BREAKING NEWS: Mountain West, C-USA to form new league

[yaz96]

BREAKING NEWS: Mountain West, C-USA to form new league
February 13, 2012 1:53 PM
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS -- Members of Conference USA and the Mountain West have announced that the 16 schools are working to form a new conference that would begin competing in the 2013-14 season.

UNLV President Neal Smatresk and Tulane President Scott Cowen released a joint statement Monday.

The statement says the new conference will likely include 18-24 schools, be split into divisions and not only have a football championship game, but also semifinal games.

School leaders plan to have more meetings over the next six months to complete work on the new conference.

In recent months, Air Force was wooed by the Big East Conference, but turned that down to remain in the Mountain West.



Read more: Mountain West, C-USA to form new league | new, conference, west - BREAKING NEWS - Colorado Springs Gazette, CO

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UPDATED -

BREAKING NEWS: Mountain West, C-USA to form new league
February 13, 2012 1:53 PM
ShareThis| Print Story | E-Mail Story
FRANK SCHWAB
THE GAZETTE
The Mountain West and Conference USA announced the two leagues will dissolve and form one league, the MW office announced Monday.

The new conference will have 15 teams in all sports, including Air Force, and 16 for football (Hawaii is football only).

The conference, which will begin play in 2013-14, will include a championship game format in football, including semifinals. Forming one large league was deemed necessary after both conferences lost members to other leagues in the past two years, and the new league will likely try to get automatic qualifier status into football’s Bowl Championship Series.

“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,” Mountain West commissioner Craig 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.”

Air Force, Alabama-Birmingham, Colorado State, East Carolina, Fresno State, Hawaii, Marshall, Nevada-Reno, New Mexico, UNLV, Rice, Southern Mississippi, Texas-El Paso, Tulane, Tulsa and Wyoming will be the 16 members. In its announcement, the conference stated it will “likely include” 18-24 members.



Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/new-133401-conference-west.html#ixzz1mJ46cGWo

 

[salsadancer7]

Not surprising. Conferences are stealing from conferences like kidnappings in Columbia. This will more than happen once. ALOT of the new conferences are putting in some hefty fines if ya wanna leave.

 

[Jimbo]

Dumb idea ....
Particularly seeing NONE of them are football powers.

They are gonna have thier own Semi Finals and Conference finals in hope to be included in the BSC conversation... good luck with that.

My opinion is the 16 team conferences are about maxing the situation out with the Big guys.
Personally, I like the smaller leagues better 8-12 teams.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

I would not be surprised if you see all of the conferences(there's like 12 now,in addition to the independents,right?) contract down to 8 conferences & absorb all of the independents along with it. That way you can have an 8 team playoff system that leads up to a national championship.

 

[Jimbo]

you must not watch football unless its the osu(oklahoma state lol). these teams may not be up with the big boys. but i doubt they have the massive recruiting violations your program and many other big programs have had.

unlv pretty descent took badgers to the last minute a few years back. tusla has been a powerhouse for the last 5 or so years. building quality programs w/o violations takes time. bet ya one of these teams will have a bowl victory this year, your osu wont

Wow .....
Do we have to hash over this again ?
Most of your teams would be able to play if they played the Big teams every week.
Sure you can have one big game a year and get up for it and possibly be representable, but on a weekly basis, you wouldn't last.

As for your slam at my school and thier record, you're about 6 months late.
Fwiw, thier record is pretty damn good.

 

[meStevo]

Dumb idea ....
Particularly seeing NONE of them are football powers.

They are gonna have thier own Semi Finals and Conference finals in hope to be included in the BSC conversation... good luck with that.

My opinion is the 16 team conferences are about maxing the situation out with the Big guys.
Personally, I like the smaller leagues better 8-12 teams.

So if they're irrelevant anyways, how is this a dumb idea?

 

[Jimbo]

So if they're irrelevant anyways, how is this a dumb idea?

Sounds like they are making thier own Football division, but they also want in on the BSC money, incase they are good enough.

 

[meStevo]

Where does it say they want BCS money? (or BSC, which you've typed in 2 different posts)

Perhaps they know their role in the grand scheme of things so this is what they've come up with?

 

[salsadancer7]

Where does it say they want BCS money? (or BSC, which you've typed in 2 different posts)

Perhaps they know their role in the grand scheme of things so this is what they've come up with?

Or wanna prevent more kidnappings...?

 

[SamCdbs]

This is a great idea, of course.

(Of course, if football to you is watching "your" (same name as on your liscense plates, no other relationship) team of professionals beat up on schools that follow the rules, then its really not important to you, and you probably should not comment.

The plan is pretty simple, whether the BcS survives or not. If you consider it relative to the other four mid-major conferences.

First is the ThriceLeastLeaftovers. The two directional Florida community colleges, Louisville (which has a renewed application to the Big 12 pending), Cincinnati, Rutgers, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Boise State Community, San Diego State, Navy, and UConn. The ragtag collection of schools held together by nothing more than the common therad that none of the True Major conferences want them. Arrogantly, this league turned down the offer to participate in this new arrangement, a national mid-major alliance. It really wants and thinks it can hold onto a BcS slot with the above collection. A BcS slot that nobody really thought it deserved BEFORE its few good teams got out.

Two things happen relative to the BcS, or a playoff. The ThriceLeastLeftovers sets the bottom. If it is "in" (in terms of an automatic BcS birth or an automatic bid to a playoff) then any league better than it has to be in. Well, this new league is better than the ThriceLeastLeftovers. Either it gets a BcS slot (or a playoff autobid) or the ThriceLeastLeftovers loses its and there is a situation where all of the mid-majors compete for a slot on a equal basis. Either way this new league wins. There is simply no way to explain to a judge or congressman the exclusion of this league and the inclusion of the ThriceLeastLeftovers in any deal with other than "ESPN told us too".

The other are the three less than mid-major kidding themselves I-A leagues. The WAC, MAC, and Sun Belt. Hey boys the train is leaving the station. This is, perhaps, the last chance you have to be serious about it and go I-A for real. We are taking applications, and if you don't join, you will probably be relegated.

Two things are going to happen. Either the BcS continues. Automatic bids for the Big 12 and 10, the Pac 12, the SEC, the ACC, and the best mid-major out of the ThriceLeastLeftovers and this new alliance (and others on a theoretical, never going to happen basis). Or playoffs with automatic bids for the above listed True Majors, the ThriceLeastLeftovers and this national alliance, with the remnant of the MAC, WAC, and Sun Belt returning to I-AA.

Either way, a great idea.

 

[Ronnie-]

IF they do this hoping for an eventual play-in to the BCS (or whatever it happens to be in a few years), then I can see the extra game (or two) hurting them in comparison to the "big boys". More chances for injuries, less time to heal from those lingering minor injuries, ect.

Interesting idea, but I am not sure it is the best one.

 

[Ramy]

I see the extra games as a good thing, yes they do take a chance of injury, but they are also still playing and don't get cold and stiff as far as playing.
You see so many teams with long layoffs coming out playing bad.

 

[mccoyrj]

...Two things are going to happen. Either the BcS continues. Automatic bids for the Big 12 and 10, the Pac 12, the SEC, the ACC, and the best mid-major out of the ThriceLeastLeftovers and this new alliance (and others on a theoretical, never going to happen basis). Or playoffs with automatic bids for the above listed True Majors, the ThriceLeastLeftovers and this national alliance, with the remnant of the MAC, WAC, and Sun Belt returning to I-AA...

Seems plausible.

Would you do me a favor...stop with the ThriceLeastLeftovers and go back to BigEast (or BigLeast if you must). You're making my old eyes work too hard.