WAC will not expand until at least 2012; Last chance for Virginia Tech tickets
By Brian Murphy
bmurphy@idahostatesman.com
The WAC will not expand before July 1, 2012, the league announced Tuesday afternoon. Boise State will exit the conference on July 1, 2011 and join the Mountain West Conference, leaving the WAC with eight members.
A complicating factor for the WAC is the transition period needed for FCS schools to make the move to the FBS. An FCS school could join the WAC in 2011, WAC commissioner Karl Benson said earlier this month, but wouldn't be eligible for bowl games until 2013.
The WAC has discussed "more than five or six" FCS schools as possibilities, Benson said. That list likely includes Montana, Montana State, UC Davis, Sacramento State, Cal Poly and Portland State.
None of the possibilities really sing for the WAC, which is making a smart move by holding tight for now.
Expansion not done
Nebraska (Big 12 to Big Ten), Colorado (Big 12 to Pac-10), Boise State (WAC to MWC) and Utah (MWC to Pac-10) have announced this summer that they will change conferences. More radical conference realignment has been shelved for now – but few believe the leagues are done with expansion.
"This is just Phase One of conference expansion, the tip of the iceberg," Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham said last week at the Associated Press Sports Editors convention in Salt Lake City. "In the next two, three, five years, we're going to get to the point where there are four or five super conferences and if you’re on the wrong side of the line in the sand, it’s not going to be good."
"... I think there’s going to be super conferences, not inside of three years and not outside of 10 years."
BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe agreed that conference expansion is far from done.
"When is the next round? I think the dust will settle, but it will get kicked up again," he said.
Here is the release from the WAC:
WAC commissioner Karl Benson announced today that the WAC will delay any expansion of its membership until July 1, 2012 at the earliest. This means that for the 2011-12 season, the WAC will operate as an eight-team league that consists of Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Utah State.
“The WAC and its eight member schools remain well positioned for the future,” said Benson. “Over the past few weeks, the WAC’s Board of Directors and athletics directors have explored several membership options. We believe it is in the best interest of the WAC to operate as an eight-team league for the 2011-12 season. We will now take several months to ‘drill down’ on the various membership options before making any decisions that would impact the 2012-13 season.”
“Throughout its history and since its inception in 1962, the WAC has operated very successfully as an 8-team, 9-team and 10-team league. Each of those models have their advantages and all will be looked at very closely. Also, a 12-team league that would allow the WAC to split into divisions and conduct a football championship game will be evaluated.”
“The future for the WAC is very bright, and we will continue to provide our student-athletes with the opportunities to compete on both the regional and national stages in all of our sports.”
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