Bigger proved not to be better for the Western Athletic Conference, with the nation's once-largest league now reeling from the announced departure of half of its 16 member schools.
While the actual formation of a new league is still a year away, many questions have arisen following Tuesday's announced departure of eight WAC members.
Who's leaving, and why?
What the new league has done has separated the cream of the conference's athletic crop - the strongest programs, the best rivalries, the biggest realistic markets and the most prominent national reputations.
Six of the new-league departees - BYU, Utah, Colorado State, Wyoming, Air Force, New Mexico - boast either regional rivalries or relationships that predate the the WAC and go back to the old Skyline Conference.
While it didn't totally capture the Southern California attention and audiences that conference peers had anticipated, San Diego State had been a welcome WAC addition. It gives the new league a California presence, with the Holiday Bowl's San Diego site certainly a plus.
Nevada-Las Vegas doesn't have the basketball program it once did (which may be a bonus in the long run) and its football program is still looking up. However, the school is in the perfect destination location for conference championships, with the city also hosting the up-and-coming Las Vegas Bowl.
Who's left, and why?
Hawaii was the ultimate example of the geographic problems plaguing the 16-team WAC, while San Jose State was nothing short of a weak link that never delivered the promised phantom Bay Area market. And former independent Tulsa seemed to be another expansion throw-in, albeit stronger and more welcome than San Jose State.
Fresno State now has basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian and a host of hoops woes both on the court and in court - remember, Tark the Shark was one reason why UNLV wasn't added to the 10-member WAC until after his departure there.
Ironically, Texas-El Paso officials had wondered previously why the Miners couldn't get linked more with the other Texas schools in the new WAC - now they have seen their wish granted. Despite a once-proud basketball program and a three-decade WAC involvement, UTEP becomes expendable because of a languishing athletic department rife with financial and probation problems.
One has to feel for TCU, SMU and Rice - the 1994 outcasts of the now-defunct Southwest Conference and the three WAC expansion members that tried the hardest to join in and complement the multi-regional conference. The threesome are revisiting their inferiority complexes again, being jilted once again by larger league peers.
Another invitee?
A number of officials at the new-league schools have mentioned the benefits of an eight- or nine-member conference, so an addition may be forthcoming.
Hawaii may have a case to be the ninth, with its island allure possibly outweighing its geographic disadvantage. Fresno State is another WAC member that may be included.
It ought to be interesting - and fun - to watch schools posturing themselves as a possible ninth new-conference member.
More changes coming?
Talk has constantly circulated about BYU and Utah leaving the WAC if openings ever occurred in the Big 12 or Pac-10 conferences. While Tuesday's departure means bolting the WAC on their own terms, BYU and Utah certainly are mindful of other conference changes that may occur in the year 2000, when the TV packages are up for renewal with most of the major college leagues.
Meanwhile, the WAC is looking for replacements, since the league looks like a doughnut - with membership now in Oklahoma, Texas, northern California and Hawaii but precious little in the middle.
The five Texas members have a wish list that includes Baylor from the Big 12 and Houston and Tulane form the budding Conference USA, but both conferences are much more stable and stronger. Other regional possibilities include North Texas State, Louisiana Tech, Southwest Louisiana and Arkansas State.
The revamping of the WAC may have even more drastic effect on the Big West Conference, since WAC commissioner Karl Benson already has mentioned Utah State, Nevada, New Mexico State and Boise State as possible candidates.
What does the future hold?
The creation of the new eight-member conference isn't without its challenges. New conferences have to wait three years before gaining an automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament, which has a limit of 30 automatic qualifiers. But the new league has a rich hoops tradition, headlined by Utah and New Mexico, and NCAA basketball invitations shouldn't be hard to come by.
As for football, the WAC has seen its postseason possibilities fluctuate recently. The conference did earn a qualified invitation from the Super Alliance, but officials now say the breakup may damage the WAC's inclusion.
Also, the WAC had lost its tie-in with the Insight.com Bowl (formerly the Copper Bowl) in Tucson, Ariz., with the Holiday Bowl being a tenuous but committed WAC partner. The new conference has a chance to step in and forge its own relationships with the Super Alliance and various bowls.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
WAC numbers game
The numbers game of the 16-member Western Athletic Conference:
2 Eight-school divisions approved to replace the revolving quadrant format.
3 Years of existence for the 16-team WAC.
4 Constantly shuffling four-school quadrants that created ever-changing divisions.
5 Time zones covered by the 16-team WAC.
6 Schools (TCU, SMU, Rice, Tulsa, San Jose State and UNLV) added to the existing 10-team WAC for the 1996-97 academic year.
8 Schools (BYU, Utah, CSU, Wyoming, Air Force, New Mexico, SDSU, UNLV) bolting to create a new eight-member conference.
16 Ways to cut the WAC's limited financial pie.
17 Days on a mainland road trip for the Hawaii women's basketball team during the 1997-98 season.
36 Years of existence for the Western Athletic Conference.
4,000 The distance in miles from Rice University in Houston to the University of Hawaii.
12,000,000 The total dollar value of the 16-team WAC's TV package last year, which was just one-fifth of the Big 12's TV package.