with the divisional play until we have an even number of teams in the league. , when he was asked a question from a fan about what would be a realistic timeline for the addition of a 14th member. On January 14, 2021, the WAC announced its intention to reinstate football as a conference-sponsored sport at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level, as well as the addition of five new members to the conference in all sports, including football. I think one of the misconceptions is that this is totally a football move. The new-look WAC now stretches from Seattle all the way to southeast Texas with schools in Washington (1), California (1), Arizona (1), Utah (3), New Mexico (1), and Texas (6). The other schools from the Lone Star State are Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State and UT-Rio Grande Valley. Southern Utah will join the WAC at the originally scheduled date in 2022. New Mexico State currently competes as an FBS independent and the WACs recent invitations of membership stated that during the first year of membership in the conference, football-playing institutions will commit to an analysis of all implications of a move to FBS.. There is no established timetable for such a move as a conference, but there is an agreement among the football-playing institutions to commit to an analysis of all the implications of such a move. Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. Divisional play only will be instituted for the majority of men's and women's team sports. The WAC is using a consultant, Chris Groer, to assist with its basketball scheduling, which will include cross-divisional play. This is the program that was home to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor, who averaged roughly 30 points and 20 rebounds per game at Seattle after starting his college career at the College of Idaho and whos responsible for one of the longest, game-winning buzzer-beaters in NCAA tournament history. The conference will play in the Football Championship Division. As former WAC Commissioner Karl Benson, in regards to San Jose State, There is a difference between having population versus delivering population., reported, Benson says, San Jose State was the small school in the huge market that couldnt average 15,000 [fans]., Dont discount the fact that we could also be a 12-team league, you know if one of the current members decided to do something else, Moccia said on. Atlantic Sun, WAC Football Schools Set to Merge, Jump to FBS per Report See terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Tuesday was first full day of WAC Spring Meetings and the first with the ADs and SWAs from all 13 members for 2021-22. The WAC absorbed two of the best Southland teams and that finally gives the WAC the depth needed to be a multi-bid league. Both will be determined once the new administrative structure is put into place. Contact: Chris Thompson | cthompson@wac.org | 303-962-4206 . The ASUN Conference and WAC have announced a single conference model for the 2023 season and have also . Instead, it would add another member on the opposite end of the conferences geographic footprint from Seattle. In a subsequent email, Moccia wrote that it looks like Jeff [Hurd] will ask us to make due (sic) with the divisional play until we have an even number of teams in the league. Whether the Southland decides to backfill any departures with their own expansion, or if remaining teams just decide to go elsewhere, I do not know. Following is a statement from CSU President Zaldwaynaka Scott: If the WAC sponsors football at the FBS level in the future and if it receives a portion of the College Football Playoff revenue its a pool of revenue that sends roughly $90 million to the Group of Five conferences to share and its one that could grow if and when the playoff field expands then some of the WACs member institutions could come close to reaching, or even surpassing, the $30-million mark in annual athletic department revenue. Even though the WAC once included as many as 16 members, former WAC Commissioner Karl Benson told. San Diego State is heading to National Title off buzzer-beater are you serious!? Better to share with 12 than 14. The WAC isnt exactly the most regional conference but it still will be better than it has been. Chicago State University voluntarily will exit following the 2021-22 academic year. Also, I think it is disingenuous to compare the distance to Seattle U. Conference USA is wiping out the competition and then getting wiped out? If this is the direction we are going there is no way the west can play a full round robin.. New Mexico State owns New Mexico whenever it can play there again and then there is a six-team=big Texas stamp. , one WAC AD, citing a conversation with WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd, referenced administrators in the conference who have , . The WAC did say the move isnt just about football, which is definitely true. Per NCAA bylaws, a conference must have six active Division I members that sponsor the sport in which automatic qualification is sought. Instead, it would add another member on the opposite end of the conferences geographic footprint from Seattle. If the rest of the WAC were to try to force out Seattle University or if Seattle University were to leave the WAC voluntarily after a little, um, encouragement, then the conference could potentially find an eighth member institution that sponsors FCS football from within its own membership. New Mexico State currently competes as an FBS independent and the WACs recent invitations of membership stated that during the first year of membership in the conference, football-playing institutions will commit to an analysis of all implications of a move to FBS., thats dedicated to the conferences announced expansion and it includes a map of the 13 institutions that are currently scheduled to be members of the conference during the 2022-23 academic year. Western Athletic Conference - Wikipedia Chicago State has enjoyed its time in the WAC and is looking forward to finding new membership, CSU President Zaldwaynaka Scott said in a press release. Perhaps ironically, one of the few comparisons to Seattle Universitys status as a geographic outlier in the WAC is an institution in another conference with a Texas-heavy presence and a focus on football West Virginia University and the Big 12. Fourteen can get a little bit cumbersome from a scheduling standpoint and also from a revenue-sharing standpoint. The WAC provided Groer with its desired scheduling stipulations, such that the conference wanted each team to play 18 regular-season conference games with nine at home and nine on the road, with each team playing a double round-robin schedule against its divisional opponents. The average distance driving, not flying between Seattle University and the six other projected members of the West division is roughly 1,255 miles, which is almost double the division average. It took me two seconds to determine this was not mathematically possible, one WAC administrator wrote in an email. The league stated that the conference tourney is expected to stay in Las Vegas, but that could change based off new conference leadership and however much sway the Texas six have. The WAC added a page to its website thats dedicated to the conferences announced expansion and it includes a map of the 13 institutions that are currently scheduled to be members of the conference during the 2022-23 academic year. After additional reporting. This would be the first time since 1999, when the Mountain West was formed, that a new conference would join the FBS. College football expansion: SEC would consider 2 ACC schools, per An FBS version of the Super League or a Power 5 breakaway from the NCAA doesnt appear imminent. Chicago State is leaving voluntarily, according to the WAC, after the university has faced financial struggles and the school already cut the rest of the basketball season completely off recently. HOUSTON - Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Jeff Hurd today announced membership invitations issued by the conference's Board of Directors to five universities have been accepted effective July 1, 2022. Grand Canyon continues to build and focus on basketball as the main sport for the school, while Cal Baptist and Dixie State each have shown life despite being relatively new to the D-I world. Theyve gone through a thorough athletic department review and their budgets and what they want to do moving forward. Old timer Karl Benson might think San Jose State is a "small school" (30,000+) with smaller crowds (17,100 during October's SDSU Game), but you may notice if they play Nevada the game gets bumped up from ESPN to ABC. KVIA ABC 7 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. A few hours after the email containing the proposed tennis schedules was sent, a member of the WAC conference office then told the recipients to disregard the message. So, theres a lot of different possibilities that well discuss. Using driving distances strictly for comparison purposes, the distance from Seattle University to the nearest member institution in the 2022-23 version of the WAC is 879 miles to Utah Valley University, or roughly a 14-hour drive, per MapQuest. A conference ruled by BYU . The given elements of our scheduling situation means were essentially in a patten of whack-a-mole trying to make improvements, WAC Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Ron Loghry wrote in a subsequent basketball scheduling update in April. Odds and lines subject to change. There is currently not a name for the new conference, but it is being referred to in the planning process as ASUN-WAC Football.. While the conferences initial press release noted, it is anticipated that at least one more football-playing member will be added, some athletic directors in the WAC believe theres a consensus of opinion that a 13-member conference isnt sustainable from a scheduling perspective, according to emails obtained by Out of Bounds. From their first season competing at the DI level in the 1952-53 season through the end of the 60s, Seattle made 11 NCAA tournament appearances in 17 seasons, while winning nearly 74 percent of its games. , and perhaps the conference could settle at 12 members in the future. A Big Sky spokesperson didnt respond to a request for comment. However, the WACs invitations of membership stated, The Conference will seek a 14th member which will sponsor football and will align geographically with the Southwest Division, according to a copy of one of the invitations obtained by. GCU president Brian Mueller, who led the WAC's expansion, was in Houston as part of the WAC's news conference. Stephen Sundborg in April about the universitys future in the WAC, Sundborg didnt acknowledge the email but the next day, the WAC conference office contacted Out of Bounds directly after learning Out of Bounds had contacted Seattle University. Per Thamels report, there is ambiguity that looms around the process to becoming an FBS league, but that all FCS schools involved will have to go through a formal transition process. Much more is to be done before all the Presidents meet in early June. However, there could be smaller-scale developments in conference realignment in the next few years and some of the general principles behind the proposed Super League such as optimized scheduling, or maximizing the value of media rights deals and league distributions could be instructive as we think about potential conference realignment in the future of college athletics. All Rights Reserved. Oh well. , when asked, in general, about the considerations conferences might have when deciding upon a number of members, including in regards to basketball scheduling. WAC announces expansion to 13 schools; NMSU to remain - KVIA The rise and fall of the WAC: Lessons we learned from the 16-team The addition of the four Texas schools, along with Southern Utah out of the Big Sky, and the announcement that UT Rio Grande Valley will start football, is clearly, well, mostly about FCS football. But such an addition wouldnt mitigate Seattles status as a geographic outlier. included Chicago State playing both home and away games against Stephen F. Austin, potentially suggesting that either concessions were made by Stephen F. Austin or that there was no other way for the conference to create adequate schedules for 13 teams. Questions, comments and feedback are welcome at andrew [dot] wittry [at] gmail [dot] com or onTwitter. This move will also bring back WAC football. We did discuss a few things that will be coming up with the merger he thought, Moccia wrote in an email to New Mexico State University President Dr. John Floros after the meeting with Hurd, according to a copy of the email obtained through a state of New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act request. 213 nationally last season, according to, ), if the university pursues membership in a different conference in the future, it could have a select number of options, especially given the quality of many of the Division I mens basketball conferences on the West Coast. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here. Southern Utah will join by 2022-23 after competing one more season in the Big Sky. The Redhawks made the NCAA tournament in five of their first six seasons as a Division I program, including a national runner-up finish in the 1958 NCAA Tournament. The change in date was made at the request of the four Texas institutions after the Southland Conference voted to expedite their entrance from the conference from 2022 to 2021. West Virginias athletic department reported spending roughly $6.2 million on team travel last fiscal year. Cal Baptist interim Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman wrote to Moccia, Can we move Chicago State to the Southwest region? Only the conferences university presidents can change the scheduling agreement outlined in the membership invitations. How schools are differentiating their approaches to athlete branding, By themselves, the addition of personalized logos for recruits, jerseys featuring social media handles, brand coaches on coaching staffs and even for-credit NIL courses might be unlikely to change the fortunes of a program, but each element could be representative of a larger branding and marketing strategy that aligns all corners of a universitys campus around its athletes NIL rights, which could collectively improve a programs outlook, especially when universities will soon be able to show future recruits the actual receipts from what their athletes have earned from their NILs.. 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Over the course of the next year, the WAC will explore the potential implications of a future in which it competes in the FBS, and according to emails sent by conference stakeholders, some administrators in the conference may not want that future to include a 13-member conference, nor Seattle University. Football - Western Athletic Conference A separate email from the AD referenced the expectation that there will be clamoring from the ADs (sic) to go to a 12 team model when we can. A second AD whose university will be in the conference wrote in an email that he believes theres a consensus of opinion that 13 doesnt work with divisions, as the conference has faced scheduling difficulties this spring. provided to Seattle University President Sundborg and the universitys athletic department in April, university leaders were asked whether they, or other administrators in the WAC, have discussed the potential for the conference to add a 14th member institution in the greater Pacific Northwest in order to give Seattle a regional travel partner. Conference Realignment Updates: WAC, Patriot, Big Ten and more - Substack Theyve added football schools and so I think youve seen that shakeup there. Its a bit of a mess, Moccia wrote in April. The new WAC football league will be home to SFA, Sam Houston, Lamar, Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, Dixie State and later Southern Utah in 2022. The WAC is currently home to home to New Mexico State, California Baptist, Chicago State, Dixie State, Grand Canyon University, Seattle University, Tarleton State, UT Rio Grande Valley and Utah Valley. ARLINGTON, Texas -- UT-Arlington has accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference beginning this summer, part of an expansion that will push the league to at least 15 schools. . The map of the WACs future conference footprint highlights the degree to which Seattle University is, and will continue to be, a geographic outlier in the conference, especially after fellow WAC geographic outlier Chicago State, The distance between Seattle University and its fellow future WAC institutions, combined with the inherent scheduling challenges for a 13-member conference that will be divided into two divisions with an imbalanced number of teams in each division, could lead to administrators in the WAC pushing for the conference to contract in size to 12 members in the future, according to emails obtained by, In March, WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd and New Mexico State Director of Athletics Mario Moccia met for breakfast during the conferences mens and womens basketball tournaments. Its nearly a 1,000-mile flight between Seattle and Riverside, California, where Cal Baptist is located, which would take roughly two hours and 20 minutes. That distance is roughly 55 to 60 percent of the longest driving distances in the conference between any two non-Seattle institutions that will be in the 2022-23 version of the WAC: Utah Valley UT Rio Grande Valley: 1,605 miles, California Baptist UT Rio Grande Valley: 1,534 miles. Florida Atlantics Storybook Season Ends In Heartbreaking Fashion, Lamont Butler calls game, sends SDSU to national final. Welcome back toOut of Bounds, a free, weekly newsletter about college athletics.
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