LETTER: Don’t leave the WAC

To the editor:

Some USU fans now propose that the Utah State football program should move down to the division 1-AA level. This proposal would spell disaster for the entire Utah State athletic department. The fact that Utah State was finally admitted to the Western Athletic Conference after an agonizing wait of thirty-plus years, essentially saved the Aggies from involuntarily falling out of division 1-A football, as a result of the Big West Conference dropping football. The Aggies consequently played two years as an independent and two years in the Sun Belt Conference, the worst in the nation. These four years have impeded Aggie coaches from recruiting the talent needed to beat the likes of Utah. Now the Aggies are in the WAC and have much greater recruiting incentives and opportunities. Enter a new athletic director, Col. Randy Spetman, with tremendous vision for the athletic department, and the Aggies appear to be in business. USU is currently in the process of a $27 million dollar renovation project of Romney Stadium, which will allow the Aggies to compete at a high level in the Intermountain West. The north end zone complex costs upwards of $10 million and $7.75 million of that money comes directly from USU student fees. Do USU students really want to spend their money on a downgraded football team in the Big Sky Conference? How does permanently ending the USU-BYU and USU-Utah football rivalries sound? There is always USU basketball to look forward to, many Aggie fans say. How soon do we all forget how badly the Aggies were intentionally snubbed by the NCAA selection committee in 2004? The committee regards the Big West and Big Sky as weaklings. No more at-large berths to the NCAA tournament in basketball like this past year. Maybe attending the USU football games so that USU can average more than 15,000 fans a game to avoid probation and downgraded status is indeed worth the time and effort. If not, I hope Aggie fans are really looking forward to a BYU or Utah-level rivalry with Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Conference.

Shane Allen