Fixin’ College Football: Shuffling the Conferences (11/11)

WAC
Established 1962 (Major Realignment 2005)
9 Teams
7 States
Longest Distance Between Schools: 4034 Miles (Hawaii and Louisiana Tech)

Boise State
Fresno State
Hawaii
Idaho
Louisiana Tech
Nevada
New Mexico State
San Jose State
Utah State

The WAC is the sixth oldest football conference in the country but may have the least tradition of any conference due to its tumultuous history, top-heavy talent, and geographical absurdity. The WAC originally formed in 1962 but has gone through numerous realignments since then. The six original teams are long gone and only one team of the first ten remain (Hawaii). 6 of the 9 current teams joined in 2000 or later and the conference has had 24 different members (including Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, TCU, Tulsa, Utah) throughout its existence. The most recent change occurred in 2005 when Rice, SMU, and Tulsa all departed and Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State all joined...not much of an upgrade to say the least. Not only did the constant flux of members diminish any possible rivalries but the conference's tradition was sacrificed as well. BYU, Arizona State, and Wyoming have the most WAC championships but all three are no longer members. Only 3 of the 9 current members have even won outright conference championships, and the dominance of Boise State of late does not do much good for WAC bottom-dwellers, such as Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State. Boise State has won 6 of the last 8 WAC championships and constantly (along with Hawaii) overshadows the rest of the conference. With Hawaii dropping off since its brutal loss to Georgia in the 2008 Sugar Bowl, the conference is reverting back to futility as Boise State remains the only true force among the WAC's 9 teams.

The geography of the WAC poses another huge problem and is by far the worst of any conference. Yes, Hawaii automatically kills the conference's geography, but even when excluding them, the geography of the other 8 teams is pretty dreadful itself. Having Louisiana Tech in the Western Athletic Conference is just a joke. LT's closest in-conference foe is New Mexico State, just a short 821 mile drive away. And then, the next closest conference school to New Mexico State is just another 703 miles away. Sure, the Western states are more spread out than the East, but the WAC locations are just ridiculous. There is no way LT is ever going to be able to generate excitement against teams 1000 miles away when it could be in a conference with schools from its own state. Similarly, the WAC alignment is not at all conducive to maintaining or creating rivalries. Not only are the teams too spread out, but there are only two in-state conference opponents (in California and Idaho). If the WAC and Mountain West just got together and made a few simple changes, both would be much better off. There are easy opportunities to create in-state rivalries in Nevada and New Mexico and additional in-state rivalries in California and Utah with a few tweaks.

To accommodate San Diego State fans, the WAC should add the Aztecs to the conference. SDSU would then be able to compete against Fresno State and San Jose State on a regular basis. To renew the rivalry among the two Nevada schools, the WAC should add UNLV from the MWC. To improve the Rio Grande Rivalry, the WAC should add New Mexico from the MWC. Finally, the last move to make is adding UTEP from C-USA. The schools closest to UTEP are both located in New Mexico anyway, meaning that the Miners could build stronger rivalries with those schools than the ones hundreds of miles away in C-USA. In return for the three teams from the MWC and one from C-USA, the WAC should allow Boise State, Idaho, and Utah State to join the MWC and Louisiana Tech to join C-USA. As mentioned previously, Utah State could renew rivalries with BYU and Utah, Boise State could keep its rivalry with Idaho while playing in a much more competitive soon-to-be-BCS-conference, and Louisiana Tech could play against teams much closer to home.

While this would be considered another major realignment in the WAC's already mangled history, this is one change that could stay permanent because it actually makes sense. The importance of restoring and creating rivalries cannot be overstated in college football and rivalries that are played in-conference add a whole new element to the game. In addition to creating 7 in-state, in-conference rivalries from these 8 changes involving the WAC, transportation costs would be greatly reduced allowing more flexibility in school athletic budgets, and most fans of WAC teams could actually have the chance to attend away games without spending a fortune or driving for two days straight (sorry Hawaii fans, no relief for you). -J.S.

Solution: Add New Mexico, San Diego State, and UNLV from the Mountain West, Add UTEP from C-USA, Dismiss Boise State, Idaho, and Utah State to the Mountain West, Dismiss Louisiana Tech to C-USA