Talk about kicking a brother when he’s down.
As if losing Boise State, Nevada, Fresno State and Hawaii to the Mountain West wasn’t already enough to pull the WAC off life support, it now appears the MWC is bypassing torture altogether and going straight for the throat.
As you may, or may not, recall, the Mountain West was meeting yesterday and today to discuss TV deals, scheduling and, of course, conference expansion.
According to the Deseret News, sources close to the situation are saying that Mountain West members are expected to vote “yes” on conference expansion and “yes” on inviting Utah State. And, in the spirit of twisting the proverbial knife, Utah State is expected to accept the invitation.
For the Mountain West, the addition of USU would provide access to the Salt Lake media market lost with the departures of BYU and Utah. For Utah State? Well, they would probably just be happy to be part of a conference that’s not imploding.
If the sources turn out to be correct, it would be another devastating blow to a conference already down to a handful of really sub-par programs -- and that’s not even to mention San Jose State, who was apparently on the MWC’s radar last week. No word has been given (yet) about SJSU’s involvement in the conference expansion negotiations.
Funny, I think I hear “Taps” being played ...