Western Athletic Conference

Western Athletic Conference
WAC
Established	July 27, 1962; 59 years ago (1962-07-27)
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FCS
Members	13
Sports fielded	19 men's: 9 women's: 10
Region	Western United States West South Central United States Midwestern United States
Headquarters	Englewood, Colorado
Commissioner	Jeff Hurd (since March 9, 2012)
Website	www.wacsports.com
Locations

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah and Washington along with the Midwest state of Illinois and the Southern state of Texas.

Due to most of the conference's football-playing members leaving the WAC for other affiliations, the conference discontinued football as a sponsored sport after the 2012–13 season and left the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A). The WAC thus became the first Division I conference to drop football since the Big West in 2000. The WAC then added men's soccer and became one of the NCAA's eleven Division I non-football conferences.^[1] The WAC underwent a major expansion on July 1, 2021, with four schools joining. The conference reinstated football at that time and will compete in the Football Championship Subdivision. On July 1, 2022, one non-football school (Chicago State) will leave, and another FCS football school (Southern Utah) will join.^[2][3][4]

Members[]

Current members[]

The following institutions are the current full members of the Western Athletic Conference as of July 2021.

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Endowment	Nickname	Colors	WAC titles[5]
Abilene Christian University	Abilene, Texas	1906	2021	Private	5,200[6]	$530,000,000	Wildcats		0
California Baptist University	Riverside, California	1950	2018	Private	11,045	$82,925,000	Lancers		8
Chicago State University	Chicago, Illinois	1867	2013	Public	2,967	$5,157,070	Cougars		0
Dixie State University	St. George, Utah	1911	2020	Public	12,650	$16,300,000	Trailblazers		0
Grand Canyon University	Phoenix, Arizona	1949	2013	Private	25,000	$21,600,000	Antelopes		42
Lamar University	Beaumont, Texas	1923	2021	Public	17,488[7]	$128,500,000[8]	Cardinals & Lady Cardinals		0
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888	2005	Public	21,874	$176,266,000	Aggies		77
Sam Houston State University	Huntsville, Texas	1879	2021	Public	21,025[9]	$116,839,000	Bearkats		0
Seattle University	Seattle, Washington	1891	2012	Private	7,755	$241,200,000	Redhawks		26
Stephen F. Austin State University	Nacogdoches, Texas	1923	2021	Public	13,144[10]	$81,700,000	Lumberjacks & Ladyjacks		0
Tarleton State University	Stephenville, Texas	1899	2020	Public	13,115	$42,000,000	Texans		0
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	Edinburg, Texas	1927	2013	Public	27,809	$46,130,000	Vaqueros		5
Utah Valley University	Orem, Utah	1941	2013	Public	41,728	$34,800,000	Wolverines		20

Notes

1. Chicago State will depart the WAC at the end of the 2021-22 fiscal year.^[11]
2. The founding date for UTRGV listed in this table reflects that of Edinburg College, the predecessor to the former University of Texas–Pan American. While UTRGV was created by the merger of UTPA with UT-Brownsville, the UTRGV athletic program traces its history solely through UTPA.
3. WAC title totals include regular season and tournament championships and are updated through Spring 2021.

Future members[]

The following institutions are announced future full members of the conference.^[2][3]

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Year joining	Current conference
Southern Utah University	Cedar City, Utah	1897	Public	11,224 [12]	Thunderbirds		2022	Big Sky Conference

Affiliate members[]

The following 13 schools field programs in the WAC for sports not sponsored by their primary conferences.

Current[]

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary conference	WAC sport(s)	Joined	WAC titles[5]	Former full member
United States Air Force Academy (Air Force)	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1955	Federal	4,413	Falcons	Mountain West	men's soccer, men's swimming	2013–14m.soc 2013–14m.sw	11	Y
California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State)	Sacramento, California	1947	Public	27,972	Hornets	Big Sky	baseball	2005–06	7	N
University of Central Arkansas	Conway, Arkansas	1907	Public	10,869	Bears	ASUN	Football	2021–22	0	N
Eastern Kentucky University	Richmond, Kentucky	1874	Public	16,959	Colonels	ASUN	Football	2021–22	0	N
Houston Baptist University	Houston, Texas	1960	Private	2,567	Huskies	Southland	men's soccer	2013–14	0	N
University of Idaho	Moscow, Idaho	1889	Public	12,312	Vandals	Big Sky	women's swimming	2014–15	17	Y
University of the Incarnate Word	San Antonio, Texas	1881	Private	8,455	Cardinals	Southland	men's soccer	2014–15	0	N
Jacksonville State University	Jacksonville, Alabama	1883	Public	9,238	Gamecocks	ASUN	Football	2021–22	0	N
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)	Paradise, Nevada	1957	Public	29,069	Rebels	Mountain West	men's soccer, men's swimming	2013–14m.soc 2013–14m.sw	7	Y
Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff, Arizona	1899	Public	18,824	Lumberjacks	Big Sky	women's swimming	2004–05	6	N
University of Northern Colorado	Greeley, Colorado	1889	Public	10,097	Bears	Big Sky	women's swimming	2012–13	1	N
San Jose State University	San Jose, California	1857	Public	30,448	Spartans	Mountain West	men's soccer	2013–14	18	Y
University of Wyoming	Laramie, Wyoming	1886	Public	12,496	Cowboys	Mountain West	men's swimming	2013–14	25	Y

Notes

1. Four schools became affiliate members in men's soccer in July 2013; the WAC announced on January 9, 2013 that it would reinstate the sport, which it had sponsored from 1996 to 1999. Because the conference dropped football, it was necessary to add a new men's team sport to maintain its Division I status. It chose men's soccer because three of the confirmed members for 2013–14 (CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, and Seattle) already sponsored the sport, and filled out its soccer ranks by attracting four schools from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Three of these schools have past WAC connections—former full members Air Force, UNLV and San Jose State.^[13] After the WAC announced it would add men's soccer, the conference gained an eighth soccer school for the 2013 season when UMKC, which already sponsored the sport, joined. In addition, Utah Valley added the sport for 2014, UT-Pan American (now known as UT Rio Grande Valley) added it for 2015, and Chicago State was slated to add it for 2016 but did not do so until 2020 (by which time UMKC returned to the Summit League under its current athletic identity of Kansas City).
2. Four schools (three of which are former WAC full members: Air Force, UNLV and Wyoming; and North Dakota) became affiliate members in men's swimming and diving in July 2013; the WAC announced on May 16, 2013 that it would reinstate the sport, which it had sponsored from 1962 to 2000.^[14]
3. Northern Colorado joined the WAC for baseball for the 2014 season (2013–14 academic year).^[15] The baseball team left for the Summit League after the 2021 season,^[16] but the school remains a WAC affiliate in women's swimming & diving.
4. Sacramento State was formerly an associate member of the WAC in baseball from 1992–93 to 1995–96.
5. Championships title totals are through Fall 2014.

Former full members[]

The WAC has 29 former full members.

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	WAC Titles[5]	Current Primary Conference
United States Air Force Academy (Air Force)	Falcons	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1954	Federal	4,413	1980	1999	11	Mountain West
University of Arizona	Wildcats	Tucson, Arizona	1885	Public	39,236	1962	1978	18	Pac-12
Arizona State University	Sun Devils	Tempe, Arizona	1885	Public	59,794	1962	1978	29	Pac-12
Boise State University	Broncos	Boise, Idaho	1932	Public	22,678	2001	2011	33	Mountain West
Brigham Young University (BYU)	Cougars	Provo, Utah	1875	Private	34,130	1962	1999	193	WCC Division I FBS Independent (Big 12 in 2023)
California State University, Bakersfield	Roadrunners	Bakersfield, California	1965	Public	10,500	2013	2020	7	Big West
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State)	Bulldogs	Fresno, California	1911	Public	22,565	1992	2012	78	Mountain West
Colorado State University	Rams	Fort Collins, Colorado	1870	Public	28,417	1968	1999	15	Mountain West
University of Denver	Pioneers	Denver, Colorado	1864	Private	11,476	2012	2013	7	Summit
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	Rainbow Warriors & Rainbow Wahine	Honolulu, Hawaii	1907	Public	20,435	1979	2012	62	Big West Mountain West (football only)
University of Idaho	Vandals	Moscow, Idaho	1889	Public	12,312	2005	2014	17	Big Sky
University of Missouri–Kansas City (Kansas City)	Roos	Kansas City, Missouri	1933	Public	16,944	2013	2020	17	Summit League
Louisiana Tech University	Bulldogs (men's) Lady Techsters (women's)	Ruston, Louisiana	1894	Public	11,581	2001	2013	30	C-USA
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)	Rebels	Paradise, Nevada	1957	Public	28,203	1996	1999	7	Mountain West
University of Nevada, Reno	Wolf Pack	Reno, Nevada	1874	Public	18,227	2000	2012	22	Mountain West
University of New Mexico	Lobos	Albuquerque, New Mexico	1889	Public	35,211	1962	1999	46	Mountain West
Rice University	Owls	Houston, Texas	1912	Private	6,082	1996	2005	29	C-USA
San Diego State University	Aztecs	San Diego, California	1897	Public	28,789	1978	1999	20	Mountain West
San Jose State University	Spartans	San Jose, California	1857	Public	30,448	1996	2013	18	Mountain West
Southern Methodist University (SMU)	Mustangs	University Park, Texas	1911	Private	12,000	1996	2005	44	The American
Texas Christian University (TCU)	Horned Frogs	Fort Worth, Texas	1873	Private	9,725	1996	2001	18	Big 12
University of Texas at Arlington	Mavericks	Arlington, Texas	1895	Public	33,439	2012	2013	2	Sun Belt
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)	Miners	El Paso, Texas	1914	Public	21,011	1968	2005	58	C-USA
University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)	Roadrunners	San Antonio, Texas	1969	Public	30,474	2012	2013	2	C-USA
Texas State University	Bobcats	San Marcos, Texas	1899	Public	34,229	2012	2013	3	Sun Belt
University of Tulsa	Golden Hurricane	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1894	Private	4,352	1996	2005	14	The American
University of Utah	Utes	Salt Lake City, Utah	1850	Public	32,388	1962	1999	68	Pac-12
Utah State University	Aggies	Logan, Utah	1888	Public	28,796	2005	2013	32	Mountain West
University of Wyoming	Cowboys & Cowgirls	Laramie, Wyoming	1866	Public	12,496	1962	1999	25	Mountain West

Former affiliate members[]

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	WAC Sport(s)	Joined	Left
Boise State University	Boise, Idaho	1932	Public	22,678	Broncos	Mountain West[fa 1]	gymnastics	1990–91, 2012–13	1992–93, 2012–13
California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)	San Luis Obispo, California	1901	Public	20,186	Mustangs	Big West	baseball	1994–95	1995–96
California State University, Bakersfield (Cal State Bakersfield)	Bakersfield, California	1965	Public	8,720	Roadrunners	Big West[fa 2]	baseball, women's swimming	2012–13bs. 2012–13w.sm.	2012–13bs. 2012–13w.sm.
California State University, Fullerton (Cal State Fullerton)	Fullerton, California	1959	Public	38,128	Titans	Big West[fa 3]	gymnastics	2005–06	2010–11
California State University, Northridge (Cal State Northridge)	Northridge, California	1958	Public	38,310	Matadors	Big Sky	baseball	1992–93	1995–96
California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State)	Sacramento, California	1947	Public	27,972	Hornets	Big Sky[fa 4]	gymnastics	2005–06	2012–13
Dallas Baptist University	Dallas, Texas	1898	Private	5,422	Patriots	Lone Star (NCAA Division II)[fa 5]	baseball	2012–13	2012–13
University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	1864	Private	11,476	Pioneers	Summit[fa 6]	gymnastics	2011–12	2011–12
Drury University	Springfield, Missouri	1873	Private	5,474	Panthers	Great Lakes Valley (NCAA Division II)	men's soccer	1999–2000	1999–2000
Grand Canyon University	Phoenix, Arizona	1949	Private, For-profit	17,650	Antelopes	WAC	baseball	1994–95	1997–98
University of Hawaii at Hilo (Hawaii–Hilo)	Hilo, Hawaii	1901	Public	20,186	Vulcans	Pacific West (NCAA Division II)	baseball	1999–2000	2000–01
University of North Dakota	Grand Forks, North Dakota	1883	Public	15,250	Fighting Hawks	Summit[fa 7]	baseball, men's swimming, women's swimming	2013–14bs. 2013–14m.sm. 2011–12w.sm.	2015–16bs. 2016–17m.sm. 2016–17w.sm.
University of Northern Colorado[fa 8]	Greeley, Colorado	1889	Public	10,097	Bears	Big Sky[fa 9]	baseball	2013–14	2020–21
University of San Diego	San Diego, California	1949	Private	8,105	Toreros	West Coast[fa 10]	women's swimming	2004–05	2009–10
Southern Utah University	Cedar City, Utah	1897	Public	8,297	Thunderbirds	Big Sky[fa 11][fa 1]	gymnastics	1990–91, 2005–06	1992–93, 2012–13

Membership timeline[]

Full members Full members (non-football) Other conference Other conference Associate Member

• Prior to the 1996–97 season, both Air Force and Hawaii had most to all of their women's sports competing in other conferences before joining the WAC full-time with their men's sports counterparts. At that time, Air Force was in the , and Hawaii was in the Big West Conference.
• Starting in the 2021–22 season, the WAC will restart football at the FCS level.

History[]

Formation[]

The WAC formed out of a series of talks between Brigham Young University athletic director Eddie Kimball and other university administrators from 1958 to 1961 to form a new athletic conference that would better fit the needs and situations of certain universities which were at the time members of the Border, Skyline, and Pacific Coast Conferences. Potential member universities who were represented at the meetings included BYU, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Arizona State, and Wyoming. While the three Washington and Oregon schools elected to stay in a revamped Pac-8 Conference that replaced the scandal-plagued PCC, the remaining six schools formed the WAC. The Border and Skyline conferences, having each lost three of their stronger members, dissolved at the end of the 1961–62 season. The charter members of the WAC were Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. New Mexico State and Utah State applied for charter membership and were turned down; they would eventually become WAC members 43 years later.

Success and first expansion[]

The conference proved to be an almost perfect fit for the six schools from both a competitive and financial standpoint. Arizona and Arizona State, in particular, experienced success in baseball with Arizona garnering the 1963 College World Series (CWS) runner-up trophy and ASU winning the CWS in 1965, 1967, and 1969. Colorado State and Texas-El Paso (UTEP), at that time just renamed from Texas Western College, were accepted in September 1967 (joined in July 1968) to bring membership up to eight.^[17][18]

With massive growth in the state of Arizona, the balance of WAC play in the 1970s became increasingly skewed in favor of the Arizona schools, who won or tied for all but two WAC football titles from 1969 onward. In the summer of 1978, the two schools left the WAC for the Pac-8, which became the Pac-10, and were replaced in the WAC by San Diego State and, one year later, Hawaii. The WAC further expanded by adding Air Force in the summer of 1980. A college football national championship won by Brigham Young in 1984 added to the WAC's reputation as one of the best NCAA Division I conferences. This nine-team line-up of the WAC defined the conference for nearly 15 years.

Second wave of expansion[]

Fresno State expanded its athletic program in the early 1990s and was granted membership in 1992 as the nationwide trend against major college programs independent of conferences accelerated. The WAC merged with the High Country Athletic Conference, a parallel organization to the WAC for women's athletics, in 1990 to unify both men's and women's athletics under one administrative structure.

In 1996, the WAC expanded again, adding six schools to its ranks for a total of sixteen. Rice, TCU, and SMU joined the league from the Southwest Conference, which had disbanded. Big West Conference members San Jose State and UNLV were also admitted, as well as Tulsa from the Missouri Valley Conference.^[19] Also, two WAC members for men's sports at the time, Air Force and Hawaiʻi, brought their women's sports into the WAC. With the expansion, the WAC was divided into two divisions, the Mountain and the Pacific.

To help in organizing schedules and travel for the far-flung league, the members were divided into four quadrants of four teams each, as follows:^[19]

Quadrant 1	Quadrant 2	Quadrant 3	Quadrant 4
Hawaiʻi	UNLV	BYU	Tulsa
Fresno State	Air Force	Utah	TCU
San Diego State	Colorado State	New Mexico	SMU
San Jose State	Wyoming	UTEP	Rice

Quadrant one was always part of the Pacific Division, and quadrant four was always part of the Mountain Division. Quadrant two was part of the Pacific Division for 1996 and 1997 before switching to the Mountain Division in 1998, while the reverse was true for quadrant three. The scheduled fourth year of the alignment was abandoned after eight schools left to form the Mountain West Conference.^{[citation needed]}

The division champions in football met from 1996 to 1998 in the WAC Championship Game, held at Sam Boyd Stadium (also known as the Silver Bowl) in the Las Vegas Valley.

Turbulence at the turn of the millennium[]

Increasingly, most of the older, pre-1996 members —particularly Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming— felt chagrin at this new arrangement. Additional concerns centered around finances, as the expanded league stretched approximately 3,900 miles (6,300 km) from Hawaiʻi to Oklahoma and covered nine states and four time zones. With such a far-flung league, travel costs became a concern. The presidents of Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming met in 1998 at Denver International Airport and agreed to split off to form a new league. The breakaway group invited old-line WAC schools New Mexico and San Diego State and newcomer UNLV to join them in the new Mountain West Conference, which began competition in 1999.^[19]

A USA Today article summed up the reasons behind the split. "With Hawaii and the Texas schools separated by about 3,900 miles and four time zones, travel costs were a tremendous burden for WAC teams. The costs, coupled with lagging revenue and a proposed realignment that would have separated rivals such as Colorado State and Air Force, created unrest among the eight defecting schools."^[20][21]

BYU and Utah would later leave the MWC for the West Coast Conference and Pac-12 Conference, respectively; BYU football is an FBS independent that is scheduled to join the Big 12 Conference in 2023.

WAC in the 2000s[]

In 2000, the University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada) of the Big West joined as part of its plan to upgrade its athletic program.

TCU left for Conference USA in 2001 (it would later leave C-USA to become the ninth member of the Mountain West in 2005, and joined the Big 12 in 2012).

The Big West announced that it would drop football after the 2000 season, but four of its football-playing members (Boise State, Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State) were unwilling to drop football. Boise State was invited to join the WAC and promptly departed the Big West, while New Mexico State and Idaho joined the Sun Belt Conference (NMSU as a full member, Idaho as a "football only" member) and Utah State operated as an independent D-IA program. At the same time, Louisiana Tech (LA Tech) ended its independent D-IA status and also accepted an invitation to join the WAC with Boise State.

In 2005, Conference USA sought new members to replenish its ranks after losing members to the Big East, which had lost members to the ACC. Four WAC schools, former SWC schools Rice and SMU, as well as Tulsa and UTEP, joined Conference USA. In response, the WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State – all former Big West schools which left the conference in 2000 along with Boise State when that conference dropped football. The three new schools were all land grant universities, bringing the conference total to five (Nevada and Hawaiʻi).

Membership changes and the elimination of football[]

The decade of the 2010s began with a series of conference realignment moves that would have trickle-down effects throughout Division I football, and profoundly change the membership of the WAC. Boise State decided to move to the Mountain West Conference (MWC) for the 2011–12 season,^[22] and to replace departing BYU, the MWC also recruited WAC members Fresno State and Nevada for 2012–13.^[23][24] WAC commissioner Karl Benson courted several schools to replace those leaving, including the University of Montana, which declined,^[25][26] as well as the University of Denver, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), and Texas State University-San Marcos, which all accepted effective 2012–13.^[27]

But the resulting eastward shift of the conference's geographic center led Hawaiʻi to reduce travel expenses by becoming a football-only member of the MWC and joining the California-based Big West Conference for all other sports.^[28][29] Further invitations were then issued by the WAC to Seattle University^[30] and the University of Texas at Arlington.^[31] These changes meant that the conference would have 10 members for 2012–13,^[32] seven of which sponsored football, and Benson announced that the WAC planned to add two additional football-playing members to begin competition in 2013.^[33] A further boost came when Boise State decided to join the Big East in football, and return to the WAC in most other sports, as of the 2013–14 academic year.^[34] So by the end of 2011, the WAC seemed to have weathered the latest round of conference changes, and once again reinvented itself for the future.

But from this seemingly strong position, early 2012 brought forth a series of moves that shook the conference to its very core, beginning with Utah State and San Jose State accepting offers to join the MWC.^[35] Four similar announcements followed with UTSA and Louisiana Tech jumping to Conference USA, plus Texas State and UT Arlington heading to the Sun Belt Conference, all as of 2013–14.^{[36][37][38][39][40][41]} Boise State also canceled plans to rejoin the WAC, instead opting to place its non-football sports in the Big West Conference, before eventually deciding to simply remain in the MWC.^[42][43] These changes left the WAC's viability as a Division I football conference in grave doubt. The two remaining football-playing members, New Mexico State and Idaho, began making plans to compete in future seasons as FBS Independents;^[44][45] they ultimately spent only the 2013 season as independents, rejoining their one-time football home of the Sun Belt as football-only members in 2014.^[46]

In order to rebuild, as well as forestall further defections, the conference was forced to add two schools—Utah Valley University and CSU Bakersfield—which were invited in October 2012 to join the WAC in 2013–14,^[47] but this did not prevent two more members from leaving. Denver decided to take most of its athletic teams to The Summit League as of the 2013–14 season,^[48] shortly after Idaho opted to return all of its non-football sports to the Big Sky Conference in 2014–15.^[49] The conference responded over the next two months by adding Grand Canyon University,^[50] Chicago State University,^[51] and the University of Texas-Pan American.^[52][53] Then, in February 2013, the WAC announced the University of Missouri–Kansas City would join in the summer of 2013 as well.^[54] These changes would put the conference's membership at eight members by 2014 with only one, New Mexico State, having been in the WAC just three years earlier. Due to losing the majority of its football-playing members, the WAC would stop sponsoring the sport after the 2012–13 season, thereby becoming a non-football conference.^[1]

In 2013, the University of Texas System announced that Texas–Pan American would merge with the University of Texas at Brownsville; the new institution, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), began operation for the 2015–16 school year. UTRGV inherited UTPA's athletic program and WAC membership.

In January 2017, California Baptist University announced it would transition from NCAA Division II and join the WAC in 2018.^[55]

In November 2017, Cal State Bakersfield announced it would accept an invitation to the Big West and join its new conference in 2020.

In January 2019, Dixie State University announced it would move its athletics to Division I and join the WAC in 2020.

In June 2019, the University of Missouri–Kansas City announced it would leave the WAC to join the Summit League in 2020;^[56] this announcement came shortly before the rebranding of its athletic program as the Kansas City Roos.^[57]

In September 2019, Tarleton State University of Division II announced that it would move to Division I and join the WAC in 2020.^[58]

2021–2022 membership changes and reinstatement of football[]

On January 14, 2021, the Western Athletic Conference announced its intention to reinstate football as a conference-sponsored sport at the FCS level, as well as the addition of five new members to the conference in all sports, including football, at a press conference held at the NRG Center in Houston, Texas.^[2] The new members announced included four Southland Conference members from Texas in Abilene Christian University, Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, and Stephen F. Austin State University, which would soon be dubbed the "Texas Four",^[4] plus Southern Utah University from the Big Sky Conference. The conference also announced that it would most likely add another member that fielded a football team at a later date. While the WAC originally announced that all new members would join on July 1, 2022, commissioner Jeff Hurd later said that the arrival of the Texas Four "was expedited" to July 1, 2021.^[3] The conference officially confirmed this on January 21, 2021, adding that the relaunch of football was moved forward to fall 2021. The conference also confirmed media reports that the Southland had expelled the Texas Four after they announced their departure.^[59][60] Southern Utah's entry remains on the 2022 schedule.^[3]

During the aforementioned press conference, Hurd also announced that the WAC would split into two divisions for all sports except football and men's and women's basketball. One division will consist of the six Texas schools (the Texas Four plus existing members Tarleton and UTRGV).^[2]

Also on January 14, 2021, news broke that UTRGV, a non-football playing member of the conference, had committed to create an FCS football program by 2024.^[61] The program would most likely compete as part of the newly-reinstated WAC football conference.

The WAC's planned reestablishment of a football conference at the FCS level has also been accompanied by speculation that the conference intends to eventually move its football league back up to FBS in the future, possibly by 2030.^[62] Later that same month, the WAC moved the start of their FCS sponsorship of football to Fall 2021, with media reports indicating that the University of Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky University, and Jacksonville State University would be added as football affiliates for 2021. The three schools were set to join the ASUN Conference in July 2021; that league plans to add FCS football, but not until at least 2022.^[63][64] The entry of the three incoming ASUN members into the new football league was officially confirmed at a February 23, 2021 ASUN press conference. These schools joined the Texas Four in a round-robin schedule officially branded interchangeably as the "ASUN–WAC Challenge" and "WAC–ASUN Challenge"; the two conferences proposed an amendment to NCAA bylaws that would allow their partnership (and presumably any others of its kind) to receive an immediate FCS playoff berth. Dixie State and Tarleton are included in alliance members' schedules, but are not eligible for the FCS playoffs until completing their Division I transitions in 2024; at least for 2021, games involving those two schools will not count in conference standings.^[65][66]

On the same day as the WAC's initial announcement, Chicago State University announced it would leave the WAC in June 2022.^[67] Chicago State was originally added in 2013 along with the University of Missouri–Kansas City, originally with an intention for both institutions to serve as anchors for a midwestern-centered division for the conference.^[68] No other universities in the region were added to the WAC, and UMKC (now known for athletic purposes as Kansas City) departed the conference in 2020 for its former home of the Summit League. Chicago State is currently the only WAC member east of Texas, and does not field a football team. Chicago State's departure would render Seattle University as the only WAC member institution not geographically located in the southwestern United States.

Commissioners[]

Years	Commissioners
1962–1968	Paul Brechler
1968–1971
1971–1980
1980–1994	Joseph Kearney
1994–2012	Karl Benson
2012–present	Jeff Hurd

Sports[]

The Western Athletic Conference currently sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned sports, with football as the newest addition in fall 2021, initially as the ASUN–WAC (or WAC–ASUN) Challenge.^[69] In addition to the three ASUN members that are de facto football associates, 10 other schools are currently associate members in four sports.

Teams in Western Athletic Conference competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	13	–
Basketball	13	13
Cross country	13	13
Football	9[a]	–
Golf	13	12
Soccer	12	12
Softball	–	11
Swimming & Diving	6	7
Tennis	6	11
Track and field (indoor)	7	11
Track and field (outdoor)	12	13
Volleyball	–	13

Men's sponsored sports by school[]

Departing members in red.

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Total WAC Sports
Abilene Christian	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	8
California Baptist	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	7
Chicago State	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Dixie State	Y	Y	Y	Y[a]	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	6
Grand Canyon	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Lamar	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	8
New Mexico State	Y	Y	Y	N[b]	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	5
Sam Houston	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	7
Seattle	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Stephen F. Austin	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	7
Tarleton	Y	Y	Y	Y[a]	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	6
UTRGV	Y	Y	Y	N[c]	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Utah Valley	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	7
Totals	12+1[d]	13	13	6+3[e]	12	7+5[f]	3+3[g]	7	11	12	84+12
Future members
Southern Utah	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	6

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Western Athletic Conference which are played by WAC schools

School	Volleyball	Water Polo	Wrestling
California Baptist	No	WWPA	Independent[a]
Grand Canyon	MPSF	No	No
Utah Valley	No	No	Big 12

Women's sponsored sports by school[]

Departing members in red.

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Total WAC Sports
Abilene Christian	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
California Baptist	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	8
Chicago State	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Dixie State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	9
Grand Canyon	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Lamar	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
New Mexico State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Sam Houston	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Seattle	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Stephen F. Austin	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Tarleton	Y	Y	Y	N [a]	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
UTRGV	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Utah Valley	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Totals	13	13	12	12	11	5+2[b]	11	11	13	13	114+2
Future members
Southern Utah	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	9

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Western Athletic Conference which are played by WAC schools

School	Beach Volleyball	Bowling	Equestrian[a]	Gymnastics	Rowing	Water Polo
California Baptist	No	No	No	No	No	GCC
Grand Canyon	Independent	No	No	No	No	No
New Mexico State	No	No	Independent	No	No	No
Sam Houston	No	Independent	No	No	No	No
Seattle	No	No	No	No	WIRA	No
Southern Utah	No	No	No	MRGC	No	No
Stephen F. Austin	Independent	Independent	No	No	No	No

Football[]

The WAC sponsored football from its founding in 1962 through the 2012 season. However, the defection of all but two football-playing schools to other conferences caused the conference to drop sponsorship after fifty-one years.^[71]

Reinstatement[]

On January 14, 2021, the WAC announced its intention to reinstate football as a conference-sponsored sport at the FCS level, as well as the addition of five new members to the conference in all sports, including football.^[72] The new members announced include the "Texas Four" of Abilene Christian University, Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, and Stephen F. Austin State University, then members of the Southland Conference, along with Southern Utah University, currently of the Big Sky Conference. Originally, all schools were planned to join in July 2022, but the entry of the Texas Four was moved to July 2021 after the Southland expelled its departing members.^[59] The WAC also announced that it would most likely add another football-playing institution at a later date.

On the same day, news broke that the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a non-football playing WAC member, had committed to create an FCS football program by 2024.^[73] The program will most likely compete as part of the newly-reinstated WAC football conference.

The WAC ultimately partnered with the ASUN Conference to reestablish its football league, with the Texas Four being joined by three incoming ASUN members for at least the fall 2021 season in what it calls the ASUN–WAC (or WAC–ASUN) Challenge.^[65][66] The Challenge is abbreviated as "AQ7", as the top finisher of the seven teams will be an automatic qualifier for the FCS postseason.^[74]

The WAC has been speculated to move back up to FBS in the future following the reestablishment of the football conference at the FCS level.^[75]

Men's basketball[]

Team	First Season	All-Time Record	All-Time Win %	NCAA Tournament Appearances	NCAA Tournament Record	Arena	Head Coach
New Mexico State	1905	1329–1018–2	.566	18	10–20	Pan American Center	Chris Jans
Seattle	1946	978–874	.528	11	10–13	Redhawk Center	Jim Hayford
Grand Canyon	2013	103-58	.639	1	0–1	GCU Arena	Bryce Drew
Utah Valley	2004 [76]	234–194	.547	0	0–0	UCCU Center	Mark Madsen
UTRGV	1968	599-804	.427	0	0–0	UTRGV Fieldhouse	Matt Figger

WAC tournament

Rivalries

Men's basketball rivalries involving WAC teams include:

Teams		Meetings	Record	Series Leader	Current Streak
New Mexico State	New Mexico	208	95–113	New Mexico	New Mexico State Won 2
New Mexico State	UTEP	200	102–98	New Mexico State	New Mexico State Won 6

Awards

Women's basketball[]

Team	First Season	All-Time Record	All-Time Win %	NCAA Tournament Appearances	NCAA Tournament Record	Arena	Head Coach
New Mexico State	1973	437–406	.518	4	0–4	Pan American Center	Mark Trakh
Seattle	1978	–	.	1	0–1	Redhawk Center

WAC tournament

Rivalries

Women's basketball rivalries involving WAC teams include:

Teams		Meetings	Record	Series Leader	Current Streak

Baseball[]

The WAC has claimed seven NCAA baseball national championships. The most recent WAC national champion is the 2008 Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team.

WAC tournament

Championships[]

Current champions[]

Source:^[77][78]

• For the sports in which the WAC recognizes both regular-season and tournament champions:
  • (RS) indicates regular-season champion.
  • (T) indicates tournament champion.
• For other sports, only a tournament champion is recognized.
• Champions from a previous school year are indicated with the calendar year of their title.

Season	Sport	Men's champion	Women's champion
Fall 2020	Cross country	California Baptist	California Baptist
	Soccer	Grand Canyon (RS) Air Force (T)	Seattle, Utah Valley (RS) Utah Valley (T)
	Volleyball	—	New Mexico State (RS) Utah Valley (T)
Winter 2020–21	Indoor Track & Field	Grand Canyon (2020)	New Mexico State (2020)
	Swimming & Diving	UNLV	Northern Arizona
	Basketball	Grand Canyon, Utah Valley (RS) Grand Canyon (T)	California Baptist (RS & T)
Spring 2021	Golf	New Mexico State	New Mexico State
	Tennis	Grand Canyon, New Mexico State (RS) Grand Canyon (T)	Grand Canyon (RS & T)
	Softball	—	New Mexico State (RS) Seattle (T)
	Outdoor Track & Field	Grand Canyon	Grand Canyon
	Baseball	California Baptist, Grand Canyon (RS) Grand Canyon (T)	—

National championships[]

The following teams have won NCAA national championships while being a member of the WAC:

• Arizona – baseball (1976)
• Arizona State – baseball (1965, 1967, 1969, 1977)
• BYU – men's track & field (shared the national title in 1970)
• BYU – men's golf (1981)
• BYU – women's cross country (1997)
• Fresno State – softball (1998)
• Fresno State – baseball (2008)
• Rice – baseball (2003)
• UTEP – NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country (1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981)
• UTEP – NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Track and Field (1974,1975,1976,1978,1980,1981,1982)
• UTEP – NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field (1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)
• UNLV – men's golf (1998)

The WAC has also produced one AP national champion in football:

• BYU (1984)

The following teams won AIAW (and forerunner DGWS) women's national championships while their universities were members of the WAC:

• Arizona State (15) – swimming (8), badminton (4), softball (2), golf (1)
• Utah (3) – cross country (Div. II), gymnastics, skiing
• UTEP (1) – indoor track and field

Facilities[]

Departing members highlighted in red; future members in gray.

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Soccer stadium	Capacity	Softball park	Capacity	Baseball park	Capacity
Abilene Christian	Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium	12,000	Moody Coliseum	4,600	Elmer Gray Stadium	1,000	Poly Wells Field	1,000	Crutcher Scott Field	4,500
California Baptist	Non-football school		CBU Events Center	5,050[79]	CBU Soccer Field	N/A	John C. Funk Stadium	500[80]	James W. Totman Stadium	800[80]
Central Arkansas	Estes Stadium	10,000	Football-only member
Chicago State	Non-football school		Jones Convocation Center	7,000	Kroc Stadium	500	Non-softball school		Non-baseball school[81]
Dixie State	Greater Zion Stadium	10,000[82]	Burns Arena	4,779[83]	Greater Zion Stadium	10,000		N/A	Bruce Hurst Field	2,500[84]
Eastern Kentucky	Roy Kidd Stadium	20,000	Football-only member
Grand Canyon	Non-football school		GCU Arena	7,000[85]	GCU Stadium	2,800 seats 6,000 cap.		300[86]	Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark	1,500
Jacksonville State	JSU Stadium	24,000	Football-only member
Lamar	Provost Umphrey Stadium	16,000	Montagne Center	10,080	Lamar Soccer Complex	500	Lamar Softball Complex	467	Vincent-Beck Stadium	3,500
New Mexico State	Plays FBS football; see NCAA Division I FBS independent schools		Pan American Center	12,482[87]	Aggie Soccer Field	1,253	NMSU Softball Complex	1,050	Presley Askew Field	1,000
Sam Houston State	Bowers Stadium	12,593	Bernard Johnson Coliseum	6,110	Pritchett Field	2,100	Bearkat Softball Complex	400	Don Sanders Stadium	1,163
Seattle	Non-football school		Redhawk Center	999	Championship Field	650	Logan Field at Seattle University Park	250	Bannerwood Park	700[88]
Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum	8,500	America First Event Center	5,300		600		N/A	Non-baseball school
Stephen F. Austin	Homer Bryce Stadium	14,575	William R. Johnson Coliseum	7,203		400	SFA Softball Field	750	Jaycees Field	1,000
Tarleton State	Memorial Stadium	10,000	Wisdom Gym	2,400[89]	To be announced; adding women's soccer in 2022			500[90]	Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex	750[91]
UTRGV	Non-football school; plans to add football no later than 2024		UTRGV Fieldhouse	2,500[92]	UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex[93]	1,555	Non-softball school		UTRGV Baseball Stadium	4,000
Utah Valley	Non-football school		UCCU Center	8,500	Clyde Field	1,000	Wolverine Field	500	UCCU Ballpark	5,000

School	Soccer stadium	Capacity	Baseball park	Capacity
Affiliate members
Air Force	USAFA Soccer Stadium	1,000	Soccer-only member
Houston Baptist	Sorrels Field	500	Soccer-only member
Incarnate Word	Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium	6,000	Soccer-only member
UNLV	Peter Johann Memorial Field	2,500	Soccer-only member
Sacramento State	Baseball-only member		John Smith Field*	1,200
San Jose State	Spartan Soccer Field Archived 2017-04-25 at the Wayback Machine	500[94]	Soccer-only member

Awards[]

Commissioner's Cup

The WAC awards its Commissioner's Cup to the school that performs the best in each of the conference's 19 men's and women's championships.

Joe Kearney Award

Named in honor of former WAC commissioner Dr. Joseph Kearney, the awards are given annually to the top male and female WAC athlete. The various WAC member institutions Athletics Directors select the male award winner, while the WAC member institutions Senior Women's Administrators choose the female honoree.

Stan Bates Award

The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner and honors the WAC's top male and female scholar-athletes, recognizing the recipients’ athletic and academic accomplishments. In addition, the awards carry a $3,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Media[]

WAC Digital Network[]

In 2014–15, the WAC initiated a new digital network to give fans high quality streaming internet access to many of its regular season games and postseason championships including volleyball, soccer, swimming and diving, basketball, softball and baseball. ^[95]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website