MWC leaders visit WSU to express interest; AAC commissioner also invited

Leaders from the Mountain West met with Washington State officials on Thursday to pitch the conference as a future home for the Cougars, school president Kirk Schultz announced.

Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez and New Mexico president Garnett Stokes made the trip to Pullman, Wash., and are expected to do the same with Oregon State as the two Pac-12 schools chart their future. The American Athletic Conference is also interested in the two schools, and commissioner Mike Aresco has also been invited to visit after virtual presentations that are expected next week, a source briefed on the situation told The Athletic.

As both “Group of 5” conferences jockey to add the Pac-12 remnants, no decisions are expected to be made by WSU and OSU until Stanford’s and Cal’s futures are determined. There is growing momentum in the ACC to add Stanford and Cal, but no vote has been scheduled yet.

WSU’s athletics advisory committee, which met with Mountain West leaders and will meet with the AAC, is made up of students, faculty, staff and alumni and provides input to Schultz and athletic director Pat Chun. WSU has said it has three options: the Mountain West, the AAC or attempting to rebuild the Pac-12 with Stanford and Cal.

The Mountain West

“President Stokes emphasized that the conference’s top priority is the success and well-being of its student-athletes,” WSU said in a statement.

“She also discussed the similarities between Mountain West schools and WSU. The Mountain West Conference is comprised of a mix of land-grant and flagship universities and includes six R-1 designated research institutions. Commissioner Nevarez described the member schools of the conference as being gritty, resilient, strivers, and trailblazers. She also touted the conference’s focus on first-generation college students and the league’s leadership position in diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

The Mountain West’s pitch to WSU and OSU begins with geography, as the last West Coast-based Football Bowl Subdivision conference if the Pac-12 ends, featuring schools like Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Air Force and others and making for some natural new rivalries. After the most recent realignment, the league hopes it can establish itself as the top G5 league again heading into a 12-team College Football Playoff era. It’s also been a very strong basketball conference, as evidenced by SDSU’s run to this year’s men’s national championship game.

The conference has media rights deals with Fox and CBS through 2026 worth about $3.7 million per full member school annually (Boise State gets a bigger share), as part of a total payout worth about $6 million per school annually, according to league sources. Adding any new schools would open negotiations with media partners to potentially increase that number.

The Pac-12 paid members an average of $37 million per school in the most recent fiscal year. Whatever the decision, WSU and OSU will see a sizable drop in conference payout revenue.

The AAC

The AAC’s pitch to WSU and OSU is about ESPN and investment. The conference has been the most dominant G5 league, earning the coveted New Year’s Six bowl spot seven times in nine years — though the teams that produced five of those seven have joined the Big 12. Still, the league on average has higher coaching salaries and athletic budgets than the Mountain West.

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The AAC also has an ESPN exclusive deal through 2031-32 that pays founding members an average of around $7 million (less for recently-added members). Like the Mountain West, that number could go up if it adds the two schools. The AAC would pitch the exposure, longevity and security of its deal in an uncertain time for media rights.

The conference also has high-academic schools like Tulane and Rice, and USF recently became an AAU member. As for the increased travel, the conference is based in Texas and has a majority of its teams in the Central Time Zone and in major cities, which can ease the burden. The AAC is also waiting to see the ACC takes Dallas-based SMU alongside Stanford and Cal.

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(Photo: William Mancebo / Getty)