(06-01-2021 12:43 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(06-01-2021 11:34 AM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:  

(06-01-2021 11:13 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(06-01-2021 10:46 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Let’s speculate here—if this is true, what is the MWC’s move?

NMSU or UTEP for a 10th?

Do they dig deeper into Texas?

Is there an FCS candidate they’d rather bring up?

No reason at all to consider FCS schools if you're in the MWC position.

The four Texas-based C-USA schools (Rice, UTEP, UTSA and UNT) are the most attractive on top of being geographically palatable. I'm a bit biased toward taking the top academic school when one program isn't clearly above the others (particularly when it's directly located in a large market), so Rice would be my top pick if I was running the MWC. After that, it's a question of whether to add 2 more or stay at 10.

A MWC without Boise, San Diego State, and Colorado State is much less attractive to the Texas 4. Should the MWC lose Boise, SDSU, and CSU, their conference strength and media deal will be significantly reduced. UTEP might still be interested, but Rice, North Texas, and UTSA would probably be better off staying in C-USA.

It may depend on what happens to the MWC ESPN contract. If the late ESPN slots go to the AAC with the three western programs, I tend to agree.

But if the MWC keeps the ESPN contract, I think the Texas C-USA schools kick the tires. C-USA media exposure is legendary awful. What if the MWC East was to be Air Force/Wyoming, New Mexico/UTEP, and Rice/North Texas, and your games would be part of the ESPN networks?

If the money and exposure was better than what we currently don't enjoy in C-USA, than I'd be okay with UNT, Rice, & UTSA going west as a package deal. I certainly wouldn't want UNT to be the program left out. But, I like the C-USA Texas programs conferencing in C-USA West better. I like conferencing with LA Tech, Southern Miss, UAB, and UTEP.