The Mountain West has lost the realignment battle & now needs to win a fight (or two).

[Coach Andy Mac]

Nothing. 

Avoid this at all costs. Unfortunately, the Mountain West has become known for being reactive and waiting to see what everyone else does before making a move. They can not afford to do so this time around.

The bottom line is, it is well past time for the Mountain West to become the aggressor. It is not a stretch to imagine Thompson and the conference are working behind the scenes. But until they get something done, they do not deserve the benefit of the doubt. Maintaining the status quo will not help the conference remain relevant. Losing teams will only make matters worse. The only option is to add.

Preferably, they should strengthen their own conference by weakening their rival conference, the American Athletic. Also, seek to fortify itself as a basketball conference works by adding Gonzaga and St. Mary. Those teams can’t be happy BYU is pulling out of their conference, so make them an attractive offer to play against the likes of Utah State, SDSU, Colorado State, and others in what could easily become one of the six strongest MBB conferences in the nation.

read more:  https://www.mwcconnection.com/platform/amp/2021/9/15/22670913/peak-perspective-mountain-west-college-football-conference-realignment-battle-fight-expansion

[PlummMeanGreen]

Some of us would love to see the MWC absorb CUSA West adding Houston, San Antonio & DFW TV markets to their media coffers.  That would also get us out of the hodge-podge  of 30K seat stadium schools most of whom will never need an expansion above that number in the next 30 years. 

Go ahead—-hit me with how it would be our total  advantage to stay in CUSA—“the conference most its members don’t want to be in with each other” (if you read the fan forums of all the other CUSA members); especially CUSA East.  
••• Even UAB with their new stadium are now making such noises to move on.

❇️🦅❇️

[ColoradoEagle]

I'm not really sure that the MWC is in a strong position here. Assuming they are trying to shore up basketball to attract Gonzaga, their options are pretty limited if they're trying to stay anywhere even close to their footprint.

SMU and Tulsa are not going to leave the AAC for the MWC. UTEP has been terrible post-Floyd. UTSA plays in a high school gym and is almost always terrible. UNT is doing better, but just won our first NCAA game ever. Texas State was doing pretty good under Kaspar, but there's no way of knowing whether or not Johnson continues down that road. None of these options help attract Gonzaga away from the WCC.

I think their only hope is to wait and see if AAC is on the losing end of realignment, and only then they might be able to convince SMU and Tulsa to jump.

Edited September 16, 2021 by ColoradoEagle

[untjim1995]

Just now, PlummMeanGreen said:

Some of us would love to see the MWC absorb CUSA West adding Houston, San Antonio & DFW TV markets to their media coffers.  That would also get us out of the hodge-podge  of 30K seat stadium schools most of whom will never need an expansion above that number in the next 30 years. 

Go ahead—-hit me with how it would be our total  advantage to stay in CUSA—“the conference most its members don’t want to be in with each other” (if you read the fan forums of all the other CUSA members); especially CUSA East.  
••• Even UAB with their new stadium are now making such noises to move on.

❇️🦅❇️

I have been on the MWC bandwagon for a long, long time...and when TCU left, I just couldn't believe we didn't make it completely clear that this was our desired path. Alas, this board more than made it clear that they loved CUSA because the games were driveable and apparently, the MWC is exactly the same as the old Big West, and newspapers and TV sports at local affiliates won't cover us because of deadlines and stuff.

What are you gonna do? The vast majority like the setup with CUSA and that's why we are where we are. 

[TIgreen01]

Inviting Gonzaga and St Mary’s would be a stroke of genius.  Throw in Wichita St for good measure (do they really fit with AAC?) and that is a heckuva bball conference.  SMU and Tulsa make sense there when you consider basketball.  

I’d love for UNT bball to be included in that kind of conference, tbh.

[El Paso Eagle]

3 minutes ago, TIgreen01 said:

Inviting Gonzaga and St Mary’s would be a stroke of genius.  Throw in Wichita St for good measure (do they really fit with AAC?) and that is a heckuva bball conference.  SMU and Tulsa make sense there when you consider basketball.  

I’d love for UNT bball to be included in that kind of conference, tbh.

Just to spite the UTEP fans I would love them to invite NMSU, if even as a non-football member.

[Coach Andy Mac]

 

[PlummMeanGreen]

1 hour ago, untjim1995 said:

I have been on the MWC bandwagon for a long, long time...and when TCU left, I just couldn't believe we didn't make it completely clear that this was our desired path. Alas, this board more than made it clear that they loved CUSA because the games were driveable and apparently, the MWC is exactly the same as the old Big West, and newspapers and TV sports at local affiliates won't cover us because of deadlines and stuff.

What are you gonna do? The vast majority like the setup with CUSA and that's why we are where we are. 

With ya’ 100%. I agree on the TCU part, too.

MWC: Bigger more prestigious schools, bigger stadiums & closer to a big time environment than we’ll ever have in CUSA.  
 

I can’t see MWC schools having a problem with the fertile recruiting grounds of our 3 largest Texas cities at their disposal.  2 or 3 Texas HS recruits can make a difference in a football program.
This  move would also be a total one-upmanship of 1 or 2 schools some on GMG claim to have problems with. 

😊 Cock the gun get ready to pull the trigger, “In Wren We Trust.”

The timing of doing this will never be better than what is presently the climate in today’s NCAA.  
 

❇️🦅❇️

Edited September 16, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

[Greenrex]

1 hour ago, Coach Andy Mac said:

 

We could probably cover the $254.35 two years of conference distribution.

[PlummMeanGreen]

15 minutes ago, Greenrex said:

We could probably cover the $254.35 two years of conference distribution.

That much?🙄

[Greenrex]

39 minutes ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

That much?🙄

Sort of...it's Judy Money.

[Arkstfan]

The worst thing to happen to MWC was Boise and SDSU leaving then un-leaving. They added SJSU and USU as a patch then Boise and SDSU were back and it’s Big West part 12 or so. 
 

Half the current league is former Big West. All they lost from the Big West that’s in the region and still playing was NMSU and Big West final round of expansion Idaho. 
 

The once elite WAC teams Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and BYU are gone. Best thing they have is six teams are in states with no P5 teams. 

[El Paso Eagle]

I believe (most likely wrongly) the AAC he is trying to force a merger of some sort with the MWC. If they don't completely merge I think there could be a possibility that the remaining Mountain West Conference teams could get pulled into CUSA and perhaps some of the eastern C USA teams could end up in the sunbelt or MAC

Edited September 16, 2021 by El Paso Eagle

[untjim1995]

7 minutes ago, Arkstfan said:

The worst thing to happen to MWC was Boise and SDSU leaving then un-leaving. They added SJSU and USU as a patch then Boise and SDSU were back and it’s Big West part 12 or so. 
 

Half the current league is former Big West. All they lost from the Big West that’s in the region and still playing was NMSU and Big West final round of expansion Idaho. 
 

The once elite WAC teams Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and BYU are gone. Best thing they have is six teams are in states with no P5 teams. 

The MWC has a great setup, IMO. The geography is right, the rivalries are right, and they almost all bring something of value to the rest of the conference (I'll admit that I don't see any value in Wyoming, though). 

And, as @PlummMeanGreen said, bring in 4 teams from CUSA West and you get them some solid TV markets and big schools to continue playing. Get UTEP, UTSA, Rice, and UNT and you have a great addition to the MWC and they can make a pod or division system. If we were in a division, we could add UNM, Utah State, SDSU, and Hawaii as the MWC South and BSU, SJSU, FSU, AFA, Wyoming, CSU, Nevada, and UNLV to the MWC North. 

[RBP79]

1 hour ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

That much?🙄

I feel certain that OVERPAID SL would throw in a couple of bucks...

Judy is killing USA the Conference of......

 

[Cooke County Kid]

The MWC has some cool destinations, San Diego, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, heck if you like the outdoors you can't beat the destinations.  I live 60 miles north of Dallas and I do not get coverage of UNT football (even smuT) in the DMN until Monday and that is with a 6:00 PM local kickoff.  I can still stay up "late" and watch the games at least a few more years.

I too have been advocating the MWC for a while.  Bring some friends with us and travel will not be any more than it is now. We can't always get what we want be sometimes (maybe) we can get what we need.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!
WIN GAMES!!!!!!!

[greenminer]

 

[TIgreen01]

41 minutes ago, greenminer said:

 

UAB and utsa being at the top of anyone’s list is crazy.  Do people not remember the state government of Alabama was responsible for killing that program when they thought it could take resources from bama?  How much will they actually be allowed to grow?  Utsa is just ….

FAU had all the hype it was ever going to have a few years ago when they had Lane Kiffin, a 10+ win team and a brand new stadium.  They still drew under 10k.  I just think anyone hoping either of the F_Us ever amount to anything is lying to themselves.  

Here’s to hoping that the MWC goes on the offensive and blows that aac plan out of the water.  I don’t see the MWC being attractive at all if they lose anymore than just Boise, and especially if they lose their top 5.  I’d pick suckbelt over the leftovers.

[ColoradoEagle]

UAB is more desirable today because the city has really gotten behind the program in a tangible way ($$), they have reliably above average basketball performance, football has been above average since returning, and their academics are above anyone in CUSA/SBC not named Rice. Also, they have an impeccable location (central to three different conferences, decent media market, etc).

Where I start rolling my eyes is when people bring up either of the F_U's, UTSA, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, La Tech, etc.

 

[El Paso Eagle]

30 minutes ago, TIgreen01 said:

UAB and utsa being at the top of anyone’s list is crazy.  Do people not remember the state government of Alabama was responsible for killing that program when they thought it could take resources from bama?  How much will they actually be allowed to grow?  Utsa is just ….

FAU had all the hype it was ever going to have a few years ago when they had Lane Kiffin, a 10+ win team and a brand new stadium.  They still drew under 10k.  I just think anyone hoping either of the F_Us ever amount to anything is lying to themselves.  

Here’s to hoping that the MWC goes on the offensive and blows that aac plan out of the water.  I don’t see the MWC being attractive at all if they lose anymore than just Boise, and especially if they lose their top 5.  I’d pick suckbelt over the leftovers.

UAB and their community have stepped it up to their credit. Don't think of it as UTSA, it is "SA" they would be interested in. Think this, if it happens, will be regretted. They have a "hot" coach; when he leaves what happens. Their facilities are sub-par at best.  

[Arkstfan]

Dodd also says AAC is looking at UAB, Colorado State, Air Force, Boise, and SDSU. 
 

I am skeptical money works for Boise but AFA has publicly complained about MWC and it’s most favored status for Boise. Wouldn’t be shocked if AFA makes the leap because it makes Navy a conference game raising the profile of the game and it give AFA another non-conference game by no longer using a non-conference slot. If AFA bails Colorado State probably follows. 

[DeepGreen]

15 minutes ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

Think big, North Texas, because we have the luxury of being big with a big location in a big 8 million populated recruiting hot bed.  We do have luxuries others don’t or will never have.  
OK, non-UNT visitors, hit me with some red & that yellow confused emoticon.

Plummer, I like your chutzpah!

[PlummMeanGreen]

53 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

Plummer, I like your chutzpah!

So does that mean you won’t sic your Cuzzin’ Guido after me?🙄  Tell the G’man I absolutely wub’ pizza pie❣️
That’s real amore’! 

[wardly]

21 hours ago, Coach Andy Mac said:

 

Even UNT can  pay the conference distribution out of petty cash. I think our best hope is that the MWC expands into Texas and grabs UNT and UTSA.  The only direction they can go is West, and the two of us are the pick of the litter. Both UTEP and NMSU athletic programs are in the tank and I can't come up with anyone else. My greatest fear is that we will be left behind in either CUSA or the SBC.

[MeanGreenTexan]

23 hours ago, Coach Andy Mac said:

 

This is absolutely Maddening!     C-USA leadership is freaking awful!

All of this moving and shaking....   The AAC is leaking that they are looking to add Boise St.    This will NEVER happen!!   But they're getting it out there that they are staying strong, and looking to get stronger....   

Instead of doing the same, and saying, "Oh!  We're looking to add App St., Louisiana, Coastal Carolina, etc... and make our conference stronger!", Judy decides to leak out a WARNING to existing C-USA programs looking to leave?!?       What a complete joke.    Zero proactivity.

 

I'm very serious when I say after the shakeups are done, what was once a fantastic conference (C-USA) will be at the very bottom of the barrel, if it even survives.   WE MUST LEAVE.     Judy and C-USA leadership is just plain awful, and they've driven a great thing into the ground in an amazingly short amount of time.