Tulsa is a good fit for MWC

With the Mountain West Conference enjoying its finest football season ever, with three teams in the Top 25 and a strong possibility of one cracking the BCS again, the league ought to consider expansion to 10 teams while it's red-hot.

The league, with Utah, TCU and BYU currently ranked in the top 18 in the nation, needs to grab that undefeated, nationally-ranked, blue-jersey-wearing school that is piling up points every week and also has a chance of cracking the BCS.

That's right, the MWC needs to snatch up the University of Tulsa as fast as it can.

You thought I was talking about Boise State?

I actually like Boise State and have been a proponent of the MWC adding the school in the past, despite that ghastly blue turf and an arena named after Taco Bell.

While a lot of people would love to add Boise as the 10th member of the MWC, especially around these parts, since Boise is as close as St. George, Tulsa would make just as much sense, if not more so. Besides, can the Broncos score 77 points and pile up 791 yards like the Golden Hurricane did in Saturday night's win over UTEP?

First, there's the population. Tulsa is the 45th-largest city in the U.S. with nearly 400,000 residents and a metropolitan area close to a million. Boise has about half as many residents, although its metro population is 650,000 and growing.

Population relates directly to TV markets, and the reality is, that's a big factor in college athletics these days. Tulsa's market ranks 61st in the country and nearby Oklahoma City is 45th, while Boise is clear back at 112th.

Then consider the travel aspect.

Tulsa would be a terrific traveling partner for TCU. Right now, TCU is all by its lonesome, clear over in eastern Texas, more than 700 miles from the nearest MWC city. Tulsa is just 270 miles north of Fort Worth, which in a league that stretches from Southern California to Texas, is nothing.

What's the big deal about traveling partners? They make no difference in football, but in nearly every other sport, teams travel to games in pairs — at least they do when the league isn't unbalanced as it is now.

The MWC schedules have been fouled up ever since TCU came in the league, and schools could save a lot of money if they started playing two games the same weekend on the same trip, rather than making a bunch of single-game trips as they do now. Basketball could go back to a Thursday-Saturday schedule, rather than have all those Tuesday and Wednesday games.

Facilities? Both Tulsa and Boise State have 30,000-seat stadiums that have recently been renovated. Boise has a larger basketball arena, but Tulsa's almost-new 8,500-seat arena is a beauty, and last year the Golden Hurricane drew more than four MWC schools and slightly more than the Broncos.