that MWC gets raided by the PAC-10 or Big12. Nevada has a pretty good shot long-term because its in a growing market and would be a good rival for UNLV,Fresno, and Boise. Utahst might be in the mix if BYU leaves.

The WAC could be in deep trouble after a big ACC/BigEast shakeup. For one, SanJoseSt is not going to make the new attendance requirments. Then you have the MWC and a revamped CUSA picking off members. I could see the WAC disbanding with Rice,SMU, Tulsa, and LaTech in CUSA, Fresno and Boise in the MWC, and Nevada/UtahSt/UTEP/Hawaii forced into independence in Football, and maybe Big Sky in basketball. I could see UTEP in the SBC for basketball only.

AccNole2, I don't think that fans in the east are getting it. Not everybody is favoring this 12 team conference movement thing. It may actually backfire on the ACC as basketball will be major impacted by this movement.

The MWC is not trying to replace the BE BCS bid because they will be joining a new form of the BE with a new BCS bowl that will be created in 2006.

The Pac 10 is dead set against expansion and will not expand unless the Big 10 expands. The Pac 10 wants the Rose bowl out of the BCS rotation and go back to having the Big 10 face the Pac 10 every year.

This movement will accomplish two things. It will create a new bowl for the MWC and a new Big East (assumming Miami defects and not totally sure that will take place) or possibly any of the other division 1 conferences.

The additional bowl will allow a championship game to be desided after the New Years day bowls. This is by far the best system to determine a championship without a full blown playoff.

This monopoly stuff has got to stop or the BCS will be facing litagation in 2006.

As for the MWC, they will only expand to 10. Per reasons that Hawaii and Fresno State are under consideration.

AS far as I know New Mexico was not the reason to exclude UTEP when the 16 team WAC imploded. It came down to which teams were better at minimum of 8 to form a new conference.

The WAC is a conference that has been historically a "gateway" conference. Everybody seems to be using it to get somewhere else, and especially so since the split back in the late 90's that created the Mtn. West. Before this other schools left the WAC (Arizona and ASU).

The core WAC teams through the 80's before the big merger experiment of '96 were 9 teams. 7 of the 8 current MWC members (exclude UNLV as the late-comer), and UTEP and Hawaii.

UTEP and Hawaii were left behind in the split...why I'm not fully certain, but Hawaii has always been a travel issue, and UTEP was probably left as the ninth choice, when 8 was desired.

UTEP has a rivalry with NewMexST. not NewMexico, so I don't believe there are any issues here at all. ???

UNLV was originally grabbed as the 8th team for the obvious reason that it was deemed to be the best athletically and market-wise. Would you rather go to Vegas or El Paso? (rhetorical question, especially when Vegas has stronger sports teams also).

I agree with the assessment that the MWC is probably looking at going to 9. They want a 4/4 split for football games (home/away), as well as protection for Wyoming to make the minimum standard. Wyoming will be heavily supported and NOT dumped. Along with BYU, Utah, and New Mex. they are original members of the WAC. There is probably some loyalty left here.

Fresno is the obvious target. Hawaii will be supported by BYU, but will only be a 10th team if BYU has enough juice to bring them. If a 10th team is desired, I agree it looks like Boise St. with an outside chance at Nevada. Now realistically you would think the SunBelt schools of UtahST. and NewMexST. would get consideration, but they were excluded in the original formation of the WAC, have been excluded by the Mtn. West schools continuously at other times, and will probably be continued to be excluded. Other posters on other threads have expounded on the why's of this, so I won't be-labor it...not really right, but it's a fact. Going to 12 would REALLY be a surprise, but if it happens throw all the WAC in the mix! It's destroy the WAC day if that happens. Don't see the MWC wanting to be responsible for this, but it's a dog eat dog world.

For ACCNole...
WCC is happy being a basketball only conference. They are a tight group of "religious" schools mostly Catholic (as I mentioned on another thread). No way, NEVER do they link with 1A mostly public state football schools from the WAC or MWC. They think their basketball is good enough, and lately they've received multiple bids to the NCAA, so who's going to tell them they're not! We get back to philosophy again on this one. Way too much of that, but it drives the boat of expansion decisions. 8-)

At 9 with Fresno and Boise that would be a quality fb conference, and the former be (if the ACC expands) would have a real challenge for their BCS spot.

AccNole2, just curious, is the ACC expansion and revenue benefits based on the requirement that the BE or left over BE losses its BCS bid. If so, what happens if a hybrid BE does not lose its bid. I would think the ACC would have some issues in requiting at the same time having to face Miami every year.

I dont understand why the ACC and the proposed new schools such as Syracuse are so obsessed with the BE losing its BCS bid. I don't hear that comming from the Pac 10 or SEC, etc.

I do not want the BE or new BE to lose its BCS bid because they would make a great opponent for the MWC in the new BCS bowl that will be added. I also would like the additional bowl to be out west with possibly the Holiday bowl.

The MWC has has learned the difficult of not being in a BCS conference and do not wish that other division 1 schools are left out of the possible chance to play for a national championship.

I do think you will see an permanent BCS bowl for the non BCS conferences. That is something the ACC is going to have to get use to or at the very least plan for.

Lash,

I wish I knew. Whoever does know for sure is probably keeping it hush-hush, because some folks are gonna be screwed.

I like the idea of BE/MWC, but attendance owuld be a problem unless BYU made it to the game. The MWC should focus on a bowl in Cali or Arizona, maybe Vegas. If it't he Holiday bowl, so be it. If they can grab a Pac 10 team it might be better. They need to develo some strategies out there similar to the ACC/BE and ACC/SEC match ups in North Carolina, etc. Make it a great regional fit for solid teams. If there's still willingness to cooperate (assuming the AC/BE thing happens), Va Tech, West Va, and probably Memphis and Lousville (depending on the bowl site) would be nice bowl match-ups for ACC schools. Good regional fit, probably good attendance.

Any ideas for how to set up regional match-ups out west? The Pac 10 is the ideal choice for opposition, but they probably would only loan out their 4th place team at best, since more lucrative match-ups with the Big 10 are so desirable. My suggestion would be an alliance with C-USA, possibly the Mac (since Marshall has quality fan support as well) and what's left of the BE. Possibly pool the best teams to make the best match-ups, and select sights where at least 1 team will have a huge turnout. If the games are more meaningful, rather than arbitrarily picking a barely eligible 4th place team in conference, they could be more exciting.

If the BCS goes to a play in format, then I think you're more likely to get people traveling to these games. Then a catch-all sight like St. Louis would be an interesting idea. Unfortunately this takes me back to the playoff system....I'd prefer to see these smaller conferences have one play-in game, then the winners get seeded into a 16 team format. Assumng you have four conferences, MAC, former C-USA, MWC (assuming WAC is no more), and former BE (or something resembling these four) you can seed the champs and have 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3. That way there is some advantage to being the highest ranked champ with a better record...an easier road to the playoff. The two winners are then seeded into the playoff system. Probably 16 and 15, but anything's possible. If out of the four champs one does not qualify based on the minimum playoff qualifications, the highest ranked champ will get a bye. If two or more don't qualify, there's no play in and the champs that do qualify are automatically seeded. If non of them qualify, then there's room for one or two more at-large bids from "BCS" conferences.

I think that's how unequal participation ought to work if we go to a playoff. I want as many meaningful competitive games as possible, and I think these would be pretty interesting. It would also help expose frauds. I think most of these conferences will have 10 or fewer members by the time the playoff comes around, so they won't be forced to play too many additional games, since they won't have a title game. A play-in game is only fair at that point, since the major conferences WILL have a title game.

How about the following steps:

1. MWC raids the WAC for Fresno and Boise St.

2. MWC can pick off any third or fourth team it wants from the WAC. I say Tulsa. Tulsa WILL bring instant credibility in basketball. Adding them along with Fresno really makes the MWC a higher-order player in basketball. Apart from the top tier squads like Duke, Kansas, and UK, what other team has delivered in the tourney like Tulsa the last 5 or 6 years?

3. MWC axes Wyoming. There's a BCS spot open and it's time to trim the budget as well since the conference is going to 12. Sorry Cowboys.

4. MWC adds TCU as 11th member. TCU is better in the last 5 years than any other non-BCS team (Marshall and CSU have been on the same level, but not quite as succesful). Adding TCU lands another team that is legit (not a fraud) top 20 squad. It also adds a succesful school in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

5. MWC chooses either UTEP or SMU as 12. UTEP has more active current fan support, and a rivalry with New Mexico would be great. SMU has more clout and more money, a share (however limited) of Dallas-Ft. Worth, and a greater upside. Tough call. I'd go with SMU, because I'd try to build up some old SWC rivalries, but UTEP would not be a bad choice either.

ALIGNMENT

The expanded conference can be aligned as follows:

Mountain

Boise St.
BYU
Fresno St.
San Diego St.
UNLV
Utah

West

Air Force
Colorado St.
New Mexico
TCU
Tulsa
UTEP (or SMU)

MAJOR PLUSES:

UTAH AND BYU HAPPY
This aligment would allow BYU and Utah to keep valuable recruiting trips to Fresno, San Diego, and Vegas, and would give them a legit shot at beating out Fresno and Boise for a divisional championship and berth in the conf. title game every year. Both teams would also be odds-on faves to beat out Fresno and battle each other for the divisional title in basketball. So the two heaviest hitters in the conference would be happy.

SOLID REGIONAL ARRANGEMENT
In the Western division, the geographic alignment would not be too strained. It'd run from the West Texas border up to Oklahoma and Colorado.

RECRUITING BASE
The expanded conference would have two California teams and two Texas teams. With the selection of SMU over UTEP, the conference would have as many as 10 appearances in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area per year, and approximately 5 games per year in San Diego, Fresno, Boulder, Tulsa, and Las Vegas. That's a terrific recruiting base for an emerging league. If they manage to land a BCS bid (see below), the recruiting takes another quantum leap.

OPEN BCS SLOT
If the ACC does raid the BE, a BCS slot may be available. If the MWC has 12 members, a title game, a presence in Texas AND California, and 7 proven bowl caliber (granted, not BCS level yet, except perhaps TCU)teams in Air Force, BYU, Boise St., Colorado St. Fresno St., TCU, and Utah, they make avery solid case for inclusion--they certainly beat out any other contenders.

EXTRA TOURNEY INVITES
The expanded MWC now has 5 teams that are potential NCAA tourney teams in Utah, Tulsa, Fresno St., BYU, and Colorado St., bumping the into C-USA territory in terms of potential invites. On a good year, if someone like CSU wins the conference tourney in an upset, they could land as many as 5 teams in the tournament. A huge upgrade.

THE FUTURE
Houston's athletics are flatlining but they have huge potential, greater than any other school in the MWC if they can stay clean. If nothing else, Houston could at least resurrect itself in basketball. I'd keep an eye on this program, pray they improve, and down the road pull them in and bump out New Mexico (IF Houston does improve). They'd be a natural in the West Division, which would look more and more like the old SWC. Having cross-town Dallas rivals and Houston team could really perk things up. And adding trips to Houston would only add to the conference's recruiting potential.

Was wrong about NM and UTEP rivalry based on earlier posts, so I'd go ahead and pencil in SMU.

I'd think really hard (assuming it's technically possible) about pulling in Houston if possible and dropping out NM. They've fallen REALLY far, but what an upside, and what a score in terms of tv money if you pull in Houston and they return to basketball success in conference. If they realign as above and either Houston or UNLV resurrect their past basketball success, the MWC would be in the top three or four in basketball.

ACCNOLE2, I AGREE ABOUT YOUR ASSESSMENT OF THE NEED FOR THE MOUNTAIN WEST TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CURRENT SITUATION AND EXPAND RIGHT NOW BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.

MY TAKE ON THIS IS ALMOST THE SAME, EXCEPT I DON'T BELIEVE THE MWC (ESPECIALLY BYU AND COLORADO STATE) WILL FAVOR THE DROPPING OF WYOMING FROM THE CURRENT ALLIGNMENT. THE COWBOYS ARE ONE OF THE ORIGINALS FROM THE OLD WAC AND HAVE BEEN WITH THESE SCHOOLS FOR A LONG TIME.

WYOMING WILL EVENTUALLY REBOUND FROM THEIR POOR PLAY AS OF LATE (IN FOOTBALL THAT IS). I REALIZE THEY DONT BRING MUCH IN TELEVISION AUDIENCE BUT THEY HAVE HAD PAST SUCCESS ON THE GRIDIRON AND HAVE APPEARED IN BOWL GAMES WHILE IN THE WAC.

I THINK THE MWC SHOULD "IMMEDIATELY" INVITE FRESNO STATE, BOISE STATE, TCU AND SMU.

IN FRESNO STATE AND BOISE STATE THEY CAN STEAL THE WAC'S CHAMPION OF THE PAST 3 YEARS OR SO, AND WITH TCU THEY CAN STEAL C-USA'S CHAMPION FROM LAST YEAR.

BY ADDING BOTH TCU AND SMU THE MWC COULD GAIN A FOOTHOLD IN THE DALLAS/FORT WORTH MARKET... WHICH WOULD BE "HUGE" FOR THE CONFERENCE.

PLUS ADDING FRESNO STATE ADDS TO THE CALIFORNIA RECRUITING BASE AS WELL.

ALSO THINK OF THIS. IF THE ACC DOES ADD MIAMI AND 2 OTHER BIG EAST SCHOOLS, THE BIG EAST IN TURN WILL RAID CONFERENCE USA OF AT LEAST LOUISVILLE AND QUITE POSSIBLY SOUTHERN MISS, EAST CAROLINA, CINCINNATI AND MEMPHIS.

IF THE MWC CAN STEAL TCU , THEN THEY WILL ADD TO THE DAMAGE THAT THE NEW BIG EAST WOULD HAVE CAUSED AND IN AFFECT WILL DECIMATE ANY DREAMS C-USA HAD OF BCS INCLUSION.

AND THE SAME GOES FOR THE WAC. BY STEALING THE WAC'S 2 BEST TEAMS, IT TOO WILL DIMINISH THAT CONFERENCE'S BCS HOPES.

PLUS, I BELIEVE THE NEW BIG EAST WILL DO THE SAME TO THE MAC BY STEALING MARSHALL.

IN THIS UNCERTAIN TIME OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL CONFERENCE RE-ALLIGNMENT, YOU NEED TO EITHER ACT LIKE A SHARK AND EAT THAT WHICH IS IN FRONT OF YOU, OR SIMPLY ACT LIKE ANOTHER FISH AND WAIT AROUND TO BE EATEN.

ITS TIME TO MAKE YOUR MOVE MOUNTAIN WEST. ITS TIME FOR YOU TO BE SMART AND AGGRESSIVE... "EXTREMELY" AGRESSIVE.

STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND HIT YOUR HOME RUN. A SLOW HANGING CURVE BALL HAS BEEN THROWN YOUR WAY AND ITS JUST BEGGING YOU TO KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK!!

WITH THESE ADDITIONS AND THE LOOMING CHANGES IN THE OTHER CONFERENCES, THE ONLY NON-BCS CONFERENCE WITH THE BEST SHOT AT THE BCS WILL BE THE MOUNTAIN WEST. AND IF ALL THESE MOVES DO TAKE PLACE, THE MOUNTAIN WEST SHOULD GET THE NOD.

EVEN IF THE NEW BIG EAST ADDS A SCHOOL LIKE PENN STATE , THE CONFERENCE WOULD STILL NOT QUITE BE AS POWERFUL AS IT WAS BEFORE. PENN STATE CANNOT BY ITSELF HOLD UP THE NEW BIG EAST LIKE MIAMI HAS OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, NOR CAN VIRGINIA TECH FOR THAT MATTER.

AN AUTOMATIC BCS BERTH FOR THE NEW BIG EAST WOULD STILL BE IN QUESTION, UNLESS THE NEWLY EXPANDED MOUNTAIN WEST WAS ALSO INCLUDED IN THE MIX. BOTH CONFERENCES WOULD BE PRETTY EVEN IN STRENGTH AND WOULD BOTH BENEFIT FROM ALL THAT BCS MONEY IN FUTURE FACILITY UPGRADES AND RECRUITING.

WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF 5 BCS BOWLS, THE "BIG" 7 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS WOULD ALL HAVE AUTOMATIC BERTHS, AND THAT WOULD LEAVE 3 AT LARGE SPOTS FOR OTHER TEAMS.

OR IT WOULD EVEN SUFFICE THE MWC TO SIMPLY GIVE THEM A SHOT EACH YEAR IN THE BCS... BY ACCEPTING THE WINNER OF A BOWL GAME BETWEEN THE CHAMPIONS OF THE NEW BIG EAST V.S. THE CHAMPION OF THE NEW MOUNTAIN WEST... IN A GAME TO BE PLAYED LETS SAY AROUND THE 20TH OF DECEMBER, AND THE WINNER WOULD GET THE AUTOMATIC BCS BERTH, IN TURN LEAVING "4" AT LARGE SPOTS IN THE BCS BOWLS. PLUS THAT BOWL GAME WOULD GENERATE LOTS OF MONEY OF ITS OWN FOR BOTH CONFERENCES.

HEY IT SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT, PLUS IT GIVES A NEW CONFERENCE...ACTUALLY 2 NEW CONFERENCE ALLIANCES THE CHANCE AT BCS MONEY AND THE PRESTIGE THEY WOULD SO RICHLY DESIRE AND DESERVE.

HERE IS HOW THE CONFERENCE SHOULD BE SPLIT INTO 2 DIVISIONS:


MOUNTAIN DIVISION:

COLORADO STATE
AIR FORCE
NEW MEXICO
WYOMING
TCU
SMU

WEST DIVISION:

BYU
UTAH
BOISE STATE
SAN DIEGO STATE
FRESNO STATE
UNLV

2 VERY FORMIDABLE DIVISIONS WITH BOTH HAVING RECENT BOWL AND CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS FROM THE MWC, WAC AND CONFERENCE-USA.

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jun/06012003/Sports/62041.asp


Conference meetings begin today





By Patrick Kinahan
The Salt Lake Tribune

How many, and who. Two simple questions.
The answers could forever change the Mountain West Conference.
Beginning today, the eight-member conference seriously will consider expansion. The university presidents will gather in Carlsbad, Calif., for three days at their annual retreat.
Conference officials routinely discuss expansion possibilities, but this time is different. For various reasons, the presidents could decide to add at least one school.
With an eye toward gaining a slice of the Bowl Championship Series, the Mountain West is likely to expand before the BCS contract expires after the 2005 college football season.
The conference could announce plans to add one school, with the intention of taking up to one year to explore potential candidates. Schools usually need to give a year's notice before leaving a conference.
"You can't just expand overnight," said Craig Thompson, Mountain West commissioner. "There's no reason for us to say we've got to do something at this meeting, if we're going to add people. I really, truthfully don't think there's going to be any change in our membership out of this meeting.
"I will be floored if we take any kind of action at this meeting, other than just discussion."
The Mountain West put a moratorium on expansion until 2004. But recent events could
spur change.
Last month the Atlantic Coast Conference decided to add three schools, inviting Miami, Syracuse and Boston College -- each of which belong to the Big East Conference.
If all three leave, the Big East could raid Conference USA or other conferences. The Western Athletic Conference also is interested in bumping from 10 to 12 teams.
The Mountain West may want to expand to stay ahead of the curve. Potential candidates include Boise State, Nevada, Hawaii, Fresno State and Texas Christian.
"It doesn't make any sense for us to be in the WAC," Hawaii president Evan Dobelle told the Honolulu Advertiser.
Some Mountain West representatives are pushing to explore expansion.
"It's going to be talked about seriously," said BYU athletic director Val Hale. "The issues will be how many do we add, who do we add, and what are the advantages of adding one, say, as opposed to four. Then, of course, the debate will be who do we add."
At this point, a 12-member, two-division Mountain West seems like overkill. Although the conference could get a television contract for a football championship game, a 12-way payout would not make sense -- or enough dollars and cents.
If the Pac-10 and Big Ten conferences jump to 12 teams, the Mountain West probably would be forced to follow. A nine-member Mountain West is more logical.
"We need to take a systematic look at it and see what's best for the conference," said Chris Hill, Utah's athletic director.
With nine schools, the football teams would play four home and away conference games each season. The extra home game would ease the burden of scheduling another nonconference home game.
The Mountain West also may need to expand to ensure Division I-A status. Incoming legislation requires Division I-A conferences to have eight members.
"It may make sense to have a ninth just to have a buffer," said Thompson.
Wyoming could get legislated out of Division 1-A. In 2004, the NCAA will require programs to average at least 15,000 fans for home football games.
Last season, for five games, the Cowboys averaged 13,686. Only 10,611 attended the Utah game in November.
"We may need to rely on the Wyoming weather to maintain Division I-A status," said Hale.
Adding Texas Christian could doll up the Mountain West in BCS eyes. Without some kind of BCS inclusion, the Mountain West is doomed to be a second-rate conference.
The BCS format makes between $7 million and $10 million for members of its six conferences. The ACC-Big East fallout could help the have-nots.
"I love this in terms of it's creating chaos and creating confusion," Thompson said. "The more obstacles that come into it, the better off the Mountain West is."
To a point.
If the planets align correctly, Utah could come out smelling like a Rose Bowl. Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen has said Utah would be a candidate if his conference adds two.
The Pac-10, which is not looking to expand, may be forced to increase to keep pace with the other superpowers. The Big 12's Colorado tops the Pac-10's wish list, with Utah and BYU as other possibilities.
Hill will not allow himself to dream.
"I can't worry about that right now," he said. "I'm thinking it's a moot point. I don't think the Pac-10 is looking to expand."
Thompson agrees. But he does believe the ACC expansion could lead to other shifts, mirroring the 1990s when Arkansas moved to the Southeastern Conference, the Texas-based Southwest Conference folded and the WAC exploded to 16 teams.
"I don't think that's realistic, that the Pac-10 would add, and I don't think it's a foregone that if they do add it would be BYU and Utah," he said. "I don't see any sense of an expansion mode, at least from the people I've talked to."
Even without the Big East shakeup, the Mountain West could grab a BCS share in three years. Thompson said the Mountain West already is worthy.
Hale believes his conference will get an invitation, in some form.
"If the Mountain West can obtain BCS access then, really, it puts us on par with the big boys, because we have access to every other championship," he said. "If we could have access to the BCS and have at least a portion of that revenue, then we can continue to function as a big-time program."
Mountain West bylaws require a minimum of six university presidents to sign off on expansion. The fact that four schools are in the process of changing presidents could delay any action.
BYU recently switched from Merrill Bateman to Cecil Samuelson. Colorado State, New Mexico and Air Force also will have new presidents.

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I said this before but someone "kingcal" took it off. Teams being considered for New Mexico State, Utah State, Idaho of the Sunbelt.Boise State,Fresno State,Hawaii and Nevada
of the WAC. Boise State is a give me there in.New Mexico State and Utah State would make it geographically sense.The 4 teams they will take will be Boise St.,Nevada,Fresno St and Hawaii.

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