Mountain West, Conference USA To Merge For Football As Early As Next Year

The Mountain West Conference and Conference USA Friday announced a "football-only merger of their leagues -- neither of which has an automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series -- perhaps beginning next fall," according to Chadd Cripe of the IDAHO STATESMAN. The plan "would preserve the Mountain West and Conference USA as separate leagues in all other sports." For football, the "as-yet-unnamed conference would feature divisional play with a championship game." Both conferences "will retain their TV contracts," and they "will be able to sell the rights to the new championship game" (IDAHO STATESMAN, 11/15). In Memphis, Kyle Veazey noted the two leagues would be "theoretically able to market a larger package of television rights for a higher fee, which could mean a trickle-down effect for member schools' shares of revenue." C-USA's TV contracts with CBS Sports, Fox Sports and ESPN "expire in 2016" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 10/15). C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said one of his league's TV partners told him, "Better is better, and more is better" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/15).

COMING TOGETHER: The Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL's Veazey noted as of now, there "will be no 'commissioner' governing" the new football conference. Banowsky said that MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson "will carry much of the heavy lifting in organizing things, and the two men didn't rule out there being a separate commissioner at some point" (COMMERCIALAPPEAL.com, 10/15). In San Diego, Tim Sullivan noted though Banowsky and Thompson "date their merger talks to August, 2010, circumstances have lately forced them from due diligence into crisis management." Boise State and Air Force are reportedly going to be invited to join the Big East as football-only members, and it may be "too late to stop [them] from leaving the Mountain West ... but Friday's merger gives those schools something worth considering on their way out the door and provides the remaining membership the comfort of additional company." Banowsky said, "We really realized that college athletics is changing so fast, at such a rapid pace. And if we're not quick to adapt to the change, we might lose some positioning" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/15).

MAKING THEIR BID: In N.Y., Dick Weiss noted the earliest an automatic BCS bid could come to the newly merged conference is '14, "after the current BCS contract expires with ESPN, but there are no guarantees a 'Big Country' partnership would have enough clout to pull it off, especially if nationally ranked Boise State and Air Force, a national brand name, depart" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/15). In Las Vegas, Ryan Greene wrote, "If schools like Boise State, Air Force, Central Florida, SMU and Houston stay put in their current leagues, the move could have major potential. If they stay and the [BCS] then decides that the Mountain West and Conference USA conglomerate are worthy of an automatic bid, even better" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 10/15). Also in Las Vegas, Ed Graney wrote, "You want the truth? The move without an eventual automatic bid means nothing, and yet this is the best they could do in a cutthroat world ruled by the BCS" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 10/15).