Western Athletic Conference
Western Athletic Conference (WAC) |
|
---|---|
Established | 1962 |
Association | NCAA |
Division | Division I |
Members | 8 |
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 2012) |
Website | www |
Locations | |
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference formed on July 27, 1962 and affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. 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 "non-western" states of Missouri, Illinois (traditionally associated with the Midwest), and Texas (traditionally associated with the South).
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]
Contents
Member schools
Current members
The following institutions are the full members of the WAC for the 2015–16 academic year.
Institution | Location (Population) |
Founded | Type | Enrollment | U.S. News Ranking[2] |
Endowment | Nickname | Colors | Joined | WAC Titles[3] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
California State University, Bakersfield | Bakersfield, California (347,483) |
1965 | Public | 8,720 | 80 (Regional: West) |
$18,000,000 | Roadrunners | Royal Blue & Gold |
2013 | 3 |
Chicago State University | Chicago, Illinois (2,695,598) |
1867 | Public | 5,211 | RNP (Regional: Midwest) |
$3,000,000 | Cougars | Evergreen & White |
2013 | 0 |
Grand Canyon University | Phoenix, Arizona (1,445,632) |
1949 | Private, For-profit |
10,600 | RNP (Regional: West) |
Non-endowed For-profit |
Antelopes | Purple, Black & White |
2013 | 6 |
University of Missouri–Kansas City | Kansas City, Missouri (459,787) |
1933 | Public | 16,160 | 189 (National) |
$195,000,000 | Kangaroos | Old Gold & Royal Blue |
2013 | 3 |
New Mexico State University | Las Cruces, New Mexico (101,047) |
1888 | Public | 18,497 | RNP (National) |
$154,000,000 | Aggies | Crimson & White |
2005 | 35 |
Seattle University | Seattle, Washington (634,535) |
1891 | Private | 7,755 | 5 (Regional: West) |
$211,000,000 | Redhawks | Red & White |
2012 | 11 |
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | Edinburg, Texas (76,952) |
1927 | Public | 29,045 | RNP (Regional: West) |
$77,500,000 | Vaqueros | Orange, Green & Navy |
2013 | 0 |
Utah Valley University | Orem, Utah (88,328) |
1941 | Public | 33,211 | Unranked | $48,000,000 | Wolverines | Green & Gold |
2013 | 9 |
- Notes
- With the elimination of football as a WAC-sponsored sport, New Mexico State's football program has joined the Sun Belt as an associate member.
- In July 2015, UTPA merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville to create the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).[4] The University of Texas System stated in July 2014 that "the UTPA athletics program will be converted into the athletics program at UTRGV".[5] On November 5, 2014, UTRGV's new nickname of Vaqueros was announced.[6]
- The founding date for UTRGV listed in this table reflects that of Edinburg College, the institution that eventually became UTPA.
- According to U.S. News & World Report, RNP means a ranking was calculated, but is not published. Unranked means not enough information was provided to make a calculation.[7]
- Championships title totals are through Fall, 2015.
Affiliate members
The following 11 schools field programs in the WAC for sports not sponsored by their primary conferences.[8]
Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary Conference | WAC Sport(s) | Joined | WAC Titles[3] |
Former Full Member |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States Air Force Academy | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
1955 | Federal | 4,413 | Falcons | Mountain West | men's soccer, men's swimming |
2013-14m.soc 2013-14m.sw |
7 | |
California State University, Sacramento | Sacramento, California |
1947 | Public | 27,972 | Hornets | Big Sky | baseball | 2005-06 | 5 | |
Houston Baptist University | Houston, Texas |
1960 | Private | 2,567 | Huskies | Southland | men's soccer | 2013-14 | 0 | |
University of Idaho | Moscow, Idaho |
1889 | Public | 12,312 | Vandals | Big Sky | women's swimming | 2014-15 | 17 | |
University of the Incarnate Word | San Antonio, Texas | 1881 | Private | 8,455 | Cardinals | Southland | men's soccer | 2014-15 | 0 | |
University of Nevada, Las Vegas | Paradise, Nevada |
1957 | Public | 29,069 | Rebels | Mountain West | men's soccer, men's swimming |
2013-14m.soc 2013-14m.sw |
6 | |
University of North Dakota | Grand Forks, North Dakota |
1883 | Public | 15,250 | Fighting Hawks | Big Sky | baseball, women's swimming, men's swimming |
2013-14bs. 2011-12w.sw 2013-14m.sw |
0 | |
Northern Arizona University | Flagstaff, Arizona |
1899 | Public | 18,824 | Lumberjacks | Big Sky | women's swimming | 2004-05 | 2 | |
University of Northern Colorado | Greeley, Colorado |
1889 | Public | 10,097 | Bears | Big Sky | baseball, women's swimming |
2013-14bs. 2012-13w.sw |
1 | |
San Jose State University | San Jose, California |
1857 | Public | 30,448 | Spartans | Mountain West | men's soccer | 2013-14 | 18 | |
University of Wyoming | Laramie, Wyoming |
1886 | Public | 12,496 | Cowboys | Mountain West | men's swimming | 2013-14 | 24 |
- Notes
- 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.[9] 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 is slated to add it for 2016.
- 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.[10]
- North Dakota and Northern Colorado joined the WAC for baseball for the 2014 season (2013-14 academic year).[11]
- Sacramento State was formerly an associate member of the WAC on baseball from 1992-93 to 1995-96.
- Championships title totals are through Fall 2014.
Former full members
The WAC has 27 former full members.
Former affiliate members
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Neither the Big Sky Conference nor the MW sponsors women's gymnastics. Boise State and Southern Utah house that sport in the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference.
- ↑ Cal State Fullerton no longer sponsors women's gymnastics.
- ↑ The Big Sky Conference does not sponsor women's gymnastics. Sacramento State houses that sport in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
- ↑ The Dallas Baptist baseball team currently competes as a single-sport member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- ↑ The Summit League does not sponsor women's gymnastics. Denver houses that sport in the Big 12 Conference.
- ↑ The WCC does not sponsor women's swimming and diving. San Diego houses that sport in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
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 Colorado Athletic Conference, and Hawaii was in the Big West Conference.
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, joined in 1967 to bring membership up to eight.
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 and turbulence
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.[12] 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 farflung league, the members were divided into four quadrants of four teams each, as follows:[12]
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 a championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium (also known as the Silver Bowl) in Henderson, Nevada.
Increasingly, this arrangement was not satisfactory to most of the older, pre-1990 members—particularly Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming. Additional concerns centered around finances, as the expanded league stretched from Hawaiʻi to Oklahoma and now included four time zones in nine states. With such a far-flung league, travel costs became a concern. The presidents of those five schools 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.[13] (BYU and Utah have since left for the West Coast Conference and Pac-12 Conference, respectively; BYU football is an FBS independent.)
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."[14][15]
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
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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,[16] and to replace departing BYU, the MWC also recruited WAC members Fresno State and Nevada for 2012-13.[17][18] WAC commissioner Karl Benson courted several schools to replace those leaving, including the University of Montana, which declined,[19][20] as well as the University of Denver, University of Texas at San Antonio, and Texas State University-San Marcos, which all accepted effective 2012-13.[21]
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.[22][23] Further invitations were then issued by the WAC to Seattle University[24] and the University of Texas at Arlington.[25] These changes meant that the conference would have 10 members for 2012–13,[26] seven of which sponsored football, and Benson announced that the WAC planned to add two additional football-playing members to begin competition in 2013.[27] 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.[28] 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.[29] Four similar announcements followed with Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana Tech jumping to Conference USA, plus Texas State and UT Arlington heading to the Sun Belt Conference, all as of 2013-14.[30][31][32][33][34][35] 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.[36][37] 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;[38][39] 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.[40]
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,[41] 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,[42] shortly after Idaho opted to return all of its non-football sports to the Big Sky Conference in 2014-15.[43] The conference responded over the next two months by adding Grand Canyon University,[44] Chicago State University,[45] and the University of Texas-Pan American.[46][47] Then, in February 2013, the WAC announced the University of Missouri–Kansas City would join in the summer of 2013 as well.[48] 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]
Commissioners
Years | Commissioners |
---|---|
1962–1968 | Paul Brechler |
1968–1971 | Wiles Hallock |
1971–1980 | Stan Bates |
1980–1994 | Joseph Kearney |
1994–2012 | Karl Benson |
2012–present | Jeff Hurd |
Sports
The Western Athletic Conference currently sponsors championship competition in nine men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports.[49] Nine schools are currently Associate members in four sports.
Sport | Men's | Women's |
---|---|---|
Baseball |
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Basketball |
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Cross Country |
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Golf |
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Soccer |
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Softball |
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Swimming & Diving |
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Tennis |
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Track and Field (Indoor) |
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Track and Field (Outdoor) |
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Volleyball |
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- Men's soccer was a newly sponsored sport for 2013-14; UTRGV will add it for 2015, and Chicago State is also to add it.
- In softball, the WAC has six softball members; however, because softball-sponsoring Grand Canyon is reclassifying from Division II to Division I, it is not eligible for the conference tournament.
Men's sponsored sports by school
School | Baseball | Basketball | Cross Country |
Golf | Soccer | Swimming & Diving |
Tennis | Track & Field (Indoor) |
Track & Field (Outdoor) |
Total WAC Sports |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cal State Bakersfield |
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Chicago State |
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Grand Canyon |
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UMKC |
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New Mexico State |
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Seattle |
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UTRGV |
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Utah Valley |
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Totals |
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- * = Affiliates North Dakota, Northern Colorado, and Sacramento State.
- ‡ = Chicago State was expected to add men's soccer by 2014, but the school has now budgeted the sport for the 2016–17 school year.
- # = Affiliates Air Force, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, San Jose State, and UNLV.
- † = Affiliates Air Force, North Dakota, UNLV, and Wyoming.
Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Western Athletic Conference which are played by WAC schools:
School | Football | Volleyball | Wrestling |
---|---|---|---|
Cal State Bakersfield | No | No | Pac-12 |
Grand Canyon | No | MIVA | Independent |
New Mexico State | Sun Belt | No | No |
Utah Valley | No | No | Big 12 |
Women's sponsored sports by school
School | Basketball | Cross Country |
Golf | Soccer | Softball | Swimming & Diving |
Tennis | Track & Field (Indoor) |
Track & Field (Outdoor) |
Volleyball | Total WAC Sports |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cal State Bakersfield |
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Chicago State |
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Grand Canyon |
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UMKC |
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New Mexico State |
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Seattle |
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UTRGV |
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Utah Valley |
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Totals |
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- * = Affiliates North Dakota, Northern Arizona, and Northern Colorado.
Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Western Athletic Conference which are played by WAC schools:
School | Beach Volleyball | Equestrian | Rowing | Water Polo |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cal State Bakersfield | Independent | No | No | MPSF |
Grand Canyon | Independent | No | No | No |
New Mexico State | No | Independent | No | No |
Seattle | No | No | WIRA | No |
Football
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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.[50]
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 | Marvin Menzies |
Seattle | 1946 | 978–874 | .528 | 11 | 10–13 | KeyArena | Cameron Dollar |
Utah Valley | 2004 [51] | 109-62[51] | .637 | 0 | 0–0 | UCCU Center | Dick Hunsaker |
WAC tournament
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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 Won 1 |
New Mexico State | UTEP | 200 | 102–98 | New Mexico State | UTEP Won 1 |
Awards
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Women's basketball
Team | First Season |
All-Time Record |
All-Time Win % |
NCAA Tournament Appearances |
NCAA Tournament Record |
Arena | Head Coach |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Mexico State | 1983 | 437–406 | .518 | 3 | 0–3 | Pan American Center | Mark Trakh |
Seattle | 1978 | – | . | 0 | 0–0 | Connolly Center | Joan Bonvicini |
WAC tournament
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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
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Championships
Current champions
Source:[52]
- For the sports in which the WAC recognizes both a regular-season and a postseason champion:
- (RS) indicates regular-season champion.
- (P) indicates postseason champion.
- For other sports, only a postseason champion is recognized.
Season | Sport | Men's champion | Women's champion |
---|---|---|---|
Fall 2015 | Cross country | Utah Valley | Utah Valley |
Soccer | Seattle U (RS & P) | Seattle U (RS) Utah Valley (P) |
|
Volleyball | — | NM State (RS & P) | |
Winter 2015–16 | Indoor Track & Field | — | — |
Swimming & Diving | — | — | |
Basketball | — | — | |
Spring 2016 | Golf | — | — |
Tennis | — | — | |
Softball | — | — | |
Outdoor Track & Field | — | — | |
Baseball | — | — |
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:
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
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Facilities
School | Soccer stadium | Capacity | Basketball arena | Capacity | Softball park | Capacity | Baseball park | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full members | ||||||||
Cal State Bakersfield | CSUB Main Soccer Field | 2,500 | Icardo Center / Rabobank Arena | 3,800 / 10,000 | Roadrunner Softball Complex | 500[53] | Hardt Field* | 900 |
Chicago State | Kroc Stadium | 500 | Jones Convocation Center | 7,000 |
Non-softball school
|
Chicago State University Baseball Stadium |
1,000[54] | |
Grand Canyon | GCU Soccer Field | 2,800 seats 6,000 cap. |
GCU Arena | 7,000[55] | Stapleton-Pierson Stadium | 300[56] | Brazell Stadium | 1,500 |
UMKC | Durwood Soccer Stadium | 850 | Municipal Auditorium | 9,987[57] | Missouri 3&2 Complex | 350 |
Non-baseball school
|
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New Mexico State | Aggie Soccer Field | 1,253 | Pan American Center | 13,071 | NMSU Softball Complex | 1,050 | Presley Askew Field | 1,000 |
Seattle | Championship Field | 650 | KeyArena | 17,072 | Logan Field at Seattle University Park | 250 | Bannerwood Park | 700[58] |
UTRGV | UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex[59] | 1,555 | UTRGV Fieldhouse | 2,500[60] |
Non-softball school
|
Edinburg Stadium | 4,000 | |
Utah Valley | Clyde Field | 1,000 | UCCU Center | 8,500 | Wolverine Field | 500 | Brent Brown Ballpark | 5,000 |
- Note: Key Arena is configured for 8,901 capacity for Seattle games.
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 | |
North Dakota | Baseball-only member | Harold Kraft Memorial Field | 2,000 | |
Northern Colorado | Baseball-only member | Jackson Field | 1,500 | |
Sacramento State | Baseball-only member | John Smith Field* | 1,200 | |
San Jose State | Spartan Soccer Field | 500[61] | 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 instituitions Senior Women's Administrators choose the female honoree.
Stan Bates Award
The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates 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. [62]
References
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- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 WAC Team Champions. Wac.org.
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- ↑ – February 11, 2013. http://www.wacsports.com (February 11, 2013).
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- ↑ Sources: Denver University, Texas-San Antonio and Texas State to join WAC - ESPN. Sports.espn.go.com (2010-11-10). Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
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- ↑ The Mavericks Join the WAC. MyArlingtonTX.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune. Sltrib.com.
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- ↑ WAC adds Utah Valley, Cal State Bakersfield - The Lewiston Tribune: Idaho Vandals. Lmtribune.com (2012-10-09). Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
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- ↑ UMKC Heading to the Western Athletic Conference - UMKC Athletics. Umkckangaroos.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- ↑ WACSports.com—Official Web Site of the Western Athletic Conference. Wacsports.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- ↑ Western Athletic Conference considers becoming a non-football league. The Denver Post. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- ↑ 51.0 51.1 http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/Reports/alltimewinningest.pdf
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