Conference USA to discuss Mountain West Merger in January

Harry · December 13, 2011

Conference USA's presidents will meet Jan. 15 in Dallas to decide if that league will merge with the Mountain West Conference, a source involved in the negotiations said Monday.

The source, who didn't want to be named discussing a sensitive matter that has not been finalized, said the presidents will talk about either proceeding with the football-only merger previously agreed to or uniting in all sports.

He described momentum toward a merger as "full speed ahead to get this thing done." A merger could take place next year, but more likely it would be in 2013, after Boise State and San Diego State join three C-USA schools in entering the Big East Conference.

Read More: http://www.lvrj.com/sports/conference-usa-to-discuss-mountain-west-merger-in-january-135493623.html

UNTFan23 · December 13, 2011

This is an interesting article. It mentions La Tech as a possible expansion candidate while talking about TV deals. I don't see how they can justify bringing in more TV revenue with the loss of the DFW market and Florida (on the C-USA side alone) plus the defections of SMU, Houston, Boise, Central Florida, & San Diego State to the Big East (with TCU to the Texas 10), which are all the top teams from both the MWC/C-USA.

Edited December 13, 2011 by UNTFan23

VideoEagle · December 13, 2011

This is an interesting article. It mentions La Tech as a possible expansion candidate while talking about TV deals. I don't see how they can justify bringing in more TV revenue with the loss of the DFW market and Florida (on the C-USA side alone) plus the defections of SMU, Houston, Boise, Central Florida, & San Diego State to the Big East (with TCU to the Texas 10), which are all the top teams from both the MWC/C-USA.

We don't know who the source (or sources) is (are). That could be a big part of the motivation in mentioning La Tech.

One point mentioned by an unmated source I find wrong - it's not final till the ink is on the contract. TCU had inked a contract with the Big East and still bailed. It's NEVER done, no matter what the contract reads!

Harry · December 13, 2011

Tech certainly seems to be winning the "unconfirmed source media name drop" battle but that most certainly doesn't equate to who they ultimately choose to expand with, if they expand at all. I wonder if their inclusion in the WAC with SMU/Houston/Rice and right after TCU left keeps them in the minds of journalists when expansion options are discussed. Since ESPN and the TV networks are still driving all of this I still like our position and prefer it to Tech's.

MeanGreen61 · December 13, 2011

Tech certainly seems to be winning the "unconfirmed source media name drop" battle but that most certainly doesn't equate to who they ultimately choose to expand with, if they expand at all. I wonder if their inclusion in the WAC with SMU/Houston/Rice and right after TCU left keeps them in the minds of journalists when expansion options are discussed. Since ESPN and the TV networks are still driving all of this I still like our position and prefer it to Tech's.

Plus 1

GrayEagle · December 13, 2011

Something doesn't seem right. MWCUSA is losing part or all of DFW, Houston, Orlando, Boise, and San Diego markets but is picking up part of Monroe and they can command more TV money than the previous contracts?

What we got out of this that is more than one person's opinion is that the two conferences will meet January 15 to discuss their future. Don't take anything more than that from it.

UNTflyer · December 14, 2011

I don't see this merger happening. When money talks, splitting it 16 ways looks like a bad deal.

My guess is that they will fail to come to an agreement at the 11th hour.

shaft · December 14, 2011

"As for the potential merger, the source said a possible scenario is Texas-El Paso moving over to what would be a Western division and giving that side nine football-playing schools.

That would leave the Eastern half with eight schools, but speculation has listed Louisiana Tech as an expansion candidate to even the numbers.

If Louisiana Tech isn't added -- and the source wasn't sold it would be -- the Western division could add Utah State and keep UTEP in the East."

I think this tells us a lot.

LA Tech is the leading perception candidate for expansion, but the conferences knows they don't bring anything when it comes to market share. If they can't find a good market partner, the MWC side would prefer a Mountain time zone school, Utah State.

untjim1995 · December 14, 2011

"As for the potential merger, the source said a possible scenario is Texas-El Paso moving over to what would be a Western division and giving that side nine football-playing schools.

That would leave the Eastern half with eight schools, but speculation has listed Louisiana Tech as an expansion candidate to even the numbers.

If Louisiana Tech isn't added -- and the source wasn't sold it would be -- the Western division could add Utah State and keep UTEP in the East."

I think this tells us a lot.
LA Tech is the leading perception candidate for expansion, but the conferences knows they don't bring anything when it comes to market share. If they can't find a good market partner, the MWC side would prefer a Mountain time zone school, Utah State.

If this happens, I will probably just give up on ever seeing us play above glorified FCS-level ball. For the life of me, how either of those conferences can look at the DFW market and say that they dont need a presence there anymore, but we really need to add the Ruston, LA market or the all-important Logan, Utah market, is just mind-boggling. That is just poor business on every level. I know that we have sucked big time since 2005, but how hard would it be for those two conferences to look at the huge state school in a gigantic market with a brand new stadium and not say that they could bring a lot more to the conference if they got to actually play in a league with teams that people have actually heard of and care about to some degree? CUSA or MWC play would be a huge leap upward from the SBC for our fanbase. Even if it got us from averaging 15k per game to 20k, that is a huge leap. If we cannot get above the SBC for our program, then we really need to ask why we can't and what our future needs to look like going forward. More and more, I fear the exclusion of our program from FBS is much closer than anyone believes. Because if this merger get approved and somehow gets BCS-AQ status just to keep litigation away, I can easily see the NCAA closing the door at the 90 or so teams that would be in the power 7 conferences, plus Notre Dame and BYU. If that happens, I wouldn't want to be the guy answering the questions on why North Texas spent 78 million on a stadium for a program that is in FCS.