The Mountain West Conference

Introduction
At present the MWC has 7 all sports members--Fresno St, UNLV, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado St, Air Force, and New Mexico.  Additionally Hawaii participates in football only.  As mentioned in my last post, UTEP would be a logical candidate for the MWC should they choose to abandon C-USA.

UTEP decides to stay in C-USA scenario
Jilted by UTEP, the MWC should look to the floundering WAC for replacements.  Three WAC schools seem to be no brainers--San Jose St, Utah St, and New Mexico St.

San Jose would offer a presence in the Bay Area tv market, one of the nation's largest. While the Spartans have not had much success on the gridiron lately they do have a history with many of the existing MWC members as they were part of the 1996 WAC expansion class.

Utah St brings a strong football program and a presence in Utah that would serve to bridge the Pacific and Mountain wings of the conference and replace the audience lost when Utah and Brigham Young left the conference.

New Mexico St is my third choice.  I think the other two schools discussed bring a little more to the table than the Aggies but I think New Mexico St is a cultural fit and their team and attendance are not to shabby and would get a boost if they played in a better league.  They also bring a credible men's basketball team.  The Aggies are definitely not a lock as their instate rival in Albuquerque could block them.

If we stop there that  gives the MWC 10 all sports members and 11 for football.  10 is a perfect number for basketball but it would leave the MWC without a championship game for football.  In my opinion, the winds are changing in college football and it would be more advantageous for the MWC to not have one.  However, if league officials insist on 12 football members I think UTSA is the way to go.  The nascent program plays in the 65,000 seat Alamo Dome, has no competition in their market from the NFL, and has the makings of being a USFesque program that will quickly become a success.  The league could then consider adding a non-football member to offset the absence of Hawaii's other sports with the lead candidates being Denver, Seattle, and Boise St. If I had to pick one I'd go with Denver, as I don't see the point in doing any favors for Boise St and Seattle hasn't demonstrated as much success on the hardwood although they would give the MWC a more solidified hold on the Denver tv market.

Alignment for football would be as such:
West--Hawaii*, Fresno St, San Jose St, Nevada, UNLV, Utah St
Mountain--Wyoming, Colorado St, Air Force, New Mexico, New Mexico St, UTSA


UTEP wants in scenario
Should UTEP decide to cast its lot with the MWC there are a number of scenarios that could work.  A 10/11 model, swapping New Mexico St for UTEP is certainly a possibility as is the 12/12 but I believe the key to securing UTEP is to offer them the chance to play more games closer to their alumni in East Texas and to do so I think that requires planting the conference flag in the Lone Star State with adding North Texas and UTSA.  In this scenario, I'd favor being bold and going for a 13/14 or 14/14 model taking all the teams discussed above as well as this Texas trio.  Sure it would mean a large conference but the alternative would be leaving a program like New Mexico St, or Utah St homeless.

Alignment for football would be as such:

West--Hawaii*, Fresno St, San Jose St, Nevada, UNLV, Utah St, Wyoming
Mountain--Colorado St, Air Force, New Mexico, New Mexico St, UTEP, UTSA, North Texas


Why Idaho wasn't considered
The one glaring omission from this post is Idaho.  This is because I firmly believe that the Vandals are better suited for FCS football and the Big Sky.  Their stadium, the Kibbie Dome, only seats 15,000, far below the minimum for FBS, and their seems to be no chance or replacing or expanding it.  Idaho should swallow their pride and go back to dueling Montana for FCS crowns.