WAC That Should've Happened

by Idle on Feb 5, 2012 12:46 PM PST

With the Big East sucking up MWC teams to stay relevant & schools abandoning tradition for $$$, I started thinking what could have been. Only NM, Co St, Wyoming & UNLV will be left from the original '99 MWC.

I was wondering if there's room for a BCS conference between the PAC & the Big XII but 2 things ruined the WAC/MWC. Karl Benson adding 6 teams in '96 after 2 yrs on the job & Craig Thompson not getting on ESPN. MWC was a good idea after Benson threw away tradition for San Jose St & small private school in Texas. But I don't understand why they left UTEP, Fresno St & Hawaii out. The MWC 8 + those 3 schools & TCU could have been playing a championship game since '96 when TCU & UNLV were added. Obviously TCU & Utah were offered bids into PAC & Big XII so they would have left regardless of how strong this hypothetical WAC was but Boise St & Nevada could step in as replacements in 2011..

Western Athletic Conference
Mountain					West
School	1st Yr	Last Yr	# of Yrs	New Conf	School	1st Yr	Last Yr	# of Yrs	New Conf
UTEP	1967	2004	38	CUSA	Boise State	2011	2012	2	BEast
New Mexico	1962		53		Nevada	2012		3
Air Force	1980	2014	35	BEast	UNLV	1996		19
Colorado State	1967		48		Fresno State	1992	1998	7	WAC
Wyoming	1962		53		San Diego State	1978	2012	35	BEast
Brigham Young	1962	2010	49	IND	Hawaii	1979	1998	20	WAC

I counted the years the traditional rivals were in the same WAC/MWC conference through 2014 when Air Force leaves to join Navy in BEast.

So could this 12-team conference from 96-'10 w/ Utah & TCU earned an automatic BCS bid? Could it keep it w/ replacements Boise St & Nevada from 2011 on?

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Comments

Good thoughts...

I say screw the CUSA merger and just do this…

Offer BYU and get turned down…then in your chart swap Utah St w/ BYU, Idaho w/ Boise St, and San Jose St w/ SD St.

When Air Force leaves offer BYU again, if they accept then great if not take New Mexico St, or Montana if they are ready.

"We are who we are. People say what they say. The outcome is the outcome. We are proud of ourselves." -DeLoss Dodds 9/21/2011

by TowerPower on Feb 6, 2012 11:00 AM PST reply actions

Hawaii was left out of the original Mountain because...

1) Distance and travel costs
2) Hawaii was a WAC bottom dweller at football during the mid to late 90s.

by Masatoshi-san on Feb 7, 2012 1:13 PM PST via Android app reply actions

Last I checked

Air Force was still part of the MWC and had no real plans to go to the Big East.

by Jesterrace on Feb 9, 2012 4:05 PM PST reply actions

When Navy announced their move the AFA-Big East rumors popped up again

If you believe the Big East offices and Rick Pitino, and so think adding Memphis was completely on its merits, then that would shoot them down again. On the other hand, if you think it was backfill for Louisville leaving (which is much more likely, in my opinion), then Air Force will still be talked about.

by drothgery on Feb 9, 2012 9:56 PM PST up reply actions

Cincy might leave too

If Cincy goes after Louisville to become 12th team, look for AFA and ECU / USM. The alliance could be looking pretty thin!

by jitmon on Feb 10, 2012 2:17 PM PST up reply actions

At that point the Big East may as well merge with CUSA and MWC directly and save the effort

Caps lock is not cruise control for cool.

by ROFLCOPTER16 on Feb 10, 2012 9:02 PM PST up reply actions

True Dat

And to think the MW / C-USA proposed that back in October and it was not even addressed by the BE. If the Be continues to bleed teams and the C-USA can’t add teams like Temple by itself, the two might have to combine for mutual protection. At that point, the MW has to look long and hard at the options.

by jitmon on Feb 11, 2012 9:48 AM PST up reply actions

And they will probably end up merging with the BE.

Caps lock is not cruise control for cool.

by ROFLCOPTER16 on Feb 11, 2012 7:34 PM PST up reply actions

No they won't

They can hand pick the best of what is left and leave the small media markets and teams with overall losing records behind. The problem with both the MWC and C-USA (at least traditionally) are the extremes. You have some great teams that could compete with anybody, and some teams that you wonder what on earth they are doing in the FBS. Obviously some are BBall powerhouses and crappy on the football front (ie UNLV) but still overall they still hurt the credibility of the conference.

by Jesterrace on Feb 12, 2012 9:19 PM PST up reply actions