RE: WAC has “big announcement” Thursday...
Posted this on KatFans.com and wanted to share here...
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!
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