WAC commissioner Karl Benson has been scrambling to keep his league alive ever since he lost Boise State and then Nevada, Fresno State and Hawaii to different leagues. With the Mountain West taking a membership hit with Boise State and San Diego State heading to the Big East, so it comes as no surprise to me that Benson is saying that he would welcome back Fresno State, Hawaii and Nevada to the WAC.
Fresno State athletic director Thomas Boeh gave no indication of coming back to the WAC and in fact is saying that he is bullish on the future of the Mountain West. Nevada athletic director Cary Groth came out and said that she feels the Mountain West is a better fit.
Nevada is back in a league with UNLV for the first time since they were members of the Big West from 1992-96 and that could be a reason to not consider going back to the WAC.
A reason to not go back is because the Mountain West has room to grow in a more positive way than the WAC does. The next television deal for the WAC will be more on line with the Sun Belt and possibly even less. Whereas the Mountain West television deal will at least stay at around $1.5 million per team, and the that if there is an all-sports merger with Conference USA that could bring in even more money if/when a new television deal is created as would a football-only merger.
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