(09-24-2018 11:00 PM)jdgaucho Wrote: (09-24-2018 08:54 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote: The 16 member WAC was a strange creature, one that I just postulated it might have been saved.
The trouble was that they needed just 2 schools and TCU/SMU/Rice said they were a package deal.
To get the votes Hawaii and the Cali schools had to be promised regionally friendly SJSU and UNLV.
Tulsa got thrown into make an even 16.
By all accounts the expansion votes was 5-4 with 1 abstention and it passed.
In retrospect, they could have just added SJSU and UNLV to get the conference game.
So if the WAC 16 never occurs it means either the SWC lived on or all of those Texas schools land in C-USA in 1996 when Houston joined.
Playing things out--UTEP never leaves the WAC, LA Tech never joins, Big West football lives on until 2005 or even as late as 2012.
If Big West football lives on through 2005 or 2012, that gives Cal Poly (and UC Davis?) time to move their program up. So does it look like...
Cal Poly
Boise
Utah State
NMSU
UC Davis
Idaho
Nevada
LA Tech (fb-only)
Arkansas State (fb-only)
With UCSB, UCI, CSU Fullerton, Pacific and LBSU as non-football. North Texas leaves regardless.
You then have Fullerton State, Northridge State and Long Beach State thinking of adding football around 2012. La. Tech would leave for C-USA and Arkansas State would have bolted for Sun Belt. You had Northern Illinois in the mixed, but would have gone to MAC.
If CSU-L.A. stayed D1, and kept football? They would be right there in the mixed.
UC-Irvine leaders have not ruled out adding football in the future.
UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Riverside, UC-San Diego all had football. San Diego was asking Pacific and Saint Mary's to keep football for the Pioneer League, and Santa Clara could have football in Pioneer.
WAC could still lose TCU and Utah. WAC could expand by 4.
Hawaii, UNR, Boise State and Fresno State. 5 if Utah leaves with Long Beach State. That is if Long Beach kept football with the plans for an on campus stadium that meets the NCAA requirements. There were people willing to donate money for the stadium.
Big West would have to look at Sacramento State, Portland State, Northern Arizona, UTEP, Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado, Montana, Chico State, and CSU-Dominguez Hills.