Big West Is Poised for a WAC Fallout

Tuesday’s shake-up of the Western Athletic Conference has been felt in the Big West and Commissioner Dennis Farrell sees the opportunity for his conference to add schools. But the Big West could end up losing instead of gaining.

Utah, Colorado State, Air Force, Brigham Young, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada Las Vegas and San Diego State announced their intentions to leave the 16-team WAC effective in June, 1999. San Jose State, Hawaii, Fresno State, Southern Methodist, Tulsa, Rice, Texas Christian and Texas El Paso will remain in the WAC.

Farrell says the Big West will eventually expand to 16 schools. That would mean adding four schools, at least two of which must have football programs. Only six of the conference’s 12 schools play football; adding football teams is the primary motive for such an expansion, Farrell said.

However the six conference schools that play football have not been entirely satisfied in the Big West. Nevada, Utah State, Boise State, New Mexico State and North Texas made bids to join the WAC in 1996.

“It would be naive of me to say I didn’t have concerns,” Farrell said. “If some of our schools filled that void, it would create the same geographic boundaries the old WAC had. That didn’t seem to work for some people.”

Farrell knows the problems a extended conference can cause. The Big West once included Northern Illinois, Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech and Southwestern Louisiana for football.

“In light of what happened to the WAC, people might not think having a 16-team conference is a good idea,” Farrell said. “But it makes geographical sense for us.”

The Big West’s strategic plan calls for two eight-team divisions, similar to the WAC. Unlike the WAC, the Big West wouldn’t span four time zones. Currently, the conference stretches from North Texas in Denton to the West Coast.

Farrell said Fresno State and San Jose State would be natural fits, if the two schools chose to return to the Big West. Fresno State left in 1992 and San Jose State in 1995.

“All this is real early,” Farrell said. “The WAC situation was totally unexpected.

“This potentially could affect 20 schools, our 12 and the eight that remain in the WAC. We’re sticking with our strategic plan. If we find the right schools to complete our alignment, we could be solid for many, many years.”