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<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Mining of UTEP would weaken WAC</span>

By JOHN BRANCH
April 28, 2004

The best option was to get out.

The second-best - employing the misery-loves-company theory - was for everyone to stay.

What might be about to happen is third. A distant third.

Texas-El Paso on the way out. Some disappointing replacement - North Texas? Idaho? Saskatchewan A&M? - on the way in. Louisiana Tech going nowhere.

Just six months ago, when conference realignment was all the rage, some thought the worst thing for Fresno State would be for Hawaii or Boise State or Nevada to leave the Western Athletic Conference. No. This would be worse.

Conference USA presidents are expected to vote on a potential 12th member Friday. There's an opening, beginning in 2005, because Texas Christian bolted for the Mountain West Conference, the preferred but currently shuttered destination of Fresno State and other WAC powers.

Louisiana Tech seemed a logical fit for C-USA. Every WAC school had hoped it would go, mostly because it would redefine the WAC's warped sense of "Western" by shaving 809 miles off the conference's eastern edge and thousands of dollars off travel budgets.

But C-USA's athletic directors reportedly, and wisely, have recommended UTEP.

UTEP would be insane to turn down an offer. It's not so much that C-USA is a better fit, but UTEP has to guard against being left behind in the WAC.

UTEP, understandably, is scared of a WAC without Fresno State, Boise State, Nevada and Hawaii - all schools that expressed interest in being elsewhere just a few months ago.

Now, if UTEP goes, the others will look on with a mix of understanding, annoyance and envy.

I recommend reading the entire article

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