Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez: ‘We’re open to anything that makes us stronger’
The Pac-12 is down to two and options seem to be dwindling for the last ones standing.
Cal and Stanford are off to the ACC, leaving only Washington State and Oregon State in the Pac-12.
The American Athletic Conference announced this week that it wasn’t pursuing westward expansion, further reducing options for those two schools.
The Mountain West is perhaps the leading most likely destination, and the league’s commissioner, Gloria Nevarez, was in Fort Collins Saturday to watch the Rams face Washington State in what is a nonconference game right now but might be a league matchup in the future.
Nevarez met with leadership of both Washington State and Oregon State recently but says those were exploratory meetings rather than finalize-a-deal meetings.
“I think at this point we would best couch it as having just started a conversation,” Nevarez told reporters before Saturday’s game. “It was public that we went to visit both campuses, and we just talked about who we are and how we’re built and mission, core values and how we’re structured.”
There’s still some talk of rebuilding the Pac, but Mountain West schools would have to pay a $34 million exit fee to leave the MW after this season. The league could dissolve if nine (or more) of the 12 football-playing members vote to, but that could be a hard number to get.
Nevarez feels the MW is in a strong position right now, and the league is clearly seeking to add the remaining two from the Pac.
“We’re open to anything that makes us stronger,” she said.
The league can open negotiations into a new media rights deal in two years and the commissioner mentioned the ability to weight money toward the strongest programs, something she did in the WCC to help keep Gonzaga (ironically, staving off Mountain West pursuits at the time).
Nevarez and CSU athletic director Joe Parker both said Saturday they didn’t expect Washington State and Oregon State decisions imminently, but there is a time element with potential new schedules needing to be in place for 2024.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on Twitter and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Mountain West has held exploratory meetings with Washington State, Oregon State
