Out of WAC
Rice, Southern Methodist
and Tulsa are leaving
for Conference USA
With Rice, Southern Methodist and Tulsa set to leave the Western Athletic Conference, the University of Hawaii has to be careful it isn't stranded in the middle of the Pacific.
As expected, Conference USA extended invitations yesterday to the WAC universities, with all three expected to accept the offers.
In a statement, Rice president Malcolm Gillis said the school's board of trustees gave him permission to sign the membership agreement with Conference USA.
Tulsa president Bob Lawless said in a statement that the school's board of trustees "has authorized this proposed change in conference membership. We anticipate having a formal announcement with Conference USA regarding its membership realignment in the near future."
Gillis said that in the league's expected new configuration, Rice, SMU and Tulsa would join current members Texas Christian, Houston and Tulane to form a western division of Conference USA.
"This configuration will allow for very substantial savings in travel costs," Gillis said. "Even more importantly, the proximity of these schools will benefit our men and women athletic teams through large reductions in time away from class."
Conference USA is repositioning itself as it braces for the expected departure of Big East-bound Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette and DePaul.
Earlier this year, the Atlantic Coast Conference raided the Big East, with Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech leaving next year.
"I've had very productive meetings this week with representatives from Rice, SMU and Tulsa regarding the possibility of future membership," Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said in a brief statement on its Web site.
WAC commissioner Karl Benson said he was disappointed the schools were leaving but understood why.
"The central time zone division was important to Rice, SMU and Tulsa, and it was something that I was hoping to be able to accomplish under the WAC banner," he told KRIV-TV in Houston. "Obviously, the WAC was not successful in doing that."
What this all means for Hawaii is still anyone's guess. The university has to wait to see what the Mountain West Conference decides to do. At this point, the eight-member league, which left the WAC in 1996, is expected to add one member.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that school is TCU.
"I can tell you the Mountain West Conference athletic directors sat around 10 days ago and came to an agreement to add a ninth school," a source told the Star-Telegram. "They were going to go back to their individual presidents and tell them they needed to go to nine. There was a vote clearly listing TCU as their first choice."
UH head football coach June Jones and head basketball coach Riley Wallace weren't happy about the loss of the three schools.
"I hate to see that happen, but there's really nothing we can do about it," Jones said. "We have no control over it."
Wallace said he spoke with Tulsa head basketball coach John Phillips, who said cost was a key factor for the Golden Hurricane.
"He said it has nothing to do with the strength of the conference, it's all about geography," Wallace said. "The problem is expenses. It costs a lot for them to come to Hawaii and the West Coast.
"Hawaii has to be careful or else we'll get left out. Then you have Louisiana Tech on the other side with nowhere to go. You have Louisiana Tech on one end and Hawaii on the other, who both have to be careful."
Wallace said that if the three schools leave, he thinks the WAC should look at New Mexico State because of its proximity to UTEP, and has heard Utah State and Idaho mentioned as possibilities.
