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Western Athletic Conference

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Western Athletic Conference
AssociationNCAA
CommissionerKarl Benson (since 1994)
Sports fielded
  • 19
    • men's: 8
    • women's: 11
DivisionDivision I
SubdivisionFBS
RegionWestern United States, Southern United States (Louisiana Tech)
Official websitewacsports.com
Locations
Location of teams in {{{title}}}

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A). The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States, with member institutions located in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, plus the "non-western" state of Louisiana (traditionally associated with the South).

In 2012, the WAC will lose its presence in the state of Nevada, but will also gain institutions in Colorado and Texas starting in 2012. The WAC is generally considered a "mid-major" conference, since it is not an automatic-qualifier member of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) selection system.

History

Formation

The WAC formed out of a series of talks between Brigham Young University athletic director Eddie Kimball and other university administrators from 1958 to 1961 to form a new athletic conference that would better fit the needs and situations of certain universities which were at the time members of the Border, Skyline, and Pacific Coast Conferences. Potential member universities who were represented at the meetings included BYU, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Arizona State, and Wyoming. While the three Washington and Oregon schools elected to stay in a revamped Pac-8 Conference that replaced the scandal-plagued PCC, the remaining six schools formed the WAC, forcing the disbandment of the Border and Skyline conferences. New Mexico State and Utah State applied for charter membership and were turned down; they would eventually become WAC members 43 years later.

Charter members

Success and first expansion

The conference proved to be an almost perfect fit for the six schools from both a competitive and financial standpoint. Arizona and Arizona State, in particular, experienced success in baseball with Arizona garnering the 1963 College World Series runner-up trophy and ASU winning the CWS in 1965, 1967, and 1969. Texas-El Paso (UTEP), recently renamed from Texas Western College, and Colorado State joined in 1967 to bring membership up to eight.

With massive growth in the state of Arizona, the balance of WAC play in the 1970s became increasingly skewed in favor of the Arizona schools, who won or tied for all but two WAC football titles from 1969 onward. In the summer of 1978, the two schools left the WAC for the Pac-8, which became the Pac-10, and were replaced in the WAC by San Diego State and, one year later, Hawaii. The WAC further expanded by adding Air Force in the summer of 1980. A college football national championship won by Brigham Young in 1984 added to the WAC's reputation as the best of the so-called mid-major conferences. This nine-team line-up of the WAC defined the conference for nearly 15 years.

Second wave of expansion and turbulence

Fresno State expanded its athletic program in the early 1990s and was granted membership in 1992 as the nationwide trend against major college programs independent of conferences accelerated. The WAC merged with the High Country Athletic Conference, a parallel organization to the WAC for women's athletics, in 1990 to unify both men's and women's athletics under one administrative structure.

In 1996, the WAC expanded again, adding six schools to its ranks for a total of sixteen. Rice, TCU, and SMU joined the league from the Southwest Conference, which had disbanded. Big West Conference members San Jose State and UNLV were also admitted, as well as Tulsa from the Missouri Valley Conference. With the expansion, the WAC was divided into two divisions.

To help in organizing schedules and travel for the farflung league, the members were divided into four quadrants of four teams each, as follows:

Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4
Hawaiʻi UNLV BYU Tulsa
Fresno State Air Force Utah TCU
San Diego State Colorado State New Mexico SMU
San Jose State Wyoming UTEP Rice

Quadrant one was always part of the Pacific Division, and quadrant four was always part of the Mountain Division. Quadrant two was part of the Pacific Division for 1996 and 1997 before switching to the Mountain Division in 1998, while the reverse was true for quadrant three. The scheduled fourth year of the alignment was abandoned after eight schools left to form the Mountain West Conference.

The division champions in football met from 1996 to 1998 in a championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium (also known as the Silver Bowl) in Henderson, Nevada. ABC televised all three games.

Increasingly, this arrangement was not satisfactory to most of the older, pre-1990 members. Five members in particular (Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming) felt that WAC expansion had compromised the athletic and academic excellence of the membership [2]. Additional concerns centered around finances, as the new league stretched from Hawaiʻi to Oklahoma and travel costs became a concern. In 1999, those five schools, along with old line WAC schools New Mexico and San Diego State, as well as newcomer UNLV, split off and formed the new Mountain West Conference, depriving the WAC of most of its competitive strength and almost all of its history (in addition to its 4 remaining charter members). Only UTEP and Hawaiʻi would remain from the WAC's "golden age".

WAC in the 2000s

In 2000, the University of Nevada, Reno of the Big West conference joined as part of its plan to upgrade its athletic program.

TCU left for Conference USA in 2001 (it would later leave C-USA to become the ninth member of the Mountain West in 2005).

When the Big West announced that it would drop football after the 2000 season, four of its members (Boise State, Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State) wanted to continue their football programs. Boise State was invited to join the WAC and promptly departed the Big West, while New Mexico State and Idaho joined the Sun Belt Conference (NMSU as a full member, Idaho as a "football only" member) and Utah State operated as an independent D-I program. At the same time, Louisiana Tech ended its independent D-I status and also joined the WAC. The Bulldogs had played in The Sun Belt for several sports throughout the 1990s.

In 2005, Conference USA sought new members to replenish its ranks after losing members to the Big East, which had lost members to the ACC. Four WAC schools, former SWC schools Rice and SMU, as well as Tulsa, and UTEP, joined Conference USA. In response, the WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State – all former Big West schools which left the conference in 2000 along with Boise State when that conference dropped football. The three new schools were all land grant universities, bringing the conference total to five (Nevada and Hawaii).

Rumors of further membership changes

Radio station KBOI in Boise reported on Nov. 11, 2008, that Boise State president Robert Kustra received a letter from Mountain West officials inviting Boise State to join the league. Despite the popularity of a prospective move among some fans and reporters, this report (also was carried by the Idaho Statesman newspaper) was later denied.[citation needed]

Later, on November 12, 2009, San Diego radio host Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton reported the Mountain West intended to expand in order to gain automatic access to the Bowl Championship Series by adding Boise State, Nevada, and Fresno State:

"These rumors are everywhere out of the nation's capital. There are negotiations between the people for the BCS as well as the Mountain West Conference. If the Mountain West wants to get a guaranteed spot in the BCS they must expand. The expansion would include Boise State, Nevada-Reno and Fresno State. Make it a power twelve team conference." [3]

The rumor created a commotion on Internet message boards across the country; however, no statement by Mountain West Conference, BCS, or NCAA officials was ever made to substantiate the rumor.

On September 29, 2010, it was reported that Seattle University could receive an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference[1], along with the University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas State University, and the University of Denver.[2]

Coming changes

Main article: 2010 NCAA conference realignment

Boise State's future became one of the many topics of discussion amid the widespread rumors and speculation of conference realignment in 2010. In early June, the WAC's athletic directors and university presidents held a meeting in Las Vegas to discuss contingency plans. At the time of the meeting, media reports indicated that Boise State was likely to receive an invitation from the Mountain West within the coming days. On June 11, the reports were confirmed when the MWC officially announced that Boise State would join the conference for the 2011–12 academic year.[3]

WAC commissioner Karl Benson indicated that the conference expected to lose Boise State and that there was no bitterness against BSU by the rest of the membership. He also said that the WAC was considering its own expansion plans, and was eyeing up to six members of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) as future members.[3] Benson has had talks with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Texas State University concerning those school's interest in joining the WAC. In addition, on September 28, 2010, 5 schools made official presentations to the WAC about joining the conference: UTSA, Texas State University at San Marcos , Montana, Denver, and Seattle.

During a September interview with WAC commissioner Karl Benson the only school invited to a private meeting for possible expansion of teams was the Montana Grizzlies of the University of Montana[4]. But on November 11, 2010 Montana announced that they will remain in the Big Sky conference.

In August 2010, media reports surfaced indicating that BYU was seriously considering leaving the MWC to become an independent in football and return to the WAC as a non-football member. The WAC was reportedly willing to accept BYU's non-football sports if it chose to pursue this option, with BYU reportedly scheduling anywhere from four to six football games each season against WAC teams.[5]. However, BYU passed on the WAC, moving to football independence while joining the West Coast Conference in other sports.

On August 18, just hours after the BYU news surfaced, the Mountain West responded by inviting Fresno State and the University of Nevada-Reno to join. Both schools accepted, leaving the WAC with just 6 schools.

On November 11, 2010, the WAC announced that invitations were extended to and accepted by the University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas State University-San Marcos, and the University of Denver to take effect in 2012. Then, on November 19, 2010, the University of Hawaii at Manoa entered negotiations to enter the Mountain West Conference for the 2012 football season, with its other athletic programs beginning negotiations to join the Big West Conference.[6]. These changes mean the WAC will go to eight teams in 2011.[7]

Membership timeline

University of DenverUniversity of Texas at San AntonioTexas State UniversityUtah State UniversityNew Mexico State UniversityUniversity of IdahoLouisiana Tech UniversityBoise State UniversityUniversity of Nevada, RenoSan Jose State UniversityUniversity of TulsaSouthern Methodist UniversityRice UniversityBig EastTexas Christian UniversityUniversity of Nevada, Las VegasMountain WestCalifornia State University, FresnoMountain WestUnited States Air Force AcademyMountain WestUniversity of Hawaii at ManoaMountain WestSan Diego State UniversityC-USAUniversity of Texas at El PasoMountain WestColorado State UniversityMountain WestUniversity of WyomingPac-12Mountain WestUniversity of UtahMountain WestUniversity of New MexicoNCAA Division I FBS independent schoolsMountain WestBrigham Young UniversityPac-12Pac-10Arizona State UniversityPac-12Pac-10University of Arizona

Current members

Institution Nickname Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Joined Endowment
Boise State University Broncos Boise, Idaho 1932 Public 19,667 2001 $54 million
California State University, Fresno Bulldogs Fresno, California 1911 Public (California State University system) 25,613 1992 $91 million
University of Hawaii at Manoa Warriors/Rainbow Wahine Honolulu, Hawaii 1907 Public (University of Hawaii System) 20,135 1979 $159 million
University of Idaho Vandals Moscow, Idaho 1889 Public 11,957 2005 $149 million
Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs/Lady Techsters Ruston, Louisiana 1894 Public (University of Louisiana System) 11,289 2001 $53 million
University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack Reno, Nevada 1874 Public (Nevada System of Higher Education) 16,867 2000 $186 million
New Mexico State University Aggies Las Cruces, New Mexico 1888 Public 17,198 2005 $139 million
San Jose State University Spartans San Jose, California 1857 Public (California State University system) 32,746 1996 $41 million
Utah State University Aggies Logan, Utah 1888 Public (Utah System of Higher Education) 23,925 2005 $151 million

Grey background indicates departing members. Boise State leaves in 2011. Hawaii, Nevada and Fresno State leave in 2012.

Future members

Institution Nickname Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Year Joins Endowment
University of Denver Pioneers Denver, Colorado 1864 Private 11,644 2012 $269.9 million
University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners San Antonio, Texas 1969 Public (University of Texas System) 30,395 2012 $54.08 million
Texas State University–San Marcos Bobcats San Marcos, Texas 1899 Public (Texas State University System) 32,586 2012 $95.1 million

Affiliate members

The following schools field programs in the WAC for sports not sponsored by their primary conferences.[8]

Institution Nickname Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Year Joined Endowment Primary Conference Sport(s)
California State University, Fullerton Titans Fullerton, California 1957 Public (California State University System) 36,996 2006 $19 million Big West Conference women's gymnastics
Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks Flagstaff, Arizona 1899 Public 18,824 2004 $89 million Big Sky Conference women's swimming & diving
California State University, Sacramento Hornets Sacramento, California 1947 Public (California State University System) 27,972 2006 $19 million Big Sky Conference baseball,
women's gymnastics
University of San Diego Toreros San Diego, California 1949 Private/Catholic (unaffiliated) 7,548 2004 $220 million West Coast Conference women's swimming & diving
Southern Utah University Thunderbirds Cedar City, Utah 1897 Public (Utah System of Higher Education) 7,509 2006 N/A The Summit League women's gymnastics
File:WACLocations.png
Locations of current Western Athletic Conference full member institutions.

Former members

1978

1999

2001

  • TCU (1996–2001)

2005

2011

2012

Of the former members:

  • Two (Arizona and Arizona State) are members of the Pac-10.
  • Four (Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP) are in Conference USA.
  • One (Utah) is currently a member of the Mountain West but is scheduled to join the Pac-10 in July 2011.
  • One (BYU) is currently a member of the Mountain West, but is scheduled to join the West Coast Conference in July 2011 (and will operate as an independent in football)
  • One (TCU) is currently a member of the Mountain West, but is scheduled to join the Big East Conference in July 2012 (TCU was in Conference USA from July 2001 through June 2005 before joining the Mountain West)
  • The remaining Ten make up the membership (from 2012 onward) of the Mountain West Conference.

Sports

The WAC crowns team and individual champions in 19 sports – 8 men’s and 11 women’s.

Men's sports

  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Tennis
  • Indoor track and field
  • Outdoor track and field

Women's sports

  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Golf
  • Gymnastics
  • Soccer
  • Softball
  • Swimming and diving
  • Tennis
  • Indoor track and field
  • Outdoor track and field
  • Volleyball

Conference facilities

School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity Baseball stadium Capacity
Boise State Bronco Stadium 33,500 Taco Bell Arena 12,380 No baseball team
Denver No football team Magness Arena 7,200 No baseball team
Fresno State Bulldog Stadium 41,031 Save Mart Center 15,544 Pete Beiden Field 5,422
Hawaiʻi Aloha Stadium 50,000 Stan Sheriff Center 10,300 Les Murakami Stadium 4,312
Idaho Kibbie Dome 16,000 Cowan Spectrum 7,000 No baseball team
Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium 30,600 Thomas Assembly Center 8,000 J.C. Love Field 2,000
Nevada Mackay Stadium 29,993 Lawlor Events Center 11,784 William Peccole Park 3,000
New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium 30,343 Pan American Center 13,071 Presley Askew Field 750
Sacramento State Participates in Big Sky Participates in Big Sky Hornet Field * 1,200
San Jose State Spartan Stadium 30,578 The Event Center Arena 5,000 San Jose Municipal Stadium 5,200
UTSA Alamodome 65,000 Convocation Center 5,100 Roadrunner Field 800
Texas State Bobcat Stadium 16,009 Strahan Coliseum 7,200 Bobcat Baseball Stadium 2,000
Utah State Romney Stadium 25,500 Smith Spectrum 10,270 No baseball team

* Baseball affiliate
Future members highlighted in gray
Members leaving highlighted in pink

Rivalries

Commissioners

Awards

Commissioner's Cup: The WAC awards its Commissioner's Cup to the school that performs the best in each of the conference's 19 men's and women's championships.

Stan Bates Award: The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates and honors the WAC's top male and female scholar-athletes, recognizing the recipients’ athletic and academic accomplishments. In addition, the awards carry a $2,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Joe Kearney Award: Named in honor of former WAC commissioner Dr. Joseph Kearney, the awards are given annually to the top male and female WAC athlete. The WAC Athletics Directors select the male award winner, while the WAC Senior Woman Administrators choose the female honoree.

National championships

The following teams have won NCAA national championships while being a member of the WAC:

The WAC has also produced one AP national champion in football:

Football bowl games

The WAC regularly sends teams to three different bowl games: the Hawaiʻi Bowl, the Humanitarian Bowl, and the New Mexico Bowl. The WAC will also send a team to the Poinsettia Bowl if the Pac-10 conference cannot provide a team. In 2010 and 2013 the WAC will send a team to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Additionally, the conference has the opportunity to send a team to a BCS game, and did so in 2006 with Boise State, 2007 with Hawaiʻi, and 2009, again with Boise State, with a 2-1 overall record.

Bowl Championship Series

Main article: Bowl Championship Series

The WAC champion will receive an automatic berth in one of the five BCS bowl games if they are the highest ranked non-automatic qualifying conference champion and either of the following:

  • Ranked in the top 12 of the BCS Rankings. (Utah qualified under this criterion in 2004-05, 2007–08 and TCU in 2008-09)
  • Ranked in the top 16 of the BCS Rankings and its ranking is higher than that of an automatic qualifying conference champion.

The 2006 Boise State and 2007 Hawaiʻi teams qualified under the first criterion above. The 2008 Boise State team was ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS standings, but did not qualify for an automatic BCS bid because Utah, the Mountain West Conference champion, was #6. The 2008 Broncos were passed over for a BCS berth despite being unbeaten in the regular season. Boise State was once again undefeated in 2009, and received a BCS Berth in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl despite the fact that TCU, also a mid-major, received the automatic bid.

Hawaiʻi Bowl

Main article: Hawaii Bowl

The bowl will select a WAC team and will match it against a Conference USA opponent. Hawaiʻi automatically qualifies for this bowl if it is bowl eligible and doesn't qualify for the BCS. In 2012, The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl will move to the Mountain West Conference when Hawaii Warriors move to the MWC. In 2012 opponent is still to be contracted.

Humanitarian Bowl

Main article: Humanitarian Bowl

The bowl will select its best available WAC team and will match it against the #1 team from the Mid-American Conference.

New Mexico Bowl

Main article: New Mexico Bowl

The bowl will select a WAC team and will match it against a Mountain West Conference opponent.

Poinsettia Bowl

Main article: Poinsettia Bowl

The bowl will select a WAC team in 2011 and 2012. The opponent will be a team from the Mountain West Conference.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

Main article: Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

This bowl (formerly the Emerald Bowl) will select a WAC team in 2010 and 2013 to play the Pac-10's 6th place team provided they are eligible.

Conference championships

Football

Basketball

Baseball

References

  1. ^ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seattleuniversity/2013026139_seattleu30.html
  2. ^ http://news.collegesportsinfo.com/2010/10/report-wac-to-invite-utsa-texas-st.html
  3. ^ a b "Boise State moves to Mountain West". ESPN.com. June 11, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ http://www.grizcentral.com/WAC Commissioner recognizes UM would be "perfect fit"
  5. ^ Katz, Andy (August 18, 2010). "Sources: BYU closer to independence". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 18, 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/50655841-77/state-wac-football-teams.html.csp
  8. ^ http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10100&KEY=&ATCLID=1365971 Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  9. ^ "Hawaii Up Next for Women's Volleyball: ", UCLA Bruins Official Athletic Site, 2006-08-29. Retrieved on 2008-09-25.
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