The WAC is finished
by dmbase on Aug 23, 2010 2:48 AM PDT
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PrintAfter reading the myriad of posts and blogs across the internet concerning the state of the WAC and what they could do to survive I have come to the conclusion that they will not. At least not without some help from either a merger with say the Sun Belt or C-USA. As bad as both of those conferences are, I don't think they want the scraps of the WAC either unless they themselves get poached by another conference. One of the popular opinions is that the WAC will scour the FCS for some replacements. I thought about that as well, but after a bit of research I find that to probably be even less of an option. The reason being is, and I forgot this as well, there is a moratorium on reclassifying to Division I right now.
In a nutshell no programs are allowed to transfer from Division II to Division I-AA(a.k.a. FCS), or Division I-A(a.k.a. FBS). However the moratorium also covers programs wanting to reclassify from FCS to FBS until August 9, 2011. So that means programs like Sacramento St., UC Davis, Montana, Texas St., and any other rumored programs must wait until next year to start the transfer process. Consider then that the transfer process from FCS to FBS is two years. So at the minimum, those programs are not going to be FBS eligible until 2013.
Even if Karl Benson wants to be arrogant and bitter and make Fresno St. and Nevada stay, he can only keep them until 2012 at the most. That means at the end of the 2012 season the WAC without any other additions or subtractions will only be left with 6 football members. And according to NCAA regulations that would make them no longer a FBS conference:
20.02.6 Football Bowl Subdivision Conference.
A conference classified as a Football Bowl Subdivision conference shall be comprised of at least eight full Football Bowl Subdivision members that satisfy all bowl subdivision requirements. An institution shall be included as one of the eight full Football Bowl Subdivision members only if the institution participates in the conference schedule in at least six men's and eight women's conference-sponsored sports, including men's basketball and football and three women's team sports including women's basketball. A conference-sponsored sport shall be a sport in which regular season and/or championship opportunities are provided, consistent with the minimum standards identified by the applicable NCAA sport committee for automatic qualification. (Adopted: 10/31/02 effective 8/1/05, Revised: 12/15/06).
Essentially if they stay at the 6 member mark after the 2012 season, the NCAA could force the WAC to drop to FCS status to remain a conference. However rumors are rampant that Hawaii is considering going independent themselves. BYU is very unlikely at this point to join the WAC in non-football sports. Utah St. is trying to worm its way into the MWC. Louisiana Tech. would probably like nothing better than to slide into the Sun Belt or C-USA.
So what is left for the WAC? Unless they can poach some teams from C-USA or the Sun Belt conferences and assuming no one else leaves the conference it seems pretty clear that there is only one thing left for them to do:
Western Athletic Conference
1962-2012
Big dreams, little results.
R.I.P.
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The WAC could apply for a two year waver if teams leave
These are usually granted. This would give the WAC 2013 and 2014 to work to meeting the standards.
If Hawaii leaves they will not have the six team playing together as a league for the past five years. This would be the death bed of the WAC.
Or if any other team leaves at this point.
BCS Evolution -- Punctuating the Equilibrium - twitter
And I would fully expect LaTech to leave as well.
Their travel costs would shrink significantly in the Sun Belt or CUSA.
by David Hooper on Aug 23, 2010 6:38 AM PDT up reply actions
If we take Houston, then LA Tech would be their replacement
Perfect for travel costs on both sides of the bargain.
Mountain West Connection - The best site for MWC Sports.
UNLV is going all the way this year!
Do you really see the MWC trying to poach a C-USA school?
When they have shown a willingness to work with Banowsky in the future with a merger?
I think the MWC has 3, and only 3 options, at this point.
1. BYU Stays and the MWC sits
2. BYU stays and the MWC adds Utah State
3. BYU leaves and the MWC adds Utah State
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
If BYU stays there is no reason to add Utah State
The only thing Utah State brings is the Utah TV Revenue, we would only add them if BYU leaves.
Mountain West Connection - The best site for MWC Sports.
UNLV is going all the way this year!
USU does not bring the Utah TV market, PERIOD.
If any other sports in the state are going on I guarantee no one will watch them. People would rather watch BYU, Utah, Real Salt Lake, the Jazz, a 5A highschool football game, or Utah gymnastics before USU football. Trust me no one outside of Logan is watching them, like at all. And even people in Logan don’t expect the game to be on TV unless someone much better than them is coming to town. I hate to be so blunt, but seriously I grew up there, no one cares about them. South Central Lousiana State does a better job delivering the Lousiana market than USU delivering the Utah market.
It is not about who watches.....
its about where the Mtn can market its channel, just by having a school in the state they can get some cable providers to provide it locally, and more national providers like Direct TV/Dish Network to carry it due to the estimated market saturation.
Cable networks are only going to provide a channel if they can make money on it.
You can’t make money from advertising dollars on shows that no one watches. Which is why they’ll drop the Mtn in Utah without BYU.
If BYU leaves....
They stay put and play round robin at 10, or add 2 more Utah St and New Mexico St/Idaho to get to 12 for the CCG (very longshot)
If BYU stays they add one teams for a CCG
Why would C-USA go to 13 teams?
A lot of posters here think C-USA is dying for La Tech for some reason- that is hardly the case. Maybe the MAC- but don’t expect the C-USA to start adding schools that bring no value to the league.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
LA Tech....
would go to the Sun Belt before the MAC, mainly to reduce travel costs. You’re right there is no way CUSA (who passed on LA Tech for UTEP) would now all of a sudden be dieing to take them in.
FCS Football Conference
The only way I see the WAC surviving is if they drop down to FCS for football. I think they could raid the Big West & Big Sky football programs and /or put together a good B-Ball conference.
Then hope and pray the BCS gets demolished and a playoff system gets implemented at which point you could try to jump back to FBS football.
Couldn't happen....
to keep the BBall tourney entry, you have to have like 6 or more teams playing for 5 consecutive years so….I think. So if the WAC drops to just Idaho, NM St, and San Jose St, there is no way they would raid anyone. They would probably be raided by the Big Sky or West. Which if you think about it, is a sad, sad turn of events for the WAC.
Did anyone see this?
From TeamSpeedKills:
“”http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/50160538-77/wac-resolution-byu-state.html.csp?page=2" >Out of WAC: A conference signs its own death warrant
The Salt Lake Tribune got a copy of the WAC resolution that everyone’s been talking about. Here’s an interesting part.
The WAC and its members and BYU, agree that all current members of the WAC (except Louisiana Tech and Boise State, which has already given notice of its withdrawal) will not join any other conference or athletic conference from the date of adoption of this resolution through June 30, 2016, contingent upon BYU agreeing that it will not join any other conference or athletic conference from the date of entering a contract with the WAC through June 30, 2016. [Emphasis added.]
Two points:
* Louisiana Tech is pretty much declaring it’s ready to leave, aren’t they? I mean, the Bulldogs have always been an odd duck in the WAC — they are by far the easternmost of the league’s teams — and there are plenty of options in the vicinity, most likely either the Sun Belt or Conference USA. By giving them an out, the WAC has basically said they are free to leave — and probably sealed its own fate now that Boise, Fresno and Nevada are headed to the MWC.
* I’m not a lawyer; I just play one on the blog and occasionally in newsprint. But it would seem to me that making the deal “contingent upon” what BYU does would mean that Fresno and Nevada wouldn’t have to pay the $5 million fine (which is supposed to be applied to a team “in the event it violates the terms of” the above paragraph) if they bolt. Maybe I’m wrong, but I would at least expect that to become part of the negotiations and / or court case if things get that far.
And you thought the Big XII was the worst-run conference in America."
by VA Libertarian on Aug 27, 2010 10:46 AM PDT reply actions
yeah I saw that
I read this article from the fresno bee’s site.
Fresno State could be off the hook for a $5 million penalty for leaving the Western Athletic Conference if the WAC can’t salvage its deal to add Brigham Young in the next week.
According to an agreement signed by WAC members and obtained by two Utah newspapers, the exit fee could be nullified if BYU does not join the WAC by Sept. 1.
Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/25/2054186/dogs-fee-hinges-on-byu.html#storylink=mirelated#ixzz0xsZG8XtW
So from what it sounds is that the original agreement all depends on where BYU goes. If it’s not the WAC (likely) then Nevada and Fresno are off the hook.
I dont remember where I saw the thing about LA Tech, but I remember it mentioning a clause for LA Tech that they could leave without penalty (or the deal being nulled) if they received an invite from C-USA. No idea how an invite from the Sun Belt affected the deal though, I could see it being different.
another thing I remember reading
is that if any team were invited by a BCS conference they could jump without penalty. Obviously written in there exclusively for BYU.
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