The WAC is Down to 6 Members...

[SLCBengal]

with the announcement tonight that Fresno State and Nevada will join the MWC. Deseret News USU Reporter Jared Eborn writes that it is now time to panic...

With the defections of Fresno State and Nevada to the Mountain West, the Western Athletic Conference -- and USU in particular -- should be in full panic mode.

The WAC, now losing three teams in the last month or two, is a 6-team league with no top-to-bottom strong programs and a few that are hanging by a thread in many ways.

USU Aggies Blog: Time to Panic

Does the WAC go hard after some Big Sky schools like Montana or Portland State? UC Davis? Cal Poly?

 

[spazdog1]

There's also speculation that Hawaii will go independent. Especially now that there aren't the quality teams left in the WAC (no disrespect to USU and the rest). It almost makes sense for the Warriors. They traditionally have had problems playing on the mainland, time zone issues and expenses come to mind. But, the thought is that they could have teams, particularly West Coast teams, play them in Aloha Stadium. The big issue is still money. Aloha Stadium holds 60K or so fans but they rarely sniff at sellouts. How do they compensate teams to venture off to the islands without large crowds?

For those that question the impact on ISU and the Big Sky Conference, don't be surprised that the WAC will invite FCS teams, especially those that make geographic sense. For example, Portland State and maybe Montana. Forget about football for a minute... With six or if Hawaii moves, five teams left, the WAC would lose their NCAA automatic bid to the NCAA basketball tournament.

The next few days will be interesting for the WAC and most certainly, the Big Sky Conference.

 

[biobengal]

Ugh... I can't wait, the BSC within the next five years could be the following:

Idaho State
Weber State
Northern Colorado
Northern Arizona
Portland State
Southern Utah
Eastern Washington
Central Washington

ISU has been making this bed for decades.... they will soon pay for sitting on their hands all these years.

 

[boisebengal]

Teams like Portland State and Sac State don't even meet the minimum requirements to go to 1-A, and if they think things are tough at the 1-AA level, then wait until they try things at the 1-A level! Sounds pretty absurd to me and to most of us, I'm sure! Montana is still doing a study as to whether or not it's even feasible for them to move up. And when you look at the fact that for them it would mean increased travel costs, increased scholarships for FB -- including a lot more out of state scholarships, more sports, more coaches, more expenditures for facilities, etc. -- all for a spot in the Humanitarian Bowl!!!! They could very well just stay in the Big Sky. Everyone knew it was a huge mistake for Idaho to move up to 1-A about 15 years ago, only because BSU did. Because they're the spoiled brat, and have to have everything their way -- because of their arrogance. And soon they'll be paying the price for their foolishness! The Idaho fans well remember when BSU competed at the Jr. College level in the 50's and 60's, when Idaho was the major school in the state and were competing in the old Pac-10 conference -- whatever it was called back then. And back in the late 60's they tried to keep BSU out when they wanted to join the Big Sky. About 20 years ago I well remember when the State Board, heavily comprised of Idaho graduates, had fired BSU's President Kaiser, because he wanted to the school to move up to 1-A, and the Board didn't want them to leave Idaho behind. The Idaho folks have done everything they can to try to keep up with BSU and the success they've had at their current level, and there's certainly been a lot of jealousy on their part -- but they probably now know that it's a foregone conclusion.

Within the next few years I could very well see the Big Sky staying the same; we'll be fine and won't have any problems. It's the WAC that could soon be on life support -- because there's few options for them. La. Tech is waiting to go into the Conf. USA whenever there's an opening, and NMSU could go back into the Sun Belt. I don't know what will happen with USU, and in a way I feel for them because they're an excellent school with fine facilities and an outstanding basketball tradition. If BYU decides to stay put in the MWC then they'll be at 11 teams, and then they could add USU to be at 12.

But we'll add Idaho if they want to come crawling back with their tail between their legs, because we'd enjoy the competition with them once again. Sounds like Idaho's only options within the next few years could be to compete as a football independent, which would be financial suicide, drop their program, or come back to the Big Sky. You know, I really hope that either of the latter two options would happen. I don't like the attitude that the Idaho fans have towards ISU and the Big Sky -- when they should have been competing in the Big Sky all along.