Jump to content

Western Athletic Conference: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→Conference facilities: Add space in table for baseball stadiums (someone please help fill in this information
Line 782: Line 782:
==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.wacsports.com/ Official site of the Western Athletic Conference]
* [http://www.wacsports.com/ Official site of the Western Athletic Conference]
* [http://www.collegesports-fans.com/college-sports-boards/wac-sports-forums/index.html WAC football & basketball message boards ]
* [http://www.allwac.com/ The All WAC Fan Forums ]
* [http://www.allwac.com/ The All WAC Fan Forums ]
{{NCAA DI-A Conferences}}
{{NCAA DI-A Conferences}}

Revision as of 15:46, 6 February 2007

Western Athletic Conference
Western Athletic Conference
Western Athletic Conference
Data
Classification NCAA Division I-A
Established 1962
Members 9
Sports fielded 19 (8 men’s, 11 women’s)
Region Western United States
States 7 - California, Hawaiʻi, Idaho,
Louisiana, Nevada,
New Mexico, Utah
Headquarters Greenwood Village, Colorado

The Western Athletic Conference (commonly referred to as the WAC, pronounced "whack") was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I-A. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States, with member institutions located in California, Hawaiʻi, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

History

Formation

The WAC formed out of a series of talks between Brigham Young University President Edwin Kimball and other university administrators from 1958 to 1961 to form a new athletic conference that would better fit the needs and situations of certain universities then competing in the Border, Skyline and Pacific Coast Conferences. Potential member universities who were represented at the meetings included Brigham Young, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Arizona State and Wyoming. While the three Washington and Oregon schools elected to stay in a revamped Pac-8 Conference that replaced the scandal-plagued PCC, the remaining six schools formed the WAC, forcing the disbandment of the Border and Skyline conferences. New Mexico State and Utah State applied for charter membership and were turned down; they would eventually become WAC members 43 years later.

Charter Members

Success and First Expansion

The conference proved to be an almost perfect fit for the six schools from both a competitive and financial standpoint. Arizona and Arizona State, in particular, experienced success in baseball with Arizona garnering the 1963 College World Series runner-up trophy and ASU winning the CWS in 1965, 1967, and 1969. UTEP, recently renamed from Texas Western College, and Colorado State joined in 1967 to bring membership up to eight.

With massive growth in the state of Arizona, the balance of WAC play in the 1970s became increasingly skewed in favor of the Arizona schools, who won or tied for all but two WAC football titles from 1969 onward. In the summer of 1978, the two schools left the WAC for the Pac-8, which became the Pac-10, and were replaced in the WAC by San Diego State and, one year later, Hawaiʻi. The WAC further expanded by adding Air Force in the summer of 1980. A college football national championship won by BYU in 1984 added to the WAC's reputation as the best of the so-called mid-major conferences. The nine-team lineup of the WAC defined the conference for nearly 15 years.

Second Wave of Expansion and Turbulence

Fresno State expanded its athletic program in the early 1990s and were granted membership in 1992 as the nationwide trend against major college programs independent of conferences accelerated. The WAC merged with the High Country Athletic Conference, a parallel organization to the WAC for women's athletics, in 1990 to unify both men's and women's athletics under one administrative structure.

In 1996, the demise of the scandal-plagued Southwest Conference set off a chain reaction that affected conferences nationwide and the WAC was no exception. Rice, TCU and SMU from the disbanded SWC were admitted into the WAC, along with San Jose State and UNLV from the Big West Conference as well as Tulsa from the Missouri Valley Conference to bring WAC membership to sixteen universities in two divisions.

Increasingly, this arrangement was not satisfactory to most of the older, pre-1990 members. Five members in particular (Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah and Wyoming) felt that WAC expansion had compromised the athletic and academic excellence of the membership[1]. Additional concerns centered around finances, as the new league stretched from Hawai'i to Oklahoma and travel costs became a concern. In 1999, those five schools, along with old line WAC schools New Mexico and San Diego State, as well as newcomer UNLV, would split off and form the Mountain West Conference, depriving the WAC of most of its competitive strength and almost all of its history. Only UTEP and Hawai'i would remain from the WAC's "golden age."

The Modern WAC

Since then, WAC membership has been in a state of flux. Nevada joined in its plan to upgrade its athletic program in 2000. TCU left for Conference USA in 2001 (then rejoined eight former WAC opponents as the ninth member of the Mountain West Conference in 2005), while Boise State and Louisiana Tech joined the same year. 2005 saw another large change of membership, with three universities seeking to upgrade their athletic programs — Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State — replacing four universities: Rice, SMU, Tulsa and UTEP, all of which joined Conference USA.

Today the WAC is a successful, highly competitive athletic conference serving the needs of western universities who fit between national powerhouses and small college athletic programs in their development.

Current members (and year joined)

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Joined
Boise State University Boise, Idaho 1932 Public 18,456 2001
California State University, Fresno Fresno, California 1911 Public (California State University system) 21,000 1992
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 1907 Public (University of Hawaiʻi System) 20,549 1979
University of Idaho Moscow, Idaho 1889 Public 12,824 2005
Louisiana Tech University Ruston, Louisiana 1894 Public (University of Louisiana System) 11,710 2001
University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada 1874 Public (Nevada System of Higher Education) 15,588 2000
New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico 1888 Public 26,200 2005
San José State University San Jose, California 1857 Public (California State University system) 28,932 1996
Utah State University Logan, Utah 1888 Public (Utah System of Higher Education) 23,128 2005

Full members

Associate members

Sports

The WAC crowns team and individual champions in 19 sports – 8 men’s and 11 women’s.

Men's sports

  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Tennis
  • Indoor track and field
  • Outdoor track and field

Women's sports

  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Golf
  • Gymnastics
  • Soccer
  • Softball
  • Swimming and diving
  • Tennis
  • Indoor track and field
  • Outdoor track and field
  • Volleyball

Former members

1978

1999

2001

  • TCU (1996-2001)

2005

Of the former members:

Conference facilities

School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity Baseball stadium Capacity
Boise State Bronco Stadium 30,000 Taco Bell Arena 12,380
Fresno State Bulldog Stadium 41,031 Save Mart Center 16,116
Hawaiʻi Aloha Stadium 50,000 Stan Sheriff Center 10,300
Idaho Kibbie Dome 16,000 Cowan Spectrum 7,000
Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium 30,600 Thomas Assembly Center 8,000
Nevada Mackay Stadium 29,993 Lawlor Events Center 11,784
New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium 30,343 Pan American Center 13,071
San Jose State Spartan Stadium 30,578 The Event Center 5,000
Utah State Romney Stadium 25,513 Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 10,270

Note:

  • Idaho uses the same structure for both its home football and basketball games, although it uses a different name for the venue's basketball configuration. Also, Idaho has occasionally used Martin Stadium at Washington State University, only 8 miles (13 km) west, for a home football game. In 1999, while a member of the Big West Conference, Idaho played all of their home games at Martin Stadium and did not play a single game in the state of Idaho. This was due to the requirements by the Big West, and due to remodeling of the Kibbie Dome per the NCAA for Idaho to be a Division I-A school.

Rivalries


Past commissioners

Awards

Commissioner's Cup: The WAC awards its Commissioner's Cup to the school that performs the best in each of the conference's 19 men's and women's championships.

Stan Bates Award: The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates and honors the WAC’s top male and female scholar-athletes, recognizing the recipients’ athletic and academic accomplishments. In addition, the awards carry a $2,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Joe Kearney Award: Named in honor of former WAC commissioner Dr. Joseph Kearney, the awards are given annually to the top male and female WAC athlete. The WAC Athletics Directors select the male award winner, while the WAC Senior Woman Administrators choose the female honoree.

National championships

The following teams have won NCAA national championships while being a member of the WAC:

The WAC has also produced one AP national champion in football:

Conference championships

Past WAC Football Title Game results

Year Winner Score Opponent Venue
1996 BYU 28-25 (OT) Wyoming Sam Boyd Stadium (Las Vegas, Nevada)
1997 Colorado State 41-13 New Mexico Sam Boyd Stadium (Las Vegas, Nevada)
1998 Air Force 20-13 BYU Sam Boyd Stadium (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Past WAC football champions

Season Champion Record
1962 New Mexico 2-1-1
1963 New Mexico 3-1-0
1964 Arizona 3-1-0
New Mexico 3-1-0
Utah 3-1-0
1965 BYU 4-1-0
1966 Wyoming 5-0-0
1967 Wyoming 5-0-0
1968 Wyoming 6-1-0
1969 Arizona State 6-1-0
1970 Arizona State 7-0-0
1971 Arizona State 7-0-0
1972 Arizona State 5-1-0
1973 Arizona 6-1-0
Arizona State 6-1-0
1974 BYU 6-0-1
1975 Arizona State 7-0-0
1976 BYU 6-1-0
Wyoming 6-1-0
1977 Arizona State 6-1-0
BYU 6-1-0
1978 BYU 5-1-0
1979 BYU 7-0-0
1980 BYU 6-1-0
1981 BYU 7-1-0
1982 BYU 7-1-0
1983 BYU 7-0-0
1984 BYU 8-0-0
1985 Air Force 7-1-0
BYU 7-1-0
1986 San Diego State 7-1-0
1987 Wyoming 8-0-0
1988 Wyoming 8-0-0
1989 BYU 7-1-0
1990 BYU 7-1-0
1991 BYU 7-0-1
1992 BYU 6-2-0
Fresno State 6-2-0
Hawaiʻi 6-2-0
1993 BYU 6-2-0
Fresno State 6-2-0
Wyoming 6-2-0
1994 Colorado State 7-1-0
1995 Air Force 6-2-0
BYU 6-2-0
Colorado State 6-2-0
Utah 6-2-0
1996 BYU 8-0
1997 Colorado State 7-1
1998 Air Force 7-1
1999 Hawaiʻi 5-2
Fresno State 5-2
TCU 5-2
2000 TCU 7-1
UTEP 7-1
2001 Louisiana Tech 7-1
2002 Boise State 8-0
2003 Boise State 8-0
2004 Boise State 8-0
2005 Boise State 7-1
Nevada 7-1
2006 Boise State 8-0

Division Alignments for football (1996-1998)

The Western Athletic Conference staged a conference title football game during the three years the league consisted of sixteen members. During this time, the league was split into two divisions, Pacific and Mountain, with eight teams in each division. The top finisher in each division played for the championship, which was held at Sam Boyd Stadium on the campus of UNLV. When conference membership was cut in half in 1999 with the formation of the Mountain West Conference, the title game was discontinued and the league did away with the two-division format.

Pacific Division

Mountain Division

WAC Men's Basketball Tournament

2006 WAC Basketball Tournament logo

The Western Athletic Conference has held a postseason tournament to crown a men's basketball champion every year since 1984. At first the regular season champion hosted it but at its height, the tournament was held at larger urban venues. Since the departure of the Mountain West Conference teams, the tournaments have returned to campus. The winner of the WAC Basketball Tournament is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Basketball Tournament every year.

Past WAC Men's Basketball Tournament results

Year Winner Score Opponent Venue
1984 UTEP 62-55 Wyoming Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas)
1985 San Diego State 87-81 UTEP Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas)
1986 UTEP 65-64 Wyoming Arena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming)
1987 Wyoming 64-62 New Mexico University Arena (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
1988 Wyoming 79-75 UTEP Marriott Center (Provo, Utah)
1989 UTEP 73-60 Colorado State Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
1990 UTEP 75-58 Hawaiʻi Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas)
1991 BYU 51-49 Utah Arena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming)
1992 BYU 73-71 UTEP Moby Arena (Fort Collins, Colorado)
1993 New Mexico 76-65 UTEP Delta Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
1994 Hawaiʻi 73-66 BYU Delta Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
1995 Utah 67-54 Hawaii University Arena (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
1996 New Mexico 64-60 Utah University Arena (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
1997 Utah 89-68 TCU Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, Nevada)
1998 UNLV 56-51 New Mexico Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, Nevada)
1999 Utah 60-45 New Mexico Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2000 Fresno State 75-72 Tulsa Selland Arena (Fresno, California)
2001 Hawaiʻi 78-72 Tulsa Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2002 Hawaiʻi 73-59 Tulsa Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2003 Tulsa 75-64 Nevada Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2004 Nevada 66-60 UTEP Save Mart Center (Fresno, California)
2005 UTEP 91-78 Boise State Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
2006 Nevada 70-63 Utah State Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Western_Athletic_Conference&oldid=106068741"