MWC-WAC Merger?

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  • BigdaddyQH
    SBR Posting Legend
    • 07-13-09
    • 19530

    #1
    MWC-WAC Merger?
    With talks heating up about potential Big 10-Pac 10 expansion, the MWC and WAC are now exploring the possibilities of how to salvage their conferences. The MWC could potentially lose their three top teams (BYU and Utah to the Pac 10 and TCU to the Big 12), leaving them with 6 teams. The WAC currently has 9 teams. A merger would give these two conferences 15 teams, however adjustments could be made. La. Tech could join it's sister schools, La. Monroe and Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference. Or, if BYU remains in the MWC, they can operate as a 16 team conference.

    Another thing to watch for is expansion by the Big East. With 5 "Super Conferences" the Big East would be in grave danger of losing it's automatic bid to a BCS game unless they also expanded to 12 teams. That means they would have to raid C-USA and the MAC to find comprtitve teams. That, in turn, can open the door for other teams to fill in the void's left in those two conferences. It would also increase the chances of Notre Dame joining the conference for football, as the Irish would have a much easier time getting into a BCS game. Notre Dame is in danger of losing it's Comcast/NBC deal due to poor ratings.

    Now all of this will take place sometimes this season. The Pac 10 is looking for a new T.V. deal and a possibility of either operating it's own network, ala the Big 10, or going in jointly with the Big 12. The Pac 10 hired Kevin Weiberg, the former Big 10 Deputy Commish who was responsible for creating the Big 10 Network. He is now the #2 man in the Pac 10. It takes a year for the schools to actually compete in a new conference, so the Pac 10 probably wants to expand BEFORE the 2010 football season starts, making these schools eligable to participate in 2011. Ditto the Big 10. Here is a little known fact. Did you know that the SEC T.V. deal is so sweet that Vandy makes more T.V. revinue than any Big 12 school, including Texas, which makes the most? This is the goal of the Pac 10. The Big 12 also wants more T.V. revinue. Prepare for major changes in the ranks of the BCS.
  • THEGREAT30
    SBR Hall of Famer
    • 10-04-08
    • 8970

    #2
    maybe they could actually get into a BCS championship game if all the little conferences just merged huh?
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    • daneblazer
      BARRELED IN @ SBR!
      • 09-14-08
      • 27861

      #3
      It will be interesting to see what the Big East does. They already have a million schools in the conference, but only a few play D-1 football. I wonder how many more schools they can realistically bring in. UCF would be a prime candidate due to their size (3rd largest school in the country now)..after that I don't know. ECU makes sense athletically but a chimp can get enrolled there. Maybe Memphis? I don't know.
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      • BigdaddyQH
        SBR Posting Legend
        • 07-13-09
        • 19530

        #4
        The Big East is going to have to do something or they will be dumped out of the BCS. When (not if) the Big and Pac 10's go to 12 teams, there will be 5 "Super Conferences". There will also be 5 BCS Bowl games. The math works out perfectly. So the Big East has to find 4 more teams. Well, Notre Dame is one, and whether those old fart administrators want to believe it or not, their day as an independent are numbered. They are nothing more than an average team now. They will lose their Comcast/NBC deal. Their best bet is to join the Big East now, so they can get a sweetheart Conference T.V. deal. That would leave 3 more schools to find. UCF and East Carolina could be considered, and I am sure that the Big East would love to get Temple back into the fold. Buffalo is also another possibility. But they had better do something and in a hurry, or the BCS will dump them.
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        • Cookie Monster
          SBR MVP
          • 12-05-08
          • 2251

          #5
          WAC was a 16 team megaconference a few years ago. It was split in half, MWC was supposedly the cream and WAC was left with the crap. With Boise State ascending they have a banner team now, while MWC may lose all their big teams. So, they may be better balanced now. Still, a difficult merger to do. Hawaii and LA Tech in the same conference?
          Comment
          • BigdaddyQH
            SBR Posting Legend
            • 07-13-09
            • 19530

            #6
            Logistics could be a problem, but if they do merge, and end up with a 16 team conference, teams like Hawaii and La.TEch may play each other once in 3 or 4 years, if that. There is also the possibility that they would drop a couple of teams. There are other possibilities for La. Tech. They could join their Louisiana sister schools, Lafayete and Monroe, in the Sun Belt. It is still too early to consider any of this. We will have to wait for the Big 10 and Pac 10 to act.
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            • Cookie Monster
              SBR MVP
              • 12-05-08
              • 2251

              #7
              I do not remember how the old WAC was split. Was there a problem? I guess the big teams just walked away, founding the MWC. So, are there hard feeling between both camps?

              Between both conferences there are 18 teams. Substract Utah, most possibly going to Pac10, we have 17. Pac10 could snap other directly, or taking Colorado, with BigXII gulping TCU, so we have 16. If Big10 takes a bigXII team (not a high probability), bigXII may take Houston or BYU (again, low probability). So, WAC is left with 9 and MWC with 6 or 7. WAC is untouched, MWC is the one in need of more teams. I am not sure WAC would be happy to merger to save MWC.
              Comment
              • BigdaddyQH
                SBR Posting Legend
                • 07-13-09
                • 19530

                #8
                The WAC has one team, and one team only. That is Boise State. No other team would be considered to play in the BCS Championship game, and Boise State has to win every regular season game and get some breaks to do that. Merging with a conference that would bring in two of three good teams, such as BYU and Air Force would only help the WAC's image. The WAC has Nevada, who can't beat the big boys, and Fresno State, you has the guts to cahllenge them, and occasionally beats them. Add schools like BYU and Air Force and the WAC would have a very legitimate argument. Either that, or the MWC takes Boise State and Fresno State in a move to solidify their conference.
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