C-USA/MWC merger would leave USU in cold

With all the jumping among conferences, I’ve wondered whether Utah State University would eventually end up in the Mountain West Conference. Since teams are leaving all the time, conferences are getting downright open to adding teams from smaller leagues.

But now it looks like USU is stuck where it is: In a league that is scrambling to keep football.

According to Andy Katz at ESPN.com espn.com, Conference USA board members are meeting this week to discuss merging with the Mountain West Conference.

If a merger happens, that would put Hawaii, UNLV, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado State, Air Force, Fresno State and Nevada in a western division and Southern Mississippi, Tulsa, Marshall, Rice, Alabama-Birmingham, Tulane, East Carolina and UTEP in an eastern division.

That could be a good thing for both conferences. Though far-flung and unwieldy, it might stop the hemorrhaging. Meanwhile, the WAC is trying to hang on by the fingernails. It has so far been unable to attract the Big Sky’s Montana and keeps losing teams to the Mountain West.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson has openly admitted he has had trouble attracting football schools and the possibility of a basketball-only conference like the West Coast is real. In that case, USU would be hard-pressed to find a place to play football at a Division I-A level.

So the changing continues. At least for the moment, it seems teams from the MWC and CUSA might find some solid ground. The WAC is still on shifting sands. It currently has just seven football schools in the plan (Louisiana Tech, Utah State, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Idaho, Texas State, Texas-San Antonio).

When the MWC was trying to add teams, the Aggies had a chance to join in. But if it merges with CUSA, that would be a 16-team league, leaving USU out in the cold again.

WHENCE GOETH THE AGGIES?