So the deal's done and DirecTV subscribers can finally get The Mtn. There's even a good chance, network vice president Kim Carver said, that it will be available in the most basic programming package.

Now what?

Well, how about a little debriefing?

Turns out that athletic director Jeff Schemmel at San Diego State -- you know, the guy who seemed to surprise league and network officials by announcing the deal -- said he had permission to do so. Media writer Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune then took the league to task for initially failing to confirm the deal, and in turn failing to capitalize on "what would have been some rare positive publicity."

Posner had some other fascinating nuggets in his story that might defy local conventional wisdom about the supposedly vast, nationwide interest in Mountain West Conference sports. Last week's San Diego State vs. Utah basketball game, for example?

It pulled a 0.1 local Nielsen rating in San Diego -- which Posner said translates to an average audience of about 1,050 homes. "There probably are apartment complexes here that have more than 1,050 homes," he wrote.