WAC may expand by 2
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
BOISE, Idaho — The 10-school Western Athletic Conference is seeking to add two schools from the Central time zone, commissioner Karl Benson announced yesterday at the conference's Football Media Preview.
By expanding for the third time in five years, the WAC will be able to create two six-team divisions and establish a league championship game in football.
Benson said the decision to expand was made before the Atlantic Coast Conference offered membership to Miami. Earlier this month, Miami and Virginia Tech decided to leave the Big East and join the ACC.
Benson said the WAC is prepared to make offers to expansion candidates as soon as the Big East decides on replacements for Miami and Virginia Tech. A Big East decision is expected within two months, Benson said, adding, "the Big East has to do something."
Benson said the WAC has "identified some particular schools we thought would be a good fit." But he refused to name the expansion candidates or confirm whether the WAC has had discussions with them.
Benson said the WAC is "not looking to add to the West."
The WAC is seeking to balance a league that tilts to the West. Four of the 10 schools are in the Central time zone.
"A six-team Central division is a priority for us," Benson said. "That's our goal."
Benson said geographical balance will build rivalries and cut down on long travel. The WAC stretches five time zones.
Under the proposal, Texas-El Paso, the only Lone Star city in the Mountain time zone, would be grouped with Hawai'i, Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and San Jose State in the West division.
UTEP coach Gary Nord said being separated from the other Southwest schools — Tulsa, Rice, Southern Methodist and Louisiana Tech — makes him "feel like a stepchild now. I'm not sure what we're in — the West or the East. Just to get a place to call home would be nice. I don't care where we go."
The WAC coaches supported expansion, particularly if it meant creating a championship game between the division winners.
"I think it's good," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. "I'd like to have a playoff game."
Boise State coach Dan Hawkins favored a title game if it brought extra revenue to league members and did not greatly prolong the season to the point where a bowl game would be played "in Easter."
Benson also announced that the Bowl Championship Series is considering a proposal to add a fifth bowl. Under the current format, six conferences have automatic berths; there are two at-large berths, which usually go to the BCS conferences. BCS bowls pay participants millions of dollars more than non-BCS bowls.
The proposal, presented in a meeting involving the commissioners of the five non-BCS conferences, would award a bowl berth to the non-BCS team with the best ranking in the BCS poll. If that format were used during the last four years, the WAC would have had qualified for a berth in a BCS game three times — Texas Christian in 1999, Fresno State in 2001 and Boise State in 2002.
