MWC, CUSA talk forming new league Presidents from the Mountain West and Conference USA will meet Sunday in Dallas to discuss forming a new league, CBSSports.com has learned. The move was not described as a full-on merger and talks are still in the early stages. According to a source, the new league could be football only, all sports or some other consolidation. Two sources said not all of the two conferences’ presidents will attend the meeting. But there is urgency on both sides. Raiding by the Big East has caused each conference to reconsider its future. Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson told CBSSports.com last week that he is concerned about membership issues in light of recent defections. The NCAA requires a league to have at least six members that sponsor, at a minimum, eight men’s sports and six women’s sports. The leagues announced in October that they were forming a football “association” for scheduling purposes. Back then, the idea was for the champions of the two leagues to play with the winner getting an automatic BCS berth. That was before the Big East moved aggressively to invite a combined five schools from both conferences. A 90-day memorandum of understanding that came out of the October announcement expires on Sunday, the same day as the meeting. http://dennis-dodd.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6270202/34342794
CUSA, MWC could "dissolve," form new league One option being considered Sunday by two conferences' CEOs is to "dissolve" Conference USA and the Mountain West before forming a new league, CBSSports.com learned. The move could have ramifications on current TV deals and put the new "Big Country" -- let's call it -- in line ahead of the Big East for a new TV rights deal. Dissolving both leagues could conceivably alter current TV deals in place with the MWC and CUSA and make the Big Country a new entity to be bid on by TV rightsholders. The Big East is attempting to survive by realigning prior to the end of its current TV deal in 2013-14. The Big East and Big Ten (after 2014-15) are next in line to cash in with rightsholders. In figures obtained by CBSSports.com, a 12-team Big East configured for debut in 2013, would be significantly ahead of a merged CUSA/MWC in terms of average BCS computer ranking. The earliest the new league being reported today could begin play is 2013, but that start date may have to be pushed back. With the apparent end of automatic qualifying conferences (beginning in 2014), the two leagues would be fortifying themselves are strongly as possible. One Conference USA school source speculated how different a new league would be from the new Big East in terms of football strength and television viability. The answer as of now: Not much. http://dennis-dodd.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6270202/34396819 http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6270202/34342794
Source: C-USA board to talk merger Conference USA's board of directors will meet later this week to discuss the possibility of a full-scale merger with the Mountain West Conference, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The prospect of a merger was already on the meeting agenda, even before C-USA member Memphis was on the verge of joining the Big East, the source said. Memphis was officially invited into the Big East on Wednesday and has accepted the invitation. The school will join in 2013. In the past year, C-USA members Houston, SMU and Central Florida accepted invitations to join the Big East in 2013-14. That, along with Memphis' pending departure, would leave C-USA with eight members: Southern Miss, Tulsa, Marshall, Rice, UAB, Tulane, East Carolina and UTEP. http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...possibility-merging-mountain-west-source-says
"This is an exciting development that will stabilize the current conferences and create the first truly national conference with members in five time zones and television viewership from coast to coast. This partnership brings together like-minded institutions to improve the integrity and stability of intercollegiate athletics," said UNLV President Neal Smatresk. "We are moving our plans forward rapidly and expect to complete our conversations in the near future. Look for further announcements soon as we work together on this exciting new venture." The structure of the new conference will likely include: Membership of 18 to 24 universities National scope from the Atlantic Seaboard to Hawaii Championship football game format that includes semifinal match-ups Championship basketball tournament Regular season scheduling in divisions NCAA FBS affiliation Mechanisms to emphasize and improve academic standards and fiscal responsibility http://www.themwc.com/genrel/021312aab.html
MWC, C-USA athletic directors to meet in Las Vegas on Thursday to discuss new league Among the topics expected to be discussed are: (1) whether to stay at the current 18 teams or expand; (2) the name of the league; (3) the potential television opportunities; and (4) how many divisions will be formed within the conference. This will be the first meeting between the conference’s athletic directors since they convened in Dallas in September. The schools’ presidents met last month when it was announced the conference would merge in all sports. http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs16?...&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest
