Mountain West goes it alone, nixes relationship with C-USA
By Mark Anderson
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Jul. 26, 2012
The two conferences agreed in October to merge, but after running into difficulties forming an alliance, they tried to create some sort of working relationship.
That didn't pan out, either.
So Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson, speaking Wednesday morning at the conference football media days at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, said the deal is off - for now at least.
He said several factors played into the split, such as different TV contracts, scheduling issues and C-USA's expansion to three schools in the Eastern time zone.
"The decision was made several months ago - take care of your own," Thompson said. "Our people said, 'We're not really interested in flying to Miami and Charlotte (N.C.) and Norfolk, Va., no offense to those three institutions. Nor were they interested in flying to Fresno (Calif.) and Logan, Utah, etc.
"We both determined that the best scheme was to simply repopulate and stay Eastern- and Western-based leagues."