Schools slow with decisions

No decisions have been made. But it appears the eight schools that are leaving the Western Athletic Conference are prepared to do things in the traditional manner.

And if that means eschewing the trend of going corporate, so be it.

The transition committee for the departing eight -- UNLV, Colorado State, Air Force, Brigham Young, Utah, San Diego State, New Mexico and Wyoming -- met for the second time face-to-face Monday at the MGM Grand with recently-hired consultant Gene Corrigan taking part.

The group came away with a timetable for putting its essential building blocks in place.

The new conference's name, a key element in establishing an identity for the league, apparently will not be tied to a corporation. There had been talk the new league would seek a title sponsor which would pay a fee to attach its name to the eight-team conference.

"We're going to go with a more conventional name," Utah athletic director Chris Hill said after the eight-hour meeting broke up. "We talked about going that (corporate) route, but we believe a traditional, conventional name is the better way to go."

Hill would not say what names the committee is considering.

"We hope to have a name for the new league this fall and have a commissioner on board by late fall," Hill said. "We are merely a recommendation committee. All of the decisions regarding the name, the new commissioner, the headquarters, those will be made by the presidents."

As for dealing with the issue of claiming part of the $2.6 million in revenue the WAC generated from the NCAA basketball tournament, Hill said that issue is for the presidents and the legal counsel hired by the league to handle.

Meanwhile, the committee has sent out query letters to the cities of the eight member institutions, to ascertain the level of interest in one of the cities serving as conference headquarters. That information is expected back in September.

Corrigan, the former NCAA president and commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, said he thought the transition committee was on the right track, both with its intentions and the speed by which it is going.

"They're very sincere about what they've done and where they're going," he said. "They want to make sure they do it right.

"I think they've got to take it step by step and not rush things. There's time to get these things done."

When asked if he could expedite the process, the 70-year-old Corrigan shook his head.

"I'm not sure I can accelerate things," he said.

Several of the transition committee members were glad to hear what Corrigan had to say.

"I found it to be a very successful meeting," UNLV athletic director Charles Cavagnaro said. "He knows the intricacies of how the business goes."

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