It's official - Texas Christian University is now a member of the Mountain West Conference. The 2004-05 school year will be the Horned Frogs' last in Conference USA.
Cecil Samuelson, Brigham Young President and chair of the MWC Board of Directors, made the announcement Friday.
It is the ninth institution to be added to the conference, which already includes BYU, Utah, Wyoming, San Diego State, Colorado State, Air Force, University of Nevada-Las Vegas and New Mexico.
UNM Athletics Director Rudy Davalos said the transition will have a positive effect on UNM, as well as on the entire conference.
"It's good for all parties involved," Davalos said. "TCU kind of wore out its welcome in Conference USA, and it gives us an additional game in the conference."
Davalos said the move will benefit UNM most significantly in terms of recruiting.
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"All of our coaches recruit heavily out of Texas," he said. "This gives us a greater presence in that state, and we will have much more exposure."
Women's basketball coach Don Flanagan, who already recruits in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, said there is an abundance of talent in that region. He said bringing TCU into the MWC will be especially good for the women's basketball program.
"It'll help our conference in the perspective of the NCAA," Flanagan said. "With Utah, Brigham Young, Vegas, CSU, TCU and us, the perception of our conference is a strong women's basketball conference."
The Texas Christian women's basketball team is No. 21 in this week's AP Top-25 poll.
But while Davalos said TCU takes every sport seriously, the decision to invite the Horned Frogs into the conference weighed heavily on football.
TCU football goes back 107 years, and it appeared in its sixth-consecutive bowl game this year. The Horned Frog football team has finished in the Top-25 three of the last four seasons.
The addition of TCU may have come at the perfect time for UNM football fans, as Division I postseason football continues to evolve.
Davalos said bringing Texas Christian to the Mountain West strengthens the conference's possibilities of becoming part of the Bowl Championship Series.
"It won't happen quick, but Conference USA is getting weaker, the Big East is getting weaker and we're getting stronger," he said. "The Mountain West Conference is positioning itself to become a better conference. But it'll be about two or three years before anything happens."
