San Diego State to stay in Mountain West Conference

By Kevin Kelley -

MWCThe San Diego State Aztecs will remain in the Mountain West Conference in all sports, the MWC and SDSU jointly announced this evening.

The Aztecs were set to join the Big East this summer, but decided to remain in the Mountain West Conference. Boise State made the same decision last month.

“San Diego State University is pleased to be continuing as a full member of the Mountain West Conference,” said SDSU President Dr. Elliot Hirshman. “We are excited about the opportunities our partnership provides for the development of the Conference and San Diego State University’s athletic programs.”

“As a charter member of the Mountain West, San Diego State has decades of history and tremendous competitive rivalries with our member institutions,” said Commissioner Craig Thompson. “With today’s announcement, SDSU’s membership continues uninterrupted and helps the Mountain West maintain a solid foundation going forward. The Aztecs remain a perfect fit geographically and provide the Conference with a highly-competitive athletics program that includes a Top 25 men’s basketball team, a 2012 MW tri-champion in football and several other league championship programs.”

With San Diego State and Boise State remaining in the MWC, the conference will have 12 teams for the 2013 season: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State, and Wyoming.

12 teams also means that the MWC can split into two divisions and stage a championship game, which would likely be held at a campus site.

“I think that’s the plan,” MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said last month.

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Comments (21)

And here’s hoping that college conference realignment comes to an end. True rivalries are being ruined and it is very sad to see this happening on an ongoing basis.

Matt
Alabama still plays Auburn
Army still plays Navy
Ohio State still plays Michigan
Clemson still plays South Carolina
Washington still plays Washington State

true rivalries still exist

If Texas & Kansas were not so damn jealous they would still play A&M and Missouri

So much sense that the Big 12 has 10 teams, the Big 10 has 14/15 teams, and an East Coast team (West Virginia) plays in a SW conference (Big 12).

SDSU, Boise State, BYU, and either Fresno St, Nevada, Utah St or UNLV will join the Pac 12 to become the Pac 16

If the Pac-12 were to go after non-Texas non-Oklahoma schools to get to 16, I see it more likely that they would snag up the Nevada schools (UNR & UNLV), along with BYU & Air Force (to balance out Utah & Colorado).

Larry Scott has recently reiterated that the PAC-12 is at a comfortable size with no plans to expand. Even if they did expand to 16, BYU is not in the cards. As much as I’d like to see BYU join a BCS conference, the PAC-12 has made it very clear that they do not want a university with a religious affiliation.

If they were OK with a religious school they would likely have gotten Texas and its cronies if Baylor had been targeted instead of Colorado. Even if the PAC loses great opportunities they will not budge on this matter.

Tickled to see the MWC back together,this conference is going to be a true BEAST now and should be considered as a AQ conference…that said,San Jose State truly has its work cut out to be able to stay on a high level,this upcoming signing period has never been more important.
Hang on to your hats!

Pearl Harbour Divison: San Diego State, San Jose State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, UNLV

Rocky´s Divison: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming

I say Air Force rightfully goes independent since they are a national school rather than representative of a state or region and Navy follows suit by backing out of the Big East. Shouldn’t all service acadamies be indy? BYU, SMU, Houston go the the MWC. USU forced to align itself in the Pacific or western division of this new 14 team MWC. Impressive set-up of teams that couldn’t rightly top the ACC in most seasons. A couple of bottom feeders, yes. But WSU and Duke generally are as well..

Air Force was independent at first, but at a time when there were almost no western independents. It was a lot easier for Army and Navy to fill out a schedule of mostly-eastern schools. AFA eventually had to join a conference just so it could fill out a real schedule.

BYU had a bad experience getting tv exposure in the MWC. That is why they left and signed a 10 year broadcasting deal with ESPN. They benefit from the national exposure and have gone from scheduling a MWC schedule to scheduling Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan and Nebraska. They are back on National TV every week, they aren’t going back to the MWC and the MNT network anytime soon.

Even if BYU returned to the MWC, they wouldn’t have to worry about being shackled to the MTN. The MTN no longer exists (thank goodness).

forget byu….aim for tulsa

MOUNTAIN:
Colorado St.
Houston
Boise St.
New Mexico
SMU
Wyoming
Tulsa

WEST:
Hawaii
UNLV
SJSU
SDSU
Fresno St.
Nevada
Utah State

(AFA, Navy, Army all independent)