The Mountain West lost four schools (Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State) to the Pac-12 on Thursday, leaving the conference with seven full-time members beginning in 2026-27, those being Air Force, Nevada, UNLV, Wyoming, Utah State, New Mexico and San Jose State plus Hawaii in football. The MW will get roughly $115 million in Pac-12 poaching and exit fees to rebuild the conference, a huge amount of money to work with. Here is the list of schools I would target if I was running the MW.
1. Hawaii (full member): The Rainbow Warriors play football in the MW, but the conference should try and talk the Rainbow Warriors into a full partnership. That might not be easy given the travel concerns with Hawaii a member of the Big West in non-football sports. But the MW will now be down to just five baseball schools after losing Freson State and San Diego State. Adding Hawaii’s baseball program plus the Rainbow Warriors’ men’s and women’s basketball teams and their elite volleyball program would be a nice stabilizer for the MW, which could use some of the exit fee money as a travel sweetener for Hawaii to join as a full member.
2a and 2b. Montana and Montana State: From a football perspective, the MW should push hard to add Montana and Montana State, which in past years have been reticent to join the FBS. Last October, the NCAA increased the application fee for going from the FCS to FBS from $5,000 to $5 million, but the MW could take care of that for the Grizzlies and Bobcats and add a signing bonus if those schools need more convincing.Montana is perennially one of the top teams in the FCS while Montana State has made great strides in recent years to become a top-10 program, too. Geographically this makes sense, and both schools have facilities on par with the leftover MW schools.
4. Sacramento State: The Hornets have made it known they want in the MW or Pac-12. The latter isn’t happening, but Sac State could be a solid addition for the MW. It’s in a big media market and has made the FCS playoffs in four of the last five years. The Hornets have a baseball program, which all of a sudden is important. Sac State sponsors 19 sports, a big number, and seems ready to make the jump to the FBS. Given their desire to do so, the Hornets might pay for their ownapplication fee. They also would offer a convenient travel partner with San Jose State and potentially aid the MW’s upcoming media-right negotiations as Sacramento is a top-25 media market. UC Davis is also in the Sacramento area and could be on the MW’s list.
5. North Dakota State: This has been an obvious candidate if the MW were to ever be poached. The Bison have had the top FCS football program over the last 15 years with nine national championships since 2011. This would purely be a football play as North Dakota State doesn’t offer much in basketball (it’s not a bad program but would struggle early on in this sport after the transition). The Bison do play baseball, which helps, but the football team could step into the MW and potentially win a conference championship in the first season. Would adding North Dakota State also require adding North Dakota? That might be a problem.
6. South Dakota State: A better addition than North Dakota to pair with North Dakota State would beSouth Dakota State, which has won back-to-back FCS championships and played in three of the last four national title games. The Jackrabbits play baseball, too. Geographically, the Dakota schools make sense for the MW even though it’s on the outer rim of the region, but it might be tough politically to land North Dakota State and South Dakota State and split those schools from North Dakota and South Dakota.
7. UTEP:Of the schools listed above, only one — Hawaii — is already an FBS member. And the MW probably won’t have much patience to invite backfill with a bunch of FCS programs and wait out that growing curve given how quickly everything is moving in college athletics. The MW hasn’t had a member of its conference in the state of Texas since TCU left in 2012, leaving a gaping hole in one of the country’s largest and most populated states. I previously pushed for Texas-San Antonio as a MW addition, but the conference opted for San Jose State instead. Meanwhile, UTSA has gone from the WAC to Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference and is now a Pac-12 expansion candidate that is out of play for the MW. So, too, are recent Texas-based American Athletic additions North Texas and Rice. UTEP doesn’t have a great history in football, but it’s a stable FBS department.
8. Texas State: Staying in the Lone Star State,Texas State plays in the Sun Belt and might be open to a move to the MW, although that’s not a clear upgrade for the Bobcats, who have improved vastly in football in recent years. Texas State also had good facilities on par or better than most MW holdovers.Texas State is the furthest West team in the Sun Belt, but travel would be more difficult for the Bobcats in the MW, so this one seems like a long shot that’s still worth exploring.
9. New Mexico State: New Mexico State fills the need of adding a ready-made FBS athletic department, although the Aggies have generally been terrible at football outside of back-to-back bowl games in 2022 and 2023 under former coach Jerry Kill. NMSU is a member of Conference USA and could be talked into joining the MW fairly easily. It’d also provide a travel partner for New Mexico, which could help the Lobos from becoming too eager to leave the conference.
10. Idaho: If you’re getting the old WAC back together, Idaho could be an option. The Vandals tried to hang on as an FBS independent after the WAC collapsed but eventually dropped to the FCS where it has found success of late in football, beating MW schools in each of the last two years (Nevada last season and Wyoming this season).Idaho has been all over the place over the decades, including a stint in the Pacific Coast Conference, which later became the Pac-8 and now the Pac-12. If the MW adds the Montana schools, Idaho makes geographic sense. This would not be a high-ceiling addition as we’ve seen Idaho in the FBS before, and it’s not great. But the Vandals could be considered.
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The best-case scenario for the MW would be adding the top four on our list. That would give the MW 11 full members in holdoversAir Force, Nevada, UNLV, Wyoming, Utah State, New Mexico and San Jose State plus full-time additions Hawaii, Montana, Montana State and Sacramento State. The league would add two elite FCS football teams in the Bobcats and Grizzlies; add two huge media markets in Sacramento State and Honolulu; get the MW up to nine baseball schools where it was previously as seven; and keep the conference’s footprint in the Pacific and Mountain time zones (plus Hawaii). Objective No. 1 for the MW has to be stopping the bleeding and not losing any other members, and surely some schools are hatching plans to abandon ship (if the leaders at Nevada and UNLV aren’t doing that right now, they’re not doing their jobs). But MW commissioner Gloria Nevarez has said her conference has vetted potential additions in case schools leave the MW. Now that it’s happened, it’s time to put that planning into purpose.
Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.
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Publish date : 2024-09-12 23:13:00
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