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EspañolWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
| 'Western Athletic Conference' | |
|---|---|
 Western Athletic Conference | |
| 'Data' | |
| Classification | NCAA Division I FBS |
| Established | 1962 |
| Members | 9 |
| Sports fielded | 19 (8 men's, 11 women's) |
| Region | Western United States |
| States | 7 - California, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah |
| Headquarters | Greenwood Village, Colorado |
 | |
The 'Western Athletic Conference' (commonly referred to as the 'WAC', pronounced "whack") was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division 'I-A'). The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States, with member institutions located in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.
History
Formation
The WAC formed out of a series of talks between Brigham Young University President Edwin Kimball and other university administrators from 1958 to 1961 to form a new athletic conference that would better fit the needs and situations of certain universities then competing in the Border, Skyline and Pacific Coast Conferences. Potential member universities who were represented at the meetings included Brigham Young, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Arizona State, and Wyoming. While the three Washington and Oregon schools elected to stay in a revamped Pac-8 Conference that replaced the scandal-plagued PCC, the remaining six schools formed the WAC, forcing the disbandment of the Border and Skyline conferences. New Mexico State and Utah State applied for charter membership and were turned down; they would eventually become WAC members 43 years later.
Charter members
★ University of Arizona (withdrew June 30, 1978 to join the Pacific 10 Conference)
★ Arizona State University (withdrew June 30, 1978 to join the Pacific 10 Conference)
★ Brigham Young University (withdrew June 30, 1999 to form the Mountain West Conference)
★ University of New Mexico (withdrew June 30, 1999 to form the Mountain West Conference)
★ University of Utah (withdrew June 30, 1999 to form the Mountain West Conference)
★ University of Wyoming (withdrew June 30, 1999 to form the Mountain West Conference)
Success and first expansion
The conference proved to be an almost perfect fit for the six schools from both a competitive and financial standpoint. Arizona and Arizona State, in particular, experienced success in baseball with Arizona garnering the 1963 College World Series runner-up trophy and ASU winning the CWS in 1965, 1967, and 1969. UTEP, recently renamed from Texas Western College, and Colorado State joined in 1967 to bring membership up to eight.
With massive growth in the state of Arizona, the balance of WAC play in the 1970s became increasingly skewed in favor of the Arizona schools, who won or tied for all but two WAC football titles from 1969 onward. In the summer of 1978, the two schools left the WAC for the Pac-8, which became the Pac-10, and were replaced in the WAC by San Diego State and, one year later, Hawaii. The WAC further expanded by adding Air Force in the summer of 1980. A college football national championship won by BYU in 1984 added to the WAC's reputation as the best of the so-called mid-major conferences. The nine-team lineup of the WAC defined the conference for nearly 15 years.
Second wave of expansion and turbulence
Fresno State expanded its athletic program in the early 1990s and were granted membership in 1992 as the nationwide trend against major college programs independent of conferences accelerated. The WAC merged with the High Country Athletic Conference, a parallel organization to the WAC for women's athletics, in 1990 to unify both men's and women's athletics under one administrative structure.
In 1996, the demise of the scandal-plagued Southwest Conference set off a chain reaction that affected conferences nationwide and the WAC was no exception. Rice, TCU, and SMU from the disbanded SWC were admitted into the WAC, along with San Jose State and UNLV from the Big West Conference as well as Tulsa from the Missouri Valley Conference to bring WAC membership to sixteen universities in two divisions.
To help in organizing schedules and travel for the farflung league, the members were divided into four quadrants of four teams each, as follows:
| Quadrant 1 | Quadrant 2 | Quadrant 3 | Quadrant 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | UNLV | BYU | Tulsa |
| Fresno State | Air Force | Utah | TCU |
| San Diego State | Colorado State | New Mexico | SMU |
| San Jose State | Wyoming | UTEP | Rice |
Two of the four quadrants combined to form the Mountain Division and the two combined to form the Pacific Division. The exact components of each division changed yearly.
The division champions in football met from 1996 to 1998 in a championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium (also known as the Silver Bowl) in Henderson, Nevada. ABC televised all three games.
Increasingly, this arrangement was not satisfactory to most of the older, pre-1990 members. Five members in particular (Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah and Wyoming) felt that WAC expansion had compromised the athletic and academic excellence of the membership[1]. Additional concerns centered around finances, as the new league stretched from Hawaii to Oklahoma and travel costs became a concern. In 1999, those five schools, along with old line WAC schools New Mexico and San Diego State, as well as newcomer UNLV, would split off and form the Mountain West Conference, depriving the WAC of most of its competitive strength and almost all of its history. Only UTEP and Hawaii would remain from the WAC's "golden age," and UTEP would ultimately leave the WAC as well.
Modern WAC
Since then, WAC membership has been in a state of flux. Nevada joined in its plan to upgrade its athletic program in 2000. TCU left for Conference USA in 2001 (then rejoined eight former WAC opponents as the ninth member of the Mountain West Conference in 2005), while Boise State and Louisiana Tech joined the same year. 2005 saw another large change of membership, with the addition of three Universities from the Sun Belt Conference — Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State — replacing four universities: Rice, SMU, Tulsa, and UTEP, all of which joined Conference USA.
Current members (and year joined)
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boise State University | Boise, Idaho | 1932 | Public | 18,456 | 2001 |
| California State University, Fresno | Fresno, California | 1911 | Public (California State University system) | 21,000 | 1992 |
| University of Hawaii at Mānoa | Honolulu, Hawaii | 1907 | Public (University of Hawaii System) | 20,549 | 1979 |
| University of Idaho | Moscow, Idaho | 1889 | Public | 12,824 | 2005 |
| Louisiana Tech University | Ruston, Louisiana | 1894 | Public (University of Louisiana System) | 11,710 | 2001 |
| University of Nevada, Reno | Reno, Nevada | 1874 | Public (Nevada System of Higher Education) | 15,588 | 2000 |
| New Mexico State University | Las Cruces, New Mexico | 1888 | Public | 26,200 | 2005 |
| San José State University | San Jose, California | 1857 | Public (California State University system) | 28,932 | 1996 |
| Utah State University | Logan, Utah | 1888 | Public (Utah System of Higher Education) | 23,128 | 2005 |
Full members
★ Boise State Broncos
★ Fresno State Bulldogs
★ Hawaii Warriors/Rainbow Wahine
★ Idaho Vandals
★ Louisiana Tech Bulldogs/Lady Techsters
★ Nevada Wolf Pack
★ New Mexico State Aggies
★ San Jose State Spartans
★ Utah State Aggies
Associate members
★ Sacramento State Hornets (baseball/women's gymnastics)
★ Cal State Fullerton Titans (women's gymnastics)
★ Cal State Northridge Matadors (indoor/outdoor track and field)
★ Southern Utah Lady Thunderbirds (women's gymnastics)
★ Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (women's swimming & diving)
★ San Diego Toreros (women's swimming & diving)
Sports
The WAC crowns team and individual champions in 19 sports – 8 men’s and 11 women’s.
'Men's sports'
★ Baseball
★ Basketball
★ Cross country
★ Football
★ Golf
★ Tennis
★ Indoor track and field
★ Outdoor track and field
'Women's sports'
★ Basketball
★ Cross country
★ Golf
★ Gymnastics
★ Soccer
★ Softball
★ Swimming and diving
★ Tennis
★ Indoor track and field
★ Outdoor track and field
★ Volleyball
Former members
1978
★ Arizona (1962-78)
★ Arizona State (1962-78)
1999
★ BYU (1962-99)
★ New Mexico (1962-99)
★ Utah (1962-99)
★ Wyoming (1962-99)
★ Colorado State (1967-99)
★ San Diego State (1978-99)
★ Air Force (1980-99)
★ UNLV (1996-99)
2001
★ TCU (1996-2001)
2005
★ UTEP (1967-2005)
★ Rice (1996-2005)
★ SMU (1996-2005)
★ Tulsa (1996-2005)
Of the former members:
★ Two (Arizona and Arizona State) are currently members of the Pac-10.
★ Four (Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP) are in Conference USA.
★ The remaining nine make up the current membership of the Mountain West Conference.
Conference facilities
| School | Football stadium | Capacity | Basketball arena | Capacity | Baseball stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Members | ||||||
| Boise State | Bronco Stadium | 30,000 | Taco Bell Arena | 12,380 | N/A | |
| Fresno State | Bulldog Stadium | 41,031 | Save Mart Center | 16,116 | Beiden Field | 5,422 |
| Hawaii | Aloha Stadium | 50,000 | Stan Sheriff Center | 10,300 | Les Murakami Stadium | 4,312 |
| Idaho | Kibbie Dome | 16,000 | Cowan Spectrum | 7,000 | N/A | |
| Louisiana Tech | Joe Aillet Stadium | 30,600 | Thomas Assembly Center | 8,000 | J.C. Love Field | 2,000 |
| Nevada | Mackay Stadium | 29,993 | Lawlor Events Center | 11,784 | William Peccole Park | 3,000 |
| New Mexico State | Aggie Memorial Stadium | 30,343 | Pan American Center | 13,071 | Presley Askew Field | 750 |
| San Jose State | Spartan Stadium | 30,578 | The Event Center | 5,000 | San Jose Municipal Stadium | 5,200 |
| Utah State | Romney Stadium | 25,513 | Dee Glen Smith Spectrum | 10,270 | LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field | 500 |
| Associate Members | ||||||
| Sacramento State | Hornet Field | 1,200 | ||||
'Note:'
★ Idaho uses the same structure for both its home football and basketball games, although it uses a different name for the venue's basketball configuration. Also, Idaho has occasionally used Martin Stadium at Washington State University, only 8 miles (13 km) west, for a home football game. In 1999, while a member of the Big West Conference, Idaho played all of their home games at Martin Stadium and did not play a single game in the state of Idaho. This was due to the requirements by the Big West, and due to remodeling of the Kibbie Dome per the NCAA for Idaho to be a Division I-A, now FBS, school.
Rivalries
★ Conference
★
★ Boise State-Idaho
★
★ San José State-Fresno State
★
★ Hawaii-Fresno State
★
★ Louisiana Tech-Fresno State (Battle of The Bone; so named because both universities use Bulldogs as their mascots)
★
★ Boise State-Fresno State-(Mostly in Football. The two Universities have a milk jug trophy to the winner of the game, started in 2005)
★ Non-Conference
★
★ Idaho-Washington State (Pac 10) - Battle of the Palousse
★
★ Nevada-UNLV (Mountain West)
★
★ Hawaii-BYU (Mountain West)
★
★ Utah State-BYU (Mountain West)
★
★ Utah State-Utah (Mountain West) - The Beehive Boot
★
★ New Mexico State-New Mexico (Mountain West) - The Rio Grande Rivalry
★
★ New Mexico State-UTEP (Conference USA) - The Silver Spade
★
★ San José State-San Diego State (Mountain West)
★
★ San José State-Stanford (Pac 10)
★
★ Idaho-Montana (Big Sky)
Commissioners
★ Paul Brechler (1962-1968)
★ Wiles Hallock (1968-1971)
★ Stan Bates (1971-1980)
★ Dr.Joseph Kearney (1980-1994)
★ Karl Benson (1994-present)
Awards
Commissioner's Cup: The WAC awards its Commissioner's Cup to the school that performs the best in each of the conference's 19 men's and women's championships.
Stan Bates Award: The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates and honors the WAC's top male and female scholar-athletes, recognizing the recipients’ athletic and academic accomplishments. In addition, the awards carry a $2,000 postgraduate scholarship.
Joe Kearney Award: Named in honor of former WAC commissioner Dr. Joseph Kearney, the awards are given annually to the top male and female WAC athlete. The WAC Athletics Directors select the male award winner, while the WAC Senior Woman Administrators choose the female honoree.
National championships
The following teams have won NCAA national championships while being a member of the WAC:
★ Arizona - baseball (1976)
★ Arizona State - baseball (1965, 1967, 1969, 1977)
★ BYU - women's cross country (1997)
★ Fresno State - softball (1998)
★ Rice - baseball (2003)
★ UNLV - men's golf (1998)
The WAC has also produced one AP national champion in football:
★ BYU (1984)
Football Bowl Games
The WAC regularly sends teams to three different bowl games. The Hawaii Bowl, the Humanitarian Bowl, and the New Mexico Bowl. The conference even has the opportunity to send a team to a BCS game.
Bowl Championship Series
The WAC champion will receive an automatic berth in one of the five BCS bowl games if:
★ ranked in the top 12 of the BCS Standings.
★ Or if ranked in the top 16 of the BCS Standings and its ranking is higher than that of a champion of a conference that has an annual automatic berth in one of the BCS bowls.
Hawaii Bowl
Main articles: Hawaii Bowl
The bowl will select a WAC team and will match it against a Pac-10 opponent.
Humanitarian Bowl
Main articles: Humanitarian Bowl
The bowl will select a WAC team and will match it against an ACC opponent.
New Mexico Bowl
Main articles: New Mexico Bowl
The bowl will select a WAC team and will match it against a Mountain West Conference opponent.
Conference championships
Football
See Western Athletic Conference football champions
WAC Men's Basketball Tournament
See WAC Men's Basketball Tournament
External links
★ Official site of the Western Athletic Conference
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