The addition of San Jose State and Utah State brings the total number of football members in the MWC to 10. The others are Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, UNLV and Wyoming.
“We are pleased to announce the addition of San José State University and Utah State University to the ranks of the Mountain West,” said Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson. “As we have developed the strategy for the future of the Conference, the long-standing rivalries with our current members and the fit within our geographic footprint made these two institutions the optimal choices to strengthen our membership and position ourselves for the next steps.”
San Jose State has been a member of the WAC since 1996. The Spartans never won a conference title, but did win their most recent bowl appearance 20-12 over New Mexico in the 2006 New Mexico Bowl.
Utah State has competed in the WAC since 2005. They too have never won a WAC conference title. Their last bowl appearance was in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where they lost to Ohio 24-23.
With San Jose State and Utah State moving to the MWC, the WAC’s days as a football conference are numbered. Earlier today, WAC members Louisiana Tech and UTSA announced they are joining Conference USA in 2013. And on Thursday, Texas State announced they are joining the Sun Belt Conference.
That leaves the WAC with just two football members: Idaho and New Mexico State. To date, neither school has been mentioned as a serious candidate for another conference. But that could change at any moment.
Here is what the Mountain West will look like in 2013:
Mountain West
Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State, Wyoming