(01-25-2022 01:43 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 01:09 PM)Cruhawk Wrote:  The Mountain West doesn't seem to have a ton of options left in terms of expansion:

- They seem uninterested in NMSU and UTEP since NMSU doesn't bring a new state and UTEP might as well be in New Mexico as far as new markets/recruiting hotbeds go.
- Texas State would be a project since it doesn't have a huge tradition of FBS success or as big of a market to draw from unlike UTSA, plus they would be on an Island since all other FBS Texas schools are in conferences at least as strong as the MWC (if not stronger) so the MWC would have to find a nearby travel partner for them from FCS ranks in Texas.
- Given the recent success of FCS->FBS transitions for Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, and Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt, the taboo of adding historically strong FCS programs is somewhat broken, so I think the MWC (if they HAD to backfill for some members) would be more open to offering invitations to both Montana and Montana State as a package deal to ensure a stronger quality of football product overall (Montana may be small, population wise, but it has also been one of the fastest growing states in the US in recent years as well thanks in part to wealthier West Coast/Colorado residents moving in and the rise in popularity of remote working since COVID).

The thing is, I'm not sure there's any good reason for them to expand (short of Gonzaga changing their mind). Their football games are mostly (I think almost all) televised between Fox and CBS, and adding any inventory that isn't relatively premium for a G-level conference, like SMU, isn't going to improve that situation.

Thats my thought process as well. If they add new football members in the future, I think it will be to backfill for schools like Boise State/Colorado State/Utah State/or San Diego State leaving for either the Big XII or the Pac-12. And even then I think they would prefer to take Montana+Montana State as full MWC members since they both do have some FCS clout and fit the geographic footprint of the conference vs NDSU + SDSU for football-only or UTEP+NMSU.