WAC weighing
its optionsEight Sun Belt schools
lead the list to replace
Rice, SMU and Tulsa
Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson said yesterday eight Sun Belt schools are among candidates to be invited to join the WAC once conference re-alignment starts in earnest Nov. 4, and University of Hawaii president Evan Dobelle again said the WAC is not the best conference for UH to be in to meet its goals.
The schools are Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, North Texas and Utah State. They have a combined record of 15-43 in football this season and average 3,687.5 miles away from Honolulu.
Rice, Southern Methodist and Tulsa officials indicated last week they are likely to accept invitations from Conference USA, leaving Hawaii among six other schools remaining in the WAC.
Any changes would go into effect in 2005 at the earliest.
Benson was not specific about how many schools he would like the conference to end up with. But he has said in the past he wants to expand to 12 to create two divisions and facilitate league championship games, better rivalries and less travel -- which are also reasons the three probable defectors will likely leave.
"Twelve? I don't think you could rule that out," Benson said during a media teleconference yesterday. "We will be at seven and there are certainly five others within our boundaries and I wouldn't rule out twelve teams. The number is way too premature to speculate. I would think that nine or more would be the final number."
Dobelle said yesterday he is "happy for Tulsa, SMU and Rice," and that he still believes the WAC is not the best league for Hawaii.
"I'm for anyone doing something they think is in their best interest," Dobelle said. "That's probably the best decision for those schools."
Dobelle said he thinks a new WAC would still be "most viable" as a conference, but also, "I certainly wish the Pac-10 would call us and tell us they're going to twelve schools.
"But I'm for reality," Dobelle added. "We'll see what happens over the next several months."
There has been much speculation about Hawaii and other WAC schools being invited to join the Mountain West, but so far the eight-school league of teams that left the WAC five years ago hasn't made a move.
"We want to get to a certain level, and I never felt the WAC took us there and that's still my position," Dobelle said. "I think Hawaii would be a very popular addition to many leagues."
He said Hawaii's isolation from the mainland -- which most consider a hindrance -- is a positive.
"We have a three-hour time difference others can't duplicate (for TV time slots)," he said. "It's all about television. Hawaii can provide new revenue and be a strong player."
UH football coach June Jones said he doesn't care what conference the Warriors play in, but he would like a league that has more teams on the West Coast.
"As long as we continue to schedule the Oklahomas, the Texases, the USCs, the Alabamas for non-conference, it really doesn't matter who we schedule in between to me. Whatever the conference is, the WAC or the Mountain West," Jones said. "We're going to have the same crowd whether it's Utah or Utah State. It doesn't matter. But I think for us to get the national recognition we've got to schedule Big Ten, Pac-10, Big 12 for our nonconference, which we can do. We go there, and they'll come here."
UH has not played Oklahoma or Texas recently, but does have nonconference games scheduled against Alabama (Nov. 29), Michigan State (2004, 2005, 2006), Northwestern (2004), Southern California (2005), Wisconsin (2005) and Purdue (2006).
"I'd prefer to be on the West Coast," Jones said. "Who knows what the future will bring?"
He said UH will not suffer if it plays in a league with schools that aren't in major metropolitan areas.
"I think we are attractive because we're on national TV, because we play big schools and because we put people in the National Football League," Jones said. "That's why (recruits are) going to come. We're doing that, so I don't think whether we're playing Rice or not if we're recruiting a kid in Houston it matters."
UH athletic director Herman Frazier was scheduled to meet with his WAC counterparts by teleconference today.
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Schools being considered by WAC
School W-L* Location distance* Arkansas State 4-3 Jonesboro, Ark. 4,122 Idaho 1-7 Moscow, Idaho 2,874 Louisiana-Lafayette 1-7 Lafayette, La. 4,091 Louisiana-Monroe 1-6 Monroe, La. 4,058 M. Tennessee State 2-5 Murfreesboro, Tenn. 4,361 New Mexico State 1-6 Las Cruces, N.M. 3,213 North Texas 4-3 Denton, Texas 3,771 Utah State 1-6 Logan, Utah 3,010 * Record is for football only; distance is miles from Honolulu
