Eight universities begin task of building new conference

If you were building a house, you wouldn't start with the roof, would you?

Neither would the eight schools that are leaving the Western Athletic Conference to form their own league a year from now.

The departing eight, which includes UNLV, want to make sure there's a solid foundation for their yet-to-be-named league so when the project is finished next July 1, it will be the talk of the nation.

So while the new league's transition committee goes about the mundane tasks of getting its bylaws, constitution and legal house in order, it begs your indulgence for providing the attractive offerings, such as a name, a headquarters and a commissioner.

"People want to hear about a name -- that's exciting," Utah athletic director Chris Hill said Monday after the committee spent the day meeting face to face for the first time at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. "But once you say it, that's it.

"I know talking about rules and bylaws isn't as sexy. But the reason we're here (at the MGM) is to get everything in order so we can make the announcements down the line that everyone's waiting for."

The meetings, which conclude today, have representatives from UNLV, Utah, Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State and Wyoming huddling as the new league's game plan for operating is formulated. If you're looking for news about a commissioner or a television contract, you'll just have to sit tight.

"I think we'll know more in the next two months," Hill said of the big-ticket items that fans from the eight member institutions are waiting to hear about. "Right now, we're organizing our subcommittees and once those are in place, we can proceed on the issues everyone's interested in."

Hill, the chairman of the eight-member transition team, said the mission is clear after the three members of the new league's Presidents' Council -- UNLV's Dr. Carol Harter, Colorado State's Dr. Al Yates and BYU's Merrill Bateman -- addressed the group Monday.

"We've gotten our marching orders from the presidents," he said. "The first item is to make the 1998-99 season, our final one in the WAC, as successful as possible. We owe that to our student-athletes, our coaches and our fans.

"They also stressed the importance of having a quality conference from top to bottom. And that's why we don't want to rush things. We're going to come out of here with a game plan and our goal is to execute it."

The three subcommittees -- Revenue, Marketing and Governance -- will have representatives from all eight schools on each. UNLV athletic director Charles Cavagnaro, who attended Monday's meeting, will serve on the marketing subcommittee. He said he wasn't sure who from UNLV would be part of the other two subcommittees.

"I know the public is anxious to see some action," he said. "And to me, that's good. But at the same time, people have to understand that we've got all these governance issues that have to be taken care of first before we can get on to the big-ticket items.

"The impatient part of me wanted it done yesterday. But the other side of me knows that you don't want to rush into these things if you want to do it right. And if I heard the presidents say it once, I heard them say it 150 times, they want this to be a quality conference and you want to have quality in everything you do."

Hill said reports that the league was close to entering a deal with a corporation to be the title sponsor for the conference's name were not true.

"It's way too early in the ballgame for that," he said. "But it's something that we'll probably look at down the line. That's not to say it's going to happen. It's just a possibility we'll likely explore."

Despite the lack of high-profile movement, those involved said Monday's meeting was productive.

"Organizationally, today was a good first step," Cavagnaro said of the initial face-to-face meeting of the transition team. "You've got to know the people you're going to be working with and this was a good opportunity for that."

Hill said: "What's been most helpful is the cooperative effort among the schools to make this a quality league for everyone. I can say we're definitely moving in the right direction and the enthusiasm everyone has for this makes it exciting to be part of."

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