Western Athletic Conference From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Established: 1962 NCAA Division I FBS Members 9 Sports fielded 19 (men's: 8; women's: 11) Region California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Louisiana Headquarters Greenwood Village, CO Commissioner Karl Benson (since 1994) Website http://www.wacsports.com/ Locations The Western Athletic Conference (WAC, IPA: [ˈwæk]) 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. Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 Formation 1.1.1 Charter members 1.2 Success and first expansion 1.3 Second wave of expansion and turbulence 1.4 Today's WAC 1.5 Membership timeline 2 Current members (and year joined) 2.1 Associate members 3 Sports 4 Former members 4.1 1978 4.2 1999 4.3 2001 4.4 2005 5 Conference facilities 6 Rivalries 7 Commissioners 8 Awards 9 National championships 10 Football Bowl Games 11 Conference championships 11.1 Football 11.2 Basketball 11.3 Baseball 11.4 Tennis 12 References 13 External links [edit] History [edit] 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 which were at the time members of 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. [edit] 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) [edit] 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, Hawaiʻi. 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. [edit] Second wave of expansion and turbulence Fresno State expanded its athletic program in the early 1990s and was 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 José 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 Hawaiʻi UNLV BYU Tulsa Fresno State Air Force Utah TCU San Diego State Colorado State New Mexico SMU San José State Wyoming UTEP Rice Quadrant one was always part of the Pacific Division, and quadrant four was always part of the Mountain Division. Quadrant two was part of the Pacific Division for 1996 and 1997 before switching to the Mountain Division in 1998, while the reverse was true for quadrant three. The scheduled fourth year of the alignment was abandoned after eight schools left to form the Mountain West Conference. 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 Hawaiʻi 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 (in addition to its 4 remaining charter members). Only UTEP and Hawaiʻi would remain from the WAC's "golden age," and UTEP ultimately ended up leaving the WAC as well. [edit] Today's WAC Since 1999, WAC membership has been in a state of flux. Nevada of the Big West 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 in 2005), while Boise State of the Big West and independent Louisiana Tech joined the WAC in 2001. Another large change of membership came in 2005, with the departure of four members to Conference USA: Rice, SMU, Tulsa, and UTEP. Joining the conference were three more universities (all land-grant schools) from the Big West — Idaho, Utah State, and New Mexico State (ex-Big West). When the Big West announced that it would drop football after the 2000 season, there were four members that wanted to continue their football programs. Boise State was invited to join the WAC and promptly departed, but UI, NMSU, and USU were left without a football conference in 2001. NMSU joined the Sun Belt Conference as a full-time member, but UI and USU remained in the Big West. Idaho joined the distant Sun Belt as a "football only" member in 2001 while Utah State operated as a football independent for two seasons. USU found scheduling extremely difficult, and it joined Idaho as a "football only" member of the Sun Belt in 2003. [2] [edit] Membership timeline [edit] Current members (and year joined) Institution Nickname Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Joined Endowment Boise State University Broncos Boise, Idaho 1932 Public 19,500 2001 $61 million Fresno State University Bulldogs Fresno, California 1911 Public (California State University system) 21,000 1992 $86.6 million University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Warriors/Rainbow Wahine Honolulu, Hawaii 1907 Public (University of Hawaiʻi System) 20,549 1979 $3 billion (UH System) University of Idaho Vandals Moscow, Idaho 1889 Public 13,000 2005 $143.5 million Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs/Lady Techsters Ruston, Louisiana 1894 Public (University of Louisiana System) 11,710 2001 $39.1 million University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack Reno, Nevada 1874 Public (Nevada System of Higher Education) 15,588 2000 $240 million New Mexico State University Aggies Las Cruces, New Mexico 1888 Public 16,415 2005 $74.3 million San José State University Spartans San José, California 1857 Public (California State University system) 28,932 1996 $50.1 million Utah State University Aggies Logan, Utah 1888 Public (Utah System of Higher Education) 23,128 2005 $110.3 million Locations of current Western Athletic Conference full member institutions. [edit] 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) [edit] 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 [edit] Former members [edit] 1978 Arizona (1962-78) Arizona State (1962-78) [edit] 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) [edit] 2001 TCU (1996-2001) [edit] 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 (TCU was in Conference USA from July 2001 through June 2005 before joining the Mountain West). [edit] Conference facilities School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity Baseball stadium Capacity Full Members Boise State Bronco Stadium 32,000 Taco Bell Arena 12,380 N/A Fresno State Bulldog Stadium 41,031 Save Mart Center 15,544 Beiden Field 5,422 Hawaiʻi 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 José State Spartan Stadium 30,578 The Event Center Arena 5,000 San Jose Municipal Stadium 5,200 Utah State Romney Stadium 30,257 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. [edit] Rivalries Conference Boise State-Fresno State - Mostly in football; the two schools have a milk can trophy given to the winner of the game, started in 2005 Boise State-Hawaiʻi – An emerging football rivalry featuring two of the three non-BCS schools to participate in a BCS bowl game. Boise State-Idaho - A heated in-state rivalry in basketball and football since the 1970's. In football, the two teams play for the annual "Governor's Cup". Hawaiʻi-Fresno State - "The Battle of the Screwdriver" Hawaiʻi-New Mexico State - Women's volleyball; both teams are consistently rated to be at the top of the WAC. Nevada-Boise State-Both former members of the Big Sky Conference and the Big West Conference and have been rivals in all three conferences. Louisiana Tech-Fresno State - Battle for the Bone; so named because both universities use Bulldogs as their mascots San José State-Fresno State Non-Conference Hawaiʻi-BYU (Mountain West) - This rivalry is a leftover from the "golden age" of the WAC, and is dwindling; Hawaii and BYU haven't played each other in football since 2002. Hawaiʻi-UCLA (PAC-10) - A rivalry in women's volleyball. The two teams have played each other every season since 1980.[1] Idaho-Montana (Big Sky) This is a remnant of the PCC when Idaho and Montana were members. Idaho-Washington State (Pac 10) - Battle of the Palouse Nevada-UNLV (Mountain West) - The Battle for Nevada and the Fremont Cannon 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) - The Bill Walsh Legacy Game Utah State-BYU (Mountain West) Utah State-Utah (Mountain West) - The Beehive Boot [edit] Commissioners Paul Brechler (1962-1968) Wiles Hallock (1968-1971) Stan Bates (1971-1980) Dr. Joseph Kearney (1980-1994) Karl Benson (1994-present) [edit] 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. [edit] 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), baseball (2008) Rice - baseball (2003) UNLV - men's golf (1998) The WAC has also produced one AP national champion in football: BYU (1984) [edit] Football Bowl Games The WAC regularly sends teams to three different bowl games: the Hawaiʻi Bowl, the Humanitarian Bowl, and the New Mexico Bowl. The WAC will also send a team to the Poinsettia Bowl if the Pac-10 conference cannot provide a team. The conference even has the opportunity to send a team to a BCS game, and did so in 2006 with Boise State and 2007 with Hawaiʻi. 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. (Both Boise State in 2006 and Hawaiʻi in 2007 qualified under this criterion.) 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. Hawaiʻi Bowl Main article: Hawaii Bowl The bowl will select a WAC team and will match it against a Pac-10 opponent. If Hawaiʻi is bowl-eligible, and not selected to a BCS bowl, it will be the WAC representative. Humanitarian Bowl Main article: Humanitarian Bowl The bowl will select a WAC team and will match it against a Mountain West Conference opponent. New Mexico Bowl Main article: New Mexico Bowl The bowl will select a WAC team and will match it against a Mountain West Conference opponent. Poinsettia Bowl Main article: Poinsettia Bowl The bowl will select a WAC team, provided that the Pac-10 conference cannot supply an eligible team. The opponent will be a team from the Mountain West Conference. [edit] Conference championships [edit] Football WAC Football Championship [edit] Basketball WAC Men's Basketball Tournament WAC Women's Basketball Tournament [edit] Baseball WAC Baseball Tournament [edit] Tennis WAC Tennis Tournament[2][3] [edit] References ^ "Hawaii Up Next for Women's Volleyball: ", UCLA Bruins Official Athletic Site, 2006-08-29. Retrieved on 2008-09-25. ^ Men's WAC Tennis results ^ Women's WAC Tennis results [edit] External links Official site of the Western Athletic Conference [show]v • d • eNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Conferences Atlantic Coast Conference * • Big 12 Conference * • Big East Conference * • Big Ten Conference * • Conference USA • Mid-American Conference • Mountain West Conference • Pacific-10 Conference * • Southeastern Conference * • Sun Belt Conference • Western Athletic Conference • Independents * Conference champion receives an automatic BCS bid [show]v • d • eWestern Athletic Conference (WAC) Boise State (Broncos) • Fresno State (Bulldogs) • Hawaiʻi (Rainbow Warriors/Rainbow Wahine) • Idaho (Vandals) • Louisiana Tech (Bulldogs/Lady Techsters) • Nevada (Wolf Pack) • New Mexico State (Aggies) • San José State (Spartans) • Utah State (Aggies) [show]v • d • eWestern Athletic Conference Head Football Coaches Robb Akey (Idaho) · Chris Ault (Nevada) · Derek Dooley (Louisiana Tech) · Gary Andersen (Utah State) · Pat Hill (Fresno State) · Greg McMackin (Hawaiʻi) · DeWayne Walker (New Mexico State) · Chris Petersen (Boise State) · Dick Tomey (San Jose State) [show]v • d • eCurrent head men's basketball coaches of the Western Athletic Conference Greg Graham (Boise State) · Steve Cleveland (Fresno State) · Bob Nash (Hawaii) · Don Verlin (Idaho) · Kerry Rupp (Louisiana Tech) · Mark Fox (Nevada) · Marvin Menzies (New Mexico State) · George Nessman (San Jose State) · Stew Morrill (Utah State) [show]v • d • eFootball stadiums of the Western Athletic Conference Aggie Memorial Stadium (New Mexico State) • Joe Aillet Stadium (Louisiana Tech) • Aloha Stadium (Hawaiʻi) • Bronco Stadium (Boise State) • Bulldog Stadium (Fresno State) • Mackay Stadium (Nevada) • Kibbie Dome (Idaho) • Romney Stadium (Utah State) • Spartan Stadium (San José State) [show]v • d • eBasketball Arenas of the Western Athletic Conference Cowan Spectrum (Idaho) · Event Center (San José State) · Lawlor Events Center (Nevada) · Pan American Center (New Mexico State) · Save Mart Center (Fresno State) · Smith Spectrum (Utah State) · Stan Sheriff Center (Hawaii) · Taco Bell Arena (Boise State) · Thomas Assembly Center (Louisiana Tech) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Athletic_Conference" Categories: Western Athletic Conference | American basketball coaches | Living people | Greenwood Village, Colorado | Sports in California | Sports in Hawaii | Sports in Idaho | Sports in Louisiana | Sports in Nevada | Sports in New Mexico | Sports in Utah