Mountain West to consider expansion
:shocked2: Seriously??
Mountain West to consider expansion with or without Big 12 poaching
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By John TaylorSep 3, 2016, 7:57 PM EDT
Regardless of what happens in one Power Five conference, one Group of Five league could be expanding.
Air Force and Colorado State of the Mountain West have reportedly made the cut as the Big 12 looks to expand by at least two teams and possibly four. That conference could make their expansion decision as early as the next month.
In the meantime, the MWC won’t be sitting idly by waiting to be poached as commissioner Craig Thompson confirmed Saturday that his conference will look to expand independent of what the Big 12 does. And, more to the point, Thompson doesn’t hide the fact that the league would like a presence in the state of Texas.
“I can say this — and I said it at our [football] media days. We have a lot of people saying, ‘If there’s an opportunity to be in your league, we’re interested.’ So there are numbers there,” Thompson said, without getting into any specifics. “I’ve challenged our membership to think about expansion — with or without losing [current] members. Do we look east? Do we look at the state of Texas, for example?
“So that’s probably going to be something we have to confront this year.”
The Salt Lake Tribune mentions current Conference USA members North Texas, Rice, UTEP and UT-San Antonio as possibilities from the state of Texas. The Sun Belt’s Arkansas State is also considered a viable option.
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports...g-12-poaching/
Re: Mountain West to consider expansion
It would make sense if we could go with Rice and Southern Miss.
Re: Mountain West to consider expansion
Thompson wants to expand into Texas (and always has), but the members don't seem to. Most likely, that's all this is. He's trying to nudge his member schools in is preferred direction. There's no reason not to speculate further, however!
Given that the membership rejected expansion into Texas just six months or so ago, it's possible he is hoping to get the attention of Houston, SMU, and Tulsa (and maybe Memphis and Tulane) in the event that the AAC gets pilfered. We sort of take it for granted that if worse comes to worse in the AAC, we can head west. Obviously, if the MWC expands, that becomes more difficult. Difficult enough to get us to jump if we're passed over? Depends on how many schools our conference loses, but it could force us to make a decision before the next round of TV negotiations (which we would otherwise wait on). From the last time this was discussed, though, SMU is a really tough sell for them. While we were considering our options after BSU/SDSU bolted, they (allegedly) made it clear that they were staying whether we did or not. That may have played a role in our option-exploration being pretty brief. (Not sure we wanted to go in any event, but certainly didn't want to go without them.)
Another alternative is the unlikely but possible future of the Big 12 steering clear, but the AAC poaching some combination of CSU, AFA, and UNM. My guess is the AAC could maybe do it in a few years with their current roster, but couldn't do it if they suffer losses. But it would certainly be easier to restock before losing those schools rather than after.
Ultimately, I think the relationship between the MWC and AAC is likely to remain pretty stable, though. Exit fees too high for too little gain.
Re: Mountain West to consider expansion
I want us in the AAC. It would be much better for LA Tech than CUSA. There's just too much dead weight in CUSA now. The two F_U's, UAB, Charlotte ---good gracious CHARLOTTE--- all have no business being in CUSA. And frankly, I'm not crazy about UTSA and UNT either. I think these 6 schools all drag CUSA down at least a notch or two.
To date, these schools have added no value to LA Tech's CUSA experience, other than the fact that their campuses are driveable. I would love to see LA Tech, USM and Rice all added to the AAC simultaneously.
Would much rather share an AAC with SMU, Tulsa, Tulane, Rice, USM, Memphis, etc... All of those campuses are "driveable" for us too.
Re: Mountain West to consider expansion
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HogDawg
I want us in the AAC. It would be much better for LA Tech than CUSA. There's just too much dead weight in CUSA now. The two F_U's, UAB, Charlotte ---good gracious CHARLOTTE--- all have no business being in CUSA. And frankly, I'm not crazy about UTSA and UNT either. I think these 6 schools all drag CUSA down at least a notch or two.
To date, these schools have added no value to LA Tech's CUSA experience, other than the fact that their campuses are driveable. I would love to see LA Tech, USM and Rice all added to the AAC simultaneously.
Would much rather share an AAC with SMU, Tulsa, Tulane, Rice, USM, Memphis, etc... All of those campuses are "driveable" for us too.
Agree 100%. I would add that I do not ever want to be in a conference again that requires us to travel west.
Re: Mountain West to consider expansion
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HogDawg
I want us in the AAC. It would be much better for LA Tech than CUSA. There's just too much dead weight in CUSA now. The two F_U's, UAB, Charlotte ---good gracious CHARLOTTE--- all have no business being in CUSA. And frankly, I'm not crazy about UTSA and UNT either. I think these 6 schools all drag CUSA down at least a notch or two.
To date, these schools have added no value to LA Tech's CUSA experience, other than the fact that their campuses are driveable. I would love to see LA Tech, USM and Rice all added to the AAC simultaneously.
Would much rather share an AAC with SMU, Tulsa, Tulane, Rice, USM, Memphis, etc... All of those campuses are "driveable" for us too.
Totally agree.......
