"I've challenged our membership to think about expansion — with or without losing [current] members," Thompson said. "Do we look east? Do we look at the state of Texas, for example? So that's probably going to be something we have to confront this year."
Which schools would be considered if the Mountain West wanted to add new members is the multi-million dollar question.
The American Athletic Conference faces the possibility of being gutted by Big 12 expansion. Cincinnati, Houston, UConn, SMU and Tulane are under consideration. If two or three of those schools leave, does the Mountain West pursue SMU or Tulane or Tulsa? Perhaps.
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/4311746-155/mountain-west-commissioner-says-expansion-is
Salt Lake Tribune
Since they passed on UTEP and Rice, my guess is that they're going to make a(nother) run at SMU if we go, or both of us if they don't. Exit penalty would make such a move difficult, though, unless it's a Cincy/UConn/USF/UCF thing.
On a sidenote, one of the thoughts that occurred to me the other day is that of the 12 members of the AAC, more than half have played in a major conference before. Four in the Big East, two in the Southwest Conference, and one in the SEC.
Which schools would be considered if the Mountain West wanted to add new members is the multi-million dollar question.
The American Athletic Conference faces the possibility of being gutted by Big 12 expansion. Cincinnati, Houston, UConn, SMU and Tulane are under consideration. If two or three of those schools leave, does the Mountain West pursue SMU or Tulane or Tulsa? Perhaps.
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/4311746-155/mountain-west-commissioner-says-expansion-is
Salt Lake Tribune
Since they passed on UTEP and Rice, my guess is that they're going to make a(nother) run at SMU if we go, or both of us if they don't. Exit penalty would make such a move difficult, though, unless it's a Cincy/UConn/USF/UCF thing.
On a sidenote, one of the thoughts that occurred to me the other day is that of the 12 members of the AAC, more than half have played in a major conference before. Four in the Big East, two in the Southwest Conference, and one in the SEC.
