New Mexico State, North Texas Bolt for Sun Belt

New Mexico State and North Texas have agreed in principle to join the Sun Belt Conference after a conference call Thursday with presidents of the Sun Belt schools, sources said.

New Mexico State and North Texas officials need only approval from their boards of directors to make the move official. That approval should come within a week.

Two other Big West Conference schools, Utah State and Idaho, also were invited to join the Sun Belt as football schools. The Big West is expected to move to drop football and add UC Riverside and, probably, Cal State Northridge.

Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters would not comment on Thursday’s meeting but has said the conference might add football.

Sun Belt officials are also in contact with other schools. The expansion would probably occur before the fall of 2001.

That timetable would be a good fit for the Big West’s six California schools--Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Pacific and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Those schools want an all-California conference by 2002.

When New Mexico State and North Texas leave, the Big West’s California schools would have the 75% majority needed to vote in new schools. UC Riverside has been guaranteed a spot, according to conference sources. The California schools are also leaning heavily toward Northridge, with Sacramento State an outside contender.