It’s official: Utah State is going to the Mountain West Conference
USU President Stan Albrecht announced the university has accepted an invitation from the Mountain West Conference and will officially join the conference July 1, 2013.
“I officially declare that our wandering is over,” Albrecht said in a press conference Friday. “Moses had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. I don’t know why we had to do it for 50 … It’s a great day for all of us.”
Both USU and San Jose State University accepted invitations to and will begin competing in the Mountain West Conference in the 2013-14 school year in all sports except gymnastics.
“The journey, whether two years or 50, it’s been an arduous task,” said USU Athletic Director Scott Barnes. “This is not a short-term solution, this sets course for the next 50 years … We’re in for forever as far as we’re concerned.”
USU Head Football Coach Gary Andersen said switching conferences was necessary given the future state of the Western Athletic Conference.
“I’m going back into a conference I am very, very familiar with,” Andersen said. “From A to Z it’s a move in the right direction. It’s a step up.”
Barnes said the Aggies will play eight of the other nine football teams in the MWC in 2013, but regional conferences within the Mountain West and crossover games with Conference-USA have not been finalized.
“This is a bigger stage for our student-athletes to perform and excel on,” Barnes said. “Our vision hasn’t changed. We want to win championships.”
Tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu