C-USA, Mountain West Talking About A Football Merger

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that officials from Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference were briefed about a possible football-only merger that might help the new league become part of the Bowl Championship Series.

Under the proposed merger, the leagues would play separate schedules, the Chronicle reports. At the end of the season, the two champions would meet in a title game with the hope that the winner would receive a BCS bid.

The report says talks will continue Tuesday and Wednesday during the annual meetings of Division I athletic directors in Dallas. The report says a football-only federation which would include 22 to 24 schools would offer the new league a “strength in numbers” response to recent conference realignment.

“It’s an intriguing concept,” Rice athletic director Rick Greenspan told the Houston Chronicle. “It’s one that is probably a bit unique in college athletics.”

C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said in a statement last week that the two leagues were discussing a merger and “working to create consolation strategies that have the potential for positioning our members well into the future.” On Monday, Banowsky told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the possible merger couldn’t happen in 2012 but “the following year is something that is possible.”

Conference USA currently has 12 schools that play football: East Carolina, Marshall, Central Florida, Southern Miss, Memphis, Alabama-Birmingham, Southern Methodist, Tulsa, Tulane, Houston, Rice and Texas-El Paso. East Carolina applied for Big East membership last week and Central Florida has expressed interest in leaving for the Big East.

The Mountain West schools include Texas Christian. Colorado State, Boise State, Wyoming, San Diego State, UNLV, Air Force and New Mexico. Texas Christian will head to the Big East on July 1, 2012. Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii (football only) will join the league in 2012.