The WAC's Next Move

TCU seems bound to the Big East and Hawaii seems poised to take their place in football to keep the MWC at ten teams.  If this happens, what happens to the WAC?  Will they really be worse than the Sun Belt?  What is Karl Benson's next real move?

Step 1, Take you lumps.

Moving to the FBS from the FCS is not something that can happen suddenly.  If this scenario plays out, the WAC should play with seven football schools in 2012.  That means no automatic bowl invites, but the WAC should be able to pick a couple of automatic bowl invites in due time.  Boise and Hawaii take their bowls with them, anyway.  And no, they will not be worse than the Sun Belt, not by a long shot.  Without Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii there will be at least two move victories for Louisiana Tech, Idaho and Utah State.  This will move these three schools into bowl contention every season.

Step 2, Focus on Basketball.

Denver was admitted as a basketball only program.  Look into some others.  They could lure TCU's other sports programs.  There are some other non-football programs that could fit well with the WAC including Seattle, Utah Valley and Cal State Bakersfield.  They could even work out a deal with the Big Sky and allow someone like Weber State to join as a non-football program and leave the football 'Cats in the Big Sky with a plan to bring the Cats into full membership in two years (Basketball 2012, Football 2014).

Step 3, FCS programs.

About the only conference in the FCS that has programs in the football footprint of the WAC is the Big Sky Conference.

People look at Montana's rejection of the WAC as a diss against the WAC.  I do not see it that way.  It's more economic.  It costs money to move up.  There are additional scholarships for new sports and in some cases enlarged facilities.  Cal Davis was approached, but they only have a 10,000 seat stadium that was just finished--over time and over budget, like most government projects.  Do you think they could join the WAC in 2012?  More like 2015, and that would be optimistic.  When they said, "It's not you, it's me," they were being honest.  The WAC may be able to lure Montana if they also were will to consider some of their Big Sky Conference Rivals.  There are four others that could make the move, and if the WAC plays their cards right, they could end up with a solid conference again by the end of the decade.  Here, again, are some suggestions for Karl Benson and the WAC presidents.

Step 4
Exposure and recruiting.  Keep the scheduling agreement with BYU and stay on ESPN.  Find the next Boise State and get the kids to chose schools in your conference.

Expansion Plan

2012--Texas State and USTA as full members; Denver, Seattle as non-football members.  Montana, Montana State, Weber State, Eastern Washington, and Cal Poly as non-football members for two or three years.

2014-2015-Add the five Big Sky Conference members as full members and split into divisions.  This puts the conference at 12 football members and 14 in basketball.

Sports to add:
Montana (2 Women's teams at a minimum): Swimming and Diving (M/W), Baseball and Gymnastics
Montana State (2 teams-both sexes): Swimming and Diving (M/W)
Weber State (2 teams-both sexes): Swimming and Diving (M/W) and butts in the seats at football games.
Eastern Washington (3 teams) : Swimming and Diving (M/W), Gymnastics and also an expanded stadium
Cal Poly (None needed--already have 20 teams).  Only needs an expanded stadium.