MWC Merger due in 2013-2014

February 16, 2012 by Danny Webster 

UNLV, UNR athletic departments to join new association

The Mountain West Conference and Conference USA have agreed to collaborate on the formation of a 16-team association involving all sports that could begin in 2013-2014.

MWC commissioner Craig Thompson and C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky, along with presidents and chancellors from the 16 universities, held a meeting on Sunday in Dallas to finalize the details, according to Andy Katz from ESPN.com. This association will stretch across all time zones in the United States.

“This is truly an exciting development that will stabilize the current conferences and create the first truly national conference with members in five time zones and television viewership from coast to coast,” said UNLV president and MWC Board of Directors chair Neal Smatresk in a statement on Monday. “This partnership brings together like-minded institutions to improve the integrity and stability of intercollegiate athletics.”

During a teleconference on Oct. 14, Thompson and Banowsky announced that both conferences would merge together to create one conference solely in football.

Air Force and Boise State had not declared whether or not they would leave the MWC for another conference that could present automatic qualifying status for a BCS bowl game.

San Diego State has declared its move to the Big East for football only starting next fall. TCU announced its move to the Big 12 in October, where they can also increase their chances for automatic qualifier status in a BCS game.

BSU and AFA have had extensive discussions with the Big East about possibly joining San Diego State in football, but no official claims have been made.

“Today’s announcement is both a culmination of several months of discussion between the presidents and chancellors of these 16 universities and an historic starting point to forge a ground-breaking, new conference,” Thompson said in a statement.  “There are a myriad of details and moving parts that will be finalized in the weeks and months ahead, but there is positive momentum toward long-term stability and a tremendous opportunity for all involved.”

C-USA has also lost a number of teams due to realignment. Southern Methodist University (SMU), Houston, Memphis and Central Florida have also joined the Big East, filling the roles for Pittsburgh and Syracuse, who could be heading to the ACC by 2013 or as late as 2014.

“It is exciting to watch these universities work together to build a more stable future,” Banowsky said in a statement. “It is apparent that this association has great potential and there are leaders within the group that are committed to maximizing it.”

The MWC will be adding WAC teams Fresno State, Hawaii and Nevada, Reno for football only next season to join, at the moment, UNLV, Wyoming, Colorado State, and New Mexico. C-USA would still carry Southern Miss, Tulane, UTEP, UAB, Rice, East Carolina, Tulsa and Marshall.

“What it means for college football and, I guess in general specifically, what it means for this new conference, is more exposure,” said UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood. “Just trying to better expose what we currently have in terms of our product. It’s not about the BCS and I don’t even know if the automatic qualifying in the BCS will be in effect in two years.”

The current contract for the BCS expires in 2014. BCS officials have also discussed of changes to its postseason with the possibility of a playoff system in college football that would eliminate controversy on who is the true national champion.

The details for this association entail that there could be a possible four-team playoff system that would display two semifinal games, en route to a conference championship game.

“Whether we’re going to go ahead with this playoff model is hard to say,” Livengood said. “The most important thing is, is what it means for this new conference. Playoff games allow for [more exposure] and it gives you something to play for, including bowl games.”

Livengood said that he believes it is an “absolute plus” for what the conference brings to UNLV football as “we continue to grow our program.”

In terms of college basketball, both conferences would be taking competitive hits in terms of annual conference production. SDSU, one of the top teams in the MWC and perhaps UNLV’s biggest competition, will be leaving for the Big West and Memphis, an annual NCAA Tournament contender, will leave C-USA to reside in the Big East. Air Force has yet to decide if they want to switch conferences in basketball, as well.

“I think this is going to be very good for UNLV and for college basketball,” Livengood said. “College basketball is really who you play out of conference, then how you play in conference. Because there’s so many teams involved in the new format [of the NCAA tournament] with 68 teams, you can determine a conference, somewhat, if it’s not that good. But you can determine who the real good teams are from who you play out of conference.”

Livengood said that Memphis and SDSU leaving will have little effect on the progress and competition of the conference going forward. He also said that the structuring of this conference is nowhere near close to finished and expects changes sooner rather than later.

“I would suggest, not just in the coming years, but I would think relatively soon,” Livengood said. “I don’t want to put a timeline on it because we’re not always held to a specific date. But those discretions will continue to be ongoing.”

In terms of the entire UNLV athletic department as a whole, Livengood said that going forward in this new conference is going to be a great thing for Rebel sports.

“Anytime you do something like this, sometimes, change for change-sake is good,” he said. “I think this change, right now, in terms of looking at a new structure, new number of schools and some different people we haven’t been partners with in the past, I think it’s going to be very positive.”

“Quite honestly, it will be, because we’re going to make it that way. I’m excited about the new role we’re going to be playing in that new structure.”