(01-25-2018 07:25 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  I do not think the Southland would take Tarleton State in the near future right now, but they could give them football only affiliation right now to even out the football side while they are a full member of WAC. The WAC can't be choosy right now on who to invite. Inviting the 5 Texas D2 schools could give them a stable conference Then, they could in the future go after some growing TV markets like Colo. State-Pueblo, Dixie State and Colorado Mesa. Colorado Mesa seems to be a place to go. Cal.-Poly-Pomona, East Bay State (San Francisco market), Central Washington, Western Washington and Angelo State could be strong candidates as well. WAC could lose both Chicago State and UMKC tomorrow that they are leaving the conference. 12 to 16 teams in the WAC may make them stable in the long run.

West:
Cal. Baptist
Cal Poly-Pomona or Azusa Pacific
East Bay State
Seattle U.
Central Washington or Western Washington
Utah Valley
Dixie State
Grand Canyon U.
Colorado Mesa

East:
New mexico State
Colo. State-Pueblo
West Texas A&M
UTRGV
Tarleton State
Commerce
Kingsville
Midwestern State

Take out East Bay State or Colorado Mesa, and who do get some balance.

Football schools.
Azusa Pacific
Colorado Mesa
Central Washington (undefeated in the regular season in football for 2017)
Dixie State
West texas A&M
Commerce
Kingsville
Midwestern State
Tarleton State

You could easily pair the schools up better.

A 16 team WAC worked out so well last time.

DavidSt will tell you it failed because it wasn't big enough. They should have brought almost the entire Big Sky and Big West to have a 32 school WAC and ...

(01-25-2018 07:25 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  I do not think the Southland would take Tarleton State in the near future right now, but they could give them football only affiliation right now to even out the football side while they are a full member of WAC. The WAC can't be choosy right now on who to invite. Inviting the 5 Texas D2 schools could give them a stable conference Then, they could in the future go after some growing TV markets like Colo. State-Pueblo, Dixie State and Colorado Mesa. Colorado Mesa seems to be a place to go. Cal.-Poly-Pomona, East Bay State (San Francisco market), Central Washington, Western Washington and Angelo State could be strong candidates as well. WAC could lose both Chicago State and UMKC tomorrow that they are leaving the conference. 12 to 16 teams in the WAC may make them stable in the long run.

West:
Cal. Baptist
Cal Poly-Pomona or Azusa Pacific
East Bay State
Seattle U.
Central Washington or Western Washington
Utah Valley
Dixie State
Grand Canyon U.
Colorado Mesa

East:
New mexico State
Colo. State-Pueblo
West Texas A&M
UTRGV
Tarleton State
Commerce
Kingsville
Midwestern State

Take out East Bay State or Colorado Mesa, and who do get some balance.

Football schools.
Azusa Pacific
Colorado Mesa
Central Washington (undefeated in the regular season in football for 2017)
Dixie State
West texas A&M
Commerce
Kingsville
Midwestern State
Tarleton State

You could easily pair the schools up better.

.
.
.

We need to look under the bridge to see who/what is hiding there.

(01-26-2018 12:16 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  

(01-25-2018 07:25 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  I do not think the Southland would take Tarleton State in the near future right now, but they could give them football only affiliation right now to even out the football side while they are a full member of WAC. The WAC can't be choosy right now on who to invite. Inviting the 5 Texas D2 schools could give them a stable conference Then, they could in the future go after some growing TV markets like Colo. State-Pueblo, Dixie State and Colorado Mesa. Colorado Mesa seems to be a place to go. Cal.-Poly-Pomona, East Bay State (San Francisco market), Central Washington, Western Washington and Angelo State could be strong candidates as well. WAC could lose both Chicago State and UMKC tomorrow that they are leaving the conference. 12 to 16 teams in the WAC may make them stable in the long run.

West:
Cal. Baptist
Cal Poly-Pomona or Azusa Pacific
East Bay State
Seattle U.
Central Washington or Western Washington
Utah Valley
Dixie State
Grand Canyon U.
Colorado Mesa

East:
New mexico State
Colo. State-Pueblo
West Texas A&M
UTRGV
Tarleton State
Commerce
Kingsville
Midwestern State

Take out East Bay State or Colorado Mesa, and who do get some balance.

Football schools.
Azusa Pacific
Colorado Mesa
Central Washington (undefeated in the regular season in football for 2017)
Dixie State
West texas A&M
Commerce
Kingsville
Midwestern State
Tarleton State

You could easily pair the schools up better.

A 16 team WAC worked out so well last time.

This is not the old WAC when you have Hawaii. Hawaii to Houston is a long haul which is why the old WAC fell apart. You get the LA Valley to east Texas is a lot shorter distance. You did have an unbalance conference then when you had central and east Texas schools at the time. Angelo State, West Texas A&M and UTPB in Odessa could solved that better when they are still within the footprint of the WAC since they are in western part of the state. Midwestern State and Tarleton State would bridge to the conference to the eastern part of the state. The Eastern schools could join the Southland in the future if the Louisiana schools have problems where some of them may wind up merging with others. As it is, this is a much better footprint than having 2 outliers of UMKC and Chicago State. Those two schools could be gone in a year or two.
That would leave:
Seattle U.
Utah Valley
Grand Canyon U.
Cal. Baptist
New Mexico State

They would fall below the auto bid for tournaments. Adding Tarleton State now would be simple. That would get them back to 6. They could add West Texas A&M, Dixie State, Colorado Mesa, Azusa Pacific and Central Washington who are ready as D1 teams right now.

(01-26-2018 07:52 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(01-26-2018 12:16 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  

(01-25-2018 07:25 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  I do not think the Southland would take Tarleton State in the near future right now, but they could give them football only affiliation right now to even out the football side while they are a full member of WAC. The WAC can't be choosy right now on who to invite. Inviting the 5 Texas D2 schools could give them a stable conference Then, they could in the future go after some growing TV markets like Colo. State-Pueblo, Dixie State and Colorado Mesa. Colorado Mesa seems to be a place to go. Cal.-Poly-Pomona, East Bay State (San Francisco market), Central Washington, Western Washington and Angelo State could be strong candidates as well. WAC could lose both Chicago State and UMKC tomorrow that they are leaving the conference. 12 to 16 teams in the WAC may make them stable in the long run.

West:
Cal. Baptist
Cal Poly-Pomona or Azusa Pacific
East Bay State
Seattle U.
Central Washington or Western Washington
Utah Valley
Dixie State
Grand Canyon U.
Colorado Mesa

East:
New mexico State
Colo. State-Pueblo
West Texas A&M
UTRGV
Tarleton State
Commerce
Kingsville
Midwestern State

Take out East Bay State or Colorado Mesa, and who do get some balance.

Football schools.
Azusa Pacific
Colorado Mesa
Central Washington (undefeated in the regular season in football for 2017)
Dixie State
West texas A&M
Commerce
Kingsville
Midwestern State
Tarleton State

You could easily pair the schools up better.

A 16 team WAC worked out so well last time.

This is not the old WAC when you have Hawaii. Hawaii to Houston is a long haul which is why the old WAC fell apart. You get the LA Valley to east Texas is a lot shorter distance. You did have an unbalance conference then when you had central and east Texas schools at the time. Angelo State, West Texas A&M and UTPB in Odessa could solved that better when they are still within the footprint of the WAC since they are in western part of the state. Midwestern State and Tarleton State would bridge to the conference to the eastern part of the state. The Eastern schools could join the Southland in the future if the Louisiana schools have problems where some of them may wind up merging with others. As it is, this is a much better footprint than having 2 outliers of UMKC and Chicago State. Those two schools could be gone in a year or two.
That would leave:
Seattle U.
Utah Valley
Grand Canyon U.
Cal. Baptist
New Mexico State

They would fall below the auto bid for tournaments. Adding Tarleton State now would be simple. That would get them back to 6. They could add West Texas A&M, Dixie State, Colorado Mesa, Azusa Pacific and Central Washington who are ready as D1 teams right now.

Hawaii stayed in the old WAC, with the Texas Teams, when the MWC was formed.

A 16 team WAC worked out so well last time.
[/quote]
This is not the old WAC when you have Hawaii. Hawaii to Houston is a long haul which is why the old WAC fell apart. You get the LA Valley to east Texas is a lot shorter distance. You did have an unbalance conference then when you had central and east Texas schools at the time. Angelo State, West Texas A&M and UTPB in Odessa could solved that better when they are still within the footprint of the WAC since they are in western part of the state. Midwestern State and Tarleton State would bridge to the conference to the eastern part of the state. The Eastern schools could join the Southland in the future if the Louisiana schools have problems where some of them may wind up merging with others. As it is, this is a much better footprint than having 2 outliers of UMKC and Chicago State. Those two schools could be gone in a year or two.
That would leave:
Seattle U.
Utah Valley
Grand Canyon U.
Cal. Baptist
New Mexico State

They would fall below the auto bid for tournaments. Adding Tarleton State now would be simple. That would get them back to 6. They could add West Texas A&M, Dixie State, Colorado Mesa, Azusa Pacific and Central Washington who are ready as D1 teams right now.
[/quote]
You forgot UTRGV. Leaving the WAC with 6 schools even if CSU and UMKC leave.

Invite Tarleton State this spring would help keep the WAC a float for a while. That would give WAC 7 schools. They could do a Southland when Southland had 2 D2 schools upgrading toi D1 at the same time. I do think Lone Star is becoming overcrowded. They are getting UT-Tyler in the future. They have been interested in adding some schools from Mexico as well in the future. Would schools like Southwestern, Sul-Ross State and UT-Dallas want to make a move to D2 Lone Star? You may be seeing more Texas schools from the Lobe Star wants to leave, but the only conferences in their area are the GAC D2, Southland, SWAC or WAC to actually take some schools in. I just don't see GAC take any in except for UAFS, Rogers State, Cameron, Central Oklahoma and NE Oklahoma State. SWAC won't take them either. That leaves the WAC and Southland. There are Texas schools in large tv markets in the Lone Star Conference that could be had. West Texas A&M, UTPB, Tarleton State, Angelo State and Midwestern State are some good examples to grab.

The WAC’s options are certainly going to be greater with FCS football than without it. I would keep my eye on Northern Colorado. With a six team or seven team football conference, they could still play several games against Big Sky oppponents.

You also wonder if UTRGV and Utah Valley would drop men’s soccer for football. The WAC could hand men’s soccer off to the Mountain West (San Diego State from the Pac 12; Air Force, UNLV, and San Jose State from the WAC; plus New Mexico from C-USA). The Mountain West takes Seattle and Grand Canyon as affiliates to get to seven members. The Pac 12 replaces San Diego State with Sacramento State from the Big West, who is getting CSU Bakersfield as a full member anyway. Incarnate Word and Houston Baptist join the Sun Belt or C-USA.

WAC Football (6)
UTRGV
Utah Valley
Northern Colorado (from Big Sky)
Tarleton State (from Division II)
Azusa Pacific (from Division II)
West Texas A&M (from Division II)

Non-FCS (4)
Seattle
Grand Canyon
Cal Baptist
New Mexico State (FBS Independent)

Add Dixie State and Texas A&M-Kingsville down the road to get to 8/12.

WAC FCS would be nice but I don't see UVU dropping soccer for football. UVU has a very strong community behind their soccer program which isn't the norm for their athletics. Plus Real Salt Lake has a working relationship with UVU soccer. For WAC FCS to work they would need to find a few current fcs schools and about 4-6 D2 call ups for it to work. But the WAC needs to still look for good options regardless if the school have football or not.

WAC has 6 members that aren't going anywhere soon

Seattle GCU CBU UTRGV UVU NMSU

WAC has 2 members where no one really knows what will happen in

UMKC and CSU

But until these two bounce the WAC core is still ok but they need to keep looking in the western states of Cal Ore WA UT CO TX heck if they would allow it British Columbia. finding schools in these 6 states and possibly in BC the WAC should be good to go IF they know what they are doing.

I hate how this thread has turned into another fantasy alignment thread. However, I guess upon reflection it's good to know Hurd is looking around. I'm, at this point he just needs to invite anyone who wants to join the WAC and keep intact our autobid. If NMSU football stays well I'm afraid it will be bye bye to the MWC for us. That's the word. Half of the schools there starting to bring up NMSU at last MWC meeting and a bunch of them scheduling us for football the next couple of years. We have 3 for next year and 5 in 2021 schedule already! See the signs?

I think Tarleton State would be the next one called up. They had a visit from WAC officials last November. They had built up their facilities before the visit.

http://texannews.net/potential-division-...nvitation/
Even though that news story said that, but there seems that two D1 conferences seemed eager to look at them. WAC would be in position to add them now to keep them stabilized. That means that they could be an affiliate to the Southland for football only.

My bet is that Tarleton State gets the called to moved up. They are ready now. I do not think the others listed are since they are still in process on building their facilities.

Having Olympic sports in the WAC and football only in the Southland makes absolutely no sense. The WAC needs to invite a school Azusa Pacific and they could stick their football in the Pioneer League football only conference with San Diego. That makes more sense.

(02-03-2018 12:38 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  Having Olympic sports in the WAC and football only in the Southland makes absolutely no sense. The WAC needs to invite a school Azusa Pacific and they could stick their football in the Pioneer League football only conference with San Diego. That makes more sense.

Not sure Azusa Pacific is ready to move up. They just need to finished up 8 years in D2. I think they are in their 6th or 7th year in D2. Not sure Chicago State will be there next year.

They would be ready in a few years and the WAC can move on another D2 in the 2nd year of CBU transition if they wanted.

At this point the WAC comes down to lasting as long as GCU and NMSU want it to hold together. UVU, Seattle, CBU and UTRGV have nowhere else to go. So they need to find one more stable school in the west.

They can't rely on record setting Chicago State to be around much longer (59 in a row! http://www.espn.com/espn/wire/_/section/...22310215), nor UMKC to not return to the Summit. They have two years with CSUB, so realistically they need to find somebody to move up from D2 in 2019 or 2020

FYI, APU can move up anytime, and have been eligible to do so since 2014, as the transitioned into D-II from NAIA and not D-III. And even if the 8 year rule applied, they could move up in July 2019, which is fine with the WAC:

"Prior to the 2012-13 academic year, the Cougars competed in the Golden State Athletic Conference as part of the NAIA. On July 11, 2011 Azusa Pacific began the three-year transition process to becoming a member of the NCAA."

Tarleton State and West Texas A&M would be solid additions.

Would be cool to see West Texas A&M rekindle its rivalry with NMSU.

It would be nice if Alaska-Anchorage would realize that they would compete well in the WAC and make the jump already!!!

(02-08-2018 06:58 PM)Seawolf1 Wrote:  It would be nice if Alaska-Anchorage would realize that they would compete well in the WAC and make the jump already!!!

No!

My pick would be Tarleton State could be announced in late April or early May as the next member of the WAC. That would allow them to be eligible for D2 post season. If they are announced today? They would lose the spot. There are several D2 conferences that do not allow schools who announced leaving the conference to participate in the conference post season and all that like several D1 conferences do.