Posted on: Tuesday, June 3, 2003

Major expansion move not expected by MWC

Advertiser Staff

The Mountain West Conference is expected to publicly address expansion today when its meetings wind up in Carlsbad, Calif., although a major move was not seen as likely at this point.

A conference spokesman said, "they (the presidents) have been pretty tight-lipped so far."

Indeed, official announcements on the MWC Web site have been vague, last night's saying, "...the board also continued its in-depth discussions concerning expansion and other membership options."

The spokesman said: "They could lift the moratorium (on expansion) or keep it in place."

The eight-team conference has had a moratorium on expansion since it was formed in 1999 following a breakaway from the 16-school Western Athletic Conference.

MWC commissioner Craig Thompson has said the conference would look at membership issues in greater depth this time, especially in light of the potential for change elsewhere because of the Atlantic Cost Conference's courting of Big East members Miami, Boston College and Syracuse.

But Thompson has said he would be surprised if a major move came out of the meeting.

In the interim, several publications that cover the MWC have urged the conference not to expand.

A column in The Salt Lake Tribune said, "The league isn't going to get a huge television contract because it adds, say, Fresno State, Hawai'i and Nevada."

A column in the (Fort Collins) Coloradoan urged MWC members to stand pat and added: "Don't invite Hawai'i. This school would be a great fit philosophically and athletically, but it's four time zones away from the bulk of the MWC membership."