Presidents of WAC schools ready to mull fate of WAC

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- As bizarre as the impending breakup of the 16-team Western Athletic Conference has been, things could get even stranger in the next couple of days.

The WAC may or may not cease to exist, depending on what its 16 member presidents do today through Wednesday in their meetings at The Inn at Spanish Bay.

If Hawaii or Fresno State is added to the proposed breakaway eight-team league which includes UNLV, and a couple of other schools leave, the WAC may no longer technically be classified as a Division I conference. If that were to happen, it might open the door for the schools that are fleeing the WAC to allow themselves to be a league under that name.

One of the main topics of discussion today will be whether to bring a ninth team into the fold.

Hawaii and Fresno State are trying to join the breakaway eight, which had UNLV, Air Force, Colorado State, Brigham Young, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah and Wyoming make known their intentions of bolting the WAC last Tuesday. The yet-to-be-named new league plans to start up at the end of June 1999.

But if the WAC dissolves, could the new league call itself the WAC?

Technically, there may not be anything to stop it from so doing.

If the Texas schools and Tulsa left the league and Hawaii, Fresno State and San Jose State find themselves in another league, say the Big West, the door could be open for the old WAC schools to return to the nest, so to speak. They perhaps could then reap the financial benefits due the WAC, mainly $2.6 million in revenue from the NCAA Tournament for each of the next six years.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said Sunday he didn't know if such a ploy would fly with the NCAA.

"It's unclear whether or not that scenario could take place," Benson said. "It would be a matter of timing and frankly, I don't know if there are any provisions in the NCAA's bylaws to permit such a move."

What Benson does know is that NCAA rules state that for a league to maintain its Division I accreditation, it must have at least six schools. For the league to maintain its automatic berth to the lucrative NCAA basketball tournament, at least one member in that league has to have been on board for at least five years.

Hawaii is the lone WAC member to have been in the league for five years. The Rainbows joined in 1979. If Hawaii leaves the WAC, the WAC may lose its automatic bid.

Equally important is the issue of what the remaining eight WAC schools plan to do.

If the Texas schools (Rice, Texas Christian, Southern Methodist and Texas-El Paso) along with Tulsa decide to forge new alliances elsewhere, that also would spell doom for the WAC. It takes a minimum of six schools to be considered a full-fledged Division I conference.

"I informed (Colorado State president) Al Yates that it's critical that I know as soon as possible who's in my conference," Benson said. "Whether it's six, seven or eight teams, the remaining WAC schools can't afford to be held up."

Benson said he had talked to Hawaii president Dr. Kenneth Mortimer and Fresno State's Dr. John Welty. He understands that both schools will make a strong push for inclusion with the breakaway eight.

UNLV athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro said he didn't know which way UNLV would vote if it came to making a decision today regarding a ninth team.

"I haven't talked to (president) Dr. (Carol) Harter about it," Cavagnaro said. "I'm not sure where we (UNLV) stand on it."

Harter could not be reached for comment.

The issue of money -- NCAA basketball money, to be precise -- will be a hot topic, too, and could impact the decision to add a ninth school.

If the addition of a ninth school triggers the dissolvement of the WAC, that could provide the ideal setup for the eight breakaway schools. That scenario would guarantee that the revenue generated from the NCAA basketball tournament would remain with three of the four WAC schools that participated in this year's tournament (UNLV, Utah and New Mexico) over the next six years. TCU was the fourth.

By virtue of the WAC's performance in this year's NCAAs, the combined nine units the conference earned are part of a 33-unit "bank" worth $2.6 million a year over the next six years.

If the WAC remains intact with the remaining eight institutions, UNLV, Utah and New Mexico (the schools which generated the lion's share of the revenue this year) would not receive anything.

However, if the WAC were to disband and incorporate the eight that are fleeing as its own, the money would be divided among the eight "New WAC" members.

For UNLV, it means either the loss or retention of just under $150,000 a year over the next six years.

"We're prepared to leave the (NCAA) money with the WAC, if it means making progress," Cavagnaro said.

The way the NCAA deciphers all this will be interesting as well. Those coveted automatic bids to the Big Dance come only after a conference has had six sustaining members over a five-year period. But conferences can appeal the rule be waived, as was the case with Conference USA when it began in 1995-96.

"Conference USA was a merger of two Division I leagues (the Metro and the Great Midwest)," Benson said. "So they were able to get a waiver. This is not a merger. This is the formation of an entirely new league."

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