Utah State Is Trying To Negotiate Their Way Into The Mountain West

by Jeremy Mauss on Aug 20, 2010 8:37 PM PDT in Conference Expansion

Ooops!

Guess Utah State turned down a deal that nw looks like it would have been a good move . When Utah State first turned down the advances from the Mountain West they said they were staying for the good of the WAC while that may be true I think that $5 million exit fee was the real reason they stayed.

A source close to the USU administration tells the Deseret News Utah State is actively negotiating a berth in MWC with WAC falling apartless than a minute ago via webJared Eborn
DesNewsEborn

To be clear, that source says nothing impending, but that is the goal of current negotiations for USU.less than a minute ago via webJared Eborn
DesNewsEborn

This could be good news for Nevada and Fresno State, because how are you going to pay an exit penalty if there is no WAC to speak of. Now, Karl Benson could add a few teams by next summer to keep the league alive, so the penalty may still be there. However, there is that 60 day notice to provide payment and I wonder if there will be some lawyers involved for the departing teams to argue that there will be no league when they leave and then there will be lawyers for the WAC saying they signed a contract.

In other Utah State news ~~used car salesman~~ head basketball coach Stew Morrill is not too happy with what has happend over the past few days

"We got shafted,'' said Morrill, reacting to the moves by Fresno State and Nevada to leave the WAC after agreeing to $5 million buyouts four days earlier. "But we'll be fine. We've been in a lot of different leagues and we've survived. We've survived in the Big West. We were fine. In the WAC, we've been fine. We'll stay in the WAC and it will change, but we'll be fine.''

He is right Utah State is nearing the level of Butler and Gonzaga in the non-major in hoops. Here is a list of their credentials over the past decade:

"We've been to 11 straight postseasons, seven NCAA tournaments and averaged 25 wins,'' Morrill said. "We've been in two different leagues and last year had an RPI of 30. Whatever our situation will be, in recruiting I tell our guys that we will have a strong basketball program. We average 10,000 fans, we're 176-13 at home since I've been here at Utah State. Sometimes you sell the league you're in and sometimes you have to sell your program.''

Any move by Utah State will still depend on what BYU does in regards to being independent in football. This is a crafty move by Utah State, and if BYU bolts then I could definitely see the Aggies taking BYU's spot which will help keep the Utah/Salt Lake market albeit to a lesser degree.

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Comments

Know which market I care about? Houston. Utah State (inexplicably) already had their chance and blew it off, bring in Houston first and then if you can’t coerce BYU back, you’re not stuck with a football sinkhole who torpedoes our BCS stats.

by HawkeyedFrog on Aug 20, 2010 8:46 PM PDT reply actions

Agreed

And Houston is a Comcast market.

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by Ben Findley on Aug 20, 2010 8:48 PM PDT up reply actions

third the notion

I think Utah State will come over if BYU goes through with independence, but the Aggies should be a last resort if needed.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Aug 20, 2010 8:58 PM PDT up reply actions

would you put

Utah State above or below Hawaii as a choice?

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by Redhawk on Aug 20, 2010 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Above Hawaii, no question.

Even with the 13th game bonus, that Hawaii travel is a serious pain in the neck. The sheer amount of time it takes is a stressor on the academic side as well.

Hawaii is the sexier pick (for lack of a better word) than USU because it’s the only school on the island paradise with football, but the logistics are a nightmare.

;-)

by David Hooper on Aug 20, 2010 9:24 PM PDT up reply actions

Above.

Definitely above. One of the most important of the many advantages the MWC has over the WAC is much lower travel costs. Just ask Fresno, Nevada and Boise.

by FeloniousMonk on Aug 20, 2010 9:25 PM PDT up reply actions

above

because Gary Andersen is a real good coach and should improve the team, plus the hoops is a big plus which is as good as BYU if not better.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Aug 20, 2010 9:31 PM PDT up reply actions

Definitely Houston

The MWC already has a footprint in Texas and on top of that Houston brings their giant market, recruiting, and of course Comcast. Utah State is a poor mans BYU.

"Hi, my name is Doug. I enjoy walks in the rain and bags of pork rinds."

by JRig on Aug 20, 2010 10:13 PM PDT up reply actions

interesting responses

that’s 3 very much in favor of Utah St. I know Hawaii has travel issues, but I would have thought much of that would be solved by the extra game and travel allowances.

They have a large and dedicated fan base and was in the BCS bowls.

But I wasn’t around the WAC when they were part of this group.

I figured Utah St would be a small rural ag college.

by Redhawk on Aug 21, 2010 8:02 AM PDT up reply actions

During Fresno's or Nevada's press conference the cost of travel was specifically mentioned

as a major reason for the switch to the MWC. I can’t recall the figure, but the school basically stated that they’ll save a ton of cash and could use the savings to help pay their get-out-of-the-WAC fee.

As mentioned elsewhere, another good reason to add Utah State is to take advantage of and keep the existing mtn. channel infrastructure in Utah. If Comcast and the other partners in the mtn. are concerned about market enough to push for expansion, they surely don’t want to lose any of their existing customers. If both Utah and BYU leave they lose their presence in that market. USU is a way to maintain a foothold and the customer base.

by FeloniousMonk on Aug 21, 2010 8:57 AM PDT up reply actions

good points

If BYU is gone too the mtn may not stay on a cheap package on Comcast which is a reason to keep Utah state plus the aggies would play Utah and byu most years and be on the mtn most times.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Aug 21, 2010 9:58 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions

The best arguments for Utah state

1) They are an anchor to help keep BYU
2) Central travel that is cheep
3) They may help keep the Mtn in the Utah market. I don’t know how much this holds weight though. Utah and BYU control the population base in Utah. Logan is far enough north that it almost feals like Idaho.

Hawaii would have a lot more going for it if they weren’t on an isolated island a million time zones to the west.

by daedalus17 on Aug 21, 2010 10:15 AM PDT up reply actions

In USU's defense,

They won’t torpedo the MWC stats because they won’t be in soon enough for their current numbers to count for/against the MWC. They look to be an up and coming football program too and I’ll bet they will surprise quite a few in the coming years. People forget that USU was a football power in the 70’s and they can be again. Besides, the MWC needs a presence in Utah. Otherwise they have a big hole right smack dab in the middle of their territory.

by FeloniousMonk on Aug 20, 2010 9:29 PM PDT reply actions