Mountain West considers expansion
09:51 PM CST on Tuesday, November 4, 2003
By RICK ALONZO / The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH – Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson said Tuesday for the first time that he favors expanding his league and that there have been internal discussions about specific schools targeted for possible expansion.
Thompson's support for expansion could pave the way for TCU to leave Conference USA for the Mountain West. Thompson did not name potential expansion schools, except to say that Mountain West board executives have been in contact with Hawaii.
A high-ranking TCU source told The Dallas Morning News earlier this week that TCU is weighing whether to accept an anticipated invitation to the Mountain West. TCU athletic director Eric Hyman said it would be premature to discuss his school leaving Conference USA.
"My responsibility is to talk to commissioners and to talk to athletic directors to get a sense of what the lay of the land is to do what's best for TCU," Hyman said. "I would be misleading you to tell you that I have not had different conversations. We have played 'what if' and that has taken place with commissioners, and you could put Craig in that category."
TCU's athletic committee is scheduled to meet Thursday, and Mountain West membership will be discussed, although no formal invitation has been made. Although the committee was expected to make a recommendation at a meeting of TCU trustees Friday, that decision could be pushed back because the Mountain West needs more time to review expansion.
The TCU source, who asked not to be identified, said a financial study showed it would cost TCU an extra $200,000 a year in travel costs to join the Mountain West. Financial long-term advantages, which would offset the extra travel costs, and stability are two of the main attractions to Mountain West membership, the source said.
Thompson said in a conference call with the media that he supports adding one or possibly two schools to his league, which currently has eight members. Adding a ninth team provides a more ideal number to balance scheduling, which is one of the reasons he supports expansion, Thompson said.
Representatives of all eight Mountain West schools * including six presidents * conducted a conference call for almost two hours on Monday but no action was taken, Thompson said. The members asked Thompson to study how potential expansion would impact the conference's television and bowl game contracts.
Thompson said he thinks the Mountain West could decide by the end of this month whether to expand.
When asked about TCU reportedly weighing and anticipated invitation, Thompson said, "I would say at this juncture, something like that is putting the cart before the horse."
Thompson said he has no gut feeling about whether the league will expand. But he said he feels his support of expansion will carry weight with the Mountain West presidents because many of them are new. Six votes would be needed to carry expansion.
"I think these people become quite dependent on myself and the great staff we've put together on providing information," Thompson said. "At the end of the day, it's their decision, but there's a lot of new faces there."
Thompson added he has not made a specific recommendation to the Mountain West presidents on expansion.
E-mail ralonzo@dallasnews.com
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