Western Athletic Conference to add three schools
On Thursday 11 November, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) announced that it would augment its football affiliations. According to a report made by the Associated Press, the league intends to replace
soon-to-be-departed Boise State, as well as Fresno State and Nevada (who will leave the conference in 2012), with the addition of Texas State and the University of Texas-San Antonio.
The University of Denver (which does not field a football team) will accompany the Texas institutions when the three universities jump to the WAC in 2012. Following the departure of three of their most prominent
programs to the Mountain West Conference (MWC), the expansion will give the conference eight football members, and Karl Benson couldn’t be more thrilled.
“It won’t take long for these two football teams to be playing in bowl games,” the conference’s commissioner said. “And could one of these football programs be the next Boise State? Absolutely.”
The projected expansion to the Lone Star State ties the conference back to Texas for the first time since 2005. That year, the WAC also encountered some significant conference realignments after Rice University,
Southern Methodist University, and the University of Texas at El Paso all bolted for Conference USA. And, with its impending arrival, it’s apparent that many are happy with the WAC’s return to Texas.
“I think the remaining members of the WAC looked at the state of Texas and said, ‘That’s a recruiting base for all of us. It doesn’t hurt us to go there and play and be involved with those teams,’” Texas
State’s athletic director, Larry Teis, said. “I think the state of Texas had some lure to the overall decision.”
Likewise, the Roadrunners were excited to accept the invitation and jump up to the NCAA’s top tier. “This is yet another historic day for UTSA,” athletic director Lynn Hickey said. “We have been working extremely
hard for a very long time to reach our goal of joining an FBS conference.”
Meanwhile, Denver, who was already looking to relocate, was chosen mainly because of its potential on the hardwood. “We have worked diligently trying to find a home that makes more sense so that our fans,
our alumni, our university can know the schools and embrace the schools,” said Peg Bradley-Doppes, the school’s vice chancellor for athletics.
The newcomers will join current WAC schools Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, Utah State, Idaho, San Jose State, and New Mexico State.
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