Mountain West to consider expansion with or without Big 12 poaching
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By John TaylorSep 3, 2016, 7:57 PM EDT
Regardless of what happens in one Power Five conference, one Group of Five league could be expanding.
Air Force and Colorado State of the Mountain West have reportedly made the cut as the Big 12 looks to expand by at least two teams and possibly four. That conference could make their expansion decision as early as the next month.
In the meantime, the MWC won’t be sitting idly by waiting to be poached as commissioner Craig Thompson confirmed Saturday that his conference will look to expand independent of what the Big 12 does. And, more to the point, Thompson doesn’t hide the fact that the league would like a presence in the state of Texas.
“I can say this — and I said it at our [football] media days. We have a lot of people saying, ‘If there’s an opportunity to be in your league, we’re interested.’ So there are numbers there,” Thompson said, without getting into any specifics. “I’ve challenged our membership to think about expansion — with or without losing [current] members. Do we look east? Do we look at the state of Texas, for example?
“So that’s probably going to be something we have to confront this year.”
The Salt Lake Tribune mentions current Conference USA members North Texas, Rice, UTEP and UT-San Antonio as possibilities from the state of Texas. The Sun Belt’s Arkansas State is also considered a viable option.
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...er-expansion-with-or-without-big-12-poaching/
