Earlier this week the Terry Ford show on the radio in Boise mentioned that Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson was in Ruston, Louisiana talking with Louisiana Tech officials after rumors were starting to float that they might be leaving the WAC. Stories around the country are saying the Sun Belt Conference is looking to add another member or two. And the schools whose names are being mentioned are Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State. Both schools were reported here a few days ago by Tower Power as possible FBS expansion candidates. The Louisiana school would make sense, being another warm-weather FBS school in the Sunbelt footprint. Adding the New Mexico State Aggies could be an afterthought.
The Sun Belt will add the Southern Alabama Jaguars in 2012 to get them to 10 members. They are seeking to go to a 12 team league and the word is that the SBC wants to add two FBS schools within the next two months. A raid on the WAC is their most likely route to get them there.
But a Sun Belt invite does not mean the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs would follow Boise State, Hawaii, Nevada and Fresno State out the door just yet. They have been seeking membership in Conference USA for years and any thought of leaving the WAC would not be made until the Big East expansion question is settled and they are sure the door to C-USA is still closed. Their inclusion right now into C-USA is a long shot.