Nevada and Fresno State have accepted invitations to join the Mountain West Conference. The move is a preemptive strike delivered to the Western Athletic Conference for offering BYU a soft landing for all sports except football if they decide to go the independent route. Crippling the WAC which already lost Boise State to the MWC earlier this year makes BYU's move to independence less attractive.
The move leaves Idaho, New Mexico State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, Utah State, and San Jose State as members of what is now a six team conference. The WAC will look at schools such as North Texas, Montana, UC-Davis, and Cal Poly as possible members to rebuild the conference.
BYU leaving the Mountain West?
BYU is seriously considering going the independent route in football and moving all its other sports to the WAC.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday afternoon that approval will be sought Wednesday or Thursday, and that a news conference had been scheduled for early next week. That timetable may be moved up because of the reports coming out, the Tribune reported.
Will the BCS cut a Notre Dame type deal with BYU just because they decide to go independent? Would a TV network cut a separate deal with BYU to televise regular season games?
As an independent, BYU would have a chance to make its own national schedule and qualify for a BCS bowl. If that occurred, the school would keep its share of bowl money, rather than split bowl revenue with the rest of its conference. That's an enticing proposition for the school.
"We have a national base. We can go all over the country and people can see that," BYU AD Tom Holmoe told reporters last month. "That is a very important thing to us right now -- exposure."
BYU Game TV Info
The BYU game is going to be broadcast by something called the CBS College sports channel. If you have Direct TV it will be on channel 613. If you have Dish TV it will be on channel 152. On Comcast in the Seattle area it will be on channel 412, or HD at channel 633