RE: WAC Trouble
The WAC isn't dead but no one with any sense believes the WAC of today has much in common with the WAC that once had Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, TCU, BYU, Wyoming, Colorado State, Hawaii, Air Force, and even BYU, Fresno, and Nevada.
The WAC has gone from a breeding ground for direct entry to an elite conference to a league that is the breeding ground for a league that has been raided by BCS leagues and does not appear to have any schools prepared to make that next step forward. A year ago the MWC was a near-BCS league, now they have no schools that are on serious radar of such a league and they are raiding the WAC at will.
Yeah a lot of great things happened under the WAC banner but the most senior member of the league has been there since 1996.
The Southern Conference has more history and tradition than the Sun Belt, but guess what? Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Maryland, Duke, Wake Forest, West Virginia, and even East Carolina are all gone. Who in the Sun Belt wants to join the Southern?
The Missouri Valley has more history and tradition than the Sun Belt but who other than UALR would really consider all-sports membership there out of the Sun Belt? Iowa, Iowa State, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa, Houston, Cincinnati, North Texas, Louisville, Memphis, New Mexico State and Butler have all packed up and left.
Heck the Southland even had a pretty good history and tradition in football and basketball. They've made four championship appearances since 1988 and three in four years before their top programs other than McNeese left. When was the last time the SLC got a team out of the round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament? That used to be something well within the league's reach.
Just because you stick a Jaguar hood ornament on a Ford Taurus doesn't mean that Taurus is a Jaguar as the public considers Jaguars.
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