LAS VEGAS — In the chaotic world that is today’s college athletics, the Mountain West remains somewhat stable.
Is that a good thing? I’m not sure. What I do know is that this is a conference that has a lot going for it and could get better, depending on what shakes out in the coming months.
The last two members of the old Pac-12 — Oregon State and Washington State — will play Mountain West teams in football. Never mind neither the Beavers nor the Cougars are eligible for the conference championship. But it could be the beginning of a long-lasting relationship, one that could see a rebirth of the Pac-12 with a number of Mountain West schools.
“We’ve talked and will continue to talk,” MW commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Wednesday during the conference’s Football media Day at Circa Las Vegas about a potential permanent alliance with the former Pac-12 schools. “I don’t think anyone knows what’s going to happen.
“Certainly the environment changes, day to day, week to week. But we’re feeling really good. Our members are all rowing in the same direction.
“I think our board of directors and our athletic directors are extremely talented. Our practitioners are really aware of the environment. They have a really good ability to think about the future. How to position the league. So it really is all about campus leadership.”
She’s right. Anything is possible. It will ultimately come down to money. Does the financial landscape provide for a Pac-12 resurrection? Could the Mountain West stay the course as it exists?
And what of the political ramifications should there be a restructuring? Will the Nevada regents be O.K. with UNLV joining a new Pac-12 but not Nevada? Would the California State University System be fine with Fresno State and San Diego State joining, but not San Jose State?
“I think that would be up to the schools themselves to work out,” Nevarez said.
There’s so much to navigate at the moment. Media rights deals. NIL deals for student-athletes. Corporate sponsorships and title sponsors. The Mountain West recently got Turner Network Television to televise its football games and that was a nice boost for the conference.
UNLV will have all but one of its football games nationally televised. That’s what happens when you win and as Barry Odom heads into his second season, it’s about returning to the conference championship game in December and returning to a bowl game with the hope of winning both.
The Rebels were picked second to Boise State in the preseason poll released Wednesday, the highest they’ve been since 2001 when John Robinson was the coach.
Nevarez’s goals are loftier.
“We want to be a top-five FBS conference,” she said. “Our goal is to be an automatic qualifier and compete for at-large bids in the College Football Playoff.”
With the expansion to 12 teams, perhaps that opportunity is realistic to participate in the CFP. We’ll see.
“I think we’re in a position to compete right now,” Nevarez said. “The expansion of the playoffs is good for us.”
While football is on an upward trajectory, basketball in the Mountain West will have a chance to grow on a bigger stage in Las Vegas if it chooses to. For the moment, the men’s and women’s tournament will remain on UNLV’s campus at the Thomas & Mack Center.
A move to T-Mobile Arena would make sense and end the complaining from coaches about the Rebels having a home-court advantage by playing in the Thomas & Mack, but the league’s not ready to move a mile west down Tropicana Avenue.
Besides, the Big 12 may beat them to the punch. Commissioner Brett Yormark said Tuesday at the Big 12’s Football Media Day at Allegiant Stadium that he feels it’s important for his league to have a presence here in Vegas and what better way to do that than to play your football title game at Allegiant and your basketball tourney at T-Mobile in place of the Pac-12?
But perhaps there’s a solution. The proposed arena for an NBA Las Vegas franchise to be built by the Oak View Group is contemplating switching sites from the original Blue Diamond Road/Interstate 15 location to land at the Rio Hotel and Casino on West Flamingo Road not far from the Strip.
Should the arena get built, it could be a landing spot for the Mountain West to play its basketball tournament, assuming the rent was reasonable. The cost of moving to T-Mobile has been cited as a reason not to switch venues for the Mountain West.
By then, it’s likely the MW has a new name and a presenting sponsor for the conference. Perhaps it could afford a move for hoops.
“It has to be the right entity,” Nevarez said of a naming rights deal for the league. “It would be weird. But weird is our new normal.”
But such are the times we live in. Athletes cutting deals, then leaving for better deals. Conferences realigning as schools chase bigger paydays. TV deals in the billions. It can’t be easy being a commissioner.
Nevarez is right. Weird is the new normal.