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LAS VEGAS -- The Mountain West Conference is converging in Las Vegas this week, as the start of college football season is just around the corner.
KSL's Tom Kirkland is there and caught up with Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson to ask him about the state of the conference.
Thompson commended the conference presidents for the way they handled the shifting college landscape, saying, "It was a crazy time, only because nobody knew for a 100 percent sure what was happening."
Thompson also had a few remarks about Utah's decision to leave the Mountain West and join the PAC-10. He said he wasn't concerned with the state of the conference even without Utah.
"It really comes down to, not as much the conference affiliation, but the types of people you're playing -- and those are separate issues, I think," Thompson said.
"I think it came down to a lot of decision making by a lot of people," he continued, "but unfortunately most of that decision making was based on television revenue and dollars, which might not be the total right reason."
But the dust from the mayhem of this summer seems to be settling.
"I think we're going to be steady for a couple more years, but I would not be surprised as new TV contracts kick in and re-negotiations begin that we don't visit it again in three to five years," Thompson said.
As far as the BYU-Utah rivalry goes, Thompson believes it won't be going away for a while.
"They can get it done if they want to," he said. "It needs to be played. That's an Ohio State-Michigan, Auburn-Alabama, USC-UCLA caliber game. You know, not just for the Mountain West Conference and the Mountain Time Zone, but nationally. It's a huge game they've been playing for nearly 120 years, and that game ought to be played."
E-mail: tkirkland@ksl.com
