Yoda is a Fresno fan who frequents the WAC boards. I like his idea, but I'm not sure how plausible it is. It gets more plausible as CUSA's TV and Bowl Bids start to decline.
Originally Posted by YodaRemember the old Benson Plan? Basically, Benson tried to keep our old Texas (and environs) schools from bolting to CUSA by getting an ironclad commitment from the rest of the WAC to stay in the WAC. I think it was like a $5 mil exit fee or something. A couple of us, including Fresno I think, balked -- we wanted into the MWC and didn't want a $5 mil roadblock. So we voted it down and CUSA swiped our schools and we replaced them with Big West schools.
So what has changed since then? The WAC is going to BCS bowl games and winning the CWS while CUSA is sucking air. Their size of their television contract is about to tank and they are just waiting for the loss of at least Memphis -- their only really attractive television property. About all that CUSA has done for them is to keep travel costs down.
As for the WAC schools who voted down the Benson Plan, we still aren’t in the MWC and to my knowledge there is no reason to expect that we will ever get there. So maybe it’s time that we move on – commit to the WAC and mean it – and build it from there.
In other words, maybe it is time to take those Texas schools back.
If certain western WAC schools would make the kind of commitment that they refused to make years ago, then might some of these schools come back? Or might UNT finally say okay?
Here’s a WAC that I would like to see…
Western Division
Fresno State
San Jose State
Hawai'i
Boise State
Idaho
Nevada
Utah State
Eastern Division
New Mexico State
LA Tech
Houston
SMU
Tulsa
UTEP
USM
This expansion would create great stability in the WAC – a lack of stability being our #1 threat. And it would allow CUSA schools to retain their low travel costs while associating with a suddenly successful WAC instead of with a CUSA that will soon lose at least Memphis . And with 7 schools in each division, that gives you three home and three away within your own division (which six member divisions doesn’t do).
In order idea to for this work, all the members (including Fresno and Boise ) would have to commit to the conference for the long-term – which means foregoing the MWC. But more than that, this is a conference that could surpass the MWC – and the WAC we have now never will.
Further, we stabilize the WAC while robbing the MWC of virtually all their expansion candidates. So if BYU & UU move on, it is the MWC that is left unstable. Perhaps we take SDSU (western division) and New Mexico or better still, TCU (eastern division) at that point, leaving the MWC as dead as their fans so joyfully proclaim the WAC to be.
It wouldn’t be a bad thing to have a conference with one division centered in CA and the other centered in Texas . And it wouldn't be a bad thing to deny the MWC local recruiting access in both of CA and Texas.
I’m trying to figure out why this doesn’t work and I can’t think of anything…
We pause now for Tallgrass to post this on the CUSA board...
Yoda out…