Planned Merger Of Mountain West And Conference USA Delayed

Officials said that plans for the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA to merge "are being further pushed back." In March, reps of both conferences had said an "early June" date was targeted. But UNLV President Neal Smatresk, who also serves as President & Chair of the MWC BOD, said in an e-mail, "At this point we are revising our timelines" (STARADVERTISER.com, 5/30).

Meanwhile, San Diego State Univ. President Elliot Hirshman said he is "very optimistic" about his school's move to the Big East next year. He said that "even if the Big East's new TV deal falls short of projections, the Big East still is likely to be much more lucrative than SDSU's current TV deal in the Mountain West." Based on consultants' estimates, SDSU expects annual TV revenue to grow from about $1.2M to at least $6.4M (UTSANDIEGO.com, 5/30).