WAC looks toward Sun Belt...

[JeeberD]

...to replace SMU, Rice, and Tulsa (not that anyone here besides myself cares about this).
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WAC eyes Sun Belt

TULSA, Okla. -- The Western Athletic Conference has identified eight schools as possible replacements after losing three teams to Conference USA.

New Mexico State, North Texas, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Arkansas State, Utah State, Idaho and Middle Tennessee State -- all members of the 15-team Sun Belt Conference -- are under consideration, commissioner Karl Benson said Monday.

"When we did a membership analysis in 2000, those schools at that time were on a list to be considered," Benson said in a conference call with reporters. "I would guess that would continue to be the same list of schools."

Wright Waters, commissioner of the New Orleans-based Sun Belt, said he didn't expect any of the schools to join the WAC.

"What we've tried to do is create a league where people are happy and feel like they have a home," Waters said in the telephone interview with The Associated Press. "We've never put up barriers trying to keep people in. But I think our people are happy."

The WAC will look for schools within that list that are competitive in football and basketball, with primary emphasis on football as the league looks to replace Rice, Southern Methodist and Tulsa.

The three schools announced Friday that they would accept invitations to join Conference USA. That league is expanding in anticipation that Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and DePaul will join the Big East.

Benson said he was surprised more by the timing of the three schools' announcement than by their departures. He had expected Conference USA to wait on the Big East's next move.

"On the one hand, it does allow the WAC to get a head start in our work to replace these three schools," Benson said.

"We are disappointed that SMU, Rice and Tulsa have elected to make this decision," he said. "However, the core members that are left, the seven schools that are left under the WAC banner, they provide a tremendous foundation to build upon."

Tulsa, Rice and Southern Methodist cited geographical distance between them and the WAC's Western schools as reasons for leaving. Also, they were the league's only private schools and will join a conference that has several private institutions.

Those three schools would join current members Texas Christian, Houston and Tulane to form a western division of Conference USA. The eastern division would be Southern Mississippi, UAB, Memphis, South Florida and East Carolina. Marshall officials expect an invitation to replace Army, which has decided to play as an independent again.

Benson said the WAC hopes to choose its new members by the end of the year, adding at least two more teams for nine members. He said the WAC might consider expanding to 12 schools to address geographical concerns.

Benson said he has been contacted by several interested schools, but he declined to name them.

Louisiana Tech is hundreds of miles from its closest WAC rival -- Texas-El Paso -- and much farther from the conference's western teams. Benson said the conference will not rule out adding teams from the Midwest.

"The board today made a commitment to Louisiana Tech that they will take into consideration Louisiana Tech's location" when choosing replacements, Benson said.

Also, losing Rice leaves the WAC with just five baseball teams, putting its future as a league sponsoring that sport in question.

Many conferences started bracing for realignment when the Atlantic Coast Conference picked Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College from the Big East earlier this year.
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I would love to see the WAC pick up UNT, NMSU, and Utah State. NMSU has been a rival of UTEP's for years and would be a natural travel partner, UNT has a rising program (and I would be able to see my Miners play here once a year), and Utah State usually has some solid teams. They would replace schools that have have three of the worst football teams in the country. Sure, they may be a higher profile and wealthier, but it could be better for on the field action...

[ice4277]

Well at least UTEP would probably win a game or two each year

[SackAttack]

What's next? The Sun Belt eyes the various high school football conferences?

[ScottVib]

The Sun Belt would then get the upcoming Florida 1-AA schools.

[WussGawd]

How the mighty have fallen. The WAC used to be a pretty good Second Tier athletic conference, now, I question whether it's any better than the MAC.

[LloydLungs]

The WAC isn't even close to the MAC anymore. In fact they're neck and neck with the Sun Belt in the power ratings. It would not shock me if there is no more WAC after all these shakeups are done.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Sun Belt football is a joke anyway. Bring on Sun Belt basketball!

Florida International! Denver! NEW ORLEANS!

UNO, Class of 2002

[Hawaii Warrior]

I hope the MWC gives Hawaii an invite... The WAC is freckin pathetic

[Butter]

What the hell is the deal with the WAC anyway? 10 teams, 16 teams, 8 teams, 12 teams... pick a frickin' number and stick with it!

You too, Mtn. West.

[Wolfpack]

Actually, the MWC has been reasonably consistent at 8 members since its inception. The WAC, Sun Belt, Big East, and C-USA have been the ones all over the place with membership counts.

I'm not sure whether the MWC, now that it looks like TCU is staying put in C-USA, is interested in picking over the WAC for teams yet. That may change if it looks like Utah, BYU, or Colorado State are being courted by bigger conferences if there is more shuffling to be done at the top level.

[Butter]

[Dr. Evil]
That was a pre-emptive "you too".
And before you start, I've got a whole bag of "you too" with their name on it.
[/Dr. Evil]

[SunDancer]

Originally posted by Wolfpack

I'm not sure whether the MWC, now that it looks like TCU is staying put in C-USA, is interested in picking over the WAC for teams yet. That may change if it looks like Utah, BYU, or Colorado State are being courted by bigger conferences if there is more shuffling to be done at the top level.

Who would court BYU, Colorado State or Utah that would make sense? The only thing I can see is if the Pac-10 decided to become the Pac-12.

[Wolfpack]

The Pac-10 is about the only one that makes sense for any of them, though say if Missouri were to switch to the Big 10 and Arkansas turned down the Big XII, Colorado State could be the replacement for Mizzou. Of course, all of this is wild speculation, but that's what the internet is for.

[HornedFrog Purple]

My conspiracy theory says that the BCS will force the Pac-10 and Big-10 to expand to 12 teams with 6 in each division and force a championship game to coincide with all other BCS conferences. If they don't they are out.

If I am right lets see if the Pac-10 doesn't "sell out" Mr. Bug

[JeeberD]

Hmmm, there's now talk that UTEP is trying to use the Sun Bowl as a bargaining chip to get into the MWC. Apparently they are offering the MWC a spot in the game if we get into the conference. Interesting...

[Samdari]

Originally posted by WussGawd
The WAC used to be a pretty good Second Tier athletic conference

Still is, only now its called the Mountain West

[JeeberD]

USU and NMSU leave Sun Belt Conference

New Mexico State and Utah State will leave the Sun Belt Conference for the WAC in time for the 2005-06 season, a source close to the negotiation told ESPN.com Wednesday night.

An official announcement is expected later Thursday.

New Mexico State and Utah State will participate in the sports that the WAC sponsors, notably Division I-A football and men's and women's basketball. Utah State plays all sports but football in the Big West, but would move over to the WAC as a full member.

New Mexico State and Utah State will replace two of the three departing WAC members -- SMU, Tulsa and Rice. Those three schools will leave the WAC for Conference USA for the 2005-06 season. Conference USA added the three WAC schools to help offset the expected loss of Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, DePaul and possibly South Florida to the Big East.

An official announcement from the Big East and Conference USA is expected in early November, after the Big East presidents meet Nov. 4 in Philadelphia.

The WAC's membership would have dropped from 10 to seven if the league didn't make a move before the departures of SMU, Tulsa and Rice in 2005.

The WAC might not be done, though.

The WAC will wait to see if Louisiana Tech is either gobbled up by Conference USA or moves to the Sun Belt. If La. Tech goes, then any further WAC expansion won't include the Central Time Zone. If the school stays, then the WAC is likely to add North Texas out of the Sun Belt in the coming months.

If the WAC loses any member to the Mountain West -- like Boise State, Fresno State or Hawaii -- then the WAC will add Idaho as a replacement. The eight-team MWC might add at least one more school and is looking at TCU out of Conference USA and/or a WAC school if it is going to add.

The WAC membership in 2005-06 would look like this, pending any further additions or subtractions: Fresno State, Hawaii, Boise State, Nevada, San Jose State, UTEP, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State and Utah State.

New Mexico State and UTEP, two rivals separated by less than an hour's drive, would be in the same league for the first time in nearly 40 years. Utah State has tried in vain to get into the WAC for over a decade, at one point hoping to join former WAC members and in-state rivals Utah and BYU. Those two schools since left for the MWC.

The Sun Belt would have only six remaining football members -- Arkansas State, North Texas, Louisiana-Lafayette, Idaho, Louisiana-Monroe and Middle Tennessee State -- after the departures of New Mexico State and Utah State. The basketball league wouldn't take as hard a hit. Idaho, like Utah State, doesn't play men's basketball in the Sun Belt but rather the Big West. The Sun Belt would still be a strong mid-major league in men's basketball with 10 members: Western Kentucky, Arkansas-Little Rock, Middle Tennessee, Arkansas State, Florida International, Louisiana-Lafayette, South Alabama, Denver, New Orleans and North Texas.

The conference expansion and realignment began with the ACC taking Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East last June and then adding a 12th team in Boston College out of the Big East two weeks ago.

[Wolfpack]

click-click-click-.... (sound of dominoes falling)

[JeeberD]

Collegiate Athletic$ 101: A primer on why the future of UTEP athletics may depend on the Sun Bowl

by Eric Huseby

ABC-7 News Director

Why is it such a big deal for UTEP to be invited to join the Mountain West Conference? It all comes down to three words: Money, money, money.

University athletic programs make big money via TV contracts. Millions and millions. If schools want to field competitive teams, they need the cash to pay for facilities and a competitive recruiting budget. UTEP has worked hard to raise money for impressive new facilities in recent years. Now it needs to find the resources to be able to go after the same high caliber student athletes its competitors are recruiting. That means more money for travel, more for public relations, more for mailings and long distance phone charges, more, more, more, more, more.

Where's that going to come from? It all boils down to being in a good conference. Ignoring the notable exception of Notre Dame for the moment, TV networks negotiate contracts not with individual universities, but with the athletic conferences that schools are members of. The best deals go to the most prestigious conferences with the best sports teams. Less prestigious conferences get minimal payment from TV, if any at all. The rich are growing ever richer while the poor grow poorer. UTEP is poor. It may never be truly rich, but UTEP is guaranteed to remain among the poor if it doesn't find a way to change its circumstances.

The biggest money of all is paid to conferences when their member schools play in bowl games at the end of the season. The biggest and best bowl games pay millions and millions to attract the best teams, and with them, the large TV audiences that advertisers will pay the most money to reach. Even mid-level bowl games like El Paso's Sun Bowl pay more than a million dollars to the conferences that supply the competing teams.

Every conference has a different formula, but they all do some form of bowl game revenue sharing. If one year a conference with a dozen schools sends five of them to bowl games, the ones earning that revenue share it with the seven that didn't go to bowls that year. Other years, different schools may do the giving, while others receive. Some schools hardly ever go to bowls, but get to share the loot just the same because they provide easy victories for the other schools to enhance their records and get to the bowls.

UTEP is in the Western Athletic Conference, which used to be a nice mid-level conference, but has been steadily losing prestige over the past decade, as its most prominent members have steadily defected to more prestigious conferences. The WAC no longer spins off any meaningful shared TV or bowl revenue, and does not have prospects of improving that any time soon. The WAC's problems are probably insurmountable. Its member schools stretch from Hawaii to Louisiana, effectively preventing fans, in most cases, from hopping in the car for a weekend road trip to watch an away game. It's affiliated with the lowest paying, least watched bowl games.

The Mountain West Conference IS a nice mid-level conference. It is comprised of schools that used to be in the WAC with UTEP. The Mountain West may be looking to expand, but other schools with more impressive football histories are eager to join. There's no real reason for the Mountain West to include UTEP, unless ...

Unless UTEP can convince the movers and shakers in town who control the Sun Bowl game to take one of the slots in the game away from the Big Ten or Pacific Ten conferences and give it to the Mountain West. See, more bowl revenue for the Mountain West schools, so there's an incentive for them to invite UTEP, which would also share in that revenue, but ...

But that would hurt the prestige of the Sun Bowl game. It would probably lose its network TV affiliation with CBS, and the game would end up on ESPN or some place for fewer dollars. That might endanger the long-term viability of the Sun Bowl game, but TV payouts to mid-level bowl games have been on the decline for years, and the CBS contribution is now half a million per year at best, while the game costs $3 million or more to stage, including team payouts. Perhaps of greater concern to Sun Bowl organizers is that a title sponsor (currently Helen of Troy, and previously John Hancock, Norwest and Wells Fargo) pays a bigger share of the cost than the broadcast network. It might well be more difficult to attract and maintain a title sponsor if the game loses its CBS showcase position and is relegated to the legion of other bowl games telecast each year on ESPN.

Would the Sun Bowl game be less attractive without one its current conference tie-ins to the Big Ten or Pac Ten conferences? Maybe, but not necessarily. The third place team the Sun Bowl currently gets from the Pac Ten is virtually always a solid team with seven or eight victories. But the fifth or sixth place team the Sun Bowl gets from the Big Ten usually has no more than six victories and often some high profile losses. Replacing that team with the Mountain West conference champion would often bring in a school of reduced historical stature, but with a really good season under its belt. Would a 10-2 BYU or 9-3 Colorado State really be all that worse than a 6-6 Purdue?

There's a big assumption in that question. A more basic question is whether the Mountain West would send its conference champion here. There's no doubt that a second or third place Mountain West team would have terribly limited national appeal. But the Mountain West currently sends its champion to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee. That game has roughly the same traditional stature as the Sun Bowl. It's been around a long time. It will never be one of the biggest bowls. But it's so far away. The Mountain West might like the idea of having a game within driving distance of its fans.

The Sun Bowl game has a good thing going right now, but UTEP sports are in a terrible predicament. The University may need the movers and shakers behind the Sun Bowl to swallow their pride (not to mention all the nice out of town trips they take to "scout" potential teams for the game, even though those schools are delivered by contract based on their conference won-loss records and other mandatory selection criteria) and do what they can to help save intercollegiate sports in the Sun City.

Will that happen? It's tough to say. The Sun Bowl Committee has 25 members who represent a wide range of interests around the city. UTEP athletic director Bob Stull is one of the 25. Presumably some number of the others are boosters and season ticketholders who have a stake in the success of both the game and the university athletics. Time will tell, but there's not much of that left. The sands are shifting under the feet of intercollegiate sports right now, and we may find out as soon as a month or two from now that there is a new reality that dramatically changes things for the have-nots, which right now include UTEP.

[ice4277]

Originally posted by JeeberD
Would the Sun Bowl game be less attractive without one its current conference tie-ins to the Big Ten or Pac Ten conferences? Maybe, but not necessarily. The third place team the Sun Bowl currently gets from the Pac Ten is virtually always a solid team with seven or eight victories. But the fifth or sixth place team the Sun Bowl gets from the Big Ten usually has no more than six victories and often some high profile losses. Replacing that team with the Mountain West conference champion would often bring in a school of reduced historical stature, but with a really good season under its belt. Would a 10-2 BYU or 9-3 Colorado State really be all that worse than a 6-6 Purdue?
[/b]

Truthfully, the answer is no, bigger confereneces are always going to be more attractive to the media, because they are to the football-watching public. A random matchup of Purdue/Cal would likely generate higher ratings than a matchup between, oh, TCU and Northern Illinois would, even though the latter two teams are ranked much higher. Also, in terms of traveling fans, larger schools from bigger conferences tend to attract a bigger fanbase that would go on the road for a bowl such as this.

[SunDancer]

I think the Mountain West Champ would get more reconigization and more pretige for playing a big-name Pac-10 Program then playing the C-USA champ.

[Wolfpack]

Ah, but you run into the pesky problem that ice points out, that the football-watching general public and, more importantly, the advertisers, are more attracted to big name vs. big name games. Purdue-Cal sounds better than TCU-Cal or TCU-Purdue. Granted, less astute football followers probably don't know where Purdue is located and they at least might be able to guess on TCU, if they know the T stands for Texas, but they've at least heard of Purdue and that it's in the Big 10. They might not know who TCU is or which conference they play in.

As the article points out, it's a bit of a Catch-22 for the mid-majors. Push your way into a good bowl and you might risk reducing the reputation of that bowl because it's no longer affiliated with a major conference and you end up back where you started.

[judicial clerk]

I think this is a good decision by the WAC and it might just save this beleaguered conference. It is ridiculous to have teams from as far away as Louisiana. I do not know, however, if the west can support more than two conferences (powerhouse Pac 10 and respectable Mountain West). I am still bitter that the Mountain West schools left the WAC and did not take Fresno State along. What an undeniable slap in the face. i wonder if all of the other WAC left-behinds are jealous of the MWC and feel that they should have been invited along. On a related note, I think that the biggest problem facing the WAC and all west coast conferences is that nobody east of, say, Garden City, Kansas, gives a shit about west coast football, except the sports betting junkies who are looking to that Fresno State night game as their last chance to make back their money after a saturday full of losers.