I have not posted any commentary about the seasons of BYU and Utah State yet. In a way, I am glad that I have not, because I needed time to wrap my head around the whole Gary Anderson/Matt Wells situation. Anderson changed the culture at Utah State much the way that Urban Meyer changed the culture at Utah. I suspect that the Aggie football program will remain forever better because of what happened the last 4 seasons and I am not worried that the Aggies will return immediately to their annual doormat state.
CBS Sports is reporting that Colorado State and New Mexico have approached BYU and Boise State about dumping the MWC and forming a new conference. If a conference is to be a power in the west, and replace the Big East as the 6th major conference, it needs to have at least 6 schools. Air Force, Boise State, BYU, UNLV, Fresno State and San Diego State. Boise State and their success on the gridiron bring a large level of respect. BYU, due to their religious affiliation, brings a national following. The other four schools are in the largest markets in the west that are not already owned by a team in a major conference. I've been to Albuquerque and know that the market has potential, however.
At issue is whether or not the Mountain West is strong enough to improve their TV situation. Right now the conference has 10 schools going into 2013 and only 12 million dollars between them. That is the reason that Boise State and San Diego State are leaving for the Big East. 4 million per school, which is what the Big East is worth, is much better than 1.2 million per school.
Steve Fisher and the Viejas Arena have turned SDSU into a basketball power, San Diego is also one of the largest markets in the US that does not have an NBA franchise, and it does not look like they will be able to lure a team to San Diego any time soon. It is almost a similar situation in Las Vegas, where Dave Rice has almost restored the Rebels former glory. There are pieces in the west to form a conference that would be strong in both football and basketball.
One problem for the new conference would be Air Force. You want the Falcons in football. The tradition and strength of any military academy is a plus for football. There are big Air Force bases near cities like Dallas (Sheppard AFB), Washington DC (Langley and Andrews AFB), New York (McGuire AFB)...you get the picture. Air Force academy alumni are everywhere. Air Force has managed to take the limits that come with recruiting to a service academy and turned out a consistent winner in spite of them.
But basketball is another problem. Name the last NBA superstar, other than David Robinson, to come from one of the three service academies. If you are familiar with Robinson's story, you know that there was a rarity there.
The reason the service academies have NCAA sports teams is to assist with recruiting. No just for athletes for the academies, but for the entire service. But, it is hard to recruit a decent basketball team when you require the full 4 years in college, and a 4-year commitment afterwards. Air Force needs to be in a conference where they can compete.
One weakness of the MWC in this day and age of college sports is their belief that a school must field a team in all of the sports that they sponsor. They have only made an exception for Hawaii. I would argue that a new conference could allow Air Force to be a football-only member. They could put their non-football sports in the Summit or the non-basketball WAC and have an honest shot at an NCAA tournament bid every once in a while. The new conference would do well to invite Gonzaga as a non-football playing member.
One word of caution to Colorado State and New Mexico. A new conference, if it is going to make your schools some decent money, has to have every member field a quality team. You may be the conference doormat, but you need to win the bulk of your non-conference games. If you play an 8-game conference schedule, you play 4 non-conference games. If you win all 4, you only have to win 2 conference games to become bowl eligible. In a 12-team conference, you have to have 8 bowl-eligible teams to have national respect. Those are the kind of teams a new conference would need to field. Colorado State and New Mexico are not those kinds of teams. Neither is UNLV. Two more weaklings, and your new conference is no better than the MWC and it will not garner much more TV money, it will not be worthy of it. A proposal like this one probably should leave Wyoming and UTEP behind.
With that long discourse, here is my new proposal for a 14-team conference that would include Colorado State and New Mexico
East division:
Air Force (Football only)
BYU
Colorado State
Houston
New Mexico
SMU
Tulsa
West Division
Boise State
Fresno State
Nevada
San Diego State
San Jose State
UNLV
Utah State
Bowls: Las Vegas, New Mexico, Armed Forces, Poinsettia, Potato. (Would need at least one or two additional bowls...Liberty, Ticket City and Texas are possibilities).
For basketball, don't divide into divisions and have Gonzaga replace Air Force.
The MWC could look like this:
Idaho
Eastern Washington
Hawaii
Montana
Montana State
New Mexico State
Portland State
UTEP
Wyoming
Bowls: Hawaii, Armed Forces, Poinsettia, Potato (Potato bowl only a possibility if MAC does not renew contract)
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