Columnist Steve Carp: WAC seeking host city, TV deal for tournament

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- While there is a lot of unfinished business to complete before this year's Western Athletic Conference Tournament tips off Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center, the WAC is trying to figure out what it will do with next year's tourney.

With the WAC reverting to eight teams for 1999-2000, the conference is committed to having an all-inclusive tournament. The questions are, where to stage it and will anyone be willing to televise it?

Commissioner Karl Benson is addressing both issues. He may not have answers until later this spring or early summer.

"We have a lot of interest," he said of cities willing to host to next year's WAC tourney. "I think there are several places that are going to make a strong run at it -- Fresno, Tulsa, Fort Worth, Dallas all plan to bid and Hawaii is still interested.

"What we're looking for is strong community support where the tournament is the focal point and where there's no competition. It's important to establish a location where it'll be a big-time event."

This year's WAC Tournament will be going head-to-head with the Las Vegas 400 NASCAR Winston Cup weekend. And while it doesn't appear interest in the WAC has subsided due to the NASCAR race as far as ticket sales are concerned (close to 10,000 all-session tickets already have been sold), it will certainly be affected by local media coverage during the week, especially next weekend.

Benson is also realistic in knowing that wherever the WAC goes, it will not command a million-dollar payday as it has the past three years from Las Vegas Events.

"We're not too concerned about that," he said. "We know that if we find the right place and the community supports it, the revenue will follow."

Of course, it would help if the WAC can lock in a TV deal. Right now, ESPN is not interested in airing the WAC tournament as it is committed to the new Mountain West Conference, comprised mostly of the "traditional" WAC schools and UNLV.

The cable network also is not interested in having the WAC as a participant in the Christmas Day Oahu Bowl in Hawaii, which has all but killed the chances of Honolulu hosting the conference basketball tournament. The initial plan was to lock up the football game with the basketball tournament, much like the Las Vegas Bowl deal that piggy-backed the WAC hoopfest. But without football, there's likely to be no basketball.

Benson said the WAC continues to talk to Fox Sports Net while hoping ESPN will reconsider its position.

'I'm optimistic we'll have the tournament on somewhere," he said.

As for which WAC city is likely to be the new home of the conference tournament, Benson said it was premature to guess, because the bids aren't due until the end of March. The vote will be held at the beginning of May.

"It's too early to predict," he said. "But I think we'll have some very attractive bids."

* FIRST THINGS FIRST: There's still the matter of the WAC sorting out who will play in this year's tournament. There will be a coin flip today at the conference's suburban Denver offices to determine the pecking order, should ties exist following Saturday's end of the regular season.

A representative from the KPMG accounting firm will handle the proceedings.

The split between the WAC and Mountain West has created so much animosity that apparently there's no trust that the WAC office will handle things fairly.

That's a sad commentary. But Benson is trying to please everyone and not give some school room to take a shot at him.

"This way, there won't be any question about the way it was done," he said.

Whatever happens with the coin flip will not affect UNLV. The Rebels can finish no worse than fourth. Of course, that's not the place to be, because should the Rebels finish fourth and win their first game Tuesday, it would set up a quarterfinal date with top-seeded Utah Thursday. And unless you believe in history repeating itself (UNLV upset the NCAA championship-game bound Utes last year), that's a dangerous proposition for Bill Bayno's club.

* BIG WEST BLUES: While UNLV is guaranteed a spot in the WAC tournament, which will assure some success at the box office, the exclusion of Nevada-Reno could make for a lot of empty seats at Lawlor Events Center next week when the Big West holds its tournament.

The Wolf Pack failed to finish fourth or higher in the BWC East and it has created a true neutral court environment, which should make the Big West coaches happy.

Big West commissioner Dennis Farrell said the league is OK financially, even without UNR participating.

"Obviously, it's going to have an impact," he said. "But as far as financial risk is concerned, there is none. Our expenses are guaranteed by the Reno Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"We're very happy with our arrangement with Reno. It's been a great facility. The support from the hotels has been super. And our fans have indicated they enjoy coming to Reno."

The Big West's deal in Reno has two more years to go. And even though the host school is out, Farrell said more than 3,100 all-session tickets have been sold. He thinks Boise State, New Mexico State and Utah State will see their support pick up, as well as that from Pacific and UC Santa Barbara.

"It's actually more than we anticipated," Farrell said.

The Big West also has altered its schedule. For the first time, its champion will be crowned on Saturday night instead of Sunday afternoon. ESPN will televise the title game from Reno live at 9:30 p.m.

"I think it will help us in the future if we're in a situation where we have multiple teams under consideration for the NCAAs," Farrell said. "It always helps when the committee has more time to evaluate your teams."

* ABBEGLEN'S DONE: Despite the success he has had this year with his team tied for first in the Big Sky, Weber State's Ron Abbeglen will not be back next year. The school's board of trustees did not cave under pressure from boosters and will uphold the deal that was made last summer with president Paul Thompson.

Abbeglen, 61, had been involved in a domestic dispute with his wife, Nedra, last summer -- she wound up breaking her wrist after their physical altercation. Instead of being fired on the spot, Abbeglen, who already was in hot water after the NCAA found Weber State to have committed recruiting infractions two years ago, was permitted to coach the team this year. He had accepted a $95,000 buyout of his seven-year extension, which had four years remaining.

However, in light of the Wildcats' success, there was a movement to pressure Thompson into voiding the deal and keep Abbeglen on. Thompson refused to budge, saying a deal is a deal, and the trustees backed him.

* THE FRAUD FIVE: With a week to go before the final tally is given, there's still time for teams to play their way onto the bogus bubble. But it's getting down to cases, so here are five teams which still have the goods:

1. Rhode Island (17-12) -- Rams have been here before thanks to losses like the one to St. Bonny's.

2. Rutgers (17-10) -- So much for that NCAA talk. Not after losing back-to-back-to-back.

3. Nebraska (17-11) -- And things were looking so good two weeks ago.

4. Alabama-Birmingham (18-10) -- Still atop division, but have dropped 3 of last 4.

5. Pacific (14-11) -- Tigers could use some Kandi.

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