The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- November 9, 1998

Former WAC members name new conference Mountain West

Eight member institutions formerly of the Western Athletic Conference have named their new league the Mountain West Conference.

The new conference will officially launch July 1, 1999.

The eight schools are the U.S. Air Force Academy; Brigham Young University; Colorado State University; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; the University of New Mexico; San Diego State University; the University of Utah; and the University of Wyoming.

The eight schools left the WAC in May, citing the lack of traditional rivalries, rising travel costs and insufficient revenue growth as the primary basis for their decision.

Colorado State President Albert C. Yates said the Mountain West Conference name is appealing because it brings to mind the geographic setting of the schools in the new league.

Craig Thompson, commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, has been named to lead the new Mountain West Conference.

The new league has not yet selected its headquarters, but according to the Associated Press, prospective sites include Las Vegas and Colorado Springs.

The schools remaining in the WAC are California State University, Fresno; the University of Hawaii, Manoa; Rice University, San Jose State University; Southern Methodist University; Texas Christian University; the University of Texas at El Paso; and the University of Tulsa.