WAC takes legal action against two of its members
The Western Athletic Conference has announced that it will be taking legal action against both Nevada and Fresno state.
Nevada and Fresno State announced that they would be accepting invitations to the Mountain West Conference and plan to join the conference in time for the 2011 season. WAC commissioner Karl Benson maintains that the two programs in question waited too long
before accepting their invitation. A WAC by-law states that any team that decides to leave must inform the conference by 1 July or else they will have to remain with the conference for the next two years. However, both Fresno State and Nevada failed to inform
the conference until 18 July.
The move by the two programs follows a summer that was filled with teams changing conferences. The WAC has already lost Boise State who informed the board in June that they would be leaving for the MWC. The decision by Boise State to depart led the remaining
members to vote on the 1 July deadline.
Benson said of his decision to seek legal action, “The damages the WAC could incur if Fresno State and Nevada left early are very, very significant. That’s what has driven this: to protect the assets of the WAC as a corporate entity.”
Both teams expressed regret that the conflict had become a legal issue. However, neither showed any willingness to remain with the WAC until 2012. Neither program has even made an attempt to contact commissioner Benson.
The choice to leave the WAC may be predicated on both the growth of the MWC and Boise State’s decision to move on from the conference. Boise State has consistently been the best team in the WAC and has had trouble climbing the rankings because of the conferences
lack of competition.
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