Quote Originally Posted by NDSUKurt View Post
It has been widely assumed that Colorado State has been looking to jump to a Power 5 for a while (I know, not a surprise statement). But they have actually done things to help themselves out. They built a new on campus football stadium recently, had a good basketball program going with Tim Miles, scheduled home and home series with Power 5 teams (Arkansas, Vandy, Arizona, Washington State), and have tried to sell themselves as being successful in getting viewers from Denver (which is often debated about the actual success of this claim).

I do think that the Mountain West would no matter what be better than the MAC even if Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, or any combo of these left. Besides having better cities to travel to, I believe that most college football fans hold schools in the Mountain West in higher regards than the MAC - I know that I do.

Growing un in Michigan, I can tell you that the directional Michigan schools (Western, Central, Eastern) are not followed by many, and the only time that there was a small movement was when Brian Kelly had Central Michigan winning in the 2000's and when PJ Fleck had Western Michigan play well a few years ago. The rest of the MAC, with the exception of Northern Illinois, was usually just laughed at. The Ohio Schools held no significance at all. In the Mountain West, these schools are often the school for their state (see Wyoming, Boise State, New Mexico, Hawaii) or have a large(r) influence regionally (Air Force).
They are also a better conference in part because teams like Boise, Colorado State and San Diego are teams recruits want to compete against. They are also games that draw well which adds to the league. And obviously ratings lead to more TV money

If they lost all 3 it could be a trickle down effect

Also the MAC seems to be slowly improving and being more competitive

But I agree rght now the Mountain West is without question better