Sports
 

TCU will split C-USA

Cougar Sports Services

Texas Christian is one step closer to leaving Conference USA for the Mountain West Conference.

MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson will formally invite TCU to the league at a press conference at 1:30 p.m. today in Fort Worth. It is believed TCU will accept the invitation to become that conference's ninth member, beginning with the 2005-06 academic year. Whether or not TCU accepts the invitation is up to the university's board of trustees.

The loss leaves C-USA with the prospect of looking for another program to add, after it invited Central Florida, Marshall, Rice, Southern Methodist and Tulsa to replace Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, DePaul and Marquette, who left for the Big East Conference.

Adding the strong TCU football program helps the MWC's case for inclusion in the Bowl Championship Series. Should its board of trustees accept, it will be TCU's fourth conference in 10 years. The Horned Frogs have already played in the Southwest Conference, the Western Athletic Conference and C-USA.

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