BYUINDEPENDENCEPALOOZA! The BYU Cougars are Officially Bolting the MWC
by Adrian Mac on Aug 31, 2010 6:49 PM MDT
in NCAA Conference Realignment
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PrintIt's official. The BYU Cougars will go independent in football beginning with the 2011 season and play in the West Coast Conference (WCC) in all other sports. As far as I can tell, ESPN's Andy Katz broke the story. He reports that BYU is currently in negotiations with ESPN for a TV contract and is working on finalizing their future football schedule. The Cougars have already announced upcoming football series' with Texas, Oregon State, and Boise State.
Is the MWC Dead?
Well, I'd say any hope the league ever had at gaining automatic qualifier status to the BCS is dead. How does a league that looks a lot like the WAC (plus TCU) get an auto bid? It doesn't. The league is now even less attractive to cable networks and still has to split the TV revenue pie more ways than they probably ever wanted with Fresno and Nevada joining in the coming seasons.
Katz has a nice breakdown of the state of the MWC in future years:
If Benson gets his wish and Nevada and Fresno State have to stay in the WAC for the 2011-12 season, then the MWC will have just eight members: New arrival Boise State to join, as well as Colorado State, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, New Mexico, Wyoming and Air Force. Utah is leaving the MWC after this season for the Pac-10 to join Colorado to form the Pac-12.
The MWC will then add Nevada and Fresno State in 2012-13 to become a 10-team league -- but with a gaping hole in the region since there would be no member in the state of Utah, a sizeable market.
What's the Worst Case Scenario for the MWC? The truth is, we're seeing it right now. When the MWC heard of BYU's plans to join the WAC, Commissioner Craig Thompson immediately attempted to weaken the WAC, by bringing in Fresno and Nevada in a last ditch effort to bar BYU's exit. I remarked that the move may have forced BYU to stay temporarily but made it even more of a financial impossibility for the Cougars to stay in the league long term. Why? Because Nevada and Fresno do absolutely nothing in terms of revenue for the conference. They quite simply cost more than they contribute when it comes to TV dollars. So, with two more mouths to feed, the already small pool of MWC TV revenue has actually smaller.
The move to bring in Nevada & Fresno State forced BYU to re-enter negotiations with the MWC to see if they could leverage a sweetheart of a TV deal with Comcast. When Comcast balked, the Cougars walked.
Does This Effect UTEP and/or Conference USA?
Maybe. Now that the MWC is officially on life support there is literally no reason for UTEP to ever consider accepting an invitation to the MWC as it currently stands. Same goes for the MWC's other widely reported potential target, Houston.
Conference USA and the MWC have discussed a "merged" title game or some sort of league consolidation in an effort to shame the BCS into granting the league's an automatic birth. Essentially the plan was to go to the BCS and say "Look anybody that can crash the party is all in the same pot- Give us the AQ and Congress can't complain anymore." Now, with BYU out of that pot, it seems less likely to me that the merged title game scenario can garner an automatic bid which is really the only real reason to ever do it. That's the way I see it, but you never know, tomorrow, the "merger" could quite possibly be the story of the day. Again.
I'm anxious to see how the MWC reacts. Will the MWC add Utah State and further water down the once proud league? Will they stand pat? Will Thompson consider calling his comrade Britton Banowsky and pushing for a new league- be it of 12, 16, or 20 teams?
What's left of the MWC?
New Mexico, TCU, Air Force, and UNLV would look awful good in a new Conference USA West. I think Miner fans would still enjoy having the Lobos back in play and I'm sure Houston, Rice, and SMU would enjoy the bus ride to Ft. Worth to take on the Frogs in a conference game. There are some good teams there who have to be looking at the leftovers of the league and wondering what they've gotten themselves into.
Do you think TCU would rather stay in the MWC right now? With travel to Boise and Laramie when they could be consolidating power in Dallas behind UT?
Thompson and Banowsky are clearly friends. But, Banowsky has to put the league first. Thompson did that when he pried TCU away from the C-USA when the league was down. Now, Banowsky has to look long and hard at the scenarios that work best for the C-USA because by not losing anybody, the league just became the best non-BCS conference in the country in terms of potential for profitability. It's his move.
Karma
The MWC was formed because teams like BYU, Utah, and New Mexico were frustrated that the WAC had been diluted with too many teams stretched across the continent that quite frankly weren't very good. Why would those schools want to be in a conference with Houston, Nevada, Fresno State, Boise, or Rice? They were too good for that. Well, in the end, the MWC accomplished one thing: It got Utah to the Pac 10.
That's it. The new MWC looks an awful lot like the old WAC that New Mexico and company couldn't wait to get away from. Karma. Now, the teams those schools didn't want to include into the MWC (Houston, UTEP) wouldn't dare leave the C-USA and it's ESPN deal to join the MWC.
The irony in all this is that BYU, who has decimated the MWC in the last week, is the last non-BCS school to win a National Championship. And, they did it in the WAC.
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BYU in the WCC for basketball--------makes that conference a real powerhouse!!!
WCC currently has the likes of Gonzaga, St Mary’s, Pepperdine, etc… and now with BYU that conference will rival the Big East in basketball power ratings.
BYU has as good a basketball program as most in the West.
CUSA may not be able to match WCC in power ratings and look for more teams from WCC to be invited to the big dance.
Memphis will now try to get into WCC--------basketball power ratings
Dan Wolken————-pull his chain on getting Memphis into the WCC to get higher basketball power ratings!!!!
Not sure about that...
Yes, this does bump them up a couple of notches on the RPI conference chart, but I don’t know if I’d go as far as putting them with the BE just yet. It is a solid get for their conference without a doubt.
i disagree with inviting afa
I would like to see them get left out in the cold.
by MinerManiax on Aug 31, 2010 7:11 PM MDT via mobile reply actions
I get it, really I do...
Maniax, I know your utter disdain and contempt for the AFA given what you’ve indicated in the past and I’m right there with you brother, but…..we’re probably gonna need a fourth team. That said, I don’t mind trading AFA for UNLV. :-)
I feel you
And these events prove that the grass isn’t always greener. I was just looking at the C-USA’s football schedule for the weekend- FIVE of C-USA’s opening 11 games are on ESPN.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
Ok, who's next?...
*Rainbow Warriors have to be on the block to make the next move. I could see them trying to put themselves in the WCC for all other than football and also going indy.
*Next, I see TCU on the phone with C-USA on the phone as we speak. They know that adding BSU, Nevada and FSU doesn’t make the difference. I can’t be confident, but I wonder where BSU is sitting right now, but wouldn’t be surprised if they’re in touch with TCU wondering what they’re up to?
*Finally (for now anyway) I see UNM and UNLV on the phone with AD Stull inquiring as to what he knows and starting to name drop.
That’s my first take, more as I digest the greater picture.
As posted by 'The Duke' Keith...
Radio interview with AD Stull from KROD’s SportsTalk. It doesn’t specifically address what’s going on now but does give some insight to how we may have gotten to this point and some of the mindsets.
MWCUSA More Than a Rumor?
Great Stuff by Duke
His tech- savviness is much appreciated
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
Absolute No Brainer....
Ive said all along, just invite UNM and TCU to CUSA! Have some cojones CUSA commish! At this point, ur so called friendship with Thompson shouldnt even matter, it was clear Thompson was trying to get on Britton’s good side because he had to have known BYU was going to bolt. Its easy, Tulane can just move to the Eastern division for football.
Take a look at the new West division—UTEP, SMU, UH, TCU, Tulsa, UNM, Rice
East-Memphis, UCF, UAB, Tulane, ECU, Marshall, So. Miss….
Seriously we add a bball power in UNM and football power in TCU.
Take the chance commish! I get at least four of these teams are looking to move into BCS leagues (TCU, UH Big 12) (Mem, UCF Big East), but until then, CUSA would become a pretty solid conference.
And forget about the teams in the MWC, they turned their back on the WAC years ago and its finally coming back to bite them—
While were at it, we should try and schedule some games with BYU to fill up the schedule.
I think this is the right approach
Banowsky should be getting creative right now. He’s been poached before and by the MWC even. He needs to do what’s best for the league- going after TCU/New Mexico is the obvious first step. He should be calling ESPN right now.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
Couldn't agree more with DFWMiner
I think TCU and New Mexico are the most attractive candidates. The time is now for CUSA to make a move. But imo the worst is yet to come. The additions of TCU and UNM would only be a temporary fix to an ever “expanding” problem. The Big 12 will soon realize that they are just not the same with only 10 teams. The most likely candidates for them would be TCU and Houston, especially if those schools continue on the path they are on with their football programs. At the same time the Big East will realize it needs to make a move to save its football life and likely make a move for schools like UCF, Memphis, and ECU. So it didn’t happen in the round of expansion, but to me that only makes it more likely that it will happen in the next. Two or three years down the line CUSA may find themselves in a similar situation as the WAC or MWC.
As UTEP fans we really need to worry about where we’ll end up at that time. It really seems like that landscape of college football is changing to a point where there will be a very distinct line between the upper and lower echelons. Even more than there already is. And we cannot allow ourselves to be left on the wrong side of it. The time is now for our athletics programs to step up to the plate and give themselves a reason to be attractive to the bigger conferences the next time around. If not, who knows what the future will hold.
TCU & Houston to Big 12?????
I can see TCU moving over to Big 12 but adding Houston also makes the Big 12 the Southwest Conference again (minus SMU & Rice).
It may happen but it seems there would be too many Texas teams.
only
if they are worth $15 million dollars per year in additional payments from the TV networks. If not….
Colorado Rockies correspondent at My Team Rivals (www.mtrmedia.com/rockies) and my own site Rockies Reporter (www.rockiesreporter.wordpress.com) and one of the top Rockies writers at the Bleacher Report.
The Poll
Is very telling. I think its clear that Miner fans want the Commish to do something right now.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
Mountain Wac Conference
the only team we should pursue is TCU. C-USA complains that we are to far west can you imagine abq or las vegas theyd have a heart attack. i wouldnt mind picking up Louisian Tech frm the WAC.
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