Mountain West Conference and Conference USA football alliance

Mountain West Conference and Conference USA football alliance
Established	2011
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I FBS
Members	22
Sports fielded	1 (men's: 1)
Region	United States
Commissioner	TBD (since 2011)
Locations

The Mountain West Conference and Conference USA football alliance is a football only alliance formed during the NCAA conference realignment of 2010-11. On October 14, 2011 Conference USA (CUSA) and the Mountain West Conference (MWC) announced a football only alliance forming a 22 team league.^[1] The two conferences will merge into a separate football-only entity, much like the Missouri Valley Football Conference is to the Missouri Valley Conference, without affecting their status within the NCAA structure. The conference spans five different time zones.

History

The joint-announcement occurred on October 14, 2011 by the commissioners of both conferences. Ideally the first championship game will occur in 2012, but most likely it will occur in 2013.^[1]

The alliance will add the 12 teams from CUSA and the seven members of the MWC. Three members of the Western Athletic Conference will join the MWC in 2012, and therefore be part of the alliance.

Rationale

The two conferences want to create a more stable conference. They also want to use the alliance as a playoff game, for the winner to receive an automatic BCS bid. The current BCS contract ends in 2014, which is the earliest an automatic BCS bid could be received.^[2] Also, five schools of the alliance, Boise State and Air Force from the MWC, and Central Florida, Houston and SMU from CUSA allegedly have conference invites from the Big East Conference, an automatic BCS bid conference.^[1] And more could be on the way.

Member schools

Locations of the football-member schools of the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA in 2012

Institution	Nickname	Location	Type	Total Enrollment	Joined	Endowment
Air Force !United States Air Force Academy (Air Force)	Falcons	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Public	4,417	2011	$23.7 million
Boise State !Boise State University	Broncos	Boise, Idaho	Public	21,179	2011	$61 million
Colorado State !Colorado State University	Rams	Fort Collins, Colorado	Public	24,875	2011	$398 million
East Carolina !East Carolina University	Pirates	Greenville, North Carolina	Public	27,000	2011	$103 million
Fresno State !California State University, Fresno (Fresno State)	Bulldogs	Fresno, California	Public	25,613	2011	$91.4 million
Hawaii !University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	Warriors	Honolulu, Hawaii	Public	20,135	2011	$159 million
Houston !University of Houston	Cougars	Houston, Texas	Public	39,000	2011	$491 million
Marshall !Marshall University	Thundering Herd	Huntington, West Virginia	Public	15,500	2011	$70 million
Memphis !University of Memphis	Tigers	Memphis, Tennessee	Public	21,400	2011	$183 million
Nevada !University of Nevada, Reno	Wolf Pack	Reno, Nevada	Public	17,679	2011	$186 million
New Mexico !University of New Mexico	Lobos	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Public	34,674	2011	$279 million
Rice !Rice University	Owls	Houston, Texas	Private	6,700	2011	$3.6 billion
San Diego State !San Diego State University	Aztecs	San Diego, California	Public	33,790	2011	$109 million
Smu !Southern Methodist University (SMU)	Mustangs	University Park, Texas	Private	10,600	2011	$1.37 billion
Southern Miss !University of Southern Mississippi	Golden Eagles	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	Public	17,254	2011	$89 million
Tulane !Tulane University	Green Wave	New Orleans, Louisiana	Private	11,100	2011	$807 million
Tulsa !University of Tulsa	Golden Hurricane	Tulsa, Oklahoma	Private	4,170	2011	$915 million
Uab !University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)	Blazers	Birmingham, Alabama	Public	18,000	2011	$332 million
Ucf !University of Central Florida (UCF)	Knights	Orlando, Florida	Public	50,000	2011	$114 million
Unlv !University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)	Rebels	Paradise, Nevada	Public	29,069	2011	$114 million
Utep !University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)	Miners	El Paso, Texas	Public	20,500	2011	$151 million
Wyoming !University of Wyoming	Cowboys	Laramie, Wyoming	Public	12,496	2011	$220 million

Membership timeline

Conference facilities

School	Football stadium	Capacity
UAB	Legion Field	71,594
Air Force	Falcon Stadium	52,480
Boise State	Bronco Stadium	34,000
Colorado State	Hughes Stadium	34,400
UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium	45,301
East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium	50,000
Fresno State	Bulldog Stadium	41,031
Hawaiʻi	Aloha Stadium	50,000
Houston	Robertson Stadium	32,000
Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium	38,019
Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	62,380
New Mexico	University Stadium	40,094
UNLV	Sam Boyd Stadium	36,800
Nevada	Mackay Stadium	29,993
Rice	Rice Stadium	47,000
San Diego State	Qualcomm Stadium	71,400
SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium	32,000
Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium	40,000
UTEP	Sun Bowl Stadium	51,500
Tulane	Mercedes-Benz Superdome	76,468
Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium	30,000
Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium	30,514

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} MWC, C-USA set football alliance
2. ^ Weiss, Dick. "Conference USA and Mountain West Conference announce football-only alliance to achieve BCS status". College Sports. New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/10/15/2011-10-15_conference_usa_and_mountain_west_conference_announce_footballonly_alliance_to_ac.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 

1. ^ ^{a b c} MWC, C-USA set football alliance
2. ^ Weiss, Dick. "Conference USA and Mountain West Conference announce football-only alliance to achieve BCS status". College Sports. New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/10/15/2011-10-15_conference_usa_and_mountain_west_conference_announce_footballonly_alliance_to_ac.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 

External links

• Mountain West and Conference USA Announce Football Association
• Mountain West and Conference USA Announce Football Association