Keeler: CSU Rams are gone, Air Force may be next. But Wyoming Cowboys should stand with Mountain West, ex commissioner says

Miles Tucker (30) of the Wyoming Cowboys takes the field with teammates to face the Colorado State Rams during the first quarter of the Border War at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming on Friday, November 3, 2023. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Thompson estimated a get-out fee of $18 million from CSU and each of the other three Pac-12 departees, so there’s $72 million added to the MW’s coffers. As part of the Pac-2 + MW “scheduling alliance” — never, ever enter an “alliance” with a league bigger than yours, by the way — and for breaking the no-poaching clause in that alliance, the 2Pac owes the Mountain West another $43 million penalties.

So there’s a fresh pot of about $115 million coming in.

John Griffin ran from denial to acceptance in 4.4 flat.

Griffin, the former Wyoming wide receiver, longtime Denverite, stalwart humanitarian and one of the Cowboys’ iconic “Black 14,” read about the reported collapse of the Mountain West and spun out of anger’s attempt at an arm tackle. He juked bargaining. He trucked depression.

“First off, I thought, ‘That’s interesting,’” the ex-Pokes wideout said of CSU’s leap to the Pac-12 late last week. “And my second thought was, ‘Well, good for them because they’re going to get some more of that TV money, which will help them sustain the program and get some good players, (more money) for facilities.’

“Then I’m questioning, ‘Gosh, what is Wyoming going to do? Should they stay in the Mountain West?’”

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If another, big-money lifeline isn’t coming for the Pokes? Absolutely. Because ex-Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson, to be frank, isn’t entirely sure that sexier lifeline is out there.

“Wyoming is fantastic,” Thompson, who was hired at the inception of the league in 1998 and retired in December 2022, told me by phone Tuesday.

“(But) the population hurts them. (They’re) competitive, yes. (They’ve got) facilities, yes. (They’re) good neighbors — absolutely, positively. But the challenge is — and you know the scorecard these days — that TV networks are paying for households and for eyeballs. And Wyoming just doesn’t have that. It has everything else.”

Make no mistake: The Cowboys deserve better. Since 2015, Wyoming’s reached six bowls and won the Bronze Boot seven times. Over that same stretch, the Rams have bowled three times, the last coming in 2017, and beaten the Pokes just twice.

Alas, when it comes to network executives, media markets are five-touchdown favorites over football merit. CSU, Boise State, Fresno State and San Diego State are headed west in 2026; Air Force, another longtime …read more

Source:: The Denver Post – Sports