Utah has accepted the offer to leave the Mountain West Conference and join the (still currently named) Pac-10. Here's an ESPN article about it. Will the MWC try to add another team in their bid to make it into the "BCS" rankings? Adding more teams doesn't necessarily help them get that BCS automatic qualifier unless they're strong football programs. One name a guy over on bradleyfans.com mentioned was Fresno State out of the Western Athletic Conference, with might work okay. The MWC commissioner, though, said today that the MWC is done expanding, at least this season.
That could all change though, if some of the rumors emerging from Texas are true. Certain players in Texas want the Big XII to have its championship game (Jerry Jones, anyone? Giant Texas stadium, anyone?) back. That requires 12 teams by NCAA rules. Jerry Jones is also a huge player in Arkansas athletics and so there's a new rumor that Arkansas could bolt the Southeastern Conference for the Big XII. That'd be a strange move since the SEC has one of the highest conference payouts in the country and would have a team leaving a "buyer" conference for a (at least recent) "seller" conference. Other programs with rumors making the rounds: Houston, TCU, SMU, and Memphis. I haven't heard of anyone mentioning Tulsa, but why don't we throw them in the mix too. Those moves could alternatively create "openings" in the SEC, Conference USA, or Mountain West... So this thing may still not be over, with the dominoes just falling slower than everyone thought a week ago. Plus the Big Ten still looms large in my mind.
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