(11-26-2015 12:32 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote: (11-25-2015 10:18 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote: CP. Of course the WAC would not be pleased about losing NMSU to the Sun Belt. That goes without saying. However, I spoke with commissioner Hurd in Vegas at the WAC BB tourney and he told me face to face the last thing they want to see is NMSU leaving the WAC. I wonder if Hurd, who is a BFF of Benson will work behind closed doors to keep NMSU in this ridiculous duel conference membership deal to keep the WAC alive. I know NMSU's Olympic sports would enhance greatly the Sun Belts. Las Cruces is right at the fringes of the Sun Belt footprint but it close enough. I bet if Boise State wanted to the join the Sun Belt everybody would be $hitting in their pants and no one would even care about geography. It's all politics and bull$hit. I'm hoping more schools in the Sun Belt jump on the bandwagon and let us back in as a full member soon.
Hurd serves at the pleasure of the WAC schools. I am not talking about what Hurd thinks/knows is best, I am talking about what some of the WAC AD's and Presidents are considering.
The WAC is still alive in name only. The Arizona schools have been gone for more than 35 years. The classic WAC with BYU, Utah, Colorado State, New Mexico, Air Force, etc., have been gone since the 90's. The schools which were in effect replacements for the 80's/90's era WAC, i.e., the decent to really good teams from the 2000's like Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, and Nevada have been gone for nearly five years. Heck, even schools like Texas State, UTSA, UTA, and Denver are gone after joining for only a year or two. Football itself is gone. The WAC today is the bottom of the totem pole in Division 1, alongside the Atlantic Sun and maybe the MEAC or SWAC. It's really sad because the WAC was truly one of the top 8 conferences for most of its existence.
Every school in that conference would leave for almost any other conference who would offer them a spot. Seattle, Bakersfield, and Utah Valley would all jump at the chance to join the WCC, Big West, or Big Sky. UTRGV would love to join the SLC, Sun Belt, or Summit. Chicago State and UMKC would certainly return to the Summit if given the opportunity and would backflip over the chance to join the Horizon or MVC.
Those other schools can be irritated that NMSU is interested in other opportunities, but how can they not be understanding. The WAC today is really just the Great West Conference plus a few other schools and an actual automatic bid to NCAA tournaments.
Benson should be smart enough to know that the WAC he served for 18 years can't be preserved. It's broken apart multiple times, and the WAC today is nothing more than an entry league for schools moving up from D2. Why is it a concern to him to preserve that?