We will continue to be a basketball school in the vein of Gonzaga and Creighton and Marquette and those schools that have built and made a reputation for themselves in basketball.” If we tried to create something in football, it would take away from the basketball strategy, which is really important not just for our basketball program but for the other sports that we have here. We are building something special in basketball. "You have alumni who are donors and for them football is really important. "If you look at football schools at the FCS level, typically you have 50 to 100 years of history," Mueller said. That will be a big goal for this conference."įootball was never an option for GCU to add during the process of rebuilding the WAC, Mueller said. When you look at the history of these schools and their basketball success, we can easily be in the top third of all conferences in the country. "When you get into that tournament and advance, that sets you up to support the rest of athletics. “You have to have a conference that can get you one, two or three members to get into that tournament (the NCAAs)," Mueller said. In the last three years, the average RPI, which takes into account wins, losses and strength of schedule, was 206 for the WAC.
The expanded WAC jumps 20 spots in men's basketball to an average of 186 in the Team RPI among the schools. Texas will have six schools in the WAC, Utah will have three and GCU against New Mexico State and Cal Baptist already are big rivalries. Sam Houston and Stephen F Austin (within 130 miles) Abilene Christian against Tarleton State (95 miles apart). There are natural rivalries in Southern Utah against Dixie State (51 miles apart) Lamar vs. Rivalries and attendances are expected to ramp up in the league. I think Brian's persistence and willingness to take a leadership role to put those pieces together made a difference." "There was game plan to make this happen. "All along we've had the conversation on what needed to happen," Colangelo said. GCU has had opportunities to join other conferences, but the WAC's move into Texas with a strong economy and with Southern Utah having the largest enrollment of all Utah universities made more sense for the Antelopes to be part of this WAC movement.Ĭolangelo, who owned the Suns and the Diamondbacks, became a sounding board for Mueller during his journey to grow the conference. "The opportunity to bring five quality institutions into the conference, to significantly strengthen the WAC’s national basketball brand and other championship sport profiles, and to bring football back under the WAC umbrella is one that made sense," WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd said. It is also a goal to have the WAC men's basketball tournament sold out in Las Vegas. The goal is to make the new WAC a multi-bid conference for the NCAA Tournament. One more football-playing member is expected to be added but no timetable has been set for that.īasketball drives GCU athletics and the school would rather put its resources into that and 20 other sports rather than starting football from scratch, which would take quite a bit of money, a difficult move without major donors.īut basketball can be a big moneymaker for NCAA Division I schools with the tournament. The five new members, along with Dixie State and Tarleton, give the WAC seven full-time members that play football or are transitioning into the Football Championship Subdivision, according to the WAC's news release. Southern Utah was brought in with it having football. I think we can do it."įootball will be part of the WAC's expansion, mainly with the Texas schools. "Our goal was to build a conference that could be competitive at the mid-major level with those Power 5 conferences. "When you look at NCAA athletics, Power 5s and the rest of the mid-major conferences was growing separation," Mueller said. The current WAC was falling apart, Mueller said via remote during the GCU news conference, and a move to the West and South was needed to stabilize the conference and make it one of the top mid-majors in the country, able to compete with the Power 5.
Austin State are currently in the Southland Conference. Tarleton State (Texas) and Dixie State (Utah) were added to the WAC this year.Ĭhicago State and Kansas City won't be part of the new WAC.Ībilene Christian, Lamar University, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. The current WAC members are GCU, California Baptist, Dixie State, New Mexico State, Utah Valley, Seattle, Tarleton State and UT Rio Grande Valley. The expansion would start during the 2022-23 school year, but could be accelerated to start beginning next academic year. GCU president Brian Mueller, who led the WAC's expansion, was in Houston as part of the WAC's news conference.
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