Air Force will move ahead with a contract to play at Notre Dame next fall, and Colorado State will work on adding another opponent in the wake of Thursday’s announcement that keeps Fresno State and Nevada in the WAC until the 2012-13 academic year.
The nine Mountain West members play eight league games and four nonleague games. Boise State will replace Utah on MWC schedules in 2011, but the departure of Brigham Young leaves an eight-school conference, changing the formula to seven league and five nonleague games.
Fresno State and Nevada originally wanted to join for 2011, but the WAC sued, demanding they stay until 2012. In exchange, the schools will each pay a $900,000 exit fee stretched over five years instead of the $5 million the WAC claimed for breaching the contract.
Air Force had been working on a game with Notre Dame as a replacement for Wake Forest in 2011. For a fifth nonleague game, AFA athletic department spokesman Troy Garnhart said ideally, AFA would like a rare seventh home date.
Colorado State athletic director Paul Kowalczyk said they have “done some contingency calling.” The Rams’ nonleague opponents for 2011 are Colorado, Northern Colorado, Utah State and San Jose State.
Ideally, he wants a FBS (formerly Division I-A) opponent. As for a “money game” with a big pay day for a one-time road trip, Kowal-czyk said, “We’re not inclined to do that. We’re still trying to build the program.”
Wyoming is also looking for another opponent, but with Nebraska making a trip to Laramie, the Cowboys won’t overschedule.
“Any earlier departure would have cost the six remaining WAC schools severe financial hardships and threatened auto-qualifying status in several sports, including men’s basketball,” WAC commissioner Karl Benson said during a teleconference Thursday.
Benson said the WAC can now turn its attention forward to adding future members to replace Fresno State and Nevada. He reiterated the University of Denver is under consideration as a nonfootball member and that an announcement will be made in 30 days.
Nevada athletic director Cary Groth said that while the best-case scenario would have been playing in the Mountain West in 2011, “we are all comfortable. We can make the best of it. We want to do what we need to do to bring all our programs up to the MWC levels.”
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
