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From the Associated Press

DALLAS — Members of Conference USA and current and future members of the Mountain West are on their way to forming a new league that will begin in 2013.

The 16 schools announced the plans Monday, taking a bigger-is-better approach that will create a conference with schools in five time zones.

"This is an exciting development that will stabilize the current conferences and create the first truly national conference with members in five time zones and television viewership from coast to coast," UNLV President Neal Smatresk said in statement. "We are moving our plans forward rapidly and expect to complete our conversations in the near future. Look for further announcements soon as we work together on this exciting new venture."

The new conference likely will have 18-24 schools, split into divisions, and not only have a football championship game but also semifinals. It also will hold a conference basketball tournament, the statement said.

School leaders said they plan to complete work on the new league in six months.
In October, Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky and Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson announced the two leagues were working to merge their football operations starting in 2013.

At the time, both commissioners left open the possibility that the football relationship could grow into something bigger.

Since then four C-USA members — SMU, Houston, Memphis and Central Florida — have announced they will join the Big East in 2013. Boise State and San Diego State from the Mountain West also announced they would be joining the Big East for football and switching their other sports to new conferences. The Mountain West also lost TCU to the Big 12.

The new plan is for Conference USA and the Mountain West to join forces and start over, possibly with new television deals. Both conferences currently are in the middle of contracts with CBS that run through 2016. CBS has an option to extend the deal with the Mountain West for four years.

Nowhere in the release are the names of the conferences mentioned, just the schools involved. They are:

• Air Force, Colorado State, UNLV, New Mexico and Wyoming, which all currently compete
in the Mountain West;

• Alabama-Birmingham, East Carolina, Marshall, Rice, Southern Mississippi, Texas-El Paso, Tulane and Tulsa, which all currently compete in Conference USA;

• Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii, which all currently compete in the Western Athletic Conference, but are set to join the Mountain West in 2012.

All the schools except Hawaii will compete in all sports in the new conference. Hawaii will be a football-only member, though the Warriors could rack up some serious mileage when they face East Carolina in Greenville, N.C., (4,864 miles away) or UAB (4,358).

"Today's announcement is both a culmination of several months of discussion between the presidents and chancellors of these 16 universities and an historic starting point to forge a ground-breaking, new conference," Thompson said in a statement. "There are a myriad of details and moving parts that will be finalized in the weeks and months ahead, but there is positive momentum toward long-term stability and a tremendous opportunity for all involved."

What does it mean for Idaho?

If the new league is looking for additional members, it would certainly look at current Western Athletic Conference members, including Utah State and San Jose State.

Would it look at Idaho?

Idaho is already isolated geographically in the new-look WAC, but without Utah State and San Jose State, the Vandals would have to seriously explore their football future.

"Results of the merger details between the Mountain West Conference (MWC) and Conference USA (CUSA) announced earlier today, suggest that the new conference will range in size from its current 16 schools up to as many as 24 schools. The released statement said the conference structure will be reviewed over the next six months. In our opinion, any expansion of the MWC/CUSA beyond the current 16 teams will be driven by conference revenue, particularly television revenue. The University of Idaho, recognizing the possible implications to the WAC and while also recognizing similar academic and athletic missions and geographic proximity to several schools in the current Mountain West conference, will continue to monitor closely the situation over the next several months," Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear said in a statement released by the school.

Other reactions

University of Nevada President Dr. Marc Johnson: “We are very excited about this opportunity to be a part of this new intercollegiate athletic association. We want to congratulate the league leadership for achieving a partnership that will provide stability for the universities involved and provide a great experience academically and competitively for our programs. We look forward to what the future holds as this new league is fully developed."

University of Nevada Director of Athletics Cary Groth: "This new athletic association is an exciting opportunity for the University of Nevada. We are appreciative to the university presidents and chancellors as well as the conference commissioners for their leadership and hard work in making this partnership a reality. We are thrilled to be a part of this new association and look forward to the opportunities it will provide."

Original post

The Mountain West — Boise State's current athletic conference – will dissolve before the 2013-14 season, CBSSports.com and ESPN.com are reporting. Conference USA will also dissolve, allowing the remaining members of the two leagues to form a new league.

The new league would have 16 football-playing members and 15 all-sport members. Hawaii will join the Mountain West as a football-only member this year.

Each league has been hit with defections in recent years. The Mountain West has lost Utah (to Pac-12), BYU (to football independence) and TCU (to Big East, then Big 12), with current members Boise State and San Diego State accepting football-only invites to the Big East.

Conference USA has lost four teams to the new-look Big East — Houston, SMU, Central Florida and Memphis.

The two leagues have been discussing a merger for several months. It began as a football-only merger, but has grown in scope.

The bigger question for Boise State is what impact the move will have on the Broncos' exit fee to the Mountain West. If the league no longer exists, will the Broncos be forced to pay?

Release from UNLV, Tulane presidents

UNIVERSITIES ANNOUNCE PLANS TO FORM CONFERENCE

DALLAS, Texas – Presidents and chancellors from 16 universities met in Dallas Sunday to discuss future conference membership plans and agreed to work on forming a new intercollegiate athletic association that would begin competition in the 2013-14 academic year.

This presidentially led association will ensure stability and be built upon the principles of operating at the highest level of integrity and sportsmanship, enhancing the student-athlete academic and competitive experience, bringing fiscal discipline into athletics and ensuring competitive fairness.

“This is an exciting development that will stabilize the current conferences and create the first truly national conference with members in five time zones and television viewership from coast to coast. This partnership brings together like-minded institutions to improve the integrity and stability of intercollegiate athletics,” said UNLV President Neal Smatresk. “We are moving our plans forward rapidly and expect to complete our conversations in the near future. Look for further announcements soon as we work together on this exciting new venture.”

Universities involved in the discussions were the United States Air Force Academy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Colorado State University, East Carolina University, Fresno State, University of Hawaii, Marshall University, University of Nevada, Reno, University of New Mexico, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Rice University, University of Southern Mississippi, University of Texas at El Paso, Tulane University, The University of Tulsa and University of Wyoming. With the exception of Hawaii as a football only member, the participation would involve all sports.

The structure of the new conference will likely include:
· Membership of 18 to 24 universities
· National scope from the Atlantic Seaboard to Hawaii
· Championship football game format that includes semifinal match-ups
· Championship basketball tournament
· Regular season scheduling in divisions
· NCAA FBS affiliation
· Mechanisms to emphasize and improve academic standards and fiscal responsibility

The presidents and chancellors will have follow-up meetings over the next six months to fully develop the operational issues essential to the formation of the association.