San Diego State University could be exiting the Mountain West Conference, according to various reports, but officials remained cagey Friday about a possible conference switch.
ESPN and other outlets reported that SDSU President Adela de la Torre sent a letter Tuesday stating the university’s intent to withdraw from the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs have played in the MWC since 1999 as one of its founding member institutions.
On Friday, John David Wicker, SDSU’s athletic director, would only confirm the university was keeping its options open.
“As there has been a large amount of discussion about conference realignment nationally, we continue to do our due diligence to identify the best opportunity and fit in the interest of both our university and our student-athletes,” he told City News Service.
According to reports, reaction to de la Torre’s letter caused her to note that it wasn’t an official letter of resignation from the conference.
It is unclear where SDSU would land were it to leave the MWC, but the Power 5 Pac-12 conference seems the most likely fit, particularly given the loss of that conference’s natural recruitment ground in Southern California with the exodus of UCLA and USC to the Big Ten conference.
There was no formal invitation to any Power 5 conference as of Friday.
SDSU has requested a “one-month extension” from the Mountain West to delay its deadline “given unforeseen delays involving other collegiate athletic conferences beyond our control,” CBS Sports reported.
San Diego State would need to give a year of notice to withdraw next June. If it waits past June 30, the exit fee it would owe jumps from nearly $16.5 million to nearly $34 million, ESPN reported.
Attempts to reach de la Torre’s office and the university’s risk-assessment office for a copy of the letter in question went unanswered.
SDSU reached the NCAA tournament title game in men’s basketball this year and the football program has a new $300 million stadium.