UNLV weighs MWC future as Utah State heads to Pac-12

UNLV turned down an invitation to join the reconstituted Pac-12 Conference on Monday, opting instead to remain in the Mountain West Conference amid another round of conference realignment.

But later Monday, after Utah State announced it would become the fifth MWC member to join the Pac-12, UNLV’s future affiliation was up in the air.

According to an ESPN report, UNLV had told the MWC, its home since the conference was founded in 1999, that it would remain a member as long as no other teams jumped ship to another conference. As of the Sun’s press deadline, Utah State’s departure had UNLV assessing its options.

The Pac-12 lost 10 of its 12 members this year, with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah heading to the Big 12; Oregon, UCLA, Southern California and Washington joining the Big Ten; and Cal and Stanford going to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

That left Oregon State and Washington State to carry the Pac-12 banner, and the two schools have been trying to rebuild the conference by poaching schools from Group of 5 conferences.

On Sept. 12, four Mountain West teams announced their intention to jump to the new Pac-12: Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State. UNLV was not extended an invitation during that initial round of expansion, and according to a source the university’s leadership was not included in those discussions.

Over the weekend, the Pac-12 turned its attention to a collection of teams from the American Athletic Conference, but Memphis, Tulane, University of South Florida and University of Texas at San Antonio all declined offers.

The Pac-12 then came back to its second-tier Mountain West targets, inviting UNLV and Air Force, both of which declined the overtures. That’s when the Pac-12 turned to Utah State, and the Aggies accepted the invitation.

Television contracts are driving large-scale realignment across the college landscape, with power conferences adding teams to expand their media footprint. The Big Ten’s TV contracts allowed the conference to pay each team approximately $60 million last year, while SEC schools made $51.3 million.

Last year, Pac-12 schools earned $33.6 million apiece from television contracts, but estimates for the league’s next contract were more modest, which was an impetus for the mass defections.

The new league reportedly hopes to negotiate a TV deal that pays each of its members between $10 million and $15 million per year.

The Mountain West’s media rights deal pays schools $5 million to $6 million per year, so a jump to the Pac-12 would mean more revenue for UNLV — if the league can land that lucrative TV deal, which is not a guarantee.

The Mountain West was able to offer UNLV guaranteed money. Each of the departing schools will owe the MWC up to $25 million in exit fees, and conference leadership reportedly want to use that windfall to offer UNLV and Air Force a lump sum payment as an enticement to stay. A Yahoo Sports report put the lump sum at $10 million.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.