Moving on up the food chain . . .
The Western Athletic Conference has always ranked behind the big boys in college football - Big Ten, SEC etc.Now, however, with the collapse of the Southwest Conference, instead of ranking as the eighth football conference in the land it vaults to No. 7 behind (not necessarily in this order) the Southeastern, Big Ten, Pac-10, Big Eight (12?), Atlantic Coast and Big East conferences. Of course all of the above rank below that one-team conference known as Notre Dame.
One of the WAC goals is increased exposure and its expansion to 16 teams has gained it recognition as being the biggest conference in the nation.
Early returns are favorable.
Tom Weir, columnist for USA Today, suggested in his Friday column that with the bigger WAC, a system is now in place for an eight-team playoff that maintains the major bowls. Weir's lineup:
Cotton Bowl - Winners of WAC 16 and Big 12.
Rose Bowl - Winners of Pac-10 and Big Ten.
Orange Bowl - Winners of Atlantic Coast and Big East
Sugar Bowl - Winner of SEC and top independent (Notre Dame).
He then says one semifinal would be played in the Fiesta Bowl and one in the Citrus Bowl with the championship game being rotated.
TV TALK: While there is a perception that the WAC is a TV outcast with the collapse of the College Football Association, Utah athletic director Chris Hill, who was on the conference's television negotiation committee, said that both ABC and ESPN let the WAC know they wanted to renew their contract with the conference whether it stayed at 10 teams or expanded. The expansion will result in additional revenue from a playoff game. "It's been a good couple of months for the WAC," Hill stated Thursday. He wasn't sure the conference would expand to 16 teams, but upon reflection said, "I think it's a smart thing."
WHAT ABOUT USU, RENO?: Of the six new schools, only Tulsa compares favorably in attendance in both football and basketball with Utah State and the University of Nevada at Reno, two schools that are on the rise athletically. The others (Rice, TCU, SMU, San Jose and UNLV) have the TV sets but not much fan support. The WAC is risking its future on their rebirth. UNLV should come around again in basketball, and might in football, particularly since it's going from a weaker to a stronger conference and doesn't have to battle a professional franchise like San Jose and the Texas schools.
A mixture of schools with TV sets and programs on the rise might have been a better way to go. With 16 teams there should have been room for Nevada or Utah State, but neither even got the opportunity to make a presentation. WAC presidents have been reluctant to include a third school in Utah in the league but should BYU or the University of Utah go elsewhere in future realignment then the Aggies, assuming they continue their aggressive athletic program under the leadership of President George Emert and Athletic Director Chuck Bell, should be near or at the top of the new-teams-to-be-admitted list.
BILLY, MEET ROGER: One of the ironies in the new WAC is the addition of Billy Tubbs, the new TCU basketball coach. It was Tubbs who blistered BYU a couple of months ago when the Cougars were being mentioned as a candidate for the new Big Eight, vowing he'd do everything in his power to keep them from being admitted. Tubbs' problem? The returned missionaries who gave BYU's basketball team an age advantage. He didn't mention that their arrival and departure each year interrupt the continuity of Roger Reid's program. Tubbs no doubt will have a hard time remembering what he said when he's ready to make his first trip to the Marriott Center.