The Mountain West Conference gathered in Las Vegas this week to promote its football teams.
Instead, the talk focused on whether a "have-not" conference, such as the 17-year-old MWC, can have a significant future in a football world revolving around five power conferences.
While the two-day MWC football media days showcased two of the nation’s best quarterbacks — Utah State’s Chuckie Keeton and Nevada’s Cody Fajardo — it was overshadowed by proposed legislation that could create a greater divide between the formerly known BCS conferences and the rest.
New Mexico coach Bob Davie, who has coached at Notre Dame and served as a television football analyst for several years, acknowledged that the Southeastern, Big 12, Big Ten, Atlantic Coast and Pac-12 conferences are in control.
"It’s fair, to me, the five revenue conferences would have more of a heavy weight in voting," Davie said. "They do invest more in it. Bottom line, those players are living a little different life because of the pressure they’re under."
There are proposals to pay for the cost of attendance (school and living expenses not covered by an athletic scholarship) and, even, to pay the players. If approved, that would widen the gap between the power conferences and the leagues coping on finite budgets, Davie insisted.
"If it’s cost of attendance, if it’s unlimited meals, if it’s how big your press guide is, let it go, you deserve that," Davie said. "But don’t take the New Mexicos of the world out of the equation (by paying players)."
Nevada coach Brian Polian said the goal should be to provide academic support instead of larger stipends.
"Our ethical responsibility is not that a guy gets an extra $1,000 a semester and can afford to go out on better dates," Polian said. "Our job is to make sure we do everything within our power to make sure our kids are given every opportunity to graduate."
Davie is vehemently opposed to paying players.
"If we start paying you, does that mean we start keeping your paycheck if you don’t produce?" Davie said. "We’ve got 85 players on scholarship. There are a bunch of guys who aren’t productive. But you know what? They stay on scholarship and they graduate. If I start paying you and you don’t play, do I yank it away from you and you don’t have anything? Do you really want the way it’s set up in the real world, if you’re not really good in what you do, somebody takes your place? Nobody loses his scholarship because he’s not good enough."
Some SEC and ACC officials suggested not playing games outside the five big conferences. San Jose State coach Ron Caragher said that won’t come to fruition.
"They need us," Caragher said. "If we say, ‘You 64, go play yourself in your nonconference games and fans get to watch a championship game between 9-3 teams,’ it’s not that much excitement. Both sides need each other."
San Diego State coach Rocky Long said the MWC, like other non-big-five schools, will benefit from the new playoff system. Long said the big conferences will take the spots in the four-team playoff, opening the way for the MWC to earn a berth in a BCS bowl.
Long also expects the playoffs to increase to eight teams in the near future.
"It’s almost impossible for one of (the MWC teams) to be one of the four teams," Long said. "The people in power won’t allow that to happen. But eight teams? There will be political pressure to get us in there. Now, we’ll be the eighth seed against a No. 1 seed, but all you want is a chance to play them."
Long added: "People are going to love the four-team playoffs. And TV is going to love it so much, they’ll want ot see an eight-team playoff. TV is going to pay for it. They’re going to pay a lot of money for it. … I don’t think eight is way down the road."
