Can the same be said for the MAC?

Not that they're perfect, nor that the MAC hasn't made strides forward...but the MWC is ahead of the MAC. The MAC should be taking notes.

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The MWC Commissioner, Craig Thompson, is blowing (to use a MWC regional saying) "Heap big smoke but no fire".

I live in New Mexico and follow MWC sports. The MWC does have a lot of things going for it, but it has some big hurdles to jump before tooting its BCS horn.

Last year's accomplishments by Utah were huge, but they opened the door for other "non-automatic BCS Bowl qualifying conferences" as much as they did for the MWC.

What a lot of people don't realize is that after Utah last season, the rest of the schools in the Conference had from mediocre to bad records. I believe that only 3 teams had .500 or better regular season records. And looking ahead, Utah will not be as good this season nor do I see any other realistic candidates to have a good year from a national perspective.

Overall, the MWC has some very good facilities and has some schools located in good markets. Also, in several cases the MWC school is the primary program in its state, e.g. New Mexico, Utah and/or BYU, Wyoming, UNLV, and Nevada.

However, as I said there are some hurdles to jump as well. For one thing, and I don't know why, I've read that TV rankings for MWC games are not strong, even when compared to the MAC and C-USA.

I think recruiting is a problem for the MWC. They frequently have to go to California or Texas and when they do they face fierce competition.

Also, some MWC teams that previously were well perceived nationally have fallen on hard times, e.g. BYU and Colorado St.

And Utah's accomplishments the last 2 years were an exception to what MWC teams been done the last several years. Further, as I said I see the MWC falling back this coming season.

I made an earlier post about looking ahead and I'll repeat the main points.

I see a shakedown coming over the next 5 or so years among the MWC, C-USA, Sun Belt, WAC, and MAC. The likely result will be one of them achieving superiority in the West and one in the East. My favorite in the West is the MWC and in the East there will be a fight between the MAC and C-USA.

I doubt if after this shakedown any of these Conferences will join/replace the Big East as a "power conference". If the MWC can lure Fresno St. and Boise St. to join, however, that will give them a leg up. More likely, in my view, is a change in the whole BCS formula.

DrTorch Wrote:Can the same be said for the MAC?

Not that they're perfect, nor that the MAC hasn't made strides forward...but the MWC is ahead of the MAC. The MAC should be taking notes.

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Torch,
Agree totally and we have a better product w/better markets.

We have better markets than Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and Albequerque, not to mention the backing of an entire and growing religious sect? Get real. I think the MWC has the advantage from that point. On the field, that is a different story.....

VegasFalcon Wrote:We have better markets than Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and Albequerque, not to mention the backing of an entire and growing religious sect? Get real. I think the MWC has the advantage from that point. On the field, that is a different story.....

On the field, the MWC is still a better conference top to bottom than the MAC in both sports.

The lesson the MAC should be learning is a leaner, meaner conference will help us build TV deals and place schools in BCS bowls.

The MWC does have a very good shot at a BCS automatic with its high strength of schedule and a new rule allowing media markets to be the deciding factor as to who is in the BCS and who is out. The MWC has the inter-mountain region to itself plus nice markets in San Diego and Dallas that can call themselves the top Division 1 program in those respective markets. I wouldn't be surprised if needed, the MWC expands with Boise to nudge their way into the BCS.

The Mountain West is unique among the non-wealthy leagues.

1. BYU and Utah dominate the college scene in Utah. New Mexico dominates the college scene in New Mexico. UNLV dominates the college scene in their market. Wyoming is dominant in their market. Colorado State is second fiddle but has a large alumni base and solid following. Air Force has built-in national interest. San Diego State and TCU are third bananas in their markets but they are large markets and they have solid fan bases.

There is not a single school in the MAC/CUSA/Sun Belt universe that is the primary program in their state. The WAC with Boise State and Hawaii are the closest to that realm.

2. By having primary programs those schools deliver a larger share of their market than the rest of the folks could hope for. On a Saturday when BYU and Utah are home 4% of Utah is at one the two stadiums. That's almost identical to the percentage of Nebraska residents at a Huskers game and Utah has a million more residents.

3. While the MWC doesn't have huge markets for the most part they deliver some decent TV markets that no one else can deliver.

I wasn't impressed with Thompson when he was commissioner of the Sun Belt, I think he made some very costly mistakes that really hurt the league but so far the MWC has done well by taking advantage of the strengths they do have while more importantly fielding some good teams at the top.