Joint conference call

[UNTflyer]

Just heard on 103.3

[MDH]

Probably last minute effort for MWC to retain it's golden boy (Boise) and for CUSA to keep UH, SMU, ECU, etc.

[KoldBeer]

Sounds like it will be some sort of alliance for football and not a full merger. I'm guessing something like MWC champ plays CUSA champ for BCS bid. It'll be interesting to see if this keeps teams from jumping to Big East.

[EdwardRRooney]

I don't think this is necessarily good news for us but interesting non the less.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Sounds like it will be some sort of alliance for football and not a full merger. I'm guessing something like MWC champ plays CUSA champ for BCS bid. It'll be interesting to see if this keeps teams from jumping to Big East.

It's the Big East annual conferenceTV revenues that will draw all the schools they invite (and all of whom will accept).

I don't think a championship game between 2 non AQ leagues (CUSA and MWC) is going to keep those the BE are interested in from saying "no" to BE officials. The TV revenues from the BE compared to the MWC/CUSA TV monies are more than dramatic.

GMG!

[mgfan]

just heard that on espn radio but no mention of uh or smu.

Edited October 14, 2011 by mgfan

[Harry]

Per AP they are still considering Temple, UH and SMU

[Keith7]

Press release just came out saying C-USA and MWC have agreed to a football-only merger

[Mean Green 93-98]

Press release just came out saying C-USA and MWC have agreed to a football-only merger

Merger or championship game agreement?

[Keith7]

PDF of press release:

Click here

[Keith7]

Merger or championship game agreement?

IRVING, Texas/COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Mountain West Conference and Conference USA have unanimously come to an agreement in principle to consolidate their member football programs into one large association.

Commissioners of the two leagues formulated this creative and innovative plan with the support of the presidents, chancellors and athletics directors. The 12 members of Conference USA and 10 football‐playing members of the Mountain West will join forces for this strategic landmark in college football.

“The role of a conference is to provide its members with the best possible environment in which to conduct their

intercollegiate athletics programs,” said Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson. “Rather than await changes in

membership due to realignment, it became clear the best way to serve our institutions was to pursue an original concept. The Mountain West and C‐USA share a number of similarities, and the creative merger of our football assets firmly positions our respective members for the future.”

“The potential of this association is very exciting,” Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said. “By taking an innovative approach, we feel we can offer tremendous opportunities for exposure and stability without breaking up the regional rivalries that truly make up the college football tradition.”

UNLV President and Mountain West Board of Directors Chair Neal Smatresk said, “In an era of uncertainty in intercollegiate athletics, this collaborative partnership with C‐USA lends stability and credibility to our collective football enterprise. We are excited about the prospect of having teams in five time zones and the many possibilities created by this extremely bold and

proactive step.”

Conference USA Board of Directors Chair and Tulane president Scott Cowen said, “We are very pleased to be moving forward with the Mountain West Conference on this high potential, unique partnership. Together, we will better position our conferences and member universities for the future with its appeal and its reach across the United States.”

The current 22 members are located in 16 different states, offering a prospective 16‐hour window for competition.

Conference USA has existing television partnerships with Fox Sports and CBS Sports, as well as ESPN for its championship game. The Mountain West has partnerships with CBS Sports and Comcast/NBC Universal.

The two conferences will merge into a separate football‐only entity without affecting their status within the NCAA structure.

Edited October 14, 2011 by Keith7

[Mean Green 93-98]

Wow--thanks, Keith. So how many divisions will this unwieldy monstrosity have?

[MDH]

Time for WAC & Sun Belt lawsuit if the winner of the alliance gets a BCS slot.

[Harry]

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6270202/32718514

One industry source said there are only four schools with television appeal among the 22 currently in the Mountain West and Conference USA. The Big East would be taking two of them, Air Force and Boise. SMU and Houston are the others.

[greenminer]

You read it: SMU has television appeal.

[NT80]

Wow--thanks, Keith. So how many divisions will this unwieldy monstrosity have?

This is probably not a good scenerio for UNT as the merger will allow the overall group to resist reloading if desired. However, if SMUt goes to the Big East then the DFW media market / recruiting area will be unrepresented by both conferences (our golden egg?).

By 2012 there were to be 23 combined football members (12 CUSA and 11 MWC). If as indicated the Big East takes 5 (Boise, AF, Smut, UH, UCF) then 18 would remain stretching from Hawaii to North Carolina... (broken into east/west):

east (CUSA):

ECU

Marshall

Memphis

USM

UAB

Tulane

Rice

Tulsa

UTEP

west (MWC):

Colo St.

UNM

SDSU

SJSU

UNLV

Hawaii

Fresno

Nevada

Wyoming

Edited October 15, 2011 by NT80

[UNTflyer]

Kinda vague. They use words like "consolidation" and "partnership" and "alliance"... but not "merger."

22 teams right now, but even if four of them leave there is no room to invite new members.

[greenminer]

Kinda vague. They use words like "consolidation" and "partnership" and "alliance"... but not "merger."

22 teams right now, but even if four of them leave there is no room to invite new members.

So many implications

[PlummMeanGreen]

You read it: SMU has television appeal.

A UH Coog poster who wrote on CoogFans.com about their game in Dallas last Fall might disagree about SMU's TV appeal locally.

On the other hand, I guess the DFW TV market would appeal to, uh, at least 500-1,000 area fans wearing red and blue.

RE: Why is SMU generally mentioned before us

Can't somebody send the Big East a picture of their (Ford) stadium for Homecoming last year??? I mean, they must of had at least 500-1,000 there for our game!!

GMG!

[keith]

IRVING, Texas/COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Mountain West Conference and Conference USA have unanimously come to an agreement in principle to consolidate their member football programs into one large association.

Commissioners of the two leagues formulated this creative and innovative plan with the support of the presidents, chancellors and athletics directors. The 12 members of Conference USA and 10 football‐playing members of the Mountain West will join forces for this strategic landmark in college football.

“The role of a conference is to provide its members with the best possible environment in which to conduct their

intercollegiate athletics programs,” said Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson. “Rather than await changes in

membership due to realignment, it became clear the best way to serve our institutions was to pursue an original concept. The Mountain West and C‐USA share a number of similarities, and the creative merger of our football assets firmly positions our respective members for the future.”

“The potential of this association is very exciting,” Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said. “By taking an innovative approach, we feel we can offer tremendous opportunities for exposure and stability without breaking up the regional rivalries that truly make up the college football tradition.”

UNLV President and Mountain West Board of Directors Chair Neal Smatresk said, “In an era of uncertainty in intercollegiate athletics, this collaborative partnership with C‐USA lends stability and credibility to our collective football enterprise. We are excited about the prospect of having teams in five time zones and the many possibilities created by this extremely bold and

proactive step.”

Conference USA Board of Directors Chair and Tulane president Scott Cowen said, “We are very pleased to be moving forward with the Mountain West Conference on this high potential, unique partnership. Together, we will better position our conferences and member universities for the future with its appeal and its reach across the United States.”

The current 22 members are located in 16 different states, offering a prospective 16‐hour window for competition.

Conference USA has existing television partnerships with Fox Sports and CBS Sports, as well as ESPN for its championship game. The Mountain West has partnerships with CBS Sports and Comcast/NBC Universal.

The two conferences will merge into a separate football‐only entity without affecting their status within the NCAA structure.

Wow, this thing is all over the map (literally and figuratively). Confusing and dis-jointed release. Still not really sure what it is. I'm not even sure they do as it was talked about in different ways.

"consolidate their member football programs into one large association"

"join forces for this strategic landmark"

"creative merger of our football assets"

"association"

"collaborative partnership"

"collective football enterprise"

"high potential, unique partnership"

"merge into a separate football-only entity"

So, what is it? An association? A merger? A partnership? An entity? An enterprise? A collective?

If this is enough to keep SMU and Houston in C-USA and the Big East still wants a toe-hold in Texas, what then? Or if they still leave, will this new collective assimilate UNT?

Keith

[Green Otaku]

Wow, this thing is all over the map (literally and figuratively). Confusing and dis-jointed release. Still not really sure what it is. I'm not even sure they do as it was talked about in different ways.

"consolidate their member football programs into one large association"

"join forces for this strategic landmark"

"creative merger of our football assets"

"association"

"collaborative partnership"

"collective football enterprise"

"high potential, unique partnership"

"merge into a separate football-only entity"

So, what is it? An association? A merger? A partnership? An entity? An enterprise? A collective?

If this is enough to keep SMU and Houston in C-USA and the Big East still wants a toe-hold in Texas, what then? Or if they still leave, will this new collective assimilate UNT?

Keith

Its a last ditch effort to keep UCF, ECU, SMU, Houston, AFA, and Boise from going to the BE. Pretty clear.

[Quoner]

So many implications

[foutsrouts]

This is probably not a good scenerio for UNT as the merger will allow the overall group to resist reloading if desired. However, if SMUt goes to the Big East then the DFW media market / recruiting area will be unrepresented by both conferences (our golden egg?).

By 2012 there were to be 22 combined football members (12 CUSA and 10 MWC). If as indicated the Big East takes 5 (Boise, AF, Smut, UH, UCF) then 17 would remain stretching from Hawaii to North Carolina... (broken into east/west):

east (CUSA):

ECU

Marshall

Memphis

USM

UAB

Tulane

Rice

Tulsa

UTEP

west (MWC):

Colo St.

UNM

SDSU

SJSU

UNLV

Hawaii

Fresno

Nevada

An easy solution would be to shift UTEP to the west and add UNT to the east to make 9/9 division members!

Did Wyoming get hosed in favor of San Jose? Otherwise, I like the idea. Looks like the middle class is the first to create their 16 member Superconference plus 1. I hate being in the underclass.

[UNT90]

I think this means UNT is F'ed in the A.

I think you are right. At least this time around. And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

[Rudy]

Time for WAC & Sun Belt lawsuit if the winner of the alliance gets a BCS slot.

The MAC and SBC may have to merge to keep relevance.