YA
Active Member
This is what some guy posted on another message board. I would be curious to know how accurate this is:
This is the current Mountian West Conference priority list of expansion candidates in the order of their desireability by the Mwc.
Some of you may not know that Kansas is in talks with the Mtn West as we speak and has been for a few days now. Kansas St found out about it and beat feet to Mtn West offices also.
Mizzou is in a tight spot now and current talk out of the Big10 is that Mizzou is not a sure thing for the Big10. So Mizzou also contacted the Mtn West and is gathering information just in case.
Some of you may not be aware that the Mtn West is scheduled to get BCS status (according to the BCS Commissioner) in 2011. The BCS has also informed the Mtn West that if they do get BCS status in 2011 and the Big12 collapses, the Mtn West is "very likely" to take over the BCS Fiesta Bowl auto-bid hosting slot. So there wont be any Mwc teams joinging a "rump Big12", when the vested interest of the Mtn West is to see the Big12 fail.
Boise St is a sure thing for the Mtn West but they got put on hold due to all the confusion and all the phone calls the Mtn West is getting.
The Mtn West will be taking 3 teams and only 3 teams. They currently have 9 teams and the Mtn West Commish says they will halt expansion at 12 because the Mtn West does not have a big TV deal like the PAC10 will have. In 2015-2016 the Mwc Commish said the league would consider adding 2-4 more teams if the TV deal is increased dramatically at that time. Therefore there are 3 openings in the Mtn West until 2015 at the earliest.
Here is the Mwc invitation priority list (obtained by a Byu guy who is close to the AD) as posted on the Mwc board today:
SHOO INS (for the 3 open spots)
1) KANSAS (in talks currently with Mwc)
2) BOISE ST (certain addition)
3) MISSOURI (only if they are left out of Big10)
4) KANSAS ST (they get in Mwc if Mizzou goes to Big10)
(alternates who will get in if Mtn West goes to 16 teams in future)
5) FRESNO ST (great football, great basketball and baseball national champ)
6) HOUSTON (big potential in lg media market, & would thrive in Bcs conf)
7) NEVADA (rival of Unlv, great academics, great sports, 25,000 students)
8) IOWA ST (good fanbase, good attendance, horrid sports and academics)
(alternates to the alternates - only get in if one of above 4 is passed over)
9) SMU (great resurgence in football, great academics, trad rival of Tcu)
10) BAYLOR (Tcu fans, Coaches & admins nix BU due to 15 yrs of insults)
11) UTEP (good attendance at times, average football, bad academics)
12) TULSA (small fanbase, small stadium, tiny school, great football)
Only 3 open spots. Baylor better hurry. Kansas, Boise St and Kansas St are the 3 favorites to get into the Mtn West (only 3 spots open)
Kansas, Mizzou, Boise St, and Kansas St all in discussions with Mtn West as we speak trying to lock down one of the 3 spots available, while Baylor fiddles with an SEC pipe dream and wastes time on hopeless petitions to State legislators.
Mtn West has 9 teams currently. Can only add 3 teams to a total of 12 due to:
1) 12 teams is minimum rqd for Conf title game (which Mwc wants)
2) Mwc TV deal is not as good as the big conferences will get therefore if the Mtn West went to 14 or 16 teams they would simply be splitting a small pie into more pieces. 12 is the magic number for a conf title game. The Mwc Commish has stated the league cannot add any more than 3 teams (12 total) until such time as the TV contracts are much much better (he estimates 2015-2016).
3) Kansas, Boise St and Kansas St would be great additions to the Mwc and would make it a power conference in basketball as well as football. 16 teams isnt needed.
4) The list of candidates after Kansas, Boise St and Kansas St starts dropping off dramatically in quality.
5) Some current Mwc teams strenuously object to expanding past 12 teams, for scheduling purposes.
This is the current Mountian West Conference priority list of expansion candidates in the order of their desireability by the Mwc.
Some of you may not know that Kansas is in talks with the Mtn West as we speak and has been for a few days now. Kansas St found out about it and beat feet to Mtn West offices also.
Mizzou is in a tight spot now and current talk out of the Big10 is that Mizzou is not a sure thing for the Big10. So Mizzou also contacted the Mtn West and is gathering information just in case.
Some of you may not be aware that the Mtn West is scheduled to get BCS status (according to the BCS Commissioner) in 2011. The BCS has also informed the Mtn West that if they do get BCS status in 2011 and the Big12 collapses, the Mtn West is "very likely" to take over the BCS Fiesta Bowl auto-bid hosting slot. So there wont be any Mwc teams joinging a "rump Big12", when the vested interest of the Mtn West is to see the Big12 fail.
Boise St is a sure thing for the Mtn West but they got put on hold due to all the confusion and all the phone calls the Mtn West is getting.
The Mtn West will be taking 3 teams and only 3 teams. They currently have 9 teams and the Mtn West Commish says they will halt expansion at 12 because the Mtn West does not have a big TV deal like the PAC10 will have. In 2015-2016 the Mwc Commish said the league would consider adding 2-4 more teams if the TV deal is increased dramatically at that time. Therefore there are 3 openings in the Mtn West until 2015 at the earliest.
Here is the Mwc invitation priority list (obtained by a Byu guy who is close to the AD) as posted on the Mwc board today:
SHOO INS (for the 3 open spots)
1) KANSAS (in talks currently with Mwc)
2) BOISE ST (certain addition)
3) MISSOURI (only if they are left out of Big10)
4) KANSAS ST (they get in Mwc if Mizzou goes to Big10)
(alternates who will get in if Mtn West goes to 16 teams in future)
5) FRESNO ST (great football, great basketball and baseball national champ)
6) HOUSTON (big potential in lg media market, & would thrive in Bcs conf)
7) NEVADA (rival of Unlv, great academics, great sports, 25,000 students)
8) IOWA ST (good fanbase, good attendance, horrid sports and academics)
(alternates to the alternates - only get in if one of above 4 is passed over)
9) SMU (great resurgence in football, great academics, trad rival of Tcu)
10) BAYLOR (Tcu fans, Coaches & admins nix BU due to 15 yrs of insults)
11) UTEP (good attendance at times, average football, bad academics)
12) TULSA (small fanbase, small stadium, tiny school, great football)
Only 3 open spots. Baylor better hurry. Kansas, Boise St and Kansas St are the 3 favorites to get into the Mtn West (only 3 spots open)
Kansas, Mizzou, Boise St, and Kansas St all in discussions with Mtn West as we speak trying to lock down one of the 3 spots available, while Baylor fiddles with an SEC pipe dream and wastes time on hopeless petitions to State legislators.
Mtn West has 9 teams currently. Can only add 3 teams to a total of 12 due to:
1) 12 teams is minimum rqd for Conf title game (which Mwc wants)
2) Mwc TV deal is not as good as the big conferences will get therefore if the Mtn West went to 14 or 16 teams they would simply be splitting a small pie into more pieces. 12 is the magic number for a conf title game. The Mwc Commish has stated the league cannot add any more than 3 teams (12 total) until such time as the TV contracts are much much better (he estimates 2015-2016).
3) Kansas, Boise St and Kansas St would be great additions to the Mwc and would make it a power conference in basketball as well as football. 16 teams isnt needed.
4) The list of candidates after Kansas, Boise St and Kansas St starts dropping off dramatically in quality.
5) Some current Mwc teams strenuously object to expanding past 12 teams, for scheduling purposes.