WAC Reviewing Several FCS Options for Expansion

[TexasTerror]

Also mentions making another run at North Texas, as well as Montana (coupled with Montana State, of course)...

As a SHSU fan, I've said it before, if two of our three main rivals (TXST, Lamar and SFA) go FBS - we're in a tough position. It really changes the dynamic of the Southland Conference... and as much as I wouldn't necessarily like it, it's what we would have to do.


While declining to name any football schools, Benson did say Seattle University, California State-Bakersfield and Utah Valley will be assessed as non-football members.

"We started the process today of evaluating a pool of potential candidates," he said. "That's all I can tell you. I don't think staying at eight (members) is one of our preferred options. Our preference is to get to 10, maybe even 12."

Multiple sources, one of which attended Friday's meeting, told the Express-News recently the list of football candidates includes, but is not necessarily limited to, Louisiana-Lafayette, Lamar, Sam Houston State, California-Davis, Portland State and Cal Poly.

Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/default/article/Commissioner-says-WAC-has-new-members-lined-up-957909.php#ixzz1B6oNalFP

[TexasTerror]

I could live with this arrangement. I really doubt La-Lafayette or North Texas comes into the league (and I feel that both are preferred options over Lamar, SHSU due to current FBS status).

If the Montana schools do not come in, you go over Cal State-Bakersfield and Seattle. At least keep the 'west' as the true 'west'.

WEST
Denver (non-football)
Idaho
Montana
Montana State
San Jose State
Utah State
Utah Valley (non-football, if USU leaves)

EAST
Lamar
Louisiana Tech
New Mexico State
Oral Roberts (non-football, if La Tech leaves)
Sam Houston State
Texas St-San Marcos
UT-San Antonio


Divisional format in hoops, soccer and volleyball. You play all five teams in your division twice (home-and-home) plus one game against the other six teams in the other division (rotating). That would limit travel significantly.

A sport like baseball would be different due to Sacramento State's affiliate membership. Also, if any school needed to add sports - perhaps bowling is looked at? A sport like tennis would not have mandated league play, just a conference championship and perhaps a mid-season weekend "shootout".

[Candor]

wow the NCAA did the WAC a huge favor, there is no panic to add football schools now, and those FCS schools can wait a few years to join if they want to.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

wow the NCAA did the WAC a huge favor, there is no panic to add football schools now, and those FCS schools can wait a few years to join if they want to.

Yes, they absolutely did. :(

[100%GRIZ]

Well time to debate this all over again! I have mixed emotions but with Montana State in the mix - who knows what will happen this time!

[TexasTerror]

Only 3-4 schools could successfully make the jump.
Montana, Appy St, DelAware, Ndsu

What about TXST, who is already in the process of making the jump? They do have just as many resources, if not more than most of the WAC leftovers. Same goes for UTSA...

[justinslot]

Karl Benson, man, he's a survivor. He keeps patching that league back together.

Though I'm amused to see Cal-Davis' name there. How many times do they have to say no?

[Cocky]

Only 3-4 schools could successfully make the jump.
Montana, Appy St, DelAware, Ndsu

If those can make it, there are several more that can too. JSU, Ga Southern, about half of the CAA, Youngstown, EKU, a few MVC teams, surrely a few more.

[DFW HOYA]

If those can make it, there are several more that can too. JSU, Ga Southern, about half of the CAA, Youngstown, EKU, a few MVC teams, surrely a few more.

Who knows, the Southern CAA could merge with the WAC--hold a title game midway, say, New Orleans.

[GSU EAGLES]

Who knows, the Southern CAA could merge with the WAC--hold a title game midway, say, New Orleans.

That would be interesting.

[Mr. C]

Is someone not paying attention when they write this stuff? Montana just turned the WAC down. I had lunch last week with Montana's AD. He said that Montana's study CLEARLY showed that FCS is where they need to be. Montana State is less ready facility-wise and in every other way than Montana. If these brainiacs would look at the state of the educational economy in California, they would also see that there is ZERO chance of Cal Poly and UC Davis making a move to FCS. If Karl Benson is feeding them this stuff, it just shows how truly desperate that the WAC is to stay afloat.

None of the schools mentioned that are actually candidates do anything but keep this teetering league on life support.

Starting a new thread like this is really a waste of time.

[Mr. C]

Karl Benson, man, he's a survivor. He keeps patching that league back together.

Though I'm amused to see Cal-Davis' name there. How many times do they have to say no?

By the way, there is NO school known as Cal-Davis. It is University of California at Davis, or UC Davis. Or even UCD, but NEVER Cal-Davis.

[DFW HOYA]

By the way, there is NO school known as Cal-Davis. It is University of California at Davis, or UC Davis. Or even UCD, but NEVER Cal-Davis.

And don't call it Cal State-Davis, either!

[aceinthehole]

Yes, they absolutely did. :(



The imminent departures of Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii had threatened to violate the NCAA's continuity requirement for automatic tournament berths.

But that rule was replaced Thursday with new legislation that bases qualification on membership - seven teams for men's and women's basketball, and six for other sports.

Does this help the PL as well?

[DFW HOYA]

Does this help the PL as well?

Not really. The key driver for the PL is its own bylaws: five full members must sponsor I-AA football to maintain the conference, and they're sitting on five right now + 2 affiliates.

Put another way--the PL can lose Fordham and soldier on. Lose Colgate or Lehigh, and they close the (football) doors.

[FargoBison]

The WAC just needs to die, hopefully the MWC delivers the death blow in few weeks.

[darell1976]

Only 3-4 schools could successfully make the jump.
Montana, Appy St, DelAware, Ndsu

Thanks Lakes...oops I mean hailthebison.

[Cocky]

The new rules saying 7 teams playing in a conference, with no reference to time spent together, would get a basketball auto bid makes the WAC less attractive.

[TexasTerror]

Is someone not paying attention when they write this stuff? Montana just turned the WAC down.

And North Texas, as well as Louisiana-Lafayette have probably combined to turn the WAC down five or six times between them!


If Karl Benson is feeding them this stuff, it just shows how truly desperate that the WAC is to stay afloat. None of the schools mentioned that are actually candidates do anything but keep this teetering league on life support.

I agree - Benson is feeding the info. He's a desperate man in a rough situation.


Starting a new thread like this is really a waste of time.

It is the offseason, Mr. C!

College realignment is going to play a big role and it would not surprise me if one more FCS school made the move to the FBS level...

[Mr. C]

The point is that this article is crock. There is little, if any, useful information in it. And you are doing divisional lineups based on this article ...

[NoCoDanny]

Just for ****s and giggles I've love to see Montana State move up without Montana and sit back and watch the fireworks.

[Cocky]

There would be a new sheriff in town.

[TexasTerror]

The point is that this article is crock. There is little, if any, useful information in it. And you are doing divisional lineups based on this article ...

I was simply sharing what I thought would be tolerable from a fan's standpoint and more financially do-able for the Bearkats. Mr. C, last I checked - this was a 'fan forum' and we as fans, can discuss a wide range of topics and share our opinions - even if you or others deem them uneducated!


Lamar is a legitimate option for the WAC to replace Utah State. Lamar has just restarted football and really doesn't have any tradition or continual history with its FCS affiliates. I could easily see Lamar jumping on board to the WAC. The others, not so much. North Texas and UL-Lafayette, not at all.

Lamar wants to be FBS by 2015. Lamar has history with several schools in the region from other sports over the years - including McNeese, La-Lafayette and La Tech.

[elonforrealz]

Wow, I thought the WAC was going to be bad when Boise left. I didn't know it'd be THIS bad that they'd resort to adding MULTIPLE FCS teams! Wow

[Cocky]

Wow, I thought the WAC was going to be bad when Boise left. I didn't know it'd be THIS bad that they'd resort to adding MULTIPLE FCS teams! Wow
Give them a few years and one will be the next Boise, Middle, FIU, N Illinois, Troy, or whichever team everybody on here uses as a model.

[2002jack]

Thanks Lakes...oops I mean hailthebison.

It's most certainly Lakes.

[Sly Fox]

I wonder if Benson has given serious thought to the idea of an Eastern Division. It could secure the league's future and be the opportunity a number of East Coast schools have been looking for to make the move up. It is not as crazy as it sounds at first. Frankly it makes more sense then some of these financially strapped Cali schools that keep getting rehashed. Just to throw something out there:

Pacific Division:

Denver
Idaho
La Tech
New Mexico State
San Jose State
Texas State
Utah State
UTSA

Atlantic Division:

Appalachian State
Charlotte
Delaware
Georgia Southern
JMU
Liberty
ODU

Yeah, I know it sounds ludicrous. But if rumors of new NCAA rules to limit conferences from stepping up to FBS level are put in place are in fact true, this might be a remedy for the east coast & west coast schools.

[TexasTerror]

Remarks from Denver Pioneers blogger...


Needless to say, a league of Utah State, Idaho, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, Denver, Texas State, Texas-San Antonio, and — say — Seattle, CSU-Bakersfield, Portland State and Cal Poly isn’t going to set the world on fire. All the moreso if Utah State defects, replaced perhaps by Utah Valley State (which is sort of like replacing the New England Patriots with the Oakland Raiders and calling it an even trade). You know it’s a bad sign when you’re thinking that landing North Texas would be a real coup, and nabbing the dynamic duo of Montana and Montana State would mean you’ve hit the jackpot.

http://www.brendanloy.com/lrt/2011/01/hey-the-wac-may-actually-survive/

[GSU EAGLES]

I wonder if Benson has given serious thought to the idea of an Eastern Division. It could secure the league's future and be the opportunity a number of East Coast schools have been looking for to make the move up. It is not as crazy as it sounds at first. Frankly it makes more sense then some of these financially strapped Cali schools that keep getting rehashed. Just to throw something out there:

Pacific Division:

Denver
Idaho
La Tech
New Mexico State
San Jose State
Texas State
Utah State
UTSA

Atlantic Division:

Appalachian State
Charlotte
Delaware
Georgia Southern
JMU
Liberty
ODU

Yeah, I know it sounds ludicrous. But if rumors of new NCAA rules to limit conferences from stepping up to FBS level are put in place are in fact true, this might be a remedy for the east coast & west coast schools.

I think that would be a great conference that would easily be better than the Sunbelt and MAC. You could probably throw Ga State in the conference as well.

[superman7515]

Except that Georgia State has a 6 year contract and isn't going anywhere for a while, haha.

[1andDone]

I think that would be a great conference that would easily be better than the Sunbelt and MAC. You could probably throw Ga State in the conference as well.

No way that would be better than the Sub Belt immeadilty , playing FBS every week would take a toll on the schools, but yea no way Georgia State' moves up, they have to 'prove themselves' first.

[Appfan_in_CAAland]

I wonder if Benson has given serious thought to the idea of an Eastern Division. It could secure the league's future and be the opportunity a number of East Coast schools have been looking for to make the move up. It is not as crazy as it sounds at first. Frankly it makes more sense then some of these financially strapped Cali schools that keep getting rehashed. Just to throw something out there:

Pacific Division:

Denver
Idaho
La Tech
New Mexico State
San Jose State
Texas State
Utah State
UTSA

Atlantic Division:

Appalachian State
Charlotte
Delaware
Georgia Southern
JMU
Liberty
ODU

Yeah, I know it sounds ludicrous. But if rumors of new NCAA rules to limit conferences from stepping up to FBS level are put in place are in fact true, this might be a remedy for the east coast & west coast schools.


I think that would be a great conference that would easily be better than the Sunbelt and MAC. You could probably throw Ga State in the conference as well.

Add the non-football VCU to match the non-football Denver in the west.

I'd feel sorry for the Pacific Division; they'd never go to any bowls or bball tounry bids. And I feel sorry for the Atlantic Division unless the WAC gets some new eastern bowl alliances - because that's where the winners will be.

[GrizBowl]

The WAC is in its death throws as we write. It would seem inevitable that it will go the way of the South West Conference; ie it will die by attrition. If both Montana and Montana State were issued offers to join the Mountain West (in football only) I could see that working out, but no university should seriously consider the dying Western Athletic Conference...

[GA St. MBB Fan]

No way that would be better than the Sub Belt immeadilty , playing FBS every week would take a toll on the schools, but yea no way Georgia State' moves up, they have to 'prove themselves' first.

So says the guy whose team played 6 non-DI teams this past season.

[GA St. MBB Fan]

Except that Georgia State has a 6 year contract and isn't going anywhere for a while, haha.

And you don't think Delaware, JMU, or ODU have similar contracts?

[DFW HOYA]

The WAC is in its death throws as we write. It would seem inevitable that it will go the way of the South West Conference; ie it will die by attrition.

The SWC didn't die of attrition in that the remaining members voted to end the conference instead of adding four schools that eventually ended up in CUSA anyway.

[Hammer22]

Except that Georgia State has a 6 year contract and isn't going anywhere for a while, haha.

There is no 6 yr contract. That's the AD publicly calming down Yeager's worries.

[Franks Tanks]

No way that would be better than the Sub Belt immeadilty , playing FBS every week would take a toll on the schools, but yea no way Georgia State' moves up, they have to 'prove themselves' first.

Plenty of schools move to FBS without doing squat at FCS-- like pretty much the entire Sun Belt conference. Most of the schools in the Sun Belt did little to distinguish themselves when they were FCS.

[BearsCountry]

Most of the schools in the Sun Belt did little to distinguish themselves when they were FCS.

Louisaina-Monroe - National Championship
Western Kentucky - National Championship
Arkansas State - Runner Up
Troy - Six Playoff apperances, twice Semi-Finals
Middle Tennessee - Six Playoff apperances

I think the teams had pretty good success before moving up.

[superman7515]

And you don't think Delaware, JMU, or ODU have similar contracts?

ODU might. Delaware and JMU certainly don't because they were founding members of the football conference, so it wouldn't have been a concern at the time.

[Franks Tanks]

Louisaina-Monroe - National Championship
Western Kentucky - National Championship
Arkansas State - Runner Up
Troy - Six Playoff apperances, twice Semi-Finals
Middle Tennessee - Six Playoff apperances

I think the teams had pretty good success before moving up.

None of those schools dominated for a long period of time. App State, EKU, Delaware, Montana, Georgia Southern, Northern Iowa (despite no national title), and YSU have has long periods of sustained success and didn't move up. I realize some of the schools above didn't spend a ton of time in the FCS, but I would say that only Western Kentucky and perhaps ULM were FCS perennial powers before moving up.

[TexasTerror]

WAC looking 'east'...


"This now allows us to get serious about exploring our options and we do have options," Benson said. "Now that San Jose State (and) Utah State are going to be part of the WAC's future, we can move forward and complete the plan that we have started."

The league scheduled a conference call for Wednesday to discuss its next steps — in light of the Mountain West meetings. Membership will be a topic, but Benson does not expect any decisions to be made on the call.

The WAC will have seven football-playing members and one non-football school (Denver) in 2012. Benson said the priority is finding football members.

"We have to be realistic that the pool of football candidates more than likely doesn't exist in the West," Benson said.

Read more: http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2011/01/25/bmurphy/idaho_president_its_been_a_good_thing_us_be_fbs_le vel#ixzz1C9BuCQiV

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Why in Gods Green Earth would the MVC want San Jose State?

It looks like Utah State got screwed in the numbers game. The MVC don't want 11 teams, and they're clearly not interested in any of the other WAC teams.

But this is the biggest eye-opener of all:


Question: Is a return to the FCS a consideration?

Answer: Let me just say we’ve been committed to staying at the FBS level. So, I think that’s important for our university as we try to move forward. I guess that’s all I’ll say about that: It’s been a good thing for us to be at the FBS level.

We’ve appreciated the Western Athletic Conference and what it’s provided to the University of Idaho and, if you look, we’ve been very competitive.

I don't want to read into this too much, but I think this reaction is telling - he's talking about the past, not the future. He's not saying "We'll fold before going FCS". He's saying "Um, yeah, I guess that's important."

He's also sounding like the WAC isn't going to be around much longer. Again, he's talking about it as if it's the past tense.

So I'll bring it up again - might the NCAA force the WAC to re-classify as an FCS conference, if it exists at all?

[bandit]

this interview with the Idaho AD was before the MWC announcement that they weren't planning on expanding, I believe. Idaho might have been faced with the prospect of either going Indy, or dropping back to the Big Sky since, if San Jose State and Utah State had joined the MWC, the other remaining WAC schools and the newcomers (La Tech, NM State, TX State and TXSA) might have found a home in the Sun Belt. No such option existed for Idaho.

Now that Utah State and San Jose State are staying in the WAC, the chances for that conferences survival increases dramatically.

Why would the NCAA force the WAC to FCS? They don't have the ability to do that, and what would be the purpose? Are they going to do the same to the MAC and Sun Belt? Makes zero sense.

[Cat79]

The NCAA is not going to force the WAC to FCS. The WAC is planning to rebuild with the right combination of universities. The footprint could take a radical shift eastward into Sunbelt territory for good quality FCS teams since those in the west state they are not ready to take on the additional costs of schollies. BTW, The new NCAA rules require FCS universities to be sponsored by a FBS conference. The WAC has the power to grant certain FCS universities their shot at FBS unlike many of the other conferences.

THE WAC IS BACK

[Lehigh Football Nation]

BTW, The new NCAA rules require FCS universities to be sponsored by a FBS conference. The WAC has the power to grant certain FCS universities their shot at FBS unlike many of the other conferences.

Yes. This is literally the only card the WAC has. If the NCAA decides to make a stand, they're finished.

[Cat79]

The opportunity to make a stand against the WAC has passed. There are other conferences with less attendance than the WAC. Look at the MAC attendance numbers. You apparently don't remember the Sunbelt was saved last time when three teams left the Sunbelt for the WAC. The Sunblelt membership dropped before adding teams like ULM. Troy. Florida Atlantic and FIU.

[TexasTerror]

The opportunity to make a stand against the WAC has passed. There are other conferences with less attendance than the WAC. Look at the MAC attendance numbers. You apparently don't remember the Sunbelt was saved last time when three teams left the Sunbelt for the WAC. The Sunblelt membership dropped before adding teams like ULM. Troy. Florida Atlantic and FIU.

The Sun Belt is now the more attractive league... more stable and outside of football, very strong amongst mid-majors. A lot more going for it than the WAC.

Those Sun Belt members that left for the WAC have not done well in the Commissioners Cup standings. They were poorly funded and overmatched against Hawaii, Nevada, Fresno State and Boise State. Just as they will against TXST and UTSA...

[NoCoDanny]

I like the WAC better than the Sun Belt.

[Sec310]

I read the San Jose St. fan forums and they thought they were a lock, because of the huge TV market. They never mentioned anything about their; Teams
facilities, attendance- you know the things that really matter.

San Jose St. fans must be drinking some kool-aid or smoking something.