I was enjoying an afternoon at Pineview with my family, when I found out about reports that Texas Arlington has been invited to the WAC. It is assumed that UTA will join the WAC as the third non-football school, although the Mavericks have studied returning to the gridiron.
UTA is not a surprise addition, with the WAC hoping to keep UTSA and Louisiana Tech in the fold. But they also recently passed on Utah Valley and Cal State Bakersfield because they do not have football programs. It may be a surprise that the WAC is adding a basketball-only school that is in the same market where SMU, TCU and North Texas struggle to get fans into their arenas and play in the shadow of the World Champion Dallas Mavericks. It will be interesting to see how this works out this coming week.
I agree with the commenter below. Yes, it is a big market, but UTA is a small fish in a very big pond and may not be the best addition to the WAC. They are not like Seattle, who will be playing in and abandoned NBA arena. Nor will they be like UTSA, playing football in an NFL stadium that was never used for that purpose on a permanent basis. I believe Utah Valley or CS Bakersfield would be better choices.
7/13/2011 update...
Indications are the UTA is planning to revive their football program after they are formally admitted to the WAC. We will find out for certain tomorrow.
1 comment:
I don't know too many fans happy with this addition. Yes, they are located in a big market, but ask San Jose State how far that gets you. The WAC needs football and I'm hoping that this move signals that Benson has some football schools willing to commit after the FCS season in order to get the WAC to divisions.
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