Rebuilding the Mountain West
I want to respond to Mike Soreson's article in the Deseret Morning News, realizing it is the third post in just a few hours. He spoke about getting rid of the dead weight in the Mountain West Conference. I would like to rebut it by saying that one of the problems with the old WAC was that it was a one-sport conference at one time. In LaVell Edward's heyday, 1979 to 1985, where BYU had six consecutive 10-win seasons, the WAC was really a one-sport conference. That sport was basketball. The MWC does not want to be a one sport conference--football. Here is the justification for keeping some of the so-called dead weight...which is every school except BYU, Utah, Air Force and TCU
UNLV--yes, they have only 1 winning season in football in MWC history, but here is what they do have.
Men's Basketball...1 conference regular season championship, 3 tournament championships, 3 NCAA appearances and an appearance in the Sweet 16.
Women's Basketball--.654 winning percentage
Baseball--5 MWC conference titles.
Men's Golf--Two MWC championships. Consistent top 25 rankings.
Women's Golf--Three MWC titles.
Soccer--4 MWC titles
Softball--3 College World Series appearances
Men's Swimming and Diving--4 MWC titles
Women's Swimming and Diving--1 MWC title
Tennis--Combined 4 conference titles.
Volleyball--1 conference championship
13 Student Athletes have participated in the Olympic Games.
4th largest Metro in the MWC
Conclusion: Keep UNLV
Wyoming
OK...He has a point
No Baseball
Conclusion: Drop Wyoming is spending money on facilities, but are in a small, isolated metro area. They are not in a strong recruiting area.
San Diego State
Men's Basketball--3 Conference titles
Baseball--Produced 11 major leaguers
2nd largest MWC metro area.
Conclusion:San Diego State has good facilities and is a good weather destination and a strong recruiting location for other schools. It would not be a good idea to dump them in spite of the lack of success.
Colorado State
Football--3 Conference Championships and 7 bowl appearances in the MWC
Volleyball--7 of the past 9 Conference Champions. Sweet 16 appearance
No Baseball
Aging facilities
Conclusion: Drop. Overall, CSU is not strong in sports and does not spend money on sports facilities. They are in the shadow of CU in just about every way. They have some strong academtic programs. They are like having Utah State in the conference.
New Mexico
Legendary Venue
Men's Basketball--1 NCAA appearance and 5 NIT appearances since the formation of the MWC.
Football--5 Bowl appearances
Conclusion: Keep Albuquerque is a classy city, but the state of New Mexico is sparsly populated away from the Rio Grande river. I would keep them because this University does add something to the conference on the academic side. Don't expect a lot from the athletic side.
So who are you left with:
Air Force, BYU, UNLV, New Mexico, TCU, San Diego State and Utah
Drop: Colorado State and Wyoming.
Who To Add? Comming up.
Candidates are:
Houston
Rice
SMU
Tulsa
UTEP
Boise State
Fresno State
San Jose State
Hawaii
Montana
Gonzaga
Cal Poly
Portland State
Sacramento State
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