Quote:Western Athletic Conference

Here is where you are likely to see the most turmoil and churn, possibly to the point that the conference dissolves entirely. The WAC has been struggling for years, and the current membership is an unsustainable hodgepodge. New Mexico State is the only school whose membership predates 2012, and one of three that’s been a Division I program for longer than nine years.

Cal State Bakersfield has had some success, but is leaving in two years for the far more logical Big West Conference.
Grand Canyon is a fast-rising university with money to burn. It has yet to be determined whether their meteoric rise is sustainable, or if there is a crash pending.
Chicago State and UMKC have both commissioned studies within the past couple of years to decide whether they should even remain in Division I, let alone stay in the WAC.
Seattle U, as we already mentioned, is a relatively upwardly-mobile school that makes a lot more sense in the West Coast Conference and should be at the top of the list to replace Gonzaga.
UTRGV is the bastard child of a financially motivated merger and rebrand, and has no recent history of any sort of success.
Utah Valley is… well, they’re a nice little school who has managed the largest enrollment and third-smallest endowment of any current member.

So that’s eight programs; one is leaving in two years (Bakersfield), one could be gone in a heartbeat once Gonzaga moves (Seattle), two that make more sense in other conferences (Utah Valley, New Mexico State), one with the money to do just about anything (Grand Canyon), and two that aren’t even sure they can afford to stay in Division I (Chicago State and UMKC).

This conference has been held together with chicken wire and duct tape for a while now, but the domino effect created by Gonzaga’s move and the financial struggles of Chicago State and UMKC could result in a dissolved conference, regardless of whatever “aggressive membership campaign” they intend to launch.

They’re adding California Baptist this summer (from the Division II National Christian College Athletic Association, a substantial jump in competition) perhaps to offset a potential departure by Seattle, but that doesn’t make the conference more attractive to NMSU, UVU or GCU.

Without additional membership, the WAC of 2020 will be a seven-team conference, and there are no realistic options to bridge that gap. There are no logical Division I additions unless some Texas teams from the Southland or some Illinois-area teams from the Horizon would consider the WAC an upgrade. Barring that, it means pulling even more Division II members, which would further water down the conference.