COLUMN: All quiet on the Western Athletic front?
By Adam Nettina, Sports Editor
Round and round the wheels of conference expansion talk go. Where they’ll stop? The heck if any of us know.
Just when we thought Boise State would be invited to the Mountain West, another wrench was thrown into ongoing drama of major conference realignment on Monday, as MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson announced that his league would hold off on expanding to ten teams for the time being. The announcement came after a weekend of tumultuous conference expansion talks and ruminations that the Pac-10 would expand to a 16-team league while the Big 12 could be dismantled in the ensuring fray. And that’s not even taking into account the multiple scenarios involving the Big 10, which, oh-by-the-way, kicked off this whole process months ago with talks of possibly inviting Notre Dame into its ranks.
Or wait, was that Rutgers? No, maybe it was Pittsburgh. Scratch that, now we’re hearing that it the Big 10 has Nebraska and Missouri squarely in its sights, and that the Big 12 – facing the prospect of losing six of its teams (including Texas) to the Pac-10 – has extended an ultimatum to the two schools. What will happen? No one seems to know right now, but when the dust settles we could be looking at a landscape in college athletics very different from the one currently in place.
No wonder Sports Illustrated writer Stewart Mandel has speculated that this week could be “most earth-shattering week college athletics has seen in decades.”
Information has been coming in fast and furiously. Twitter is becoming to disseminating medium of choice, and each hour the situation changes. Separating rumor and fact has become difficult, and each “breaking news” update seems to be either repudiated or replaced just hours later. Heck, chances are this very column could be old news by the time you get to it.
Amidst all this talk, beyond the constant updates, breaking news stories and endless rumors, WAC commissioner Karl Benson addressed members of the media on Monday evening, updating the situation of Boise State’s teetering membership, while at the same time leaving room for even more speculation that major changes are coming to his conference.
“This has been a very, very volatile time over the course of the last ten days,” Benson said, his voice reelecting an air of uncertainty. “It’s been an exciting time, but also a cautious time.”
Chalk that up as the understatement of the day. Speaking from the conference meeting in Las Vegas, Benson said that he and the WAC Board of Directors devoted much of Monday to going through possible “What If?” scenarios should Boise State leave the conference. The scenarios could be many – from inviting a single FCS (I-AA) program to the conference to possibly expanding by several more teams. Whatever the case may be, it’s clear that the WAC won’t be at the epicenter of those changes, and that the conference will be playing the waiting game as schools from the Pac-10, Big 12 and Big 10 possibly decide the fate of numerous smaller conferences across the country.
“We certainly are not in a position to react until we know what the landscape will look like in the future,” Benson said.
When asked when conference realignment may occur, Benson was almost as much in the dark as those asking the questions, but did warn that, “I expect that there will be movement much sooner than later.”
So where does this really leave the WAC? Many have claimed that the conference will cease to matter should Boise State bolt for the Mountain West, while others have said that the possible grouping of “mega conferences” would destroy any hope current non-BCS schools have in getting a foot in BCS door and establishing a playoff system. Devoid of its yearly BCS “Buster” and nationally ranked football program, the WAC would become little more than the Sun Belt’s northern doppelganger. If such is the case, Benson would have to react quickly in replacing Boise, convincing either an FCS program or another non-BCS program that joining the WAC is in their best interests, and ensuring that that program won’t simply spend the next decade mired in losing. At the same time, he’ll have to possibly forestall current members of the league from taking invitations to other conferences should further realignment be set into motion. The range of possibilities could be endless, and the scenarios are dizzying. Refusing to give further details or name specific institutions the WAC might be eyeing for its own expansion, Benson was instead defiant in his teleconference, insisting that whatever happens, the WAC will remain relevant.
“The one point that was made today is that despite what happens, the WAC has been a very credible and very recognized conference over the past four years,” Benson said. “Regardless of what changes that might occur we are poised to move forward – either with our existing membership, or any membership changes that may occur…we are expecting our teams to continue to play on the big platform.”
Benson would go on to claim that another program would take up the mantle of conference heavyweight status should Boise State leave the conference. Nevada and Fresno State were mentioned by name, as was — interestingly enough — Utah State. But for all the talk of how great the conference has been and how it can continue to thrive, the WAC finds itself at a curious impasse, with its already questioned status as a relevant college football conference even further up in the air.
Battlefield analogies are a risky proposition for any sports writer. As is quoting a 19th century poet. Yet as Karl Benson readies the WAC and its schools for possible life after Boise State, the words of Henry Timrod above Charleston harbor can’t help but reverberate.
And, all untroubled in her faith, she waits The triumph or the tomb.
All talk of Armageddon scenarios and what-ifs aside, the WAC enters the week like many other conferences across the college sports landscape. Yet the WAC’s football programs – held up for so long by the flagship Bronco teams of Dan Hawkins and later Chris Peterson – have always given the conference the national attention and dollars and cents to keep it squarely in the limelight. Will there be life after Boise State for the WAC, and what changes would the conference have to make to keep other members from possibly bolting should the apocalyptic, big-conference “end-run” occur?
We may not know for another week, but for this morning at least, all is quiet on the Western Front.