Western Athletic Conference

Western Athletic Conference
(WAC)
Established 1962
Association NCAA
Division Division I FBS
Members

8 (10 by 2012-13)

(7 affiliate members)
Sports fielded 19 (men's: 8; women's: 11)
Region Western United States (plus Louisiana)
Headquarters Greenwood Village, Colorado
Commissioner Karl Benson (since 1994)
Website wacsports.com
Locations

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A). The WAC is a non-automatic qualifier member of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) selection system.

The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States, with member institutions located in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, plus the "non-western" state of Louisiana (traditionally associated with the South). In 2012, the WAC will lose its presence in the states of Nevada and Hawaii, but will also gain institutions in Colorado[1], Texas[2], and Washington.[3]

Many long-standing members left in 1999 to form the Mountain West Conference. Three additional former members have moved on to the Pacific-12 Conference.

Contents

Membership

Current members

The following institutions are the eight full members of the WAC for the 2011–2012 academic year.

Institution Nickname Location Founded Type Enrollment Joined Endowment
California State University, Fresno Bulldogs Fresno, California 1911 Public 25,613 1992 $91 million
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Warriors/Rainbow Wahine Honolulu, Hawaii 1907 Public 20,135 1979 $159 million
University of Idaho Vandals Moscow, Idaho 1889 Public 11,957 2005 $210 million
Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs/Lady Techsters Ruston, Louisiana 1894 Public 11,581 2001 $80 million
University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack Reno, Nevada 1874 Public 17,679 2000 $186 million
New Mexico State University Aggies Las Cruces, New Mexico 1888 Public 17,198 2005 $139 million
San Jose State University Spartans San Jose, California 1857 Public 32,746 1996 $41 million
Utah State University Aggies Logan, Utah 1888 Public 25,065 2005 $151 million

Pink background indicates departing members as Fresno State, Hawaiʻi, and Nevada will leave in 2012. Fresno State and Nevada will become full members of the Mountain West Conference. Hawaiʻi will become a football-only member of the Mountain West and a full member of the Big West Conference.

Future members

Denver, Seattle, Texas State, UT Arlington, and UTSA will join the WAC as full members for the 2012–2013 academic year. Denver, Seattle, and UT Arlington do not field football programs.

Boise State will re-join the WAC for the 2013–2014 academic year in all sports except football (Big East) and wrestling (Pac-12).[4]

Institution Nickname Location Founded Type Enrollment Year Joins Endowment
Boise State University Broncos Boise, Idaho 1932 Public 21,179 2013 $61 million
University of Denver Pioneers Denver, Colorado 1864 Private 11,842 2012 $270 million
Seattle University Redhawks Seattle, Washington 1891 Private 7,900 2012 $164 million
University of Texas at Arlington Mavericks Arlington, Texas 1895 Public 33,788 2012 $61 million
University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners San Antonio, Texas 1969 Public 31,114 2012 $60 million
Texas State University–San Marcos Bobcats San Marcos, Texas 1899 Public 32,586 2012 $95 million

Affiliate members

The following schools field programs in the WAC for sports not sponsored by their primary conferences.[5]

Institution Nickname Location Founded Type Enrollment Joined Endowment Primary
Conference		 Sport(s)
Brigham Young University Cougars Provo, Utah 1875 Private 34,100 2011 Unknown West Coast softball
California State University, Bakersfield Roadrunners Bakersfield, California 1970 Public 7,600 2013 Unknown Independent baseball [6]
Dallas Baptist University Patriots Dallas, Texas 1898 Private 5,500 2013 Unknown Heartland baseball [7]
University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux Grand Forks, North Dakota 1883 Public 14,194 2011 $94 million Great West women's swimming & diving
Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks Flagstaff, Arizona 1899 Public 18,824 2004 $89 million Big Sky women's swimming & diving
California State University, Sacramento Hornets Sacramento, California 1947 Public 27,972 2006 $19 million Big Sky baseball,
women's gymnastics
Southern Utah University Thunderbirds Cedar City, Utah 1897 Public 7,509 2006 Unknown Summit women's gymnastics

Charter members

Former members

Withdrew in 1978
Pacific-8 Expansion

Withdrew in 1999
Mountain West Formation

Withdrew in 2001
Conference USA Expansion

Withdrew in 2005
Conference USA Expansion

Withdrew in 2011
Mountain West Expansion

Membership timeline


History

Formation

The WAC formed out of a series of talks between Brigham Young University athletic director Eddie Kimball and other university administrators from 1958 to 1961 to form a new athletic conference that would better fit the needs and situations of certain universities which were at the time members of the Border, Skyline, and Pacific Coast Conferences. Potential member universities who were represented at the meetings included BYU, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Arizona State, and Wyoming. While the three Washington and Oregon schools elected to stay in a revamped Pac-8 Conference that replaced the scandal-plagued PCC, the remaining six schools formed the WAC, forcing the disbandment of the Border and Skyline conferences. The charter members of the WAC were Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. New Mexico State and Utah State applied for charter membership and were turned down; they would eventually become WAC members 43 years later.

Success and first expansion

The conference proved to be an almost perfect fit for the six schools from both a competitive and financial standpoint. Arizona and Arizona State, in particular, experienced success in baseball with Arizona garnering the 1963 College World Series runner-up trophy and ASU winning the CWS in 1965, 1967, and 1969. Texas-El Paso (UTEP), recently renamed from Texas Western College, and Colorado State joined in 1967 to bring membership up to eight.

With massive growth in the state of Arizona, the balance of WAC play in the 1970s became increasingly skewed in favor of the Arizona schools, who won or tied for all but two WAC football titles from 1969 onward. In the summer of 1978, the two schools left the WAC for the Pac-8, which became the Pac-10, and were replaced in the WAC by San Diego State and, one year later, Hawaii. The WAC further expanded by adding Air Force in the summer of 1980. A college football national championship won by Brigham Young in 1984 added to the WAC's reputation as the best of the so-called mid-major conferences. This nine-team line-up of the WAC defined the conference for nearly 15 years.

Second wave of expansion and turbulence

Fresno State expanded its athletic program in the early 1990s and was granted membership in 1992 as the nationwide trend against major college programs independent of conferences accelerated. The WAC merged with the High Country Athletic Conference, a parallel organization to the WAC for women's athletics, in 1990 to unify both men's and women's athletics under one administrative structure.

In 1996, the WAC expanded again, adding six schools to its ranks for a total of sixteen. Rice, TCU, and SMU joined the league from the Southwest Conference, which had disbanded. Big West Conference members San Jose State and UNLV were also admitted, as well as Tulsa from the Missouri Valley Conference.[9] With the expansion, the WAC was divided into two divisions.

To help in organizing schedules and travel for the farflung league, the members were divided into four quadrants of four teams each, as follows:[9]

Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4
Hawaiʻi UNLV BYU Tulsa
Fresno State Air Force Utah TCU
San Diego State Colorado State New Mexico SMU
San Jose State Wyoming UTEP Rice

Quadrant one was always part of the Pacific Division, and quadrant four was always part of the Mountain Division. Quadrant two was part of the Pacific Division for 1996 and 1997 before switching to the Mountain Division in 1998, while the reverse was true for quadrant three. The scheduled fourth year of the alignment was abandoned after eight schools left to form the Mountain West Conference.

The division champions in football met from 1996 to 1998 in a championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium (also known as the Silver Bowl) in Henderson, Nevada.

Increasingly, this arrangement was not satisfactory to most of the older, pre-1990 members. Five members in particular (Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming) felt that WAC expansion had compromised the athletic and academic excellence of the membership. Additional concerns centered around finances, as the new league stretched from Hawaiʻi to Oklahoma and travel costs became a concern. In 1999, those five schools, along with old line WAC schools New Mexico and San Diego State, as well as newcomer UNLV, split off and formed the new Mountain West Conference.

A USA Today article sums up why the league brokeup. "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."[10] [11]

WAC in the 2000s

In 2000, the University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada) of the Big West conference joined as part of its plan to upgrade its athletic program.

TCU left for Conference USA in 2001 (it would later leave C-USA to become the ninth member of the Mountain West in 2005).

When the Big West announced that it would drop football after the 2000 season, four of its members (Boise State, Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State) wanted to continue their football programs. Boise State was invited to join the WAC and promptly departed the Big West, while New Mexico State and Idaho joined the Sun Belt Conference (NMSU as a full member, Idaho as a "football only" member) and Utah State operated as an independent D-IA program. At the same time, Louisiana Tech (LA Tech) ended its independent D-IA status and also accepted an invitation to join the WAC with Boise State.

In 2005, Conference USA sought new members to replenish its ranks after losing members to the Big East, which had lost members to the ACC. Four WAC schools, former SWC schools Rice and SMU, as well as Tulsa, and UTEP, joined Conference USA. In response, the WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State – all former Big West schools which left the conference in 2000 along with Boise State when that conference dropped football. The three new schools were all land grant universities, bringing the conference total to five (Nevada and Hawaii).

Coming changes

Main article: 2010–11 NCAA conference realignment

Boise State's future became one of the many topics of discussion amid the widespread rumors and speculation of conference realignment in 2010. In early June, the WAC's athletic directors and university presidents held a meeting in Las Vegas to discuss contingency plans. At the time of the meeting, media reports indicated that Boise State was likely to receive an invitation from the Mountain West within the coming days. On June 11, the reports were confirmed when the MWC officially announced that Boise State would join the conference for the 2011–12 academic year.[12]

WAC commissioner Karl Benson indicated that the conference expected to lose Boise State and that there was no bitterness against BSU by the rest of the membership. He also said that the WAC was considering its own expansion plans, and was eyeing up to six members of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) as future members.[12] Benson has had talks with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Texas State University–San Marcos (Texas State) concerning those school's interest in joining the WAC. In addition, on September 28, 2010, 5 schools made official presentations to the WAC about joining the conference: UTSA, Texas State, Montana, Denver, and Seattle.

During a September interview with WAC commissioner Karl Benson the only school invited to a private meeting for possible expansion of teams was the Montana Grizzlies of the University of Montana.[13] But on November 11, 2010 Montana announced that they will remain in the Big Sky conference.

In August 2010, media reports surfaced indicating that BYU was seriously considering leaving the MWC to become an independent in football and return to the WAC as a non-football member. The WAC was reportedly willing to accept BYU's non-football sports if it chose to pursue this option, with BYU reportedly scheduling anywhere from four to six football games each season against WAC teams.[14] However, BYU passed on the WAC, moving to football independence while joining the West Coast Conference in other sports.

On August 18, just hours after the BYU news surfaced, the Mountain West responded by inviting Fresno State and Nevada to join. Both schools accepted, leaving the WAC with just 6 schools.

On November 11, 2010, the WAC announced that invitations were extended to and accepted by the University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas State University-San Marcos, and the University of Denver to take effect in 2012. Then, on November 19, 2010, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa entered negotiations to enter the Mountain West Conference for the 2012 football season, with its other athletic programs beginning negotiations to join the Big West Conference;[15] Hawaiʻi's move was officially announced on December 10.[16] On June 14, 2011, the WAC announced that an invitation was extended to and accepted by Seattle University and they would begin play in 2012.[17] The Redhawks had recently made the move from Division II and was seeking to join a conference. On July 14, 2011, the University of Texas at Arlington announced they would be joining the WAC. These changes mean the WAC will expand to 10 teams in 2012-13.[18] On October 26, 2011 WAC commissioner Karl Benson announced that the WAC plans to add two additional football playing members. The two institutions would begin play in the WAC for the 2013-14 academic year.[19]

On December 7, 2011, Boise State announced that they would be joining the Big East in football and rejoining the WAC in most other sports, starting with the 2013-2014 athletic seasons.[20]

Commissioners

Years Commissioners
1962–1968 Paul Brechler
1968–1971 Wiles Hallock
1971–1980 Stan Bates
1980–1994 Joseph Kearney
1994–present Karl Benson

Sports

The WAC sponsors championships in eight men's and eleven women's sports.

Men's sports

Women's sports

Football

For the current season, see 2011 Western Athletic Conference football season
Team First
Season		 All-Time
Record		 All-Time
Win %		 Bowl
Appearances		 Bowl
Record		 Conference
Titles		 Consensus
All-Americans		 Stadium Head Coach
Fresno State 1921 558–384–28 .590 20 10–10 23 0 Bulldog Stadium Tim DeRuyter
Hawaiʻi 1909 532–399–26 .569 10 5–5 4 0 Aloha Stadium Norm Chow
Idaho 1893 442–558–26 .443 2 2–0 9 1 Kibbie Dome Robb Akey
Louisiana Tech 1901 562–427–37 .566 6 2–3–1 25 2 Joe Aillet Stadium Sonny Dykes
Nevada 1896 511–442–34 .535 12 4–8 14 0 Mackay Stadium Chris Ault
New Mexico State 1893 422–577–31 .425 3 2–0–1 4 0 Aggie Memorial Stadium DeWayne Walker
San Jose State 1892 454–459–37 .497 8 5–3 16 0 Spartan Stadium Mike MacIntyre
UTSA 2011 4–6 .400 0 0–0 0 0 Alamodome Larry Coker
Texas State 1904 489–404–28 .546 0 0–0 14 0 Bobcat Stadium Dennis Franchione
Utah State 1892 494–507–31 .494 6 1–5 11 2 Romney Stadium Gary Andersen

[21]

WAC champions

Main article: List of Western Athletic Conference football champions

Bowl games

The WAC bowl game tie-ins for the 2011 post–season are:

Pick Name Location Date Opposing Conference Opposing Pick
1 Poinsettia Bowl San Diego December 21, 2011 Mountain West 2
2 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Boise December 17, 2011 MAC 2
3 Hawaiʻi Bowl Honolulu December 24, 2011 Conference USA 1

Bowl Championship Series

Main article: Bowl Championship Series

The WAC champion will receive an automatic berth in one of the five BCS bowl games if they are the highest ranked non-automatic qualifying conference champion and either of the following:

By qualifying under the first criterion above, the 2006 Boise State football team landed a berth in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, and the 2007 Hawaiʻi football team received a bid to play in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. In 2009 the Mountain West champion TCU received the automatic BCS bid by finishing higher than Boise State in the final BCS rankings; however, the Broncos received an at-large BCS bid to the 2010 Fiesta Bowl. In three BCS bowl games, the WAC boasts a record of two wins and one loss. In addition to those three teams that played in BCS bowls, four other WAC teams have qualified for a BCS berth but were not selected for a bid including TCU in 2000 and Boise State in 2004, 2008, and 2010.

Bowl placement determination

The top two teams, based upon regular season finish, shall receive guaranteed bowl berths. For the purpose of bowl placement, ties in the regular season standings shall be broken based upon head-to-head regular season competition. If Hawai‘i is bowl eligible, it shall receive a berth in the Hawai‘i Bowl if invited, regardless of its place in the WAC regular season standings. A committee consisting of Commissioner Karl Benson and the Athletics Directors not involved in the pool of bowl eligible teams, in consultation with the WAC’s bowl partners, shall select and place teams according to the “right team, right place” principle. The committee shall seek to balance the best interest of the bowls vs. the best interest of the WAC and involved teams. For 2011, the Poinsettia Bowl gets the first selection, and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl gets the second pick.

Future bowl situation

For the 2012 football season, the WAC will send its regular season champion to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the conference's lone bowl tie-in for 2012. Bowl-eligible WAC teams will still be eligible for at-large bowl berths. When the NCAA's moratorium on new bowl games is lifted, the WAC is expected to explore the possibilities of a new bowl games in Los Angeles and San Antonio for 2013 and beyond.

Rivalries

Football rivalries involving WAC teams include:

Teams Rivalry Name Trophy Meetings Record Series Leader Current Streak
Fresno State Boise State Battle of the Milk Can Milk Can 13 4–9 Boise State Boise State Won 5
Fresno State Hawaiʻi Battle of the Screwdriver – 43 21–21–1 Tied Hawaiʻi Won 1
Fresno State Louisiana Tech Battle for the Bone – 11 7–4 Fresno State Louisiana Tech Won 1
Fresno State San Jose State Valley Rivalry – 75 39–33–3 Fresno State Fresno State Won 4
Hawaiʻi Boise State – – 12 3–9 Boise State Boise State Won 3
Hawaiʻi BYU – – 27 8–19 BYU BYU Won 1
Idaho Boise State – Governor's Trophy 40 17–22–1 Boise State Boise State Won 12
Idaho Montana – Little Brown Stein 84 55–27–2 Idaho Montana Won 4
Idaho Washington State Battle of the Palouse – 91 18–70–3 Washington State Washington State Won 7
Louisiana Tech Louisiana–Lafayette – – 85 46–33–6 Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech Won 6
Louisiana Tech Southern Miss Rivalry in Dixie – 44 13–31 Southern Miss Southern Miss Won 3
Nevada Boise State Boise State – Nevada rivalry – 37 13–24 Boise State Nevada Won 1
Nevada UNLV Battle for Nevada Fremont Cannon 36 21–15 Nevada Nevada Won 6
New Mexico State New Mexico Rio Grande Rivalry Maloof Trophy 102 31–66–5 New Mexico New Mexico State Won 3
New Mexico State UTEP The Battle of I-10 Silver Spade, Brass Spittoon 88 35–51–2 UTEP UTEP Won 2
San Jose State San Diego State – – 35 18–15–2 San Jose State San Jose State Won 2
San Jose State Stanford Bill Walsh Legacy Game – 64 14–49–1 Stanford Stanford Won 3
Utah State BYU – Old Wagon Wheel 80 34–44–3 BYU BYU Won 1
Utah State Utah Battle of the Brothers – 109 28–77–4 Utah Utah Won 12

Men's basketball

Team First
Season		 All-Time
Record		 All-Time
Win %		 NCAA Tournament
Appearances		 NCAA Tournament
Record		 Arena Head Coach
Boise State 1968 5 0–5 Taco Bell Arena Leon Rice
Denver 1904 1168–1206 .492 0 0–0 Magness Arena Joe Scott
Fresno State 1922 1195–1012–1 .541 5 2–5 Save Mart Center Rodney Terry
Hawaiʻi 1938 687–833 .452 4 0–4 Stan Sheriff Center Gib Arnold
Idaho 1906 1222–1368 .472 4 1–4 Cowan Spectrum Don Verlin
Louisiana Tech 1926 1171–921 .560 5 4–5 Thomas Assembly Center Michael White
Nevada 1913 1182–1083 .522 6 4–6 Lawlor Events Center David Carter
New Mexico State 1905 1329–1018–2 .566 18 10-20 Pan American Center Marvin Menzies
San Jose State 1910 1102–1242 .470 3 0–3 The Event Center Arena George Nessman
Seattle 1946 978–874 .528 11 10–13 KeyArena Cameron Dollar
UT Arlington 1960 585–832 .413 1 0–1 College Park Center Scott Cross
UTSA 1982 456–408 .528 4 1–4 Convocation Center Brooks Thompson
Texas State 1921 1191–1029 .536 2 0–2 Strahan Coliseum Doug Davalos
Utah State 1904 1443–998 .591 20 6–22 Smith Spectrum Stew Morrill

WAC tournament

Main article: WAC Men's Basketball Tournament

Rivalries

Men's basketball rivalries involving WAC teams include:

Teams Meetings Record Series Leader Current Streak
Boise State Idaho 85 50-35 Boise State Boise State Won 2
Louisiana Tech Louisiana–Lafayette 157 86–71 Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech Won 2
Nevada UNLV 72 19–53 UNLV UNLV Won 5
New Mexico State New Mexico 206 94–112 New Mexico New Mexico Won 7
New Mexico State UTEP 200 102–98 New Mexico State UTEP Won 2
Utah State BYU 227 91–136 BYU BYU Won 1
Utah State Utah 223 93–130 Utah Utah State Won 1

Awards

Main article: Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Women's basketball

Team First
Season		 All-Time
Record		 All-Time
Win %		 NCAA Tournament
Appearances		 NCAA Tournament
Record		 Arena Head Coach
Boise State 1970 590–489 .547 2 0–2 Taco Bell Arena Gordy Presnell
Denver 1974 481–368 .567 1 0–1 Magness Arena Erik Johnson
Fresno State 1972 580–504 .535 4 0–4 Save Mart Center Adrian Wiggins
Hawaiʻi 1975 564–412 .578 5 1–5 Stan Sheriff Center Dana Takahara-Dias
Idaho 1975 503–511 .496 1 0–1 Cowan Spectrum Jon Newlee
Louisiana Tech 1975 1000–212 .825 27 65–25 Thomas Assembly Center Teresa Weatherspoon
Nevada 1983 318–498 .390 0 0–0 Lawlor Events Center Jane Albright
New Mexico State 1983 437–406 .518 2 0–2 Pan American Center Mark Trakh
San Jose State 1975 328–662 .331 0 0–0 The Event Center Arena Tim La Kose
Seattle 1978 – . 0 0–0 Connolly Center Joan Bonvicini
UT Arlington 1973 554–550 .502 2 0–2 College Park Center Samantha Morrow
UTSA 1982 429–414 .509 2 0–2 Convocation Center Rae Rippetoe-Blair
Texas State 1983 401–408 .496 2 0–2 Strahan Coliseum Zenarae Antoine
Utah State 1983 105–263 .285 0 0–0 Smith Spectrum Raegan Pebley

WAC tournament

Main article: WAC Women's Basketball Tournament

Rivalries

Women's basketball rivalries involving WAC teams include:

Teams Meetings Record Series Leader Current Streak
Fresno State Louisiana Tech 26 9–17 Louisiana Tech Fresno State Won 1
Louisiana Tech LSU 26 14–12 Louisiana Tech LSU Won 5
Louisiana Tech Tennessee 41 17–24 Tennessee Tennessee Won 9
Louisiana Tech Western Kentucky 39 26–13 Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech Won 2

Baseball

The WAC has claimed seven NCAA baseball national championships. The most recent WAC national champion is the 2008 Fresno State team.

WAC tournament

Main article: WAC Baseball Tournament

Other sports

Rivalries

Championships

Current WAC champions

Fall 2011

Sport School
Football Louisiana Tech
Soccer (W) Utah State
Volleyball (W) Hawaiʻi
Cross Country (M) Utah State
Cross Country (W) Idaho

Winter 2011

Sport School
Basketball (M) Utah State
Basketball (W) Fresno State, Louisiana Tech
Indoor Track & Field (M) Boise State, Utah State
Indoor Track & Field (W) Louisiana Tech
Swimming & Diving (W) Boise State
Gymnastics (W) Boise State

Spring 2011

Sport School
Baseball Fresno State, Hawaiʻi
Softball New Mexico State
Outdoor Track & Field (M) Utah State
Outdoor Track & Field (W) Louisiana Tech
Golf (M) New Mexico State
Golf (W) San Jose State
Tennis (M) Fresno State
Tennis (W) Fresno State

National championships

The following teams have won NCAA national championships while being a member of the WAC:

The WAC has also produced one AP national champion in football:

The following teams won AIAW (and forerunner DGWS) women's national championships while their universities were members of the WAC:

The following current WAC teams have won NCAA national championships:

Facilities

School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity Baseball park Capacity
Boise State Participates in Big East Taco Bell Arena 12,592 No baseball team
Cal State Bakersfield No football team Participates as a D-I independent Hardt Field* 900
Dallas Baptist No football team Participates in Heartland Conference (D-II) Patriot Field* ?
Denver No football team Magness Arena 7,200 No baseball team
Fresno State Bulldog Stadium 41,031 Save Mart Center 15,544 Pete Beiden Field 5,422
Hawaiʻi Aloha Stadium 50,000 Stan Sheriff Center 10,300 Les Murakami Stadium 4,312
Idaho Kibbie Dome 16,000 Cowan Spectrum 7,000 No baseball team
Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium 30,600 Thomas Assembly Center 8,098 J. C. Love Field 2,000
Nevada Mackay Stadium 29,993 Lawlor Events Center 11,784 William Peccole Park 3,000
New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium 30,343 Pan American Center 13,071 Presley Askew Field 750
Sacramento State Participates in Big Sky Participates in Big Sky John Smith Field * 1,200
San Jose State Spartan Stadium 30,578 The Event Center Arena 5,000 San Jose Municipal Stadium 5,200
Seattle No football team Key Arena 17,072 Bannerwood Park 600
UT Arlington No football team College Park Center 6,500 Clay Gould Ballpark 1,600
UTSA Alamodome 65,000 Convocation Center 5,100 Roadrunner Field 800
Texas State Bobcat Stadium 16,009 Strahan Coliseum 7,200 Bobcat Baseball Stadium 2,000
Utah State Romney Stadium 25,500 Smith Spectrum 10,270 No baseball team

* Baseball affiliate
Future members highlighted in gray
Members leaving highlighted in pink

Awards

Commissioner's Cup: The WAC awards its Commissioner's Cup to the school that performs the best in each of the conference's 19 men's and women's championships.

Stan Bates Award: The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates and honors the WAC's top male and female scholar-athletes, recognizing the recipients’ athletic and academic accomplishments. In addition, the awards carry a $2,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Joe Kearney Award: Named in honor of former WAC commissioner Dr. Joseph Kearney, the awards are given annually to the top male and female WAC athlete. The WAC Athletics Directors select the male award winner, while the WAC Senior Woman Administrators choose the female honoree.

Media

WAC Sports Network

In 2010, the WAC Sports Network was launched to increase television exposure throughout the conference's media markets. Several football and basketball games are produced and distributed throughout the year. The following affiliates comprise the WAC Sports Network in 2011 for football broadcasts.

State Market Affiliate(s)
Nationally Altitude Sports and Entertainment, ALT2, ESPN3
California Bakersfield KUVI 45
California Chico/Redding CSN California, Comcast Hometown Network Ch. 104
California Fresno/Visalia KAIL 7, KAIL-DT2, CSN California
California Monterey/Salinas KOTR 11, CSN California, Comcast Hometown Network Ch. 104
California Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto CSN California, Comcast Hometown Network Ch. 104
California San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose KOFY 20, CSN California, Comcast Hometown Network Ch. 104
Hawaii Honolulu OCSports 12
Idaho Boise 24/7 (news channel)
Idaho Idaho Falls/Pocatello KIFI-DT8.4
Idaho Lewiston KLEW 3
Idaho Twin Falls 24/7 (news channel)
Louisiana Shreveport KTBS-DT2
Nevada Las Vegas KTUD 25
Nevada Reno/Sparks KAME 21, KAME 21-DT2
Utah Salt Lake City KCSG
Utah St. George/ Cedar City KCSG-DT 14.2
Washington Spokane SWX
Washington Tri-Cities SWX
Washington Yakima SWX

WAC.tv

WAC.tv is a subscription-based provider of live and on-demand online streaming video of WAC events.

References

  1. ^ "WAC to Add Denver, UTSA and Texas State". WACSports.com. November 11, 2010. http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=10100&ATCLID=205028332&SPID=4110&SPSID=56191. Retrieved July 15, 2011. 
  2. ^ "WAC Expands to 10 With Addition of UT Arlington". WACSports.com. July 14. 2011. http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205181717&DB_OEM_ID=10100. Retrieved July 15, 2011. 
  3. ^ "WAC Announces Addition of Seattle". WACSports.com. June 14. 2011. http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=10100&ATCLID=205159664. Retrieved July 15, 2011. 
  4. ^ "Boise State Announces New Conference Affiliations". Boise State Sports Information. Bronco Sports. December 7, 2011. http://www.broncosports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=9900&ATCLID=205343824. 
  5. ^ http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10100&KEY=&ATCLID=1365971 Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  6. ^ Cal State Bakersfield baseball to join WAC - Huffingtonpost.com - September 19, 2011
  7. ^ Dallas Baptist joining WAC for baseball - LubbockOnline.com - September 21, 2011
  8. ^ "Boise State Announces New Conference Affiliations". Boise State Sports Information. Bronco Sports. December 7, 2011. http://www.broncosports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=9900&ATCLID=205343824. 
  9. ^ a b Deinhart, Tom. WAC a cautionary tale for superconferences. Rivals.com. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  10. ^ http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.softball/browse_thread/thread/3f7c1ad8fc2a11e0/ede167b9f4f9ab2a?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=Western+Athletic+Conference+split#ede167b9f4f9ab2a
  11. ^ http://www.thehrr.com/Samples/june%2798.pdf
  12. ^ a b "Boise State moves to Mountain West". ESPN.com. June 11, 2010. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5276064. Retrieved June 11, 2010. 
  13. ^ http://www.grizcentral.com/WAC Commissioner recognizes UM would be "perfect fit"
  14. ^ Katz, Andy (August 18, 2010). "Sources: BYU closer to independence". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5473151. Retrieved August 18, 2010. 
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5907111
  17. ^ http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10100&ATCLID=205159664
  18. ^ http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/50655841-77/state-wac-football-teams.html.csp
  19. ^ "WAC Standing Strong Amid Changing Landscape". WAC. http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10100&ATCLID=205322724. Retrieved 27 October 2011. 
  20. ^ "Boise State Announces New Conference Affiliations". Boise State Sports Information. Bronco Sports. December 7, 2011. http://www.broncosports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=9900&ATCLID=205343824. 
  21. ^ All time Division I-A football records, College Football Data Warehouse
  22. ^ "Hawaii Up Next for Women's Volleyball: ", UCLA Bruins Official Athletic Site, 2006-08-29. Retrieved on 2008-09-25.

External links

Western Athletic Conference
Full members
Future members
† non-football members
BCS Automatic Qualifier
Non-Automatic Qualifier
Future

Mountain West Conference and Conference USA football alliance