> from USA Today
> Eight schools set to leave WAC
> DENVER - The nation's largest collegiate conference is
> on the verge of splitting in half.
> Citing the loss of traditional rivalries, rising travel
> costs and insufficient revenue growth, eight of the 16 Western Athletic
> Conference schools announced plans Tuesday to form their own league.
> Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, UNLV, New
> Mexico, San Diego State, Utah and Wyoming said they will file their
> intentions to leave the WAC before Sept. 1 as required by league bylaws.
> They also will ask the NCAA to recognize the new unnamed conference
> immediately.
> ''You've got a group of eight institutions that are
> committed to making a new conference work,'' said Colorado State
> president Al Yates, who is also chairman of the WAC board of
> directors. 'We've spent most of our time in conversation trying to
> respond to the question, 'Is there a way to make this 16-team
> conference work?' Our conclusion in all that was that there was
> not,'' Yates said.
> New Mexico athletic director Rudy Davalos put it more
> bluntly. ''The 16-team league was not going to work. It wasn't the fault
> of the commissioner or any school. It was just one of those
> unmanageable type numbers,'' Davalos said.
> The schools not planning to leave the WAC are Fresno
> State, Hawaii, Rice, San Jose State, Southern Methodist, Texas
> Christian, Texas-El Paso and Tulsa. None were charter members of the
> conference when it formed in 1962.
> ''I obviously knew that there were problems out
> there,'' WAC commissioner Karl Benson said. ''Needless to say I was
> shocked and surprised, not necessarily surprised that this is what ended
> up happening, but I think the timing of it was more surprising.''
> Presidents of the defecting schools said they will
> honor their 1998-99 athletic schedules and withdraw from the WAC on
> June 30, 1999.
> ''As a charter member of the Western Athletic
> Conference, the University of Wyoming does not take this decision
> lightly,'' Wyoming president Philip Dubois said. ''We take this step
> reluctantly, but in the best long-term interests of our university,
> our athletic program and our fans.''
> Just last June, the WAC had been granted a spot in
> college football's new Super Alliance, providing its conference
> champion was ranked sixth or higher in the final poll. The deal stemmed
> from BYU's snub after the 1996 season despite a 13-1 record and No. 5
> finish.
> The WAC decision may have thrown that deal into flux.
> It certainly caught Super Alliance chairman Roy Kramer off guard.
> ''It lends itself to some uncertainty,'' said Kramer's
> spokesman, Charles Bloom. ''In its 16-team state, the WAC was
> guaranteed certain access. Whether that changes, we won't know until
> things clear up.''
> Founded as a six-team conference in 1962, the WAC
> became the nation's largest college league in 1996 when it added
> Southwest Conference refugees Rice, TCU, and SMU, former Missouri Valley
> Conference member Tulsa and former Big West participants UNLV and San
> Jose State. ''Right now we're kind of in a state of shock. We're trying
> to regroup and see where everybody is at,'' Tulsa athletic director
> Judy MacLeod said.
> With Hawaii and the Texas schools separated by about
> 3,900 miles and four time zones, travel costs were a tremendous
> burden for WAC teams. The costs, coupled with lagging revenue and a
> proposed realignment that would have separated rivals such as Colorado
> State and Air Force,created unrest among the eight defecting schools.
> ''If you're looking for reasons for today's decision,
> they'd definitely have to be linked to the financial impact that 16
> schools have had - or the lack of financial impact,'' Benson said. ''My
> biggest challenge was to create a financial source that was enough to
> satisfy 16 mouths. Obviously we weren't able to do that. ... To give it
> two years is unfortunate.''
> Benson said the conference generated $12 million in
> revenue during the 1997-98 academic year. All television and bowl
> contracts could be in jeopardy if the WAC breaks up - a
> scenario that Benson sees as most likely.
> ''It's obviously too soon to be able to accurately
> determine what their overall intentions are,'' Benson said of the
> defecting schools. ''If they were looking to send a message, it's a
> strong message. No one has indicated to me that there's room for
> negotiations.''
> Speculation about some schools leaving intensified May
> 5 after WAC athletic directors voted 13-3 to split the league into
> two permanent divisions.
> San Diego State president Stephen Weber said Utah, BYU,
> Colorado State, Wyoming and Air Force officials made their final
> decision during a meeting Friday at Denver International Airport. San
> Diego State, UNLV and New Mexico were then asked to join them.
> ''Certainly from our point of view, the choice between
> whether we would like to play with these folks or the other folks, these
> are the people that our fans have more interest in,'' Weber said.
> The WAC originally consisted of Arizona, Arizona State,
> Wyoming, Brigham Young, Utah and New Mexico. UTEP and Colorado State
> were added in 1967, and the landscape remained unchanged until Arizona
> and Arizona State left for the Pac-10 in 1978.
> San Diego State, Hawaii, Air Force and Fresno State
> joined the league from 1978-80, and the conference remained at 10
> teams until the 1996 expansion.
