Demise of the MWC? Think again...

By Mark Knudson, The Mtn. Insider
March 30th, 2011

Reports of the demise of the Mountain West Conference are, as the saying goes, greatly exaggerated.

Much of the talk following the Sweet 16 losses for San Diego State and BYU centered on the impending departure of the Cougars and Utah following the end of the school year. That was followed up with mention of the departure of TCU for the Big Least Conference in July of 2012. “Death to the MWC,” they chanted.

As another old saying goes, not so fast my friend.

The Mountain West Conference will be just fine, thank you. Different of course. But just fine in the long run.

The loss of long time members BYU and Utah will certainly hurt. However, that loss is balanced out by the addition of Boise State for football next fall – meaning the MWC will still have a pair of BCS Busters in the fold. And when TCU does leave after the 2012 season, rising power Nevada and former BCS buster Hawaii move in to take their place.

Losing the Cougars for basketball will be a significant loss…but maybe not as much as some think. Jimmer is leaving anyway, as is Jackson Emery and probably Brandon Davies. Then there’s the status of head coach Dave Rose, who could take any number of higher profile (and maybe less restrictive) head jobs that are currently open. Even if they remained in the MWC for next season, neither BYU nor Utah would be favored to win titles (or ruffle feathers nationally) in either football or basketball. Boise State and TCU will be the favorites in football, and New Mexico, UNLV and SDSU in hoops.

Then there’s baseball. TCU currently stands tall above the rest of the MWC. They will probably do so in 2012 as well before they depart for a weaker conference. What happens after that? Say hello to the Fresno State Bulldogs, MWC baseball members in 2013.

As things stand today, Fresno State is ranked 9th in the country with an 18-2 record after sweeping San Diego over the weekend and moving their current winning streak to seven straight. That included a marathon 22-inning 3-2 win on Saturday, the third longest game in NCAA history. They’ve been getting great pitching, playing stout defense (four double plays in the series finale against USD) and getting key hits…the very same formula normally employed by national power TCU.

While the Horned Frogs have not looked like themselves much of the season, standing 15-8 and having lost six times in the other team’s final at bat, the Bulldogs are growling. This is the same Fresno program that won the 2008 College World Series, beating Georgia in the final series. They are talented and they are hungry…a bad combination for opponents.

You could speculate that if the Horned Frogs and the Bulldogs met in a three game set right now, the future members stand a pretty fair chance of winning the series against the team that was pre-season #1.

Add to this the fact that New Mexico (while currently in the midst of a rebuilding year) and UNLV appear to be trending upward for the future, and San Diego State remains a sleeping giant in baseball, the immediate future of Mountain West baseball – just like football and basketball – appears very bright.

See all of Mark Knudson's blog entries Here.