Boise State Associate Athletic Director Proposes Promotion/Relegation Model for Pac-12/Mountain West Merger

Could College Football see a Premier League promotion/relegation model come to at least one conference? 

It's probably unlikely. But there's been some chatter about such a model, and Boise State Associate Athletic Director Michael Walsh took it a step further by outlining a formal proposal for a hypothetical 24-team rebuilt Pac-12 that's broken up into three tiers, according to a report from Front Office Sports. 

The proposal came in the form of a 22-slide PowerPoint obtained by Front Office Sports that has been shared with athletic directors in and out of the Mountain West and Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez. 

“Many, many folks are kicking around concepts of relegation/promotion, or mega-leagues,” Nevarez told FOS. But “this is probably the first I’ve seen of someone really putting pen to paper, and looking at it comprehensively.”

Walsh's plan would center on creating a football league that's intriguing for potential TV partners without forcing coast-to-coast travel for Olympic sports that's required by realignment moves in Power Five leagues. Men's basketball teams would also stay in their original conferences.

In a model similar to the English Premier League and other European soccer leagues, teams would be promoted or regulated at the end of every season based on their performance. The top team from Tier 2 would slide up to Tier 1, while the bottom feeder of Tier would be relegated down a level, and the same would happen with Tier 2 and 3.

The two remaining teams of the Pac-12, Oregon State and Washington State, have been in merger discussions with the Mountain West, but those talks remain ongoing, and the FOS report says neither OSU nor WSU will likely make a decision on their athletic futures until their lawsuit against the Pac-12 is resolved, which could take months. 

Conferences that Walsh said could be targeted to participate in the 24-team model include the Mountain West, the two Pac-12 remnants and regional teams from the AAC, Conference USA or WAC. 

The proposal is one of many Group of Five schools are considering in terms of how to move forward with the future of bids for the 12-team College Football Playoff bids being uncertain beyond the 2024 and 2025 seasons, when the six highest-ranked conference champions will receive playoff berths along with six at-large teams.

Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger talked to several anonymous Mountain West officials about the proposed model in a report published on Tuesday, with some seemingly open to at least having discussions about the idea. 

“It’s time we admit what college football is: an entertainment product,” one Mountain West administrator told Yahoo Sports.

Dellenger’s report also mentioned that the idea has at least been discussed by powerhouse programs now that conferences are expanding further and further. But Walsh's idea is the first known formal proposal to broach the subject.