WAC's additions - Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, SHSU, Lamar, Abilene Christian

[BigRed2010]

This thread from Sam Houston's fan website katfans.com. Interesting comments that tries to make sense

of the move to the WAC.

 

http://www.katfans.com/katsforum/showthread.php?22480-WAC-All-Systems-Are-Go&p=400958#post400958

[geezer]

In looking at the possibilities, the question for me is why didn't Central Arkansas join the potential move to the WAC. Assuming an east and west division for everything except football how much worse would their costs be than the A-Sun conference. Even if they take everything else to the A-Sun would they be willing to join the WAC in football for at least a few years with a no cost exit fee after the two schools moving to FCS football finish their transition. Assuming the the automatic qualifier for the FCS Championship is that important to the T4 Schools before moving. Personally, I don't think the AQ is that important since the SLC will be scrambling for non-conference FCS football games too.

[lamarfan360]

Katfans Retweeted

 

Sources: The WAC plans to announce on Jan. 14 at NRG Stadium in Houston the formation of its FCS league, which starts play in football in 2022. The initial 7 WAC members: Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin. Southern Utah, Tarleton State and Dixie State. 1/2

Edited January 6, 2021 by lamarfan360

[lamarfan360]

Katfans.com Retweeted

 

Pete Thamel

The WAC is expected to add two more schools in the coming months. There’s a mix of DII and current FCS institutions being vetted by commissioner Jeff Hurd. The long-term goal of the league is to elevate the WAC back to FBS football later this decade. 2/3

Edited January 6, 2021 by lamarfan360

[lamarfan360]

Katfans Retweeted

 

@PeteThamel

The league should also have a strong basketball presence, as current member New Mexico State is a basketball power, Stephen F. Austin a consistent NCAA Tournament team and there’ll be star power with Bryce Drew at Grand Canyon and Billy Gillispie at Tarleton State.

Edited January 6, 2021 by lamarfan360

[geezer]

Lamar ought to look at Greg Marshall former Wichita State coach who not too many years ago took the Shockers to the final four with an undefeated regular season. Won't say there wasn't just cause for the attention that forced him to resign this past fall, but that doesn't change his ability to recruit and coach. Everyone makes mistakes and occasionally need to start over.

[geezer]

Overall after studying the proposed make up this could be a good football conference for Lamar and travel might not be near as bad as it might first appear. Football wise until the conference moves to FBS if that happens the proposed seven FCS football schools four of the possible conference road trips are the same or less than what Lamar currently makes, with the outlier a trip to Utah every year. Assuming East - West divisions for basketball and baseball the travel for those sports might not be much different depending on the non-conference schedules.

[Skinny1]

Official announcement will be January 14.

[Skinny1]

Overall after studying the proposed make up this could be a good football conference for Lamar and travel might not be near as bad as it might first appear. Football wise until the conference moves to FBS if that happens the proposed seven FCS football schools four of the possible conference road trips are the same or less than what Lamar currently makes, with the outlier a trip to Utah every year. Assuming East - West divisions for basketball and baseball the travel for those sports might not be much different depending on the non-conference schedules.

 

I understand that LU would only have to travel to Utah/ Arizona every other year for football. All other conference games will be in Texas.

[lamarfan360]

WACHoopsDigest

@WACHoopsDigest

Jan. 14 at NRG Stadium in Houston the announcement is taking place. Looking forward to it!

[geezer]

I can see one trip a year for football to western location, but with two of seven FCS football teams in Utah, it seems like you travel once per year in order to play everyone. The only way not playing everyone once makes sense is if you have some kind of championship game for the conference and then is there an exception in the FCS rules about twelve game seasons so the championship game doesn't count against the regular season game limit of eleven except every fourth or fifth year (whatever the current FCS rule is). That travel cost can probably easily be made up by another FBS guarantee game. In a seven team conference you have wind up with three home conference games every year plus five non-conference games to schedule. If you have to schedule two FBS games for financial reasons you can easily still have five home games one year and six the next only scheduling FCS and FBS schools. Scheduling FCS schools will more than likely mean a home and home agreement, so that's how I got to five or six. Edited January 10, 2021 by geezer

[BigRed2010]

Official Announcement on WAC expansion to take place Thursday

 

https://www.wachoopsdigest.com/official-announcement-on-wac-expansion-to-take-place-thursday/

 

Here’s a look at the media advisory from @WACsports. They have listed who will be part of the press conference. #409Sports #WeAreLU pic.twitter.com/CDi6gyr03q

— Ashly Elam (@AshlyElamSports) January 12, 2021

Edited January 12, 2021 by BigRed2010

[lamarfan360]

 

This guy states that Lamar and the rest of the Texas4 will start competing in the WAC starting this year 21-22.

Edited January 12, 2021 by lamarfan360

[geezer]

If Lamar and the other former SLC members officially play in the WAC next fall, I wouldn't expect too much of a change in the schedule other than the Louisiana schools that LU winds up playing will be non-conference games, plus since Dixie State and Tarleton are in transition will the Texas four be required to schedule them. Whatever it will be interesting.

[coachacola]

I'm for this move. LU should already be a FBS school in the Sun Belt, but since they blew that opportunity, I'm glad they are kissing the SLC goodbye again. Now if only LU can learn how to hire the right coaches and build a winning athletic department that would be icing on the cake.

 

https://www.wachoopsdigest.com/official-announcement-on-wac-expansion-to-take-place-thursday/

[puddin tane]

Unless the grand plan is to somehow end up in the sunbelt, I think this sucks. Tarelton state? Dixie st? Grand Canyon? Cal baptist? Who gives a shite about those schools?

[geezer]

The grand play is two fold, first stop paying for the Louisiana schools sports via conference money sharing and second the WAC can began as an FCS conference and then move to FBS when ever they are ready as they have a grandfather clause.

[lamarfan360]

https://t.co/j7T7U2Bka7?amp=1

[lamarfan360]

https://twitter.com/hashtag/WHOSTXTBR?src=hashtag_click

[BigRed2010]

A good read from Texas Terror that posted this on Katfans.com

 

WAC Musings From TT

First, I know that I do not come on these boards often at all anymore and do not even lurk as much as I once did. The WAC situation has certainly got my attention and I have been trying to keep up with everything that you guys are posting but the news cycle and home life are certainly distractions enough.

 

Catching up today with threads, wanted to share some thoughts and perspectives.

 

New League. Some of you are super excited about the schools leaving the Southland joining the WAC. I do not blame you at all and join in your excitement. The Bearkats and Lumberjacks have been a member of the Southland for 30+ years. While some of the schools have changed, the environment in college athletics has drastically changed but quite frankly, our institutions in the Piney Woods have not been apart of that. Let's spend these next few months learning about the other schools in the league and supporting one another. The better the league does as a whole (especially in football and men's basketball in particular), the better it is for our schools. If the WAC is able to get a #11 or #12 seed in hoops annually (which puts you in great shape for getting some Ws in March) and multiple bids in football, all will be well.

 

NCAA Landscape. I am on the record going back years saying that I feel there will be more schisms in the NCAA landscape particularly as it relates to football. In some mindsets, there is already a split with FCS being on a third tier below the A5 (Autonomy 5) and G5 (Group of 5). That's accurate to some degree but I believe that the A5 will break away in some form or fashion and there will be a G5 level featuring those schools and the top FCS schools. It is so critical that Sam Houston State stay in that second tier and even more critical that the WAC gains admission into whatever championship format that we will see come out of. Will this really happen? Time will tell!

 

The Early Departure. Why keep the Texas schools in for a lame duck year especially when they can win your conference championships and claim your automatic bids? It also serves as an opportunity to promote the WAC and not so much the Southland. The Southland may not have gotten all the monies they would have gotten in this deal and there's no clarity on how much they actually ended up. If they got $300k from each of the exiting schools, that is $1.5M (if you include Central Arkansas).

 

Football 2021. Football scheduling does not seem to be a problem for anyone. If this year taught us anything and I believe Craig Haley covered this in a recent column, leagues have to be flexible and creative. We are seeing that to some degree with leagues that are doing back-to-backs in basketball (or volleyball), adding buffer dates into schedules, playing four-game baseball series to eliminate need for as many mid-weeks games and things like that. It would not surprise me in the least bit if you saw in-season home-and-homes or Central Arkansas working their way into the schedule of the WAC schools for a single year or something. On the Southland side, I am sure they can do the same thing with in-season home-and-homes. This thought isn't too out of the box. The FBS Independents have done it in recent years and you have schools play multiple times in FBS conference due to conference championship formats even if they have a round robin or other formats.

 

Future of the WAC. Where does the league head from here? My wishlist and in this order:

 

1) Chicago State leaving. They keep messing with their sport sponsorships and seem to have institutional problems that are pretty deep. Will another league pick them up? Doubtful.

 

2) Adding Cal Poly & UC-Davis as football affiliates. Right now, the WAC has several non-football schools (Utah Valley, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, Seattle and UTRGV). Unless those schools leave, the easiest way to add to football without "bloating" the league is by adding football affiliates. The Big Sky currently does not have a complete round robin. The California schools would probably enjoy traveling to the Texas schools much more than having to deal with Cheney, WA and Missoula, MT in November. On top of that, the WAC is going to have to allow OOC games at the backend of the schedule, so UC-Davis can still play Sacramento State the same week that Lamar & McNeese, Southern Utah & Weber State and Northwestern St & SFA play. Right?

 

3) UTRGV adds football. Not only will it help with the membership issues mentioned above, but it would give another "bus trip" to the league in football and help solidify the power in Texas in the WAC. Also will further build on legitimizing the rivalry between UTRGV and the other Texas schools. I truly believe whether it is adding affiliate members in football like CP and UC-D or adding football at an established Division I school, it's much better for all of us than having another Division II school enter the league. As is, we are probably good for one more Division II school joining the WAC if not two unless the WAC is able to get a Northern Arizona or Weber State to join. Kudos to the Commish and the leadership if they are able to do that!

 

Future of the Southland. This new consultant is going to try desperately to get Division I schools into the fold. Who is there? The SWAC has some schools, but that league finally has great leadership in Charles McClelland and has recently added a few schools which will only help with the exposure, brand of the SWAC. ULM has always been thrown around but they just committed to Tommy Bowden and Rich Rodriguez to turn around their football fortunes. The Sun Belt is actually decent footbal now with the emergence of Coastal and UL-Lafayette, so why would you leave? The 'only play' I foresee is the Southland going for Division II schools on the 'western side' of the conference. It's not attractive, it is not what they want and certainly, could leave a bad taste in some mouths as the league in the eyes of the departing schools screwed this addition thing up the last time. The "eastern side" of the conference has some Division II options as well, but those schools are probably more accustomed to being in the Atlantic Sun with other recent Division II schools that were in their 'neck of the woods' previously. West Florida has been a good option for years and if they haven't jumped to the Southland yet, why would they now? What will be interesting is if the Southland changes names. It could happen. Start anew, ya know. Leave Frisco? That'd sting, especially since they have worked so hard to get that FCS title game there.

 

What I Want to Learn Tomorrow. I am not going to be able to watch the presser due to a myriad of meetings, so will look here and elsewhere to see what the feel is. My biggest questions are the following:

 

1) To learn about 2021-22 since it seems we are officially leaving the Southland on June 30, 2021 with a WAC start day on July 1.

2) Hear what they have to say about FBS football and/or any other goals for the league surrounding football

3) Get clarity on the Chicago State situation and expansion aspirations, discussions

4) Find out what the ADs are saying about maintaining old rivalries (SFA/NWST, Lamar/McNeese) as this is important to those other schools

5) Get a sense of where future championships will take place, particularly in basketball and baseball... and timeline for when we can expect to see information about future schedules, particularly if things got "bumped up" a year.

 

So there's my musings. I am excited about tomorrow... enjoy!

[Skinny1]

Next years WAC basketball tournament will be in Las Vegas and baseball will be in Phoenix.

[Skinny1]

Lamar, Sam, SFA, & ACU were officially kicked out of the SLC yesterday. That forces the Texas 4 to join the WAC a year earlier since they could no longer can compete for SLC championships after July 1, 2021.

[lamarfan360]

UTRGV to start a DI football program to being play in 23. Information obtained via katfans.com.

[geezer]

A little surprised that the SLC said your out at the end of the current year. With Central Arkansas also leaving that takes them down to the minimum number of FCS football schools for an AQ, and no time to look for any replacement if anything else happens.

[BigRed2010]

A couple of links to wacsports.com with lots of information on the expansion.

 

https://www.wacsports.com/general/2020-21/releases/20210113xbg9zk

 

https://www.wacsports.com/expansion/index

 

Hear from Head Coach @blane_morgan on Cardinal Footballs move to @WACsports !#WeAreLU pic.twitter.com/pCnkSdTfb0

— Lamar University Football (@LamarFootball) January 14, 2021