(08-02-2022 08:58 PM)DoubleRSU Wrote: (08-02-2022 07:55 PM)jimrtex Wrote: (08-02-2022 04:29 PM)Stugray2 Wrote: UIW leaving WAC football schedule in the lurch is one of the few times where I think a conference booting their affiliate in response is reasonable. That they have a SLC football schedule means UIW knew well before they backed out that this was going to be their action.
Justified IMO.
We don't know that the WAC booted them.
The WAC had football, women's soccer, women's volleyball, and men's soccer schedule that included UIW. Presumably, the men's soccer schedule was drafted with them as a full member.
Incidentally, UIW announced an interim head coach for the women's soccer team on August 1. The previous coach took a job as assistant head coach at SMU on June 6. Maybe she had an inkling of the financial state of UIW athletics. Or maybe she couldn't get an answer whether UIW would be playing in the WAC or Southland (UIW made their announcement of staying in the Southland on June 24).
Where is UIW’s “announcement” that they left WAC soccer and in that same release, where their team will play this season?
Why would they “voluntarily” leave and not put out anything about it?
Why would UIW
necessarily announce that? When they "joined" the UIW they noted that they sponsored all sports sponsored by the WAC, which implicitly included men's soccer and men's and women's swimming and diving, which prior to July 1, 2022 were affiliated with the WAC.
Did UIW sign any contracts? What about UTA? When did UTA sign its contract?
Did the WAC lawyers draft a contract for UIW and UTA. Did UTA sign theirs and send it back? Did UIW call the WAC and say they were still undecided.
WAC officials were reported to have been to San Antonio trying to figure out what UIW wanted. At some point, the WAC had to draft schedules for football, volleyball, and men's and women's soccer, so that the schools could make arrangements for the remainder of their schedule as well as arranging transportation and hotels for road trips.
Are you in or out? Maybe UIW gave assurances that they would play the schedule even if they didn't move (to the WAC). Maybe the Southland told UIW that they could schedule them (the Southland had a schedule where the 6 members had been scheduled for a round-robin, along with an extra game against another conference team - which might not have counted in the standings. If only UIW had "returned" it would have been easy to adjust the schedule. With Lamar also returning, they won't be playing a full round-robin.)
UIW did make a press release (on July 14) that they were moving their men's and women's swimming and diving to the MPSF. The announcement said that it would unify all their affiliates in the MPSF. In 2021-22 the fencing and artistic swimming programs were in the MPSF.
The press-release did not say they were kicked out of the WAC. It did not say that they left the WAC. It did not mention that they had ever been in the WAC.
Maybe UIW threatened to sue for being kicked out of the affiliate program. Maybe the WAC threatened to counter-sue. Maybe they agreed that UIW would just leave.
Maybe nobody even remembered that UIW had been an affiliate. Maybe the commissioner told some assistant to redo the schedules. Which ones? All of them. It became even more of a mess when Lamar left early. Football would have been the big concern. For volleyball and men's and women's soccer you could simply cancel one game. It would be up to the schools to find an OOC opponent as a replacement.
I was looking at the formation of WAC men's soccer. In the last season of MPSF, only Seattle and CSU-Bakersfield were members.
When the WAC took over in 2013, Grand Canyon and UMKC were added. They inherited San Jose State, UNLV, AFA, and HBU. Denver and New Mexico did affiliate with the WAC (DU moved to the Summit, and New Mexico dropped soccer).
In 2014, UVU joined the WAC and Incarnate Word affiliated. Both of these were a result of a move to DI.
In 2015, UTRGV "added" soccer as a result of the merger. Pan American had been a WAC member and UTRGV inherited that membership. UT-Brownsville had a DII soccer program. UTRGV inherited the soccer program but essentially reconstituted it at the Edinburg campus.
In 2018, Cal Baptist joined the WAC.
In 2020, CSU-Bakersfield and Kansas City left the WAC, but Dixie State (now Utah Tech) joined. Chicago State was supposed to add soccer, but didn't actually accomplish that until 2021. They "left" for 2022.
As a result of all the changes, WAC men's soccer now has 6 full members, and four affiliates (San Jose State, UNLV, AFA, and HBU).
With UCLA moving to the B1G, the Pac-12 soccer is down to five schools (UW, OSU, Stanford, and Cal, plus affiliate San Diego State).
It would not be surprising if MPSF restarted men's soccer with the four Pac-12 schools, the four Mountain West schools, and maybe UIW and HBU.
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UIW mens soccer booted from WAC
