The Western Athletic Conference , which had initially announced plans to expand beyond its then-current 10 members to at least 12 , ended up with even more potential expansion prospects . Ultimately , the WAC took in three of the four SWC schools left out of the Big 12 merger — Rice University , Southern Methodist University ( SMU ) , and Texas Christian University ( TCU ) . Three other schools were added to bring the total membership to 16 , namely Big West Conference members San Jose State University and UNLV , plus the University of Tulsa , an NCAA football independent and otherwise a member of the Missouri Valley Conference . The WAC 's 16 teams were divided into four four-team " quadrants " , two of which rotated between the Mountain and Pacific Divisions every two years . However , the newly expanded WAC was soon wracked by tension between the established and new members
NCAA football independent
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
Mountain West Conference