Kelly Lyell

kellylyell@coloradoan.com

LAS VEGAS – The Mountain West won’t stand in the way of CSU or any of its other members leaving for the Big 12 Conference, commissioner Craig Thompson said Tuesday.

The Mountain West, Thompson said, has nothing to gain by forcing a school to stay if it would rather leave.

Given the financial incentives involved — annual payouts of $25 million compared to the $2.5 million to $6.5 million schools receive annually from the MW — it’s hard to imagine any school in the 11-team conference turning down an offer to join the Big 12 or any Power 5 conference.

University presidents, who are responsible for making decisions about conference memberships, have to do what’s best for the institution while answering to a wide range of constituents, including state governors and taxpayers, in the case of public universities like Colorado State University, he said.

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And money rules college athletics, he said.

It’s why MW presidents, who collectively serve as the conference’s board of directors, voted 6-4 (with two schools absent for the vote) against a proposal in May to increase the exit fee to $10 million, Thompson said Tuesday at the MW football media days at The Cosmopolitan hotel.

“Six people did not want it, and I get that. Because they’re saying our aspirations, our alumni, our board of trustees, our governor, our boosters, our ticket-(holders), ... everybody wants us to be in the highest position possible, so why would we hinder ourselves if that opportunity ever came up?”

“… You cannot go handcuff and force an institution in the same situation if they have an opportunity to leave. I don’t care if it’s a $25 million payout.”

Several schools in the Mountain West, including Colorado State University, have expressed interest in joining the Big 12, should that conference choose to expand from its current 10 teams to 12 or 14 or even 16. Some have shared their interest with Thompson, he said, while others have not.

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Either way, he said, they’re free to talk to Big 12 or any other conference they might be interested in joining.

An MW school leaving the MW for the 2017-18 academic year would have to pay an exit fee of at least $5 million, or double whatever revenue it otherwise would earn from the conference for the 2016-17 academic year, MW spokesman Javan Hedlund said. Schools leaving for 2018-19 or later would only have to forfeit their conference revenue for their final two years in the MW if they give notice prior to July 1 of the previous year, he said.

The MW distributed $41 million in revenue to its members for the 2015-16 academic year, Thompson said, down $7 million from 2014-15. CSU’s share was $3.38 million, said Steve Cottingham, executive assistant athletic director.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said last week that he’s been authorized by the presidents of his schools to explore expansion candidates.

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MW members CSU and Boise State have both been mentioned as potential expansion targets of the Big 12, as have football independent Brigham Young and American Athletic Conference members Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Memphis, Central Florida and South Florida. CSU President Tony Frank sent a brochure to West Virginia President Gordon Gee, one of three presidents on a Big 12 committee looking at expansion, last summer promoting his school’s strengths.

Mike Bobo, CSU’s second-year football coach, said it’s nice to be in the discussion for membership in a Power 5 conference.

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“My comment’s always been I want Colorado State to be one of the pre-eminent programs in the entire country and compete for conference championships in the Mountain West, and if there’s every any conversation (about joining the Big 12), we’d like to be in that conversation.

“We’re in that conversation.”

The Big 12 has not announced a timetable for making a decision on expansion or specific criteria. David Boren, Oklahoma’s president and the chairman of the Big 12’s board of directors, told reporters the conference will look at five criteria — strength of the athletic program, fan base, media market, academic standards and reputation.

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“What’s going to happen? Nobody has any idea,” Thompson said. “The Big 12 presidents, board of directors, have authorized commissioner Bob Bowlsby to seek interest, and that’s exactly what the process is.

“We have no idea on what the timetable might be, no idea if it affects directly a Mountain West institution or not, a current Mountain West member. And so we’re all playing this game that, as some people have said, is similar to a sweepstakes.”

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.