(08-13-2018 01:28 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 11:18 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  My guess is all-sports offers with a large western contingent including Boise and SDSU would have been a very attractive alternative for the key western partners.

Let's look at the landscape at the time.

Full Members: UConn, USF, Cincinnati, Temple, UCF, SMU, Houston, Memphis.
Football Affiliates: Navy, Boise STate, San Diego STate.

For an FBS conference, East Carolina was the next logical add. That's 12 for football. Say you go with 4 western additions, 15 full members, 16 for football. BYU, Air Force, um UNLV, New Mexico?

So, for Olympics, 3 divisions, 4 home and homes, 5 home 5 road = 18:
East: UConn, Temple, ECU, USF, UCF
Central: Memphis, Houston, SMU, New Mexico, Cincinnati
West: SDSU, Boise STate, BYU, Air Force, UNLV

Air Force's AD turned down the Big 12 because his non-football teams would get absolutely killed.

Or maybe you pick up a nonfootball school like VCU. 14 division games, 4-6 cross-division.
East: UConn, Temple, ECU, Cincy, USF, UCF, Memphis, Navy/VCU
West: Memphis, Houston, SMU, UNM, AFA, BYU, Boise State, SDSU

Is Memphis down for annual basketball trips to Boise and Colorado Springs? Is Houston? And telling your recruits they'll get to play UConn every other year, maybe?

The "western all-sports" wing was never a thing. Houston and SMU have been joining eastern-facing conferences ever since the SWC broke up.

“Houston and SMU have been joining eastern-facing conferences since the SWC broke up”—-NO. Not SMU.
SWC announces breakup in 1994.
SMU joins the WAC. A conference with “eastern” schools like Hawaii and Fresno St.
SMU stays in the WAC until 2005.
SMU joins CUSA and plays in CUSA West with “eastern” schools like UTEP, Tulsa, Rice, Houston and Tulane.