Fresno State Accepts Offer to Join WAC : College sports: Bulldogs leave Big West, which may have trouble retaining its Division I-A designation in football.

Fresno State, the flagship football school in the Big West Conference, announced Wednesday that it will jump to the Western Athletic Conference in the fall of 1992. The move reduces the stature of the Big West and may jeopardize its Division I-A football future.

The Bulldogs’ 19 men’s and women’s athletic teams, which won seven conference championships this school year, will compete in the Big West for one more year, then move into the WAC in the fall of 1992.

Fresno State had expressed interest in the WAC for several years, but Athletic Director Gary Cunningham said he had not been negotiating for membership and was “totally surprised” when the invitation came from the WAC Council of Presidents Monday.

Fresno State President Dr. Harold Haak said he was delighted with the move, which will increase the WAC to 10 teams and represents the first change in membership since the Air Force Academy joined in 1980.

The Fresno State football team didn’t have a stable Division I-A home in the Big West. With several conference programs, such as Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach, on shaky financial ground, there has been speculation that some Big West schools will downgrade football to Division I-AA or a proposed I-AAA--nonscholarship--level.

But Big West Commissioner Jim Haney said the conference is committed to I-A football.

“Fresno State is a significant member of the conference, but the conference will go on,” he said. “We’ll look to improve ourselves as prudently as we can.”

Haney listed Nevada, Boise State, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Sacramento as possible candidates to replace Fresno, with Nevada the front-runner.

The Wolf Pack, a member of the Big Sky Conference, has had one of the nation’s most successful Division I-AA football programs and went 13-2 last season, losing to Georgia Southern in the I-AA national championship game.

Nevada is in the process of expanding its football stadium from 21,000 to 30,000 seats, and the school has an 11,800-seat basketball arena. The basketball team finished second in the Big Sky last season.

Haney said Nevada is very interested in the Big West and that Boise State has shown some interest. He said Northridge and Sacramento would be good candidates, but neither plays Division I football.

Although Northridge has plans to build a 30,000-seat football stadium, Athletic Director Bob Hiegert said Division I-A football “is not in our immediate plans.”

“They told us before that if we had Division I-A football, they’d seriously consider us,” Hiegert said. “But I-A football in the Big West is in serious jeopardy with Fresno out. I hope (the Big West) reconsiders their stand on that.”

The Big West has been able to fulfill the NCAA’s Division I-A football requirements primarily on the strength of Fresno State. The Bulldogs, who are expanding their stadium to 40,000 seats, have regularly averaged 30,000 or more for home games.

Individual schools can meet the Division I criteria by having a 30,000-seat stadium and, once every four years, averaging 20,000 for all games or 17,000 at home. Schools that don’t have the stadium must average 17,000 for home games. A conference qualifies by having one more than half of its members--five in the Big West--meet the criteria.

The Big West is certified in Division I-A for the next four seasons, but unless the conference can attract a school with a Division I-A football program, it may not be able to remain Division I. Last season, seven of the Big West’s schools ranked 89th or lower among 106 Division I-A teams in home attendance. Fresno State ranked 57th with an average of 32,881 fans.

The Bulldogs’ move also will cost the Big West its best all-around athletic program. Fresno State has won four conference football championships and four California Bowls in the last nine years, the basketball team appears to be on the rise under new Coach Gary Colson, the baseball team is a perennial national power, the track teams have dominated the Big West and the softball team has been the national runner-up four times in the last 10 seasons.

“It’s good for Fresno State but it’s not good for the conference from a prestige standpoint,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said. “They have one of the most stable athletic programs on the West Coast.”

Times staff writer Mike Hiserman contributed to this story.