Swooping in

Mountain West may take aim at Big East's BCS bid

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -- The Mountain West Conference might expand if it meant getting a chance for an automatic bid in the Bowl Championship Series, the commissioner said.

The Big East Conference could lose its automatic bid if three of its members -- Miami, Syracuse and Boston College -- accept an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Mountain West might try to get that automatic bid, Commissioner Craig Thompson said.

"Right, or wrong or indifferently, we kind of consider ourselves closer to a BCS profile than not," he said. "We would feel we could make a very strong case that we would be the next conference in line."

At least two MWC schools, Air Force and Colorado State, were ranked in the Top 25 last season.

Thompson said expansion isn't likely for the eight-team MWC unless it has access to a BCS bowl.

Officials of MWC schools plan to discuss expanding to nine or possibly 10 schools during a meeting next month in Carlsbad, Calif., Thompson said.

The other teams in the conference are Wyoming, Brigham Young, UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego State and Utah.

The BCS system uses criteria such as record and difficulty of opponents to try to match top-ranked teams in major postseason bowls, including the Rose, Fiesta and Orange.

Champions of the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern earn automatic BCS spots

 

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