WAC close to adding two Texas schools for football
Seattle U. candidate to join for basketball
The Western Athletic Conference is close to completing expansion plans that would bring Texas State and Texas-San Antonio into the conference for football beginning with the 2012 season, conference officials said.
Denver and Seattle don’t play football but are strong candidates to join in other sports, including men’s basketball.
The WAC’s expansion timeline has accelerated in the two months since Fresno State and Nevada announced they would jump to the Mountain West, leaving the conference with six football-playing schools, including San Jose State.
WAC commissioner Karl Benson originally targeted next spring as the window for inviting new members. But that plan changed after coaches encountered negative recruiting by teams in other conferences, which have told recruits that the WAC’s future is in jeopardy.
Now the conference hopes to extend invitations by the end of November.
“It’s important to send a strong message sooner than later that the WAC will continue to operate,” Benson said.
Texas State, Texas-San Antonio, Seattle and Denver made presentations last month to the WAC membership committee.
Both Texas schools, which play in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA), appeared eager to make the jump to major college football. They expect to have football budgets that are “very comparable” to those of the six remaining WAC teams, Benson said.
The WAC is also interested in adding Montana, a highly successful FCS program. But the Grizzlies are conducting a feasibility study to determine if a jump to the WAC – and all the accompanying costs, particularly for scholarships – is worthwhile.
“History has proven that you can join the WAC and be successful,” San Jose State athletic director Tom Bowen said, citing Boise State, which joined in 2001, as a prime example.
“We want universities that see playing FBS football a priority, and all the people we’ve discussed (expansion) with understand that.”
Fresno State and Nevada are expected to remain in the WAC for football through the 2011 season. The new members would join in time for 2012.
Bowen also said the WAC may continue its football scheduling partnership with Brigham Young beyond the current two-year agreement.