Columnist Dean Juipe: MWC after one or two WAC teams

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2001 | 11:12 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

There's talk of Hawaii, and maybe even Fresno State, joining the Mountain West Conference as early as this year, but you almost have to wonder why either of the schools would bother.

The Mountain West, in case you didn't notice, was slapped in the face by the NCAA last Friday when it denied UNLV's appeal on its postseason ban for the current season.

It wasn't just UNLV feeling the sting of that setback, it was the entire league.

And despite MWC commissioner Craig Thompson's connections and history with the NCAA, the governing body of collegiate sports failed to cut the league -- or the Rebels -- any slack. Beyond the immediate implications for UNLV, the postseason ban affects the entire Mountain West because its tournament will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center but without a host team.

As a result, all of the Mountain West teams will suffer a financial setback by not having the Rebels in the conference playoffs. Without UNLV as a participant, fewer tickets will be sold and less money will be raised than the MWC members were once counting on.

Those of us who were rationalizing that the NCAA might lift the ban on UNLV as a favor to the Mountain West were wrong. And there's no denying that the Mountain West's lack of clout contributed to the NCAA Appeals Committee's decision.

Yet there's talk of Hawaii being on the fast track to joining the league, with Fresno right behind.

Both currently play in UNLV's former league, the Western Athletic Conference.

The Mountain West is said to be interested in adding a ninth school, as it would allow each of its football teams to play a more-standard, eight-game league schedule. Hence, perhaps only Hawaii will be asked to join the MWC.

Fresno State is willing to come aboard as well, although it's said basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian -- who would have some influence on any decision the Fresno administrators would make -- is against the move and might, at the least, delay the switcheroo.

The advantages of joining the MWC from the perspectives of Hawaii and Fresno are easily identified: slightly more exposure via ESPN's Big Monday basketball telecasts that routinely feature a Mountain West game; and a few more bucks at the conclusion of football season as the league distributes the monies it takes in from participating in two (and sometimes three) bowl games. (The WAC has a regional TV contract with Fox for men's basketball, and isn't assured of having more than one bowl team.)

Yet the other side of the coin is clearly visible, especially in the aftermath of the NCAA shutting down UNLV's basketball team at the conclusion of the regular season. But even beyond that telltale decision, the Mountain West arguably has only a fraction more prestige than the WAC and the way conferences keep shuffling there's no guarantee these two leagues will be anything but indistinguishable within the very near future.

There's nothing wrong with the Mountain West, of course. It's fairly compact and has similar members, so it serves its purpose.

But neither Hawaii nor Fresno stands to gain much by abandoning the WAC, even if some insiders feel such a move is inevitable.