Utah State, San Jose State moving to Mountain West Conference

Salt Lake City, UT, United States (AHN Sports) – Utah State and San Jose State are set to leave the Western Athletic Conference to join the Mountain West Conference in 2013.

According to a report in the Salt Lake Tribune which cited anonymous sources, the switch will become official in the next seven to 10 days.

Utah State athletic director Scott Barnes said the move has not been finalized, but sources told the Tribune that “the move will happen, barring something totally unforeseen.”

The Mountain West and Conference USA are planning a merger that would create a new league with as many as 24 schools. That plan may not come to fruition according to recent reports , but a football championship game between the two conferences remains a possibility.

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson and Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky toured Utah State’s campus in March, according to the Tribune.

Texas-San Antonio is set to join Conference USA, and UTSA officials have told regents that three other WAC members have declared their intentions to leave.

Utah State and San Jose State would account for two of them, though its not clear which other of the remaining football-playing WAC teams — Idaho, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, or Texas State — would also leave the conference.

University of Texas System Board of Regents are scheduled to vote Wednesday, and chancellor Francisco Cigarroa has recommended approving the move only months before UTSA is set to begin its first season in the WAC.

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