WAC Council recommends accepting ESPN's proposal
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Western Athletic Conference Council is recommending to its university presidents that the league accept a television proposal from ESPN and return to Tulsa, Okla., next season for its men's and women's basketball tournament.
In addition, the WAC will reinstate a conference volleyball tournament for women and add a team for women's softball.
Commissioner Karl Benson would only say that "recommendations are going forward from the council (made up of athletic administrators) regarding the WAC's TV future and (basketball) tournament" but declined to address specifics.
Finalization could come as early as this week if the WAC Board of Directors, which is composed of the presidents of the 10 schools, reach agreement during a conference call.
Neither the WAC nor ESPN would comment about the proposed deal, which is believed to be multi-year and cover both football and men's basketball.
The WAC had Fox Sports Net as its television partner the past two years. That agreement expired last month. The first year the conference received minimal exposure and no profits from a "partnership" agreement. Benson said the results for this year aren't in yet.
The WAC Council studied two proposals for its 2001-2002 basketball tournament — Tulsa, which hosted the event this year, and Fresno State, which held it the year before.
Fresno State, with 10,182-seat Selland Arena, returned a reported $70,000 to each of the eight members. Tulsa, with 8,000-seat Reynolds Center, is expected to match that because of corporate sponsorship.
Tulsa had sought a two-year extension but speculation has been that the membership wants to rotate the tournaments between Western and Eastern sites.
Benson said the WAC will revive a women's volleyball championship, which had been dropped after eight schools left the 16-team conference two years ago. All 10 teams in the two-division format will earn berths in the tournament, which will be held, at least initially, in San Jose, Calif.
"It will be like it was before, which seems logical," said Dave Shoji, Wahine volleyball coach. "It makes for a tidier package for everybody."
In other news, the conference will add Sacramento State as an associate member for women's softball, giving it eight teams next season.
Sacramento State's petition to also become an associate member in baseball was denied. The WAC will be a six-team baseball league next season — losing Texas Christian, which will join Conference USA, and Hawai'i-Hilo, which has been an associate member, while adding Louisiana Tech, which has been in the Sun Belt Conference.
