MWC presidents plan response to league shake-ups

Presidents from the nine Mountain West Conference schools will head to Jackson Hole, Wyo., early next month, but they won’t be focusing on the breathtaking Grand Tetons.

Instead, they’ll be concentrating on the future of the league, because the MWC could be rocked by the ripple effects of possible major conference realignment this summer.

While the MWC heads are meeting, the Big Ten Conference — enjoying its place at the center of the college athletics universe — will be discussing not only whether to expand but by how many schools.

The Big Ten’s actions will set off a chain reaction, and the more schools it adds, the greater the fallout for the MWC and other leagues.

Will the Mountain West, which meets June 6 to 8, be able to hang onto all its members? Will the MWC expand, possibly adding Boise State?

"We enjoy the conference, and we think there are a lot of advantages to be in it, and we clearly believe we are the premier non-BCS conference in the country," UNLV president Neal Smatresk said.

"Having said that, we clearly have our ear to the ground and are looking at what the Big Ten will do and what the Big 12 will do, and we might consider steps to consolidate what we already have in the Mountain West."

Smatresk would not identify any schools the MWC might add, but Rebels athletic director Jim Livengood said he supports inviting Boise State, which has won two Fiesta Bowls in four years.

"They may serve the Mountain West well," he said. "But (Smatresk) will decide, and I support what he thinks we should do. There’s a university impact as well."

The Big Ten meets June 6, and Livengood said he expects to have a much better idea regarding the conference landscape in the next three to six weeks after all the leagues have held meetings.

"We have to see what the Big Ten does because the Big Ten is driving this," Livengood said. "I think they’ll do something."

The 11-member Big Ten figures to add at least one school, and a radio report last week said that conference has invited Notre Dame, Nebraska, Missouri and Rutgers.

The report has been largely disputed, but not in question is what a 14- or 16-team Big Ten would mean. It would shake up the Big 12 and Big East conferences and possibly set off similar expansion by the Southeastern and Pacific-10.

The Big 12 would look to replenish what it lost, and possibly dip into the Mountain West to take Texas Christian, and there has been plenty of speculation the Pac-10 would grab Utah. Brigham Young, the Mountain West’s flagship program, figures to be an attractive expansion candidate as well.

So even by adding Boise State, the Mountain West’s drive to become an Bowl Championship Series qualifier in two years would take a serious hit. Under such a scenario, the conference probably would have to add more than Boise State, creating a glorified Western Athletic Conference.

But that’s a worst-case scenario, and Smatresk said he wasn’t concerned about any type of doomsday outcome.

"I’ve got to tell you I don’t think I look into the future and say it’s scary for any conference," Smatresk said.

That’s to be determined, but there is little question college athletics will look different. How different is the issue.

Livengood said the most difficult part is avoiding becoming "preemptive" without knowing what’s going to happen.

"We can’t be in that mode," he said, "because there are so many moving parts."

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.