UNLV rolls in MWC home opener

Rebels come back from half-time deficit to beat SDSU Read more

Lady Rebs start MWC 0-2

BYU and New Mexico get the best of the Lady Rebels Read more

CATCH OF THE DAY: MWC slapped in face after strong start

The season started well for the Mountain West Conference but hit a wall last weekend, going 3-4 in nonconference games Read more

Volleyball to open MWC matches

Colorado State will be the first MWC opponent for UNLV Read more

CATCH OF THE DAY: Feud continues over automatic bid for MWC

With big wins from BYU and Colorado State over the weekend, the BCS system is questioned again. Read more

MWC: The power players are here

First off, I would like to applaud the Mountain West Conference for standing up for the fans and athletes against the BCS committee. The conference took action when no one else would. But the work doesn’t stop there. The MWC needs to be considered a major conference.

To become more than just a “medium level” conference, teams must be able to compete on the highest national level in all sports.

Last season alone, the MWC proved that they could, with football teams going 7-1 against the Pac-10 and winning more bowl games than any other conference.

While these are great statistics, the conference needs to build on them by getting one or two more schools to play in the MWC. There are suitors that can come from smaller conferences to join the Mountain West. Here are some of the obvious choices.

Boise State– The Broncos are an obvious choice when it comes to football.

They have been in the national spotlight for the last few years and have shown that they can step up and play competitively against some bigger universities.

They are geographically close in proximity to many of the schools in the MWC so traveling wouldn’t be a big issue. The Broncos are looking to get into a conference with an automatic bid and the MWC is looking to obtain that.

They are another powerful team that the MWC could put on their résumé.

FLAW: The only real flaw with Boise State is that they don’t have a clear cut rival. The in-state school, University of Idaho, is more like an FCS game than a rivalry game. Joining the MWC wouldn’t give them a rival, but their strength of schedule in conference play wouldn’t be an issue, and competitive games would be played throughout the season.

Nevada– The Wolf Pack, on paper, seem like the right idea for the conference. They already have a rival in UNLV and have proven that they can play competitively with other schools. A rivalry game shouldn’t be a non-conference game. If you look at any of the huge rivalries in college football, almost all are conference games.

UNR was much better a few years ago and have slumped lately, but in a bigger conference and with better teams, recruiting better talent would become more realistic.

FLAW: Even though they have a good rivalry in place, a big question mark would be if they could compete week in and week out with the rest of the MWC schools. Every year is a different year, but the Wolf Pack hasn’t gotten the national recognition the schools like Utah, TCU, BYU, Boise State and Hawaii have gotten recently.

Hawaii– The Rainbow Warriors have needed to get into a new conference for the last few years. They have proven they can play by going to the Sugar Bowl a few years ago and by playing tough opponents. They need a new conference for more than just an automatic BCS bid. They need it for financial reasons. It costs too much for them to fly across the mainland.

FLAWS: With Hawaii comes a few flaws. Number one, they aren’t as good as they used to be. Number two, they would still have to fly to TCU every other year. And number three, other than their football team, Hawaii is not very competitive. Even with boosting to a higher conference, the other teams’ competition levels would be questioned.

The schools will all have their opportunities this season to prove that they should be considered to move from the WAC to the MWC. If they take advantage of those chances, the MWC should have no problem finding one or two more schools. If they fail, the current system works OK, but not great.

Adding all three would be a stretch, but one or two is definitely possible. All the major conferences have 10, 11 or 12 teams that play football. If the Mountain West wants the respect it deserves, then adding another high-caliber team is a must.

MWC faces rocky path to equality

Mountain West Conference bid for equality denied Read more

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