Posted on: Tuesday, May 6, 2003

Mt. West to discuss expansion

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Mountain West Conference is expected to undertake its closest look yet at expansion when its presidents meet next month in Carlsbad, Calif.

"We'll probably look more at membership than we have at anytime in four years," said Craig Thompson, the league's commissioner.

Despite frequent speculation about adding Fresno State or Hawai'i, the MWC has maintained a moratorium on expansion since its founding, when eight schools broke away from the 16-school Western Athletic Conference in 1999.

But after four seasons, Thompson said the MWC needs to examine its options in depth.

"Because of the marketplace, we have to ask, what if ... what if?" Thompson said. "I think we need to play the 'what if' game."

UH athletic director Herman Frazier said, "Nobody (from the MWC) has spoken to us at this point."

Thompson said he has spoken to Frazier "a couple of times but not directly to where Hawai'i is going."

Thompson said the review is not prompted by talk of possible Atlantic Coast Conference expansion. "It isn't trickle down, but it is a conversation we have to have and a game we have to play or we're not giving it our due diligence."

The ACC has been pursuing Miami and other Big East members as part of a possible expansion. Since 1993, Thompson estimated only five of the 31 Division I conferences have not undergone some form of membership change.

The MWC's review comes at a time when the conference is beginning to gear up for renegotiation of its television contract and experiencing a heavy turnover in leadership. The seven-year, $48 million TV deal with ABC and ESPN expires in 2006.

In addition, the MWC is undergoing a change at the top where half of the conference's presidents, who were instrumental in breaking away from the WAC, will be new by this summer.

Presidents from Air Force, Brigham Young and Colorado State have left or will be gone by June. New Mexico is also getting a new president.