The Mtn. will broadcast the press conference announcing Bob Davie as the new head football coach for New Mexico live at 3:30 p.m. MT
The Mtn."To be honest, I’m kind of embarrassed by it," he said Tuesday. "I think it’s great to have a t-shirt that commemorates two great programs. But I don’t personally appreciate the t-shirt because they’re not the ones who played. The people in Idaho treated us very well."
Gary Patterson on the "Won and Done" t-shirts"As we have informed you and the media has reported, we’ve been in discussions over the past few weeks with the Big East Conference, regarding the possibility of our joining their conference for football only, beginning in July 2013. "It was not long ago that I came to you regarding a move to the Mountain West Conference. Unfortunately, and through no fault of Mountain West schools or conference leadership, it is simply not the same conference that we first agreed to join. The loss of Utah, BYU, and TCU, and now, potentially Air Force, dealt a blow to the quality of conference competition and their chances of achieving Automatic Qualifying status in the next BCS evaluation. So my hope for a competitive and compact geographic conference has been dashed on the hard facts of media dollars and BCS membership. And so too will it be for us. "Given the opportunities that the Big East conference affords us, not only in increased revenues and BCS status, but also to be in the company of outstanding universities, with long histories, outstanding academics, and large fan bases, we are honored to be under consideration for membership. Without question, we are being afforded this opportunity because of the incredible work and success of our nationally ranked Top 10 football program. As president, I take very seriously the responsibility to respond to the opportunities this program has afforded us. It will be good not only for Athletics, but also for the entire University, to forge new relationships with these outstanding institutions. I am always concerned about travel, for our student-athletes, coaches and our fans. The good news is that the Big East is working to provide us partners through the creation of a Western division. Conference play will be among those divisions, with a championship between East and West. "I have promised throughout this process that the University would conduct a rigorous due diligence process. We have done so, through in-person meetings, countless telephone conversations, careful analysis of options, and, currently, a review and analysis of term of membership and apportionment of revenues. There is no way to know the amount of revenue that will be realized under a new Big East media contract. Under the current Big East contract, the revenue would nearly triple the amount we now receive from the Mountain West, but the Big East contract is due for renegotiation in 2012 and knowledgeable sources universally point to significantly increased conference media revenue in the upcoming contract. No guarantees, but a very strong likelihood, in my judgment. "There have been no formal invitations, but today I seek your authority to make the decision once an invite is extended, and also to make the decision regarding the conference in which basketball and our other Olympic sports will be located. Both decisions are critically important to the future of the University and its athletic programs."
Boise State Bob Kustra, Idaho Statesman."I know they’re getting tremendous calls and pressures from people in the Big East, from administrators in the Big East, TCU has reached out and said ‘Why don’t you look at this stuff?" Thompson said. "People have to make decisions. What I hope happens is that we stop, call a timeout, take a deep collective breath. Why rush into anything right now? We know for a fact that a couple of Big East schools have left. Is that the end of it? Is there more? Why jump into something right now?"
Craig Thompson on Air Force and the Big East."Consistent with our strategic approach, the Mountain West Board of Directors yesterday conducted another conference call in an ongoing process of vetting various opportunities for the future of the league. Building upon the strength of the new membership configuration that will be in place in July 2012, the Mountain West continues to explore options that will further advance the conference's objectives. This includes daily conversations with presidents, commissioners and athletics directors around the country. Due to the sensitive nature of these discussions and evolving strategies, they will remain confidential."
Mountain West releases a statement on the current realignment that is happening."The Baylor game, there is a true hatred, the way the game went last year," Patterson said. "We're going into a place that's trying to improve their program. They truly hate us. You can write this: No matter what they say in the papers, the word on the street is we understand their hatred."
TCU head coach Gary Patterson to CBSSports.com Senior Write Dennis Dodd