The Western Athletic Conference has formed a...

The Western Athletic Conference has formed a committee to study whether the conference should join the nation’s eight other major college conferences in offering women’s competition.

The plan could mean a realignment of the Santa Ana-based Big West Conference and the elimination of the High Country Athletic Conference, a seven-member women’s conference based in Laramie, Wyo. Eight of the 10 WAC schools compete in at least some women’s sports in one of the two conferences.