I agree with SJH but we cannot put too much stock in the administration in laying the proper foundation and making the necessary strides to get everything in-line for a jump. I don’t mean to knock the admin that hard as I feel they have been doing a decent job given the financial situation and compared to the admin at that school on the other side of the Causeway, they look brilliant. I mean how long have we waited for the new arena (student approved mind you) to be built? We as alumni and fans can not afford to wait around forever. As much as I would love for a new arena and an upgraded Hornet Stadium to be in place prior to the jump, I think the fact is the facilities just won’t come without there being an absolute requirement or a demanding need for them.
It’s obvious the WAC will be completely desperate for members if LA Tech, Fresno State, Nevada, and Boise State leave the conference. They will be so desperate that the WAC will have no choice but to accept the sub-standard athletic facilities for the time being. This will give time for Sac State to use the added exposure of being in the WAC to raise funds, find donors, and get new and improved facilities built. The main concern I have is the Title IX compliance issues associated with being FBS that will create other problems within the budget.
I don’t think Sac State has much of an athletic rep to ruin with respect to football. Sure Sperbeck has rebuilt this program and has it heading in the right direction but until the number of wins increases and this program becomes a consistent winner, that rep won’t change. A move to the WAC would not help this but with the WAC becoming a complete joke with the departure of said schools, it wouldn’t and shouldn’t be too hard to compete with the likes if Utah State, NM State, Idaho, SJSU, and even a floundering Hawaii program with the talent rich area of Sacramento to recruit from.
This brings about another concern I have. With the departure of the quality football programs from the WAC, this will only hurt the value of the WAC’s TV contracts and other sources of conference revenue and exposure. I have no idea how monetary projections could be made, but I have to think its is pretty obvious that any draw the WAC had for TV viewers and interest from common football fans will leave with the departure of Boise State. How often do your hear ESPN (or any major sports show) talking about the Sun Belt? Never. Why? Because they don’t have a team worth mentioning. This will be the same boat that the new WAC will be in until a team steps up like Boise State or Fresno State did. (Hawaii would be in this list too but they have been in steady decline since they failed to resign June Jones. Hawaii will be the obvious front runners for the WAC title year in and year out in the new WAC alignment.)
Having said all that, I say Sac State should move to the WAC if they are offered an invitation. The admin will need to secure agreements with the NCAA that will allow them to ramp up scholarships over say the first 3 years of being in the WAC (if this is allowed) so the budget wouldn’t get slammed with 22 (44 w/ Title IX) new scholarships to fund right out the gate. This should give the athletic department time to find funding for the additional scholarships and facilities or at the very least hash out a plan on how to address those issues in the near future.
