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With all this expansion, pretty soon the Mountain West will be big enough to have a championship game.

That said: which sites in the area would make good ones for that game? (Personally, my money's on the Alamodome if the MWC/WAC football merger does indeed take place)

It would be in Las Vegas if the game date does not coincide with the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) which is generally the first week in December. Jerry Jones wants the event, so who knows if they are going to stay at the Thomas and Mack Center after 2014.

The Alamodome as a site just illustrated how spread out the conference is. They could not sell 60% of Invesco Field or Qualcomm.

EDIT: Last week, the NCAA changed a by-law regarding membership

Proposal 2010-100 was adopted Thursday by the NCAA’s Legislative Council, which will allow the WAC to remain an FBS/Division I league as it is currently composed. Provided, of course, it doesn’t continue to hemorrhage members, which likely will remain a concern for the foreseeable future.

(But for now) the league can at least breath a little bit easier after the continuity clause that required conferences to maintain a core membership of six schools for at least five years was abolished. In its place, conferences must have “seven active Division I members” – all of which sponsor men’s basketball, and six that sponsor at least five other sports, including football.

And now the Idaho Vandals are reported to be talking to the Mountain West:

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sportslink/2011/jan/20/vandals-pursuing-mwc-membership/

Also mentions San Jose State and Utah State...I think this image is safe to post now (since every suggestion I made for the WAC to pick up, you've quickly refuted):

How long before we see the Big Sky make the "conference jump" to FBS?

I could see SJSU for the major market anchor and they have the largest athletic budget left in the WAC and for a population base for recruiting, but Idaho? I wonder if a member of the Idaho legislature got their hands into this.

To go FBS, the Big Sky would have to (at minimum):

*-add 20 scholarships per school. That's about $1 million, depending on tuition/fees.

*-bump up the salaries for coaches to baseline for the FBS level and recruiting budget(another $500K-1 million)

*-some schools would have to add seating to get to the 15,000 minimum.

I'm still think the Big East is the best choice for UMass.

Join the Board of Regents and state your case.

Their football budget is more situated to the MAC when the additional scholarships are added.

Villanova to decide in April

UMass seems to be ready to join the FBS and the MAC

Furthering the possible wrench in the Hawaii to MWC rumor:

Hawaii, Bakersfield, UC San Diego to Big West?

What rams said about Hawaii makes a lot of sense. CS-Bakersfield has been waiting for an invite to the Big West ever since they completed the move to Division I athletics.

UC San Diego seems like the oddball here. Are they even ready for a possible jump to D-I?

UCSD has 23,000 students and with no football to worry about, they can easily make the jump in terms of Title XI.

Remember, this is not USD (University of San Diego), which is private and has FCS football.

I had also thought the rumor was that the Big XII didnt want any more Texas teams either...

They did not want anyone. Under this alleged new TV contract aTm, UT and OU reportedly will receive the high end, about $20 million annually, while the others will receive between $14 million and $17 million.

TCU received $1.5MM while in the MWC and will receive at least $3.5MM in The Big East.

Good luck Boise as you now go into the MWC who has to renegotiation their current contracts since UTah, BYU leave now and TCU (#5 national market) leaves in a year.

Why doesn't TCU join the Big 12?

Because the Big 12 Texas doesn't want to add another mouth to feed in the twilight of the Conference's existence.

Also add to the issue this summer when it appeared that the Big XII would implode for good, TCU did not want Baylor to join the Mountain West.

Adding TCU would "split the pie" on their mythical new TV contract by another piece, plus TCU would be actively recruiting against all of them for talent. TCU's football budget is 12th biggest in the FBS. They have already lost the requirement for a title game, so that revenue is lost, so it will be nice to see what the conference really signs for and for how long. It may not be past 2015 or 2016, otherwise those schools will still be able to be gobbled up.

UMass considering a FBS move and joining the MAC

The MAC? Big East would be the better option.

No way. They do not have the ability to maintain budgets big enough in the major sports to compete at that level. The average MAC school has a football budget of about $6.5MM (UMass currently is at $4.6MM). Meanwhile, with TCU going to the Big East comes in with a football budget of $20MM, which is the 12th largest in FBS football.

I'm a visual learner, so here's a quick representation of everything that's transpired so far.

When a team has moved, they are grayed out in their old conference and appear with their color in the new conference.

To my knowledge, Hawaii and TCU have not finalized their moves, but are expected to soon.

As an FYI, you forgot Buffalo in the MAC but otherwise it looks right.

Not to mention the additions of Texas State-San Marcos and Texas-San Antonio to the WAC (Provided there is a WAC left after the MWC raids it to oblivion).

As well as South Alabama who will join the Sun Belt for football in 2013

Isn't villanova joining the big east?

Villanova is already a member of The Big East, however the school has not made their decision to move from FCS to FBS. Their Trustees meet in December, but they are not scheduled to vote on it then and will wait for 2012.

I get that the athletics money does eventually trickle down to academics, but even with weaker academics, Boise State would be a natural fit for the PAC-10 and a win-win for both the school and the conference. Boise State is right there in PAC-10 country, they already have a rivalry going with Oregon, they draw big ratings, wrestling is already in the PAC-10 and they have a consistently winning football program (plus a vastly-improving basketball program), which increases the prestige of the PAC-10.

Plus, the school gets an even bigger stage in an AQ conference, and since college athletics can be seen as a form of advertising for universities, Boise can use it to advertise more, get more students to come, and since PAC-10 money is a much bigger amount than WAC money, more money can eventually trickle down to the school's academics.

Bottom line is, if the PAC-10 really wanted Boise State, they could make it work without even considering academics, despite their academic chest-thumping. Besides, every FBS school can't be Stanford or Vanderbilt.

Boise State only gives out terminal degrees in just four programs. That is not much in common with the 12 member schools of the Pac-12. Their endowment is three times smaller than any Pac-12 school.

Could anyone post a summary of the changes that have either been made or are strongly rumored to be made in the future? I'd greatly appreciate that, I've been out of the loop far too long to try and catch up now.

There are newspaper writers who have more information and access than we have.

SJ Mercury News Blog He as been with the majority of the news, so look to him now. The bloggers with Texas were better on the Big XII news in the summer.

WAC talks about the future if Hawaii leaves in 2012

The WAC is in discussions with North Texas about potential membership.

Benson?s hope is that Texas State and UTSA joining the conference ?might make the WAC more attractive to North Texas today than previously.?

The WAC is also interested in providing a home for TCU?s sports if the Horned Frogs join the Big East as a football-only member.

The WAC approached UC Davis a few weeks ago, but the Aggies weren?t interested in making the jump to major college football.

Seattle remains on the radar as a possible non-football member.

(If Hawaii leaves) the WAC leaves with seven football-playing schools starting in 2012, but only five continuing members.

The conference would not lose its membership in the BCS or the ability play in bowl games.

It would, however, lose its classification as a Football Bowl Subdivision conference.

At the same time, it wouldn?t be FCS, either ? it would be ?unclassified? according to Benson.

But ? and here?s where it gets confusing ? while the WAC itself wouldn?t be FBS, the schools in the WAC would be ? meaning they would count as FBS opponents for scheduling purposes.

I still think the Big Ten should go after Syracuse over Rutgers to take hold of the New York market. Although the football is just slightly better with Rutgers, the addition of Syracuse's basketball program would legitimize the Big Ten as a true, 2 sport conference... the 2 biggest money-making sports in NCAA.

There is not a true national conference, but the Big Ten is trying to be that in terms of TV audiences. That is why they may name their divisions as "Stars" and "Stripes" as opposed to regional names or even on former football coaches (Hayes and Schembechler) as those names will draw ire from many, like Penn State.

Hawaii currently in talks to join the Mountain West Conference.

So how long before Karl Benson's next tantrum?

It already occurred.

The WAC may have an issue in terms of revenue from the NCAA Basketball Tournaments.

If Hawai'i leaves, the conference would just have five continuing members, the NCAA?s term for schools that have been in the same conference for two years (San Jose State, Idaho, Utah State, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech).

And if the WAC doesn?t have at least six continuing members, it would lose its automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament ? and the multi-million annual payout that goes with it.

With only seven football-playing schools (the five plus Texas State and UTSA), the WAC would also be in danger of losing its status as a FBS member.

The fact that so many schools are joining different conferences for football than they are for every other part only confirms a thought I've had for awhile... each sport should have its own governing body instead of just one large umbrella organization like the NCAA. It would help avoid situations like South Florida sending its non-revenue teams all the way to Chicago and Milwaukee just so their football team can have a shot at the BCS title.

Well there is the rumor that the MWC knows that TCU is going to bolt to the Big East for football only, then send the other teams back to the WAC.

Hawaii currently in talks to join the Mountain West Conference.

The WAC will soon be below the Sun belt. If/when Hawai'i leaves, the school with the largest athletic budget will be SJSU.

Hawai'i would only join the MWC for football, all other sports would be a part of the Big West.

Texas State had the plan to move up and expand their North End Zone a decade ago when Jim Wacker was still alive and was a part of their 2006 Master Plan. The project got approval in September for RFPs. Texas State will have their student athletic fee cap out in 2015. Students voted to increase their fees from 2008-2015 to assist with a move to FBS football. Student fees will account for 50% of their budget (that's outrageously high).

As far as Sac State, the California budget issues will continue to hamper their efforts as enrollment will stagnate or even lower. On Wednesday the CSU System voted to increase fees (aka tuition) again. The tuition increase would be implemented in two steps. The first bump would be a 5 percent mid-academic year increase ? or $105 per semester for undergraduate students ? that would take effect Jan. 1 for the winter/spring terms. Tuition would rise to $2,220 from $2,115 for the spring semester for full-time undergraduate students.

The second bump would be a 10 percent annual hike of $444 for undergrads. Undergraduate tuition would rise to $4,884 from $4,440 per year, starting in fall 2011.

In a nutshell, it is 3x more expensive to attend a CSU school than it was in 2000.

Exactly the reasons I went to Arizona State. The UCs are even worse. In-State UC tuition is more than Out-of-State ASU tuition. Absolutely ridiculous. Love my home state, but the financial and political situations are just cluster s.

When I was in grad school a decade ago, a fellow Grad Asst was a girl who went to ASU and flunked out because he partied too much. She then attended an instate school for her.

As for ASU, they are apparently the largest enrollment in the USA by a UCF is 2, ASU is #1. That number has to include part timers.

Regardless, out of state tuition costs are what athletic departments have to absorb, thus making scholarship costs higher.

Texas State had the plan to move up and expand their North End Zone a decade ago when Jim Wacker was still alive and was a part of their 2006 Master Plan. The project got approval in September for RFPs. Texas State will have their student athletic fee cap out in 2015. Students voted to increase their fees from 2008-2015 to assist with a move to FBS football. Student fees will account for 50% of their budget (that's outrageously high).

As far as Sac State, the California budget issues will continue to hamper their efforts as enrollment will stagnate or even lower. On Wednesday the CSU System voted to increase fees (aka tuition) again. The tuition increase would be implemented in two steps. The first bump would be a 5 percent mid-academic year increase ? or $105 per semester for undergraduate students ? that would take effect Jan. 1 for the winter/spring terms. Tuition would rise to $2,220 from $2,115 for the spring semester for full-time undergraduate students.

The second bump would be a 10 percent annual hike of $444 for undergrads. Undergraduate tuition would rise to $4,884 from $4,440 per year, starting in fall 2011.

In a nutshell, it is 3x more expensive to attend a CSU school than it was in 2000.

Report: UTSA to vote on moving to the WAC

The UT Board of Regents meets on Thursday, they must approve the move. Denver and Texas State are also scheduled to join the WAC for the 2012-13 academic year/season.

At least Louisiana Tech wouldn't look stuck in BFE compared to the rest of the WAC footprint. Although I would expect C-USA to go after Tech to replace whatever Texas team the Big XII swipes from them if when the Longhorns leave.

This could be the reform of the Sun Belt. Do they go after App. State if they approve a move or wait for GSU or even KSU (Kennesaw) sine they are in the ATL market?

Report: UTSA to vote on moving to the WAC

The UT Board of Regents meets on Thursday, they must approve the move. Denver and Texas State are also scheduled to join the WAC for the 2012-13 academic year/season.

Will DU offer football? And if so, where will they play their home games?

They will not participate in football; they do not offer it and won't start it. It was more important to get them for basketball, before they reached an agreement with Nevada and Fresno State.

Report: UTSA to vote on moving to the WAC

The UT Board of Regents meets on Thursday, they must approve the move. Denver and Texas State are also scheduled to join the WAC for the 2012-13 academic year/season.

Oh, and if there are any Colorado fans out there: Go ahead and whip Waz-Spew as badly as possible.

Not gonna happen -- not as long as Hawkins is still at CU. Dude currently has a career record of 19?38. I hope that assclown never sees the Pac-12!

I don't care who's coaching at Colorado... Hell, it can be Ralphie for all I care for, I just want to see those hicks from Wazzu get an asswhipping.

Dude, it'll be the Biggest Cripple fight in the Conference this side of the Apple Cup.

CU @ Wazzu = Battle of the Chumps.

The conference just wanted to make travel a little easier for CU fans to attend their initial Pac-12 road game. They are just telling Horizon Air/Alaska Airlines and charters to add flights from DEN 9 months prior.

The Big East meetings start on Tuesday

Will Villanova and/or TCU be extended invitations?

Nevada and Fresno State will each pay a $900,000 penalty for leaving after July 1, which is hardly the $5 million the WAC wanted. The money will be paid in five installments of $180,000 beginning Aug. 1, 2011. It will then be distributed to the existing membership.

Both schools will participate in the WAC next season, which is a much more important issue for the conference as, according to them, couldn?t afford to be a six-team league ? not even for one season.

?Any earlier departure would have caused the six remaining WAC schools severe financial hardship and threatened the automatic qualifying status in several NCAA sports, including men?s basketball. This settlement allows the WAC and Mountain West to proceed with scheduling for the 2011-12 season.? WAC commissioner Karl Benson said.