SAN DIEGO, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- As many as two more universities could be added to the Mountain West Conference after Hawaii joins the league in 2012, a member of the MWC board said.
Stephen Weber, president of San Diego State University, said the board would discuss further expansion to 11 or 12 football programs at their next meeting in January.
"The first question would be: Would we like to add more programs?" Weber told The San Diego Union-Tribune. "If so, the question is whether it's one or two and beyond that, a question is where those programs would be."
The Union-Tribune said Saturday a key question will be whether the MWC looks at Texas as a potential expansion territory. Texas Christian University is leaving the conference, but the television market in the Lone Star State remains an attraction.
Along with TCU, the Mountain West is losing founding members Utah and Brigham Young.
Hawaii Friday became the latest Western Athletic Conference school to bolt for the MWC. Boise State joins the MWC next season and will be followed by Hawaii, Nevada and Fresno State in 2012.
Hawaii's football program will play in the MWC while its other sports will compete in the Big West Conference. "This is an historic day in UH Athletics," Hawaii Athletic Director Jim Donovan said in a written statement. "As much as we have enjoyed our 31-year relationship with the Western Athletic Conference, this hybrid arrangement will allow us to continue traditional rivalries that our fans have grown to enjoy, and keep a footprint in the Western United States, where much of our recruiting base lies."
