Well, I guess you can't blame a guy for trying. WAC Commissioner Karl Benson hoped to use the departure of Boise and San Diego State from the Mountain West to lure back Nevada, Fresno State, and Hawaii to his league. It didn't take long for the Nevada Wolf Pack's athletic director, Cary Groth, to say "thanks but no thanks."

"Karl came down the day of the Hawaii game and asked the president (Marc Johnson) and me to reconsider," Groth said, referring to the Nov. 12 game at Mackay Stadium. "And our answer was no, and it’s no still. We made a commitment to the Mountain West. Yes, it’s a different Mountain West, but I have complete faith in what (commissioner) Craig Thompson is trying to do to stabilize the conference. There are a lot of good schools. Plus, I think Nevada and UNLV belong in the same conference."

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It's simple math, really. There's no doubt that Air Force's decision to stay in the Mountain West Conference was the first good news that the MWC or C-USA has had in a while. But, now that the Falcons are staying, a quick glance at a map reveals that there are now 9 football schools that should be grouped in a "West" division and only eight football schools in the "East" division. Assuming UTEP plays in the western division, as UTEP AD Bob Stull hinted at last week, the divisions would look something like this:

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Just a quick note here, but I wanted to post this. Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports filed a report yesterday on the proposed Conference USA and Mountain West Conference merger yesterday. While there are more questions to count right now as to how a 17 team league spanning from Hawaii to Huntington, West Virginia, will work, we do now know that Craig Thompson, not Britton Banowsky, will lead the new league.

Sources have indicated that Craig Thompson, the current commissioner of the Mountain West, would become the commissioner of the new merged league, while Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky would step down.

Thompson was commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference before leaving to take over at the MWC in 1998. Banowsky was able to keep C-USA unscathed from the latest round of conference realignment madness until Houston, SMU, and Central Florida decided to leave earlier this week for the Big East. Banowsky has been rumored to be a candidate for the open Big 12 conference commissioners job. That job is currently held, on an interim basis, by Chuck Neinas.

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The Air Force Falcons are nor leaving the Mountain West Conference for the Big East. And, the reasoning behind the decision is so reasonable that it flies in the face of all we've learned about conference affiliation in the last few years. Air Force is staying because of loyalty and a belief that their student athletes will be better off playing regional rivalries as opposed to traveling to Rutgers or UCF to play a football game.

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CBSSports.com is reporting that the Boise St. Broncos, Central Florida Knights, Houston Cougars, SMU Mustangs, and San Diego State Aztecs are leaving the C-USA and MWC to join the Big East in 2013. According to the report, Boise State and San Diego will join the Big East in football only. That would likely send their other sports, including SDSU's blossoming hoops program, to the WAC or Big West. With those five schools on board, Navy is expected to join as a football-only member - possibly as soon as next week - to boost the football membership to 11 schools.

Also, it looks like Air Force is being targeted to become the leagues 12th football school. Air Force would only join as football member.

The Big East hopes to add Air Force as its 12th football school - as a football-only member - but the Falcons still remain undecided.

This move has been expected for a while now. UTEP AD Bob Stull, last week, revealed that the C-USA and MWC, in response to these moves, are moving forward with a plan to merge their leagues. The merger, according to Stull, will likely be in all sports and not just in football as has been previously discussed. Previously, the leagues hoped to form a super conference, possibly including the remaining 5 Big East football schools, to snag an automatic selection into the BCS. Today's report suggests the MWC and C-USA expected these schools to depart and are now moving closer to a 16 team merger, as laid out by Stull.

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Could the MWCUSA be more than a football alliance aimed at attracting a BCS bowl bid? Or are we reaching closer to a two or more division league that covers the nation in all sports? El Paso journalist Chris Lopez, via his twitter, noted that UTEP athletic director Bob Stull dropped this bomb at todays press conference.

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Ok Miner Rushers, we want to hear your opinion. Conference expansion has gone every which way over the last few days, but has seemed to settle down now as the PAC-12 will likely not expand to 16 in this current round of realignment.

WHAT WE KNOW:

While much is still up in the air, this much is certain. Texas A&M will be leaving the Big 12, and will likely be participating in the SEC as early as next year. Syracuse and Pittsburgh are now members of the ACC, the Big 12 seems to be surviving with its remaining nine members, and now East Carolina has applied for admission to the Big East which may be falling apart faster than we thought the Big 12 was. Still, as things change almost by the minute, anything is possible.

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TEXAS A&M LEAVES BIG 12

Texas A&M's public desire to the leave the Big 12 is already causing a massive chatter of expansion possibilities, but how far will it really stretch? A departure of Texas A&M from the Big 12 will almost certainly mean a bid from the SEC, and if the SEC is willing to extend a bid to Texas A&M they are likely considering making a move to 14 or 16 teams. Initial talks claimed that a number of ACC schools could potentially be that 14th.

PAC-12 BECOMES PAC-16

Now, new talks are arising of thePAC-12 possibly making a move to 16 teams. Word is that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State are the four schools that the PAC 12 would seek to admit to help create the PAC-16. A move like this almost certainly destroys the Big 12 completely, and would leave teams like Baylor, Kansas, Kansas St, Missouri, and Iowa St looking for a new home.

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