We may be headed to the MWC now?

[MustangStealth]

Their TV deal was not great when there were 9 teams. If they expand it would be split 12 ways with no Utah market. The Reno and Fresno markets added very little. If renegotiated I doubt it will be worth much more, if any.

There has already been some speculation that the loss of both Utah schools will void their TV deal (at least the mtn part), and they'll have to renogotiate with the network owners (Comcast and CBS-College) as well as the cable and satellite companies. Their deals with ESPN and VS also may have membership clauses that trigger renegotiation.

[West Coast Johnny]

As a TCU fan, I would love to see SMU move to the MWC. Houston would be OK too, but I would prefer Tulsa be the 2nd team. I think TCU needs local rivalries in their conference. Too bad you guys are tied to Rice and Tulane.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

To be honest, I'd much rather be tied to Rice and Tulane than to UNLV and SDSU. I think the MWC is toast. In a matter of 4 months, it went from a conference on the acendency to the WAC 4.0. TCU will be out of there as soon as they can find a better deal. Without Utah and BYU, the entire basis for TCU being in the MWC is gone.

[EastStang]

As I said, if TCU and AFA would come to CUSA and if that would provide impetus to add Army and Navy, we might have a pretty decent conference with a better TV contract for everyone. Right now the MWC only has AFA as a TV marquee team and Boise to a lesser extent and TCU to a lesser extent. CUSA has better markets, better bowl opportunities and top to bottom better teams, today.

But I think Thompson and Banowsky hedged their bets and decided that a war between CUSA and MWC could be fatal for one of the two conferences. If BYU left, the MWC would be ripe for a CUSA play. If BYU stayed CUSA would be ripe for a MWC grab. So, I think the conferences will attempt some play in game with some combined television work and bowl cooperation. We'll see what happens.

I also do not think that UTEP really wants to go back west. UTEP is one of the Universities of Texas and is very prideful of its Texas name. They have lots of alums in Dallas and Houston and moving west would only be worth it to them, to keep games in DFW and Houston. These visits are good for their fundraising and good for their recruiting.

[leopold]

Outside of TCU, what is our motivation for leaving for the MWC? When BYU first said they were leaving, the conference looked they were going to fall apart. And while FSU and UNR aren't bad additions, they aren't world changers. Are they still thinking of adding USU? What happens if the Big 12 expands and takes another MWC school, especially TCU - were does that leave us? How is this a step up?

1) Travel costs WILL skyrocket - we already play TCU every year and one trip to NC won't hurt us like multiple trips to Cali and Boise.
2) National exposure WILL drop to nill.
3) Television revenue WONT improve.
4) We have NO history with SDSU, Wyoming, or UNLV, and some of their programs are in as bad a shape (read: threatened with dissolution) as Memphis or Tulane.

Unless this conference is offered an auto BCS bid we need to stay in CUSA.

[friarwolf]

I also do not think that UTEP really wants to go back west. UTEP is one of the Universities of Texas and is very prideful of its Texas name. They have lots of alums in Dallas and Houston and moving west would only be worth it to them, to keep games in DFW and Houston. These visits are good for their fundraising and good for their recruiting.

Actually, UTEP lost all of their big rivalries from the old WAC just as we did with the implosion of the SWC. I think a lot of their fans would welcome going back west.......

[mustangxc]

I think you need to look at MWC without TCU. Would we want to be in the MWC without TCU? I think we are better off in CUSA without UH, than MWC without TCU. If we made the move and TCU jumped to Big East, Big XII or another conference, wouldn't we be scrambling to re-join CUSA? At that point we would have upset many of our ex-conference mates and be sol. I think the best play is to stay in CUSA which has the best bowl tie-ins of any non aq conference. I remember an 8-4 Rice team in the WAC not getting a bowl invite because only the top 3 teams got invites in the WAC and they were all western bowls. Keep CUSA strong, invite TCU and potentially encourage UTEP to go to the MWC or a weak eastern team to drop to SBC or MAC.

[Nacho]

tcu is welcome to join us in cusa.
no reason at all for uh or smu to go to the mwc. it will never be a bcs conference.
if utep wants to go la tech will be more than happy to join cusa.

[ponyinNC]

encourage a team to drop sown to sbc or lesser? are you kidding me? what school in their right mind would be persuaded to drop? in the words of cris carter..."C'mon man!"

[mustangxc]

encourage a team to drop sown to sbc or lesser? are you kidding me? what school in their right mind would be persuaded to drop? in the words of cris carter..."C'mon man!"

Basically expel them ala Temple in the Big East.

[CalallenStang]

I also do not think that UTEP really wants to go back west. UTEP is one of the Universities of Texas and is very prideful of its Texas name. They have lots of alums in Dallas and Houston and moving west would only be worth it to them, to keep games in DFW and Houston. These visits are good for their fundraising and good for their recruiting.

Actually, UTEP lost all of their big rivalries from the old WAC just as we did with the implosion of the SWC. I think a lot of their fans would welcome going back west.......

Actually, a lot of their fans and their athletic director prefer a conference where they can play in DFW and Houston. Now, if UH leaves to the MWC, I think UTEP might make the jump over there, but so long as there's only one other Texas team in the MWC, UTEP will stay put.

[StallionsModelT]

I wouldn't want to touch the MWC right now to be honest. Without BYU and Utah the conference has been damaged beyond repair. No stability whatsoever. This is the time for CUSA to be bold. Make invitations to Air Force and TCU and see what they say.

[huskerpony]

This is the time for CUSA to be bold. Make invitations to Air Force and TCU and see what they say.

This is what I am thinking--but add Boise and CSU also to get to 16. Gets you two Top 10 teams, an academy, and locks up a reasonably sized tv market.

[Water Pony]

This is the time for CUSA to be bold. Make invitations to Air Force and TCU and see what they say.

This is what I am thinking--but add Boise and CSU also to get to 16. Gets you two Top 10 teams, an academy, and locks up a reasonably sized tv market.

Each example creates its own issues. I like CSU too, but they won't abandon Wyoming, which is very close geograhically. It also isolates New Mexico more.

Rationalizing memberships may make sense. You could create three conferences out of MWC and CUSA: East, Central/Mountain and West, perhaps pulling in Navy and Army. The winner of this alliance would get BCS Bid.

[StallionsModelT]

I don't think the BCS conferences will ever approve a merger/BCS bid arrangement. Maybe I'm wrong but I just don't think it'll happen.