Three sources are reporting that BYU is leaving the Mountain West and will join the West Coast Conference with a possible announcement later today. Andy Katz of ESPN, Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune, and Jon Wilmer of the San Jose Mercury News are reporting this:
The move, which takes effect for the 2011-12 season, changes the face of major college sports in the western third of the country -- weakening the Mountain West (BYU's current home) and strengthening the WCC, whose members include three Bay Area schools: Santa Clara, St. Mary's and USF.
The WCC does not carry all of BYU sports:
BYU has 12 sports that are offered by the WCC. It is unclear what will happen to its softball, swimming and diving and track and field teams because the WCC does not sponsor those sports.
I still feel this is a knee jerk reaction to what happened this summer, specifically regarding Utah leaving the Mountain West to join the Pac-10. They should have waited until December of 2011 to see if a BCS bid would be coming the leagues way, but now that is out the window with BYU leaving the Mountain West.
Again, I will not believe any of this until I see it, since the Denver Post looks to be wrong with a throng of other people, but this looks to be the real deal. Check back for a more detailed look of what this means for BYU and the Mountain West.
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