Over the past year, the Mountain West and CUSA have toyed with the idea of some sort of union. The idea first gained legs when Utah left for the Pac-10 and the Mountain West was then shocked with the sudden departure of BYU. At the time, it appeared that the WAC was going to make a power play, leaving the MWC with only 5-6 schools…and CUSA started thinking. As we know, the MWC would opt to expand with Boise St., Nevada, Fresno St, and then Hawaii for football only, so a merger with CUSA was not necessary.

But the two conferences continued to discuss their options.

The goal has been two fold:

1) To combine their resources in being able to better negotiate a higher revenue television contract.

2) To potentially convince the BCS that this new union of the top 2 non-BCS conferences is indeed deserving of a 7th BCS AQ bid.

By covering 16 states in 5 time zones, many will remember the failed WAC experiment. But in the age of large TV contracts, this group has a huge advantage. Networks are doing everything they can to gobble up broadcast rights for live college football content. And with NBC/Comcast in the mix now, it’s a 3 horse race with leader ESPN and FoxSports (Fox now also airs college sports on it’s FX and primary Fox networks) to drive up the price.

Also worth noting is that this is not a 22 school all-sports conference. This is 22 schools for football only. So unlike the WAC of the late 1990′s, Tulsa womens basketball won’t have to fly to Hawaii or any other odd conference travel outside of football.

The conference setup will simply have the CUSA winner play the MWC winner in a championship game.

The divisional lineups are yet to be decided, it still unknown is in the end, the CUSA division would be 12 CUSA schools while the MWC division had 10 schools. There remains the option to move a school to the MWC for balance at 11 each. That said, there is the risk of more schools leaving.

The announced merger comes at the same time that the Big East is looking for replacement schools, with candidates coming from both CUSA and the MWC.

So the 22 school football conference could be losing some schools.

At the time of this article, the Big East is set to invite such schools as:

Boise St. (MWC)
Air Force (MWC)
UCF (CUSA)
SMU (CUSA)
Houston (CUSA)
Navy
Temple

The top candidates for the Big East are Boise St., Air Force, UCF with only UCF for all-sports. It is believed that either SMU or Houston would be brought in for all sports for the 4th addition with Navy for football only. The 6th spot would then be between Temple for all-sports or football-only if the objections by Villanova are heard. If Temple is passed over, then the second Texas school would be invited.

So there is a good chance that CUSA would be down to 9-10 members and the MWC at 8 members.

The losses of schools such as Boise St., Air Force, UCF, Houston and SMU would be a negative.

However, these losses could actually help bring some balance to the new conference.

The MWC had been expected in invite Utah St. as a replacement for Boise St. or Air Force is they opt to go. But if CUSA were down to 9-10 members and the MWC at 8, the two conference would have the option to work together with something as simple as CUSA “sending” UTEP to the MWC (if UTEP agreed).

UTEP is located closer to MWC school New Mexico than any CUSA schools. And should both Houston and SMU leave, CUSA would have only Rice from the state of Texas, something that might make remaining in CUSA less of a priority.

So should CUSA and the MWC lose schools to the Big East, we could see:

CUSA:
Marshall
ECU
Memphis
UAB
USM
Tulane
Tulsa
Rice
SMU/Houston/UTEP/* North Texas

MWC:
Hawaii
SDSU
Fresno St.
Nevada
UNLV
Wyoming
Colorado St.
New Mexico
*UTEP/ *Utah St./*North Texas

The big question remains though: will the BCS grant this conference a BCS AQ? If Boise St. and the others remain, it would seem more likely as the conference would contain programs of equal BCS rankings to most of the remaining Big East football schools, with Boise St. at the top. However, without a national power like Boise St., the outlook would not be so rosy.

Update:  Took about 12 hours, but according to the WAC, Utah St. will not be moving to the MWC:
“@WACSports All reports regarding a Mountain West Conference invite to Utah State are without substance.”

We’ve heard this one before only to have nothing happen. Yet again though, the rumor has resurfaced.

And this time, we have a definitive source for the rumor: Brent Thibodeaux of BobcatReport.com. Brent has been all over the WAC expansion story since the school his site is devoted to, Texas State, was rumored to join the WAC.

The specifics on the Utah St. to Mountain West story are simple: Utah St. will join the Mountain West about 15 days from now, after the WAC media day.

Makes sense. The WAC wouldn’t want the negative press of losing a school and would prefer a departing school hold off.

As for the Mountain West, they’d regain some access to the Utah/Salt Lake City market, lost with the departures of Utah and BYU. Boise St. would also get a travel partner out of the Utah St. addition.

The problems arrive when you consider the other rationales the the Mountain West would use for expansion. The MWC considered adding Utah St. and San Jose St. months ago, but ultimately passed on both schools when there was no apparent economic benefit for the current MWC members schools.

So it begs the question:

Why would the Mountain West add Utah St. now when they passed on them just a couple months ago?

And, why would the Mountain West have added Hawaii as it’s 10th football member (for football only), passing on Utah St. at that time, only to invite them months later as the 11th member? Eleven members makes less sense for an aspiring BCS conference. With 11 members, there is no extra revenue conference championship game. But an 11th member does add another mouth to feed.

As of now, nothing is official. If it does become official, those are just some of the questions that will need to be answered.

Utah State had made sense to many as an attempt by the MWC to recoup the Utah market they lost with the departure of Utah and BYU.

San Jose St. was rumored to be an option last week and it left many scratching their heads. The school has been a virtual non-factor in it’s revenue athletics as a member of the WAC. They have very little fan support and haven’t ever done much in the TV ratings.

But what SJSU provides is simply it’s location in a Comcast heavy region. By bringing in SJSU, the MWC

through Comcast and it’s TV network, The Mtn, will be made available to the large California cable subscriber base. The Mtn will likely be on a higher cable tier, easier to find and available to more Comcast subscribers.

In the past, we’ve always said that market isn’t the deciding factor in expansion: it was a schools penetration into said market. That seems to be changing if SJSU indeed does join the Mountain West.

As for the WAC, if this move materializes this week, the WAC will be down to just a handful of football schools. The 2012 membership would appear to be:

Idaho, New Mexico St., LA Tech, UTSA, and Texas St. Denver would be in for non-football sports. With few available FCS football programs ready to join, the WAC will likely extend invitations to schools such as Seattle and Utah Valley for non-football sports. CSUB is another option, as would Texas-Pan American or even Houston Baptist.

In the Mountain West, if this happens, Boise St. will likely get the divisions it wants:

Mountain: Boise St., Utah St., Wyoming, Colorado St., Air Force, New Mexico

West: Fresno St., SJSU, Nevada, UNLV, SDSU, Hawaii

Update: 1/25/10

Cooler heads prevailed. The MWC has opted to remain at 9/10 and not invite Utah St. and San Jose St.

After seeing three other WAC schools leave in recent months, Hawaii is officially doing the same. The school has announced that they will be leaving the WAC after the 2011-2012 season and joining the Mountain West for football, and the Big West for other sports. The move bring the MWC football membership to 10 schools and the Big West to 10 schools. The migration to the MWC will be a huge boost for the Hawaii program and joining the Big West for other sports will actually decrease the amount of athletics travel for the school.

Meanwhile, the WAC is now down another member. Remaining football schools include Idaho, SJSU, NMSU, Utah St. and LA Tech, along with future football members Texas St. and UTSA. Denver will also be a future member but does not field a football team.

State of the WAC – Part 3:
WAC Winners and Losers

The WAC realignment over the past few months has been filled with all sorts of drama. We’ve had a huge grab for regional power foiled at the last second by WAC members sabotaging from within. We’ve had recovery momentum build, new schools pledge allegiance to the new WAC, while others spurned the invitations to join the new group. And now, it appears that one of the original 6, Hawaii, is ready to move on as well.

And with each move we see, schools go from losers to winners and from winners to losers…and a select few others are left in limbo.

Here’s a look at the WAC members both winners and losers and where the fall on the scale:

Boise St. was on a path to the MWC regardless. So it is actually Nevada and Fresno St. that made the biggest move, as they singlehandedly ended the power grab the WAC was looking to make. If Nevada and Fresno St. remained in the WAC, Boise St. possibly remains as well, and BYU is a non-football member of the WAC. Instead, non-football member BYU has been replaced by Denver and Nevada & Fresno St. have been replaced with UTSA, a school just starting the sport of football, and Texas St from FCS. Meanwhile, Boise St., Nevada and Fresno St. are having good to great seasons and all prepared for bowl games (and a potential BCS bowl for Boise St.).

• Options: appears to have just about finalized deals with the MWC and Big West

• Options: hope for a MWC all-sports invitation
• Possibilities: If WAC folds, Utah St. could participate as a football independent and join the Summit League for non-football sports. The Big Sky would likely invite Utah St. for non-football sports to bring their membership totals to 12.Potential MWC with Utah St if TCU leaves:
  Boise St., Utah St., Nevada, UNLV, Fresno St., SDSU
  Colorado St., Wyoming, Air Force, New Mexico, Houston, * Hawaii

  Potential Big Sky with Utah St., Idaho & Denver (non-football):
  EWU, Portland St., Sacramento St., Idaho, Idaho St., Utah St., Weber St.,
  North Dakota, Montana, Montana St., Denver, No. Colorado, SUU, NAU,

• Options: hope for a MWC non-football invite to offset Hawaii as a football-only member
• Possibilities: If WAC folds, Denver could join the Summit League. The Big Sky would likely invite Denver. for non-football sports to bring their membership totals to 12.Potential MWC with Denver:
  Boise St., Nevada, UNLV, Fresno St., SDSU, * Hawaii (Denver for non-football sports)Colorado St., Wyoming, Air Force, New Mexico, TCU, Houston
  
  Potential Big Sky with Utah St., Idaho & Denver (non-football):
  EWU, Portland St., Sacramento St., Idaho, Idaho St., Utah St., Weber St.,
  North Dakota, Montana, Montana St., Denver, No. Colorado, SUU, NAU

  Potential Summit League with Denver:
  Denver, NDSU, SDSU, USD, UMKC, ORU, WIU, IPFW, IUPUI, Oakland

• Options: hope for a invitations from CUSA or the Sunbelt for all sports.
• Possibilities: If WAC folds, either could participate as a football independents and join the Summit League for non-football sports. The Southland might even reconsider keeping both schools for non-football sports. The Southland might need some membership stability and if their options were Oral Roberts, UTPA, Houston Baptist and then UTSA and Texas St., it would appear that UTSA and Texas St. would have the advantage.Potential Sunbelt with UTSA, Texas St., LA Tech and NMSU:
  FIU, FAU, Troy, USA, WKU, MTSU, Arkansas St., *UALR (non-football)
  NMSU, Texas St., UTSA, No. Texas, LA Tech, ULL, ULM

  Potential Summit League with Denver, UTSA and Texas St.:
  Denver, UMKC, Oral Roberts, UTSA, Texas St., WIU
  NDSU, SDSU, USD, IPFW, IUPUI, Oakland

  Potential Southland with UTSA and Texas St. for non-football:
  same as current lineup

LA Tech has long been on the furthest eastern outskirts of the WAC footprint. And while the Sunbelt has always seemingly been an option, LA Tech chose to remain in the WAC, primarily due to the success of Boise St. and Hawaii in football, and even the superior basketball product thanks to programs like Utah St. and NMSU. And with the football product still seeming better than the Sunbelt thanks to Hawaii, LA Tech remained in the WAC after the Boise St., Nevada and Fresno St. defections, although the school was exempt from the $5 million exit fee in the WAC (the WAC has always left LA Tech open to leave, especially when the WAC actually had other more attractive options).

The additions of UTSA and Texas St. not only added the necessary football members, but also gave LA Tech and NMSU closer conference rivals. But if the WAC is this close to collapsing, why stick around if you’re LA Tech and you have an option? NMSU might not be as much of a lock for the Sunbelt as the conference does have room for (2) schools to get to 12 football members…but might find the lure of the San Antonio market more appealing via adding UTSA.

• Options: LA Tech = hope for a CUSA invite should UCF, UTEP or Houston leave.
• Options: LA Tech = reach out to the Sunbelt about joining
• Options: NMSU = hope for a CUSA invite if UCF, Houston, UTEP leave
• Options: NMSU = reach out to the Sunbelt about joining
• Possibilities: If WAC folds and neither CUSA nor the Sunbelt offer LA Tech or NMSU invitations, both schools could participate as football independents. For non-football sports, the Summit League would be an option, although not ideal. The Southland would be ideal for both as the conference footprint is Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.Potential Sunbelt with UTSA, Texas St., LA Tech and NMSU:
  FIU, FAU, Troy, USA, WKU, MTSU, Arkansas St., *UALR (non-football)
  NMSU, Texas St., UTSA, No. Texas, LA Tech, ULL, ULM

  Potential Summit League with Denver, UTSA, LA Tech, NMSU, Texas St.:
  Denver, NMSU, UMKC, Oral Roberts, UTSA, Texas St.,LA Tech
  NDSU, SDSU, USD, IPFW, IUPUI, Oakland

  Potential Southland with UTSA, Texas St., LA Tech and NMSU for non-football:
  NMSU, Texas St., UTSA, UTA, SHSU,  SFAU, TAMCC
  LA Tech, McNeese St., Lamar, NWSU, Nicholls St., SELA, UCA

State of the WAC – Part 2:
What Else Could Possibly Go Wrong?

The quick answer: EVERYTHING. 

Mountain West Expansion: If TCU leaves, Denver could be brought in for non-football sports along with Hawaii for football.

WAC loses Denver

Mountain West: If TCU leaves the MWC, the conference could expand by (2) to get to 12 from a pool including Utah St., Houston, UTEP, SMU, New Mexico St.
CUSA: seeks 1-2 replacements from Sunbelt & WAC
Sunbelt: seeks 1-2 replacements from WAC

If TCU leaves, the MWC could remain at 10 for football with Hawaii and 9 for all other sports. But then again, they could expand to 12 with two more schools and stage a conference championship game, as sources today are claiming. Fox recently agreed to a $25 million a year deal with the Big Ten to televise their championship game. If the MWC could get even $2 million from FOX, it might justify further expansion.

If the Mountain West expands, they have a number of options. Utah St. remains high on the list to replace some of the market loss of the BYU and Utah departures. Houston seemed like a top option and remains it as long as TCU is still a member. But without TCU in the conference, there might be less of a desire to expand east. Then again, the MWC could replace TCU with both Houston and SMU, maintaining some access to the Dallas market via SMU and gaining some exposure in the Houston market. And if CUSA loses 1-2 schools, the trickle down starts again. CUSA would again consider Temple, as well as schools like North Texas and LA Tech. And if CUSA brought in North Texas, the Sunbelt might then bring in LA Tech and or New Mexico St. Even UTSA and Texas St. could be on the radar for the Sunbelt or even CUSA at that point.

Result:

WAC could lose 1 school to MWC (Utah St.)

WAC could lose 1-2 schools to CUSA (either LA Tech, NMSU, UTSA or Texas St.). 

WAC could lose 1-2 schools to Sunbelt (either LA Tech, NMSU, UTSA or Texas St.).

Denver to the MWC for non-football remains an option.
Final Tally: WAC could lose 3 of it’s 7 football schools

Mountain West: If TCU remains in the MWC, the conference would have 11 schools and could bring in Utah St., UTEP, or Houston as the 12th member;
CUSA: seeks 1 replacement from Sunbelt of WAC
Sunbelt: seeks 1 replacement from WAC

Result: 

WAC loses a single member to MWC (Utah St.)

LA Tech and/or NMSU say “enough is enough” to the WAC, leave for Sunbelt.

For years, LA Tech has scoffed at the idea of joining what they considered a bottom feeder Sunbelt conference. But overnight, things changed. All of a sudden, even with UTSA and Texas St. joining, the Sunbelt might be more appealing than the WAC. So if Hawaii leaves, perhaps LA Tech reaches out to the Sunbelt and applies for membership. NMSU, seeing the writing on the wall now that Hawaii is leaving, could do the same.

Result: 

WAC loses LA Tech and/or NMSU, football membership down to 5-6 schools.

LA Tech & NMSU say enough is enough and head to Sunbelt; Sunbelt supplies lifeline to UTSA and Texas St.


It might not be so much of a stretch. The Sunbelt is currently set to be 10 football members with the addition of South Alabama’s football program. 14 is not the ideal number, but in adding the (4) WAC schools, the conference would be positioned well for a future CUSA raid. They would also be able to divide into (2) regional divisions:
East: FAU, FIU, USA, Troy, MTSU, WKU, Arkansas St, *UALR (if they aren’t in the Southland or Summit by then)
West: NMSU, North Texas, UTSA, Texas St., LA Tech, ULL, ULM

Result:

WAC loses LA Tech, NMSU, UTSA and Texas St. to Sunbelt

Big East Expansion: Adds UCF or Houston and TCU
CUSA replaces UCF with 1 school from pool of North Texas, NMSU or LA Tech
MWC replaces TCU with Utah St. or Houston from CUSA
Sunbelt: replaces departing school with 1 WAC replacement

In addition to TCU joining the Big East, an upgrade by Villanova as the 10th Big East football member is on the plate. But if Villanova passes on the upgrade option due to the obvious economic concerns, UCF is expected to be targeted as well as Houston. If UCF leaves CUSA, reports 3 months ago said Temple was a likely candidate in either a football-only or all-sports capacity if any members left. This would certainly make CUSA members ECU and Marshall happy. But it’s also likely that CUSA could bring in North Texas from the Sunbelt. If that happens, the Sunbelt might look at bringing in 1-3 from the pool of LA Tech, NMSU, UTSA and Texas St. CUSA might also directly invite LA Tech or UTSA. And of course, the MWC would replace TCU as well as adding 2 new schools to reach the 12 school number reported today.

Result: 

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WAC could lose Utah St. to MWC, 1-3 members from the LA Tech, NMSU, UTSA and Texas St. pool to CUSA of Sunbelt via the trickle down.
Final Tally: WAC down to potentially 3 football members

Big East Split & Expansion: if Big East expanded to 12 after a split from the basketball schools, that might include up to 3 CUSA schools such as UCF, Houston, Memphis and ECU.
CUSA: replaces 3 departing schools with 3 from WAC and Sunbelt
Sunbelt: replaces and departing schools with WAC schools


TCU and Villanova appear to remain at the top of the Big East wishlist in their planned expansion to 10 football schools. But if Villanova passes on an upgrade, the Big East will look at Houston (regional partner for TCU) or UCF. And if the Big East was real bold and expanded to 12 schools, you could see Memphis in the mix as well as perhaps ECU. It would seem that if the Big East expanded to 12, CUSA would have at least 3 openings. And the candidates are all the same names: North Texas, LA Tech, UTSA, Texas St., NMSU, Arkansas St., etc. The WAC would likely lose schools directly to CUSA and indirectly as others flee for the Sunbelt.

Result: 

WAC could lose Utah St. to MWC and 3-4 schools from LA Tech, NMSU, UTSA and Texas St. pool.
Final Tally: WAC down to only Idaho, SJSU and Denver.

There are a number of different scenarios that could play out…too many different permutations to include in one spot. But one thing is clear: there are WAC schools, that even during these dark times, are poised to have future options.

The foundation is being built right now for what seems to be a minor consolidation of schools in various regions with the MWC movement these past few months and the Big East looking to expand from 8 to 10. The new schools added to these conferences might not come directly from the WAC, but the WAC’s placement at the bottom of the trickle down order means they are likely destined to have future membership changes. For schools like Idaho, they’ll just have to hope that the consolidation sticks to the regional trends.

Read More:
An now on to the winners and losers in the WAC shuffle…

They might be thousands of miles off the mainland, but Hawaii is about to shake things up in the conference landscape.

Going independent is a bold move. And we’re fine to question the logic.

BYU has said that the reason for exploring (and now going forward with) independence, has been due to the low revenue numbers for the MWC TV deals. Perhaps that’s a big factor. But it’s clear that at some level, BYU is guilty of the sin of envy regarding the University of Utah. In a blink of an eye, as the Pac-16 plan with Texas fell apart, Utah was accepting it’s Pac-10 invite. Meanwhile, BYU admins waited by the phone and never got as much as a wave by the Pac-10. Utah now stands to generate much more revenue than they have in the past. And BYU was set to get no revenue boost.

Note that with the Pac-12 being a BCS conference, they get a larger payday regardless of the TV contract. And the Mountain West has been on the cusp of a BCS autobid. Utah was leaving, sure…but they were being replaced with the top non-BCS program in football during this BCS evaluation period, Boise St. So on paper, replacing a top school like Utah with Boise St., and teaming them with BYU and TCU, made the MWC an even stronger conference; a conference that might have been awarded an autobid after next season.

And hopes for a MWC autobid are now over. It will take another long and strong run by it’s members to prove a new sense of worthiness to the BCS gods. TCU and Boise St. will need some help by a 3rd MWC program to do some damage. Maybe that will come from one of the new additions, Fresno St. or Nevada. Or maybe one of the other programs will turn things around and build a strong program. UNLV has a new coach. SDSU has the recruiting advantage. Colorado St. a solid historical program back in the Sonny Lubick
days. Whomever it is, at least 1 of the other 8 MWC schools will need to improve to a much higher level.

But for BYU, their envy of Utah and greed for more TV money, might have hurt them.

BYU will participate as an independent. And they won’t get any preferential BCS treatment like Notre Dame does.

So if BYU goes 10-1 in a season, their are no assurances that they will get a BCS invite. Meanwhile, that same record in the Mountain West would in most years assure them a spot. And with that spot comes the riches of the BCS.

For now, the only revenue boost will be from having it’s own TV schedule. But how great is that advantage? BYU will have the help of ESPN, a big reason they’ve gone down this path.

But the Goliath that is the BCS will have an even bigger advantage over BYU than it will over Mountain West programs like TCU and Boise St. Don’t be surprised in a few years if you see a 2 loss MWC team selected over 1 loss BYU team that was forced to offset 1 big game against an opponent like Texas, with a flurry of late season games against the likes of Idaho, SJSU, NMSU, LA Tech, Utah St as well as a Big Sky or MAC foe.

BYU has a challenge ahead of them. But they know what they’re getting themselves into (we can only hope). Ultimately, BYU hopes to defeat the Goliath of the BCS, but now by taking control of it’s destiny. BYU hopes to plant some seeds that will grow into an eventual Big 12 invitation and entrance into that BCS conference. And if things work out for them as an independent, the Big 12 might knock on their doors and take away the pain of being slighted by the Pac-10

They waited until the deadline, but an official announcement is expected soon that BYU will join the WCC for all sports excluding football. The football program would participate as an independent.

The rationale for BYU leaving the MWC has publicly been their discontent with the current Mountain West television contracts. However, the MWC has been just on the cusp of gaining a BCS automatic berth, something that would greatly boost BYU football revenue. The conference lost Utah, but replaced them with Boise St., a school that has performed better than any non-BCS school during the BCS conference evaluation period. There was an argument to be made that the addition of Boise St. as a replacement for Utah made the conference even stronger.

Behind the scenes though, there has been speculation that Utah being so openly accepted by the Pac-10, and that schools immediate financial boost, while BYU was never even considered, was a big reason for the BYU drama. Hell hath no fury like an in-state rival scorned.

The move of BYU to the WCC could also put the WAC in even more of a tough spot. The conference has been expecting a $10 million payday via exit fees from Nevada and Fresno St., two schools that left the WAC for the MWC and ultimately caused BYU to pass on the WAC option called “The Project”. But this same agreement created by BYU, which created the exit fees, seems to have been contingent on BYU joining the WAC. This one will likely make it to the courts as the WAC feels both schools owe the money, while the schools now have a stronger legal reason to decline making payments.

Meanwhile, the Mountain West now finds themselves at 10 schools. It’s a comfortable number that will allow a 9 game conference schedule. But at this point, it might not be a shocker is the MWC expanded to 12. Utah St. is a candidate that could make up a part of the loss of Utah and BYU from the Utah market. Houston has been considered as it would give access to the conference to that market. CUSA member UTEP could be an option as well. Any moves by the MWC will likely be based on the effect of BYU’s departure will have on the television contracts. So it’s just as likely that no more MWC expansion will occur.

And then there is the clear winner…the West Coast Conference.

The WCC is now at 9 members with the BYU addition.

The WCC has considered expansion before with such schools as Pacific and Santa Barbara, as well as Seattle. It has been made clear though that the conference has only considered private/faith based schools that meet the conferences general profile.

The WCC has also hinted that if they expand, it will always be done to maintain a balanced membership: 8 schools or 10 schools. With the addition of BYU, there could be room for a 10th school now.

If further expansion were to happen, there are likely only 2 candidates that fit the basic criteria:
* faith based school
* western location
* metro DMA

Seattle University will be working hard to be invited. The school has tried already and been unsuccessful. But the Seattle market might be even more appealing now that Salt Lake City is in the mix. The addition of Seattle would give the WCC schools in Seattle, Portland, Spokane, Salt Lake City, Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego.

The other school that could fit the 10th spot would be Denver.

Denver has for long been out of place in the Sunbelt due to it’s location. But there haven’t been many options for Denver as they don’t sponsor an FBS program. Had they, the WAC or MWC might have been options. Had they had FCS football, the Big Sky would be a fit.

With the addition of BYU, the WCC has a decision to make:

* Remain at 9 schools with BYU
* Expand to 10 with the Seattle market (Seattle University)
* Expand to 10 and push the WCC footprint further east into Denver
* The least likely option…add Seattle, Denver and add a 12th school such as Pacific

And while this happens, more tears are shed in the WAC offices as they cross their fingers that they can entice FCS schools like Montana, Sacramento St., Texas St. and UTSA to join. Ouch.