Idaho coach uses flawed math to create the ‘Mountain WAC’

Idaho coach Robb Akey has never been called shy.

His candor and enthusiasm has made him one of the most entertaining and intriguing coaches in the FBS even if he does coach at Idaho.

That's probably why Akey wasn't shy to express his feelings about the upcoming WAC expansion vote and how he and other WAC football coaches weren't asked for their opinions on the matter. But that didn't stop Akey from telling the Idaho Press-Tribune exactly how he thought expansion should shake out after the board of directors meeting on June 14.

"I would like to see some strong football schools come into it. It needs to happen. We need to strengthen our conference, and we need to do it with football schools, because we're obviously losing a couple more at the end of this season. I wish they would let me have an opinion about this. Football coaches, we don't get to do this. ... What I think would be awesome would be if the survivors of the WAC Conference and the Mountain West would come together, I think that would be a 14-team deal in between the Mountain WAC, or whatever you would call those deals, you would have the best football on this side of the country."

Maybe no one asked Akey's opinion because of his math skills, which are way off when talking about combining the leagues.

If you drop Boise State, Nevada, Fresno State and Hawaii, who are all going to the Mountain West either this year or next, the WAC is left with five schools -- Idaho, Utah State, Louisiana Tech, San Jose State and New Mexico State. Add those five to the 10 football schools in the MWC -- after the WAC schools move over there -- and it would be 15 football schools. But wait, the WAC actually added Texas-San Antonio and Texas State as football members, so that would be 17. The WAC's only non-football school is Denver.

So actually, coach Akey, creating a "Mountain WAC" would result in a 17-team football league and the abandonment of new member Denver, which could probably go back to the Sun Belt. I'd like to see Akey come up with the scheduling for his new league, especially if he decides to leave three teams out of the mix altogether.

Akey, of course, isn't the first person to bring up the idea of combining the two leagues, but they did that before, it was called the (old) WAC. Once the Mountain West adds Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii at the end of the 2011-12 school year, it has absolutely nothing to gain by adding the rest of the WAC. It's already the stronger of the two leagues and adding those five or seven schools would do nothing but water down the product.

Malin Akerman Melissa Joan Hart Bianca Kajlich Giulianna Ramirez Ashley Greene