MWC may be forced to wait for a bid

Steve Carp

Monday, July 26, 1999 | 9:44 a.m.

MWC Dance Card

A capsule look at the new Mountain West Conference's bid to obtain an automatic NCAA men's basketball bid:

WHAT'S THE HASSLE? As per NCAA rules, only 30 automatic bids are granted to the men's basketball tournament. Those already are spoken for. New conferences must wait five years before being considered for an automatic berth.

MWC'S ARGUMENT: The Mountain West claims it is entitled to an immediate exemption from the normal five-year wait because at least six of its schools have competed together in a league for five years.

WHAT'S LIKELY TO HAPPEN: The Conference Commissioners Association and the NCAA men's basketball committee have recommended the Mountain West wait one year before being granted automatic bid status.

He may not know the outcome, but Craig Thompson has a pretty good idea of what's going to happen today to the Mountain West Conference's attempt to gain an immediate automatic bid to the 2000 NCAA Tournament.

The new eight-team league made up of former Western Athletic Conference schools will likely have to wait a year before it can send its conference tournament champion to the Big Dance with a free pass.

The NCAA's management council meets today in Hilton Head, S.C., to determine the Mountain West's fate. The subcommittee formed to deal with the matter submitted its report Sunday.

Thompson will not attend, staying in Colorado Springs for the MWC's football media day. But he will be close to the phone in case there's any news from South Carolina.

"There's a chance we may not hear anything until Tuesday," he said. "'I haven't seen the final agenda. But our position hasn't changed. We believe we've proven what we've done in the past contradicts what they've done."

The Mountain West claims it is entitled to an immediate exemption from the normal five-year wait because at least six of its schools have competed together in a league for five years.

Utah, Brigham Young, San Diego State, New Mexico, Wyoming, Air Force and Colorado State have had a relationship with each other for 19 years. UNLV, the eighth MWC member, had been in the WAC since 1995.

However, some mid-major and low-major Division I conferences said it wouldn't be fair for the Mountain West to receive an automatic bid at their expense.

The NCAA has capped the number of automatics at 30. The MWC would be the 31st.

When the management council met in April, it was initially determined that the Mountain West would have to wait the normal five years. However, Mike Slive, the commissioner of Conference USA, argued that it would be unfair for a league with so many established schools to wait so long.

The matter was tabled and will be dealt with today. Both the Conference Commissioners Association and the NCAA men's basketball committee have recommended the Mountain West wait one year before being granted automatic bid status.

The WAC, which also is facing a season without an automatic, will regain its spot in 2001.

Thompson, who is the chairman of the Division I men's basketball committee, is realistic.

"We can live with one year," he said. "I don't think it will have a negative effect on recruiting for this year. But anything beyond one year could be a detriment."

Even though it may have to go without an automatic, Thompson said his league will be represented with at-large berths when March Madness hits.

"We will have teams in the NCAA Tournament," he said. He added that all revenue earned by Mountain West schools will go to the MWC. When the eight schools left the WAC, the units earned by those schools, worth approximately $2.5 million, stayed with the WAC. Each unit from the 1999 NCAA Tournament was worth approximately $74,000.

Thompson admitted it has been a tough stretch for the new league.

"We've had a lot of administrative support," he said. "But our future is being dictated to us and it's out of our control. That's what's so frustrating."