Expansion

So, it has once more come to that time of the year when college football "pundits" (if you can call them than without ralphing a little in your mouth) start talking about how each conference should expand and try to incorporate new teams. I usually abstain from any participation in this conversation, but this year, I must make two contributions:

1) If the Big Ten is going to expand to 12 teams, they should have to change their name. And since the Big XII is already taken, I recommend the "Big Turd."

2) As I am going to a Mountain West school, I feel I should make a few comments on the possible expansion of the Mountain West Conference. I really think that they should. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) commission is evaluating each of the 5 non-automatic qualifying (AQ) conferences for inclusion in the BCS scheme (or risky scheme, if you prefer). Though the Mountain West is, by far, the leading candidate for inclusion in this system, it is by no measure in certainly. The three parameters which the BCS commission is using to evaluate the non-AQ conferences are, top ranked team in the final BCS standings, number of teams in the BCS top 25, and the average rank of teams in conference. The Mountain West is amongst the leaders in the first two categories, but is lagging somewhat behind in the third. I believe that adding 3 teams to the conference and introducing division/championship play would increase the Mountain West's average ranking as well as make the conference more dynamic in general.


The 3 teams that I would add if it was up to me would be, Boise State, Tulsa, and Houston. Boise State's athletic director has already expressed interest in moving his program(s) to the Mountain West, mostly due to the travel schedule associated with being in the Western Athletic Conference. The addition of Boise State would not necessarily improve the overall average ranking of the conference teams (since it is an average, after all), but would improve the perception that championship football is being played in the Mountain West. The addition of the last two Conference USA West champions, in Tulsa and Houston would help to improve the average ranking of teams in the Mountain West, as well as the overall perception of the conference without dramatically worsening the travel constraints of the teams in the conference. An additional team worth consideration would be Southern Methodist, in order to bring the TCU-SMU rivalry into the conference, and possibly re-establish the BYU-SMU rivalry. Additionally, having Tulsa and Houston in the conference would increase the recruiting footprint for all Mountain West schools in Texas and Oklahoma.

With 12 teams in the conference, it would be both beneficial and necessary to establish division play. This would involve splitting the conference into two divisions of 6 teams each. The 6 teams in each conference would play each other every year, and the teams with the best division record would play each other in a conference championship game, similar to other 12-team conferences. Once again, if it were up to me, I would organize the divisions this way:

Mountain West North Division:

Boise State

Brigham Young

Colorado State

Nevada-Las Vegas

Utah

Wyoming

This division breakup would maintain both the BYU-Utah rivalry and the CSU-Wyoming rivalry in the division, as well as distribute the talent somewhat evenly between the divisions.

Mountain West South Division:

Air Force

Houston

New Mexico

Texas Christian

Tulsa

San Diego State

Naturally, the team that gains the least from this division breakup is San Diego State, with all of their division foes being halfway across the country. While this would not be much different than the current travel constraints, it would be getting worse instead of better. However, I am confident that a comprimise could be reached via even-odd year and neutral-site agreements.

One of the primary benefits of division play is that, since every team doesn't necessarily have to play every other team every year, the overall record. I could go into a detailed explanation of Simpson's rule and matchup scenarios to explain this, or I could just say that, through the regular season, it is possible for a conference with divisions to have 2 undefeated teams. Division play would increase the overall average ranking of the conference based solely on the fact that not all teams must play each other.

Another interesting challenge to Mountain West expansion in this scenario would be the location of the championship game. As long as UNLV is not playing the championship game, it would seem that Las Vegas would be the best option. However, as we've seen in Mountain West Basketball, UNLV wins the Mountain West tournament every year, because it's on their home floor. With this in mind, I'd like to see the championship game played in Denver, Colorado. Not only is this a somewhat neutral site, but it has the capacity of providing an NFL stadium in Invesco Field at Mile High. Additionally, there is certain nation-wide perception of Denver being a mountain town, though it is more on the high plains. This would create a marketer's dream of a television program, "The Mountain West Conference Championship, live from Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado."

While I'm aware that there are many other concerns when considering the expansion of a conference, some of which I'm not even aware, I think this would be beneficial for all schools involved as well as the conference in general. The addition of Boise State, Houston, and Tulsa would boost the overall rankings and perception of the conference and would help to increase the recruiting footprint of all schools without greatly increasing the geographic range of the conference. The introduction of division play would also improve the overall average record of teams in the conference, as well break up the talent in the conference between divisions. While this plan or anything resembling it may never come to fruition, I believe that it would be a great move and investment for all involved parties if it was pursued.