Post by CrimsonPhantom on Aug 22, 2012 10:00:41 GMT -7
In the last two years, conference realignment and expansion have remodeled the NCAA landscape, so much so that San Diego State will be playing conference games on the East Coast and West Virginia will be making trips to West Texas. While the scene is still somewhat fluid, a lasting consequence of the realignment craze has materialized: A football conference will be completely wiped off the map.
After more than a decade of membership changes, the Western Athletic Conference will not play football in 2013, barring a miraculous wave of schools joining the ailing conference. Interim commissioner Jeff Hurd denied previous reports that the league had officially abandoned football, but conceded that all signs point to no football after this season and said the conference is not pursuing football-playing schools for membership in 2013.
"We didn't make a formal announcement, but I think it's obvious from an FBS standpoint that we can't continue [playing football]," Hurd said. "That doesn't eliminate the possibility down the road. ... But for the '13-'14 year, we are trying to maintain the WAC as a Division I conference in sports other than football. That's our priority."
Currently, only four non-household names are set to remain in the conference: Seattle, Denver, New Mexico State and Idaho, with the Vandals exploring independence in football and Big Sky membership for their other sports. In 2012, the WAC will be a diseased seven-team football league limping through its 50th year. And come July 1, 2013, the once-respectable conference will be a carcass.
Read more: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/ncaa/08/21/wac-football-demise/index.html#ixzz24IMqCSps
After more than a decade of membership changes, the Western Athletic Conference will not play football in 2013, barring a miraculous wave of schools joining the ailing conference. Interim commissioner Jeff Hurd denied previous reports that the league had officially abandoned football, but conceded that all signs point to no football after this season and said the conference is not pursuing football-playing schools for membership in 2013.
"We didn't make a formal announcement, but I think it's obvious from an FBS standpoint that we can't continue [playing football]," Hurd said. "That doesn't eliminate the possibility down the road. ... But for the '13-'14 year, we are trying to maintain the WAC as a Division I conference in sports other than football. That's our priority."
Currently, only four non-household names are set to remain in the conference: Seattle, Denver, New Mexico State and Idaho, with the Vandals exploring independence in football and Big Sky membership for their other sports. In 2012, the WAC will be a diseased seven-team football league limping through its 50th year. And come July 1, 2013, the once-respectable conference will be a carcass.
Read more: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/ncaa/08/21/wac-football-demise/index.html#ixzz24IMqCSps