Maybe the "Mountain West American Conference (MWAC)"? Well figuring out names is going way too far, even in this game. Late last night we were hearing chatter about a potential Conference USA and MWC merger. Today, the rumors were merely message board gossip but gained some limited legitimacy when Cougarsden.com, a Houston Rivals site, published a story on it. Now, The Memphis Commercial Appeal's Dan Wolken is tweeting that there may be more to it than it just being message board talk.
First, about 45 minutes (3:25 pm MST), Wolken tweeted this.
With the people I'm talking to in and around C-USA/Memphis, it's clear there's moving and shaking going on. How it ends is anyone's guess
Dan Wolken
DanWolken
Thirteen minutes or so after that, Wolken tweeted this:
The C-USA/MWC merger seems far-fetched on the surface, but I've had two conversations that lend legitimacy to the possibility.Dan Wolken
DanWolken
Wolken has always proven to be very well connected with sources in and around the Memphis program and the C-USA HQ. He's not saying anything concrete, but there does appear to be something brewing in Memphis. We do know that the C-USA hasn't come out and dismissed any potential expansion talk.
If these tweets show anything at all, they show that there is some movement in the C-USA headquarters today when yesterday we had no indication the C-USA was considering any options. I've been saying this this all started that if ever there was a time for C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky to get creative and make a landscape altering move for the C-USA, this is it.
Recall that in the Dig a few weeks ago, I dug up a quote by Banowsky. He told the Orlando Sentinel's Iliana Limon, as late as August 2, 2010:
"Obviously this conference realignment thing had a lot of folks anxious from coast to coast," Banowsky said. "It seems like that has settled somewhat, but we're still focusing on ways to improve ourselves through membership change – being proactive on that front. We haven't completely discounted the possibility on membership change."
Again this is probably all BS, nobody know's if there is a shred of truth to this, but there's no denying that it's fun to speculate and I thought I'd pass along the latest on it.
Thoughts?
UPDATE: 11:12 pm MST: The Orlando Sentinel's Iliana Limon is reporting that she has two sources who can confirm the two conferences are in discussions....