DALLAS, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Remaining members of the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA will merge to form a new superconference, college sports officials said Monday.
The new setup will begin in time for the 2013-14 academic year and will include 18 to 24 schools, University of Nevada-Las Vegas President Neal Smatresk said in Dallas.
Smatresk, who is chairman of the Mountain West board of directors, said the move will create "the first truly national conference with members in five time zones and television viewership from coast to coast."
He said the new conference will seek NCAA FBS affiliation.
Both the MWC and C-USA lost members during conference reshuffling last year. Representatives of 16 universities -- including the Air Force Academy, Alabama-Birmingham, Colorado State, East Carolina, Fresno State, Hawaii, Marshall, Nevada-Reno and New Mexico -- discussed the issue in Dallas.
Also present at the meeting were UNLV, Rice, Southern Mississippi, Texas-El Paso, Tulane, Tulsa and Wyoming.
