Montana State University athletic director Peter Fields denied a report by ESPN that his school has been in touch with the Western Athletic Conference a week after Fresno State and Nevada left the conference.
Following the announcement that both schools would be joining the Mountain West Conference on Wednesday, there was widespread speculation on which schools could be added to the depleted WAC.
ESPN's Andy Katz mentioned Montana State in the category of "other schools that have been in contact with the WAC" in a story last Friday. Field denies those claims, saying the last time he spoke with WAC commissioner Karl Benson was when he bumped into him at the NCAA men's basketball Final Four in April.
"Karl and I are friends, "Fields said. "I've known him a long time, but I haven't spoken to him about this."
Messages left with Benson's office were not returned.
As he has several times, Fields once again stated Montana State is not looking into a move to the Football Bowl Subdivision.
"When we're looking at (a move to the FBS), I'll be very active," Fields said. "But we're not at that point."
While his answer remains the same, a new wrinkle was added to the debate on whether or not to move to the FBS when Fresno State and Nevada left the WAC.
After Boise State left the conference for the Mountain West in June, the league's remaining eight schools agreed to a $5 million exit penalty. Despite the fact that Nevada claims it did not sign the deal, the WAC will be seek that amount from both Fresno State and Nevada.
The WAC could offer some of that cash - possibly all of it - to entice schools to join the conference. Fields called that possibility "interesting." But at least in the case of MSU, he continued to say that extra cash would not necessarily make the WAC more attractive.
"That's only one-time money," Fields said. "Your budget has to be recurring. Yeah, $5 million is good for one year, but what do you do next year? How do you backfill that $5 million for the next 50 years?"
In addition, Fields continued to stress the differences in budgets between WAC schools and those in MSU's current league, the Big Sky Conference.
"I think the average WAC budget is around $20 million," Fields said. "I think our average budget in the Big Sky is either $12 or $13 million. There's a big discrepancy there."
With the University of Montana currently conducting a study on the financial feasibility of a move to the FBS, UM athletic director Jim O'Day has been questioned throughout the past two weeks on whether his school would be interested in joining the WAC.
O'Day told the Sporting News that an immediate decision is "practically impossible" and that "politics within the state of Montana could force the WAC to take Montana State, too."
Fields didn't speculate on the state's politics. And while he did say that losing Boise State will hurt some of the rivalries in the WAC "because everyone had Boise circled on their calendar," he did not affirm that the addition of the 'Cat-Griz rivalry would strengthen the WAC.
"It would be different for the WAC because of the intensity of the rivalry," Fields. "But I'm not in tune with the rivalries in the WAC, so I can't tell you if they'd benefit from it."
The one bit of speculation Fields did seem to support had to do with Texas-San Antonio. Many believe the school's fledging football program led by former Miami head coach Larry Coker, which has a stated goal of joining the FBS in 2014, would be among the most viable options for the WAC.
"That's a school that the WAC will go after," Fields said. "They add Texas recruiting to the WAC instantaneously. They would add a lot of other things to the WAC."
Other schools that have expressed interest in a move to the FBS are Sacramento State and Portland State. Both schools are located in major media markets and are current members of Big Sky Conference.
But considering Benson has stated the WAC will turn to current FBS schools before looking at such Football Championship Subdivision schools, Fields said there is a good chance the Big Sky will not be affected.
"It depends on how the FBS schools react," Fields said. "If they (the WAC) get to eight schools using the FBS, then I don't think we'll be affected. But it could be a year before we find out."
And as of right now, Fields said MSU is not concerned that the FCS will cease to be a good fit for the school.
"I think we could be different," Fields said of the FCS. "There could very well be three divisions of (Division I) football at some point in time. But I don't think there is any reason to suspect (the FCS) will go away. I think it will continue to be a viable option for Montana State."
Will Holden can be reached at wholden@dailychronicle.com and 582-2690.
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