Missouri Valley Conference commissioner Doug Elgin told ESPN.com he doesn't see nor has he been told of any desire to expand his 10-team membership. And the Valley doesn't fit in the footprint of Air Force, academically or even geographically.
WAC commissioner Karl Benson, who like Elgin has had conversations with Mueh, would love to be working with Air Force as a member institution again. The WAC will add nearby Denver for the 2012-13 season. But the league lacks an identity from Seattle to Louisiana Tech with Utah State serving as the anchor in between. The Aggies would rather replace the Falcons in the MWC if the opportunity exists to do so.
If Air Force leaves, the choice should really be for one place. And that is the West Coast Conference. The WCC bumped up to nine schools with the addition of BYU for this season, as the Cougars went independent in football and placed the rest of their sports in the basketball-heavy WCC. Getting to an even 10 would be a perfect number for the WCC, which is a league of private, faith-based institutions, most of which are relatively small. "I would lean toward the WCC with Saint Mary's, Gonzaga and BYU as to where the Air Force Academy should fit,'' said former Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik, now the head coach at Wake Forest. "The travel is realistic, and the academic piece is a good fit. It's a good basketball league.
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