New Mexico State football is going the independent route starting in 2013.
Athletic director McKinley Boston announced the decision in an open letter on the school's website Wednesday. NMSU has been a member of the Western Athletic Conference since 2005, but after being raided in the conference realignment process over the last year, the WAC recently announced that it will no longer include football as of 2013. New Mexico State and Idaho were the only football-playing schools not to be picked up by other conferences; Idaho announced last month that it plans to play as an independent starting next season.
With no other conference offering a landing spot, New Mexico State's only alternative was dropping to the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), but McKinley stated that NMSU "is committed to continuing at the Division 1 level."
With NMSU and Idaho becoming independent, there will be six unaffiliated schools at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. The others: Notre Dame, BYU, Army and Navy.
The biggest issues in independence will be related to money and scheduling. Idaho athletic director Rob Spear recently told the Idaho Statesman that the move to independence would have to be "definitely short term," adding that it would be no longer than two years as the school continues to seek a long-term conference home that would allow for television distribution and a share of revenue.
Idaho and New Mexico State won't receive any conference TV revenue as independents (Notre Dame and BYU have national TV deals negotiated by the schools), while schools in the Mountain West, for example, make a reported $1.33 million a year from the conference's contract with ESPN, creating a financial gap that could be problematic from a competitive standpoint. McKinley wrote that he has been in contact with numerous other conferences and will "continue to aggressively seek out the very best option" for the football program.
As for scheduling, McKinley indicated that the Aggies have nine games lined up for next season and plan to release a full schedule in mid-October. He did not specify which teams will be on the schedule, but it's expected that longtime rivals New Mexico and UTEP will be included, as will Idaho given both team's need for opponents.
NMSU's other sports will remain in the WAC.
