Comments on: State of the WAC: A Conference on Life Support 2.0

By: Willey

Willey — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Utah Valley is the largest institution in Utah, larger the than the University of Utah or BYU, they are simply younger. The Athletic program is a sleeping giant that is just starting to catch fire. Their baseball team beat BYU, UTAH, ASU and Arizona this year, Arizona went on to win it all. The basketball team has improved every year and had it first post season invite last year. The WAC is no longer going to be a football conference they should be all over the Wolverines, Jeff Herd needs to do what it takes to add UVU.

By: David Stroud

David Stroud — Sun, 27 May 2012 10:51:00 +0000

There is now talks that several FCS schools are working together to join the WAC. Looks like many of the strong football schools that wanted to move up. I know or heard of these schools talking together and working a plan for a WAC East.
Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Delaware, Jacksonville State and Liberty

Now, that would bring the WAC up to 7. What are the other schools that have not been mentioned that have a football tradition or strong programs or been mentioned about looking to move up?

Youngstown State
Stony Brook
Fordham (could play in the same stadium that they played the Pinstripe Bowl for home games against big name schools)
Delaware State?
Furman?
Alabama State? (rumor that they have been talking to the Sun Belt)
Florida A&M?
North Alabama?
West Florida?
Lamar
Sam Houston State
Stephen F. Austin
Centrral Arkansas?
Missouri State
North Dakota State
Montana
Montana State
Eastern Washington
Utah Valley
Grand Canyon U.
Cal. State Bakersfield
Texas Pan America
Cal. Poly
Cal.-Davis
Sacramento State
Portland State

Now, if the FCS schools of Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Delaware, James Madison, Liberty and Jacksonville State could do something that Karl Benson could not do? They could get the Big Sky schools to make the jump.

East
Delaware
James Madison
Georgia Southern
James Madison
Liberty
Appalachian State
West Florida (basketball and other sports to offset the western schools without football)*
VCU/Dayton?
Youngstown State
Fordham/Stony Brook?

West
Idaho
New Mexico State
Lamar
Sam Houston State
Montana
Montana State
North Dakota State
Eastern Washington
Seattle*
Denver*

If you would look at all the FCS schools that I listed? Many of them have won championships or made the playoffs. WAC would become a very strong football conference of schools who have upset some aq schools in the past (James Madison, Appalachian State, Jacksonville State, Cal.-Davis and North Dakota State), schools that beaten FBS schools (Delaware and Liberty) and schools that almost upset FBS schools (Eastern Washington, Sam Houston State and Stony Brook).

There are many options with the new stuff coming out that sounds like might become true. WAC could become the new BEAST.

By: Ryanworbs

Ryanworbs — Fri, 04 May 2012 03:11:00 +0000

Well as of May 3rd the WAC is down to:
Seattle–waiting for WCC
Denver–has some options other than WAC
Idaho–desperately needs to go to Big Sky
Boise–
New Mexico St–can they sneak into S’land or do they have to consider FCS?
UT Arlington–SBC bound?, S’land has a slot open for them

The candidates out there are:
Utah Valley
Cal St Bakersfield–would rather be Big West
UT Pan Am– yuck
New Orleans–could get a slot in S’land

If this conference drops to 4 members its dead in the water

By: foodsherpas

foodsherpas — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:14:00 +0000

Not a chance. To upgrade form FCS to FBS, it costs a lot of money. And the reason to upgrade and spend that money is as an investment to make more money. But this group, the Big Sky plus NMSU and Idaho, is not an FBS caliber conference. It would mean each school needs to go from 63 to 85 scholarships…which means each school would need to add 22 more womens scholarships to comply with Title IX. So just to upgrade, it means 44 more scholarships. So we’re talking costs in the millions for a school to upgrade. If you are able to slip into a good conference, it’s worth it. Even ODU to CUSA is great because they will have nearby ECU, Charlotte and Marshall plus the proposed MWC alliance for TV for a likely 24 school conference with some strong markets. The Big Sky won’t have that. They will have a TV contract equal to the one they have now…which is not much. So as a business, why bother upgrading if it just means losing money?

The other factor is that there are strict rules: FCS conferences cannot upgrade to FBS, only schools can, and need an invite from an existing FBS conference. Rule was proposed by non-FBS conferences to help stop their members from leaving without even having a home (UTSA an example).

That said, you are right that the WAC could just invite Big Sky schools to replenish.

Problem is, they already tried that last year and everyone said no…and that was when the WAC had 7 members. With only 2 members and less stability, Big Sky schools aren’t going to join since only some of the schools (Montana, Sac St., Portland St come to mind) could pull off an upgrade with some level of optimism.

By: David Stroud

David Stroud — Thu, 03 May 2012 05:32:00 +0000

How about a merger with an existing FBS conference? Big Sky and WAC. It would give all schools equal saying on what to do.

By: David Stroud

David Stroud — Thu, 03 May 2012 05:29:00 +0000

How about an agreement on some type of merger with the WAC and Big Sky for football purposes? I read somewhere that there are some talks going on. It would be with a new name, but Big Sky will still have their own schools in the other sports under the Big Sky banner, and WAC schools for other sports.

It might look like this with what you posted minus Texas State.
Big Sky/WAC
Idaho
New Mexico State
Texas-Arlington? Still questions if they are adding football.
Eastern Washington
Weber State
Southern Utah
Portland State
sacramento State
Cal-Poly
Cal-Davis
NorthernArizona
Monatana
Montana State
Northern Colorado
Lamar
Sam Houston State
Stephen F. Austin
Central Arkansas
Maybe add the other three Dakota schools to fill the spots.
New Orleans
Idaho State

Now the new WAC for other sports.
Boise State
Denver
Idaho
New Mexico State
UTA
Seattle U.
Utah Valley
Western Washington (from D-2)
Grand Canyon U. (D-2)
Texas-Pan America
Cal. State-Bakersfield
New Mexico Highlands(D2)
Adams State(D-2)
Central Washington(D2)
West Texas A&M (D-2)

Now, if some Big Sky schools that could not upgrade, the football side could be for football only.
Northern Colorado
North Dakota
Northern Arizona
Central Washington (football only)
Idaho State
Southern Utah(football only)
New Mexico Highlands (football only)
Adams State (football only)
Grand Canyon(football only if they add the sport)
Utah Valley (football only if they add)
West Texas A&M (football only)

Once the schools that wanted to start football and get better in the Big Sky down the road? The two conferences can split up again, and then you will have WAC football and Big Sky football as an FBS conferences. That would get some D-2 up there as well to bring more schools in areas that are not covered. It is too bad they can not get Simon Fraser or British Columbia U. in there. That would bring in more viewers from Vancouver, BC in Canada.

The other plan that may never work is to accept all FCS schools that want to upgrade.
New Orleans
Sam Houston State
Lamar
Stephen F. Austin
Appalachian State
Georgia Southern
Jacksonville State
Delaware
James Madison
Liberty
Stony Brook
Fordham

Add schools that are looking for homes for all sports.
North Alabama
West Florida
Utah Valley
Grand Canyon U.
Cal-State-Bakersfield

There are a lot of options to choose from, and many teams would jump at the chance to have a home including ones from D-2. I would not be choosy on which teams. WAC could become the home for upgrading schools to join until they find a home that suits them better.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:14:00 +0000

If I were the MAC, I’d just invite Delaware. Sun Belt could take App State, Liberty, JMU and Georgia Southern to get to 14. WAC could become: Montana, Montana State, Idaho, New mexico state, SHSU, SFAU, Lamar, Houston Baptist and ND State as a football conference. Eventually Montana and State might wind up in MWC.

By: Mizzou

Mizzou — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:01:00 +0000

There is talk San Diego State and Boise State may go back to the Mountain West now for football. I think there is a chance the “new big east” fails and this whole thing blows up.

By: Bradley R. Koenig

Bradley R. Koenig — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:31:00 +0000

I think that the nickname issue is a big sticking point. Geographically and rivalry wise, UND should be with NDSU- but I don’t think that they ever got the invitation.

By: CollegeSportsInfo.com

CollegeSportsInfo.com — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:27:00 +0000

Good question, with an easy answer: they can’t. The rules were set in stone, agreed to (actually proposed by) the FCS conferences. In their eyes, they were making it harder for schools to leave their conferences by upgrading to FBS independent status. So the rule was passed that the only way a school can upgrade is if it gets an invite from an EXISTING FBS conference, limited to the current conferences.

It’s a bit moot since there are no conferences with the necessary membership to upgrade. Many CAA fans feel they should, but lets be real: after Delaware and JMU…and maybe (yes, they are still a big maybe as a newcomer) ODU have even some of what is needed to upgrade to FBS. Towson? W&M? Not a chance. Besides, the CAA is still short 1 school to even qualify as a FCS conference due to the losses of NU, Hofstra and Georgia St….they need 6 all-sports members. If Stony Brook going to make this group FBS ready? No…and Towson and W&M are not FBS caliber programs.