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Heading
west?
TCU
receives invitation to join Mountain West Conference
The
university will announce whether the Frogs will leave
Conference USA Friday.
By
Braden Howell
Skiff Staff
It’s official: TCU has been invited to the Mountain
West Conference.
Now it’s up to the Board of Trustees to decide whether
TCU will move to its fourth conference in 10 years.
After months of speculation, athletics director Eric Hyman
confirmed Wednesday that TCU has been invited to join
the conference. The Board of Trustees will meet Friday
in a regularly scheduled meeting and vote on whether TCU
will leave Conference USA for Mountain West, chairman
John Roach said. He declined to comment when asked which
way the board is leaning, but published reports have indicated
that the university will accept the invitation.
Steve Fink, director of media relations, said a press
conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday to announce
to the university’s decision.
If the board votes to accept the invitation, TCU will
become an official member of the conference in July 2005,
Hyman said.
TCU would join Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State,
New Mexico, San Diego State, Nevada-Las Vegas, Utah and
Wyoming in the Mountain West. Hyman said he did not know
whether the Mountain West had decided to invite any other
universities to join the conference.
“It’s my understanding that the conference is
issuing only one invitation,” Hyman said. “And
that’s us, TCU. The ideal size of a conference is
nine teams.”
Mountain West officials could not be reached for comment.
Hyman also said the university will need to pay an exit
fee to Conference USA, and he said he hopes the conference
will be fair.
“We hope we’re treated just like our colleagues
who just left the conference,” Hyman said.
The “colleagues” are the five teams — Cincinnati,
DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida —
that left Conference USA in November for the Big East.
Joining the Mountain West conference will cost TCU an
estimated $200,000 more a year in travel costs, but Hyman
said additional traveling is only an issue for sports
that travel to other conference schools to play. Sports
such as track and field, tennis, and golf compete in regional
meets.
Hyman said one of the benefits of joining the Mountain
West could be an increase in TV revenue. The current Mountain
West contract, reportedly worth $48 million over seven
years with ESPN, will expire in 2006. The conference will
be able to renegotiate a deal long before Conference USA’s
$80 million, eight-year contract expires in 2009.
Roach said the Board has been conducting an ongoing review
of the conference situation, and Hyman has helped keep
the Board informed on all aspects involved in joining
the Mountain West. He said it would take a majority vote
from the Board to approve the conference change.
“Eric Hyman has spent a lot of time on all the issues
related to the conferences, and the administration is
very informed,” Roach said.
If the move to the Mountain West is approved, it would
be TCU’s fourth conference in 10 years. The university
has been on an odyssey since the Southwest Conference
dissolved in 1995. TCU joined the Western Athletic Conference
in 1996 and left for Conference USA after the 2000-01
season. |
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TCU’s
vagabond conference journey
Southwest
Conference dismantled
Big 8 Conference takes University of Texas, Texas A&M
University, Texas Tech and Baylor University to expand
to the now Big 12, leaving the rest of the SWC without
a home.
Joins Western Athletic Conference
TCU and Rice join WAC to make 16 team conference
Mountain West Conference formed
Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico,
San Diego State, University of Nevada- Las Vegas, Utah
and Wyoming leave WAC to make MWC
TCU Leaves for Conference USA
TCU reunites with former SWC foe Houston when they leave
the WAC for C-USA
Invite to MWC
TCU recieves an invite to move for the fourth time
in 10 years.
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