Oh, What Could Have Been? And What Will Now Not Be...
The WAC, with the new additions, was in a spot to be a great mid-major basketball league. Now, the WAC may be in danger of non-existence.
Three and a half years ago…Jan. 21, 2021 to be exact…then-WAC commissioner Jeff Hurd completed the steal of the decade. At least for the Western Athletic Conference.
Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, Abilene Christian, and Lamar joined the WAC. Southern Utah accepted the invitation along with these four Texas schools, but the T-Birds were going to wait until July 1, 2022 to become official members of the WAC.
Men’s basketball in the Western Athletic Conference was set to become a dynamite mid-major league. In fact, the additions vaulted the WAC from 23 in the 2021 KenPom conference rankings to 15 in 2022.
SFA had a recent NCAA Tournament appearance.
ACU was coming off its big win over Texas at the NCAA Tournament.
Sam Houston had been consistently around the top of the Southland Conference under Jason Hooten.
Southern Utah had found success under Todd Simon.
Lamar was coming off a rough stretch but there was some hope under Alvin Brooks.
Not only was the basketball going to be really, REALLY good….football was coming back to the WAC.
After nearly a decade without it, the WAC was bringing it back.
SFA, ACU, Sam Houston, Lamar, Utah Tech, Southern Utah, and Tarleton were going to form an FCS league, with the potential to perhaps become an FBS league at some point.
Well, a little over three years since the time all those schools were announced, that once hope of a bright and strong mid-major basketball league is hanging by the slimmest of slim threads.
Lamar went back to the Southland Conference after just one year. Once Incarnate Word reneged on its plan to join the WAC prior to July 1, 2022, Lamar decided to change course and go back to the Southland Conference, as well.
New Mexico State needed a home for its FBS football team. Thus, when the call from Conference USA came, Mario Moccia and the Aggies couldn’t turn it down. Sam Houston also got the call from Conference USA, and, despite not being ready, the Bearkats made the move to FBS football.
Boom…just like that…oh, and Chicago State left the WAC after the 2021-22 season, as well.
So, for 2021-22, the WAC had SFA, ACU, Lamar, Tarleton, Sam Houston, New Mexico State, UTRGV, Utah Valley, Utah Tech, Chicago State, GCU, CBU, and Seattle U.
On July 1, 2022, the WAC added UT Arlington and Southern Utah to compensate for the departures of Chicago State and Lamar.
Not bad. In a sense, it was addition by subtraction.
So, the lineup for 2022-23 was SFA, ACU, UT Arlington, Tarleton, Sam Houston, New Mexico State, UTRGV, Utah Valley, Utah Tech, Southern Utah, GCU, CBU, and Seattle U.
That lineup in 2022-23 had the WAC ranked as high as 11 in KenPom’s conference rankings.
11!
The fifth-best mid-major league in America.
Did we mention it was a down year for New Mexico State, too? Yes, the Kings of the WAC had the crazy year with the Mike Peake incident, then the hazing issue that shut down the season prior to a game at CBU in February.
The lowest rated KenPom team in the WAC was UTRGV at the time…at 246. Yes, the WAC did not have a sub-300 KenPom team for the first time in years.
Utah Valley went on to make a run to the NIT Final Four.
Sam Houston won a first-round NIT game on the road.
GCU went to the NCAA Tournament after shooting the lights out to win the WAC Tournament.
There were multiple wins over Power Conference opponents.
It was a good time to be a fan of WAC Hoops.
Then, the changes began to happen.
As was said above, New Mexico State accepted the invite from Conference USA to give its football team a home.
Sam Houston, fresh off an FCS national title in 2021, accepted its invite to Conference USA, as well.
Poof! Two schools gone.
Two schools that had a major impact on Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball.
New Mexico State dominated the league for over a decade.
Sam Houston had the highest NET ranking of WAC teams in 2022-23.
And then there were 11.
GCU was plenty happy to see the Aggies go. Heck, New Mexico State was the only team to ever beat GCU in the WAC Tournament.
And with NIL ramping up, GCU took full advantage. The Lopes brought in Collin Moore and Tyon Grant-Foster, running to a 30-win season, first-ever NCAA Tournament win, and putting the nation on notice.
But, that isn’t the story here.
In 2023-24, the WAC continued its implementation of the WAC Resume Seeding System.
The WAC also combined with Conference USA to put together the WAC/Conference USA Scheduling Initiative.
Along with these two things, the WAC also decided that only eight teams would make it to WAC Vegas.
The report was that university presidents didn’t want to pay the cost of Michelob Ultra Arena for two days.
So, the WAC tournament went from 11 teams to eight teams.
Let’s start with the resume seeding system.
First, in theory, the system is good. It challenges teams to put together a little more challenging non-conference slate. And it provides opportunities to make an impact in big time games.
However, in a one-bid league, where each team plays each team twice, it shouldn’t be used to determine seeding for the conference tournament.
This was a sticky point for a lot of coaches, players, and fans around the league.
They simply didn’t like it…at all.
Strike one.
Second, cutting three teams out of the WAC Tournament was not a good idea. In fact, it was simply wrong. Was it cost? Perhaps. But, the players have worked hard, and teams can’t dictate injuries happening throughout the season. They should have at least been given an opportunity one last time to take the floor.
No other conference in America restricts how many teams it will have at its conference tournament.
Well, technically, that’s not true.
The ACC will begin restricting how many teams it has at its conference tournament. The ACC will only allow 15 teams to play in Charlotte. This means three teams won’t play in the conference tournament.
18 teams in one league is much bigger than 11 teams.
Strike two.
Third, the conference schedules in 2023-24 were bad. Like, really bad.
SFA had to go on a four-game road trip over its final six conference games. At Seattle U, at UVU, at GCU and at CBU. That is a gauntlet.
Seattle U had to play a Thursday game at SFA, then come back to Seattle to host GCU less than 48 hours later. Multiple teams actually had to make that happen.
UTRGV had to do the same road trip as SFA.
UT Arlington had to go on a three-game road trip, including a game at CBU on a Thursday before having to host SFA less than 48 hours later at College Park Center.
UVU had a three-game road trip to UT Arlington, UTRGV, and GCU before having to host rival Utah Tech at home.
Think about this, as well…Utah Tech had to play at Seattle U on Thursday, January 4. Less than 48 hours later, the Trailblazers had to host GCU…and the Lopes were actually in St. George before the Trailblazers were.
Strike three.
People will think I am being pessimistic or that I am simply just angry.
Both can be factually true. But, from talking with coaches, players, fans, and administrators in this league, these were the things that stood out as reasons why the league may come upon the same fate the Pac-12 did.
Add in the fact the WAC doesn’t get many games on national television…there were two during WAC play.
Well, technically one since the Utah Valley at Seattle U game that was supposed to be on ESPNU got dropped.
It was great the women’s title game and the men’s title game were on the ESPN Linear Family.
But, considering the Horizon League or even the Summit League have multiple games per week on the ESPN Linear Networks as well as CBS Sports Network, that becomes an issue since both leagues are ranked much lower than the WAC.
Two years ago, the WAC had four teams who had been to a recent NCAA Tournament. Three of those teams actually had a win, even though one was vacated.
One of those teams is gone. Another is reported to be leaving the WAC, and gave its notice this week that it will no longer be a member of the WAC as of July 1, 2024.
Another, the defending champs, are leaving after the 2024-25 season, along with Seattle U, for the WCC.
Seattle U back to the WCC makes sense. The Redhawks were the outlier in the WAC. Seattle U is a Jesuit school, which fits the culture of the WCC. According to Matt Norlander, the only way GCU was getting into the WCC was if the WCC President’s Council voted Seattle U into the league.
GCU going to the WCC makes a little sense. But, if/when Gonzaga leaves, what then?
UTRGV to the Southland makes sense for a variety of reasons. Cost, competitiveness, location, natural rivalry with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Plus, the football in the Southland Conference is stable, and pretty good.
If it is all about finances, SFA back to the Southland makes some sense. If it is about competitiveness, it doesn’t make sense.
Even with Will Wade’s McNeese State squad getting a 12-seed, the Southland was still much lower in the KenPom conference rankings than the WAC.
SFA going back to the Southland is more about football than anything else.
It is a sad time if you are a WAC Hoops fan. Putting my heart and soul into promoting this league, telling stories, and bringing you all kinds of content has been amazing.
But, the SFA news that came out on Friday could set up a huge domino effect of what could have been a really, REALLY good, AND stable basketball league.
Three years ago, discussions were being had about a two-bid league down the road, as well as, FBS football on the horizon.
Now, on May 27, 2024, the discussion continues to loom about whether or not the Western Athletic Conference will even exist in a year or two.
Oh, what could have been.
Maybe, in biased dreams, the remaining seven teams will come together, and stick this out.
Some minds want to hope. But, the heart is telling them otherwise.
Oh, what could have been.
Go get Denver and Oral Roberts and rebuild the WAC. As a UT Arlington Alumni I have zero desire to return to tje Southland. Talk about a step backwards! If we leave the WAC the only option in my opinion is the Missouri Valley Conference.
Until the WAC gets new leadership, I fear no one will want to join. That is the biggest issue at the moment concerning the conference.