WAC gambles in letting Benson go

Harry · February 29, 2012

It’s hard to believe that the Western Athletic Conference peaked five years ago.

On Jan. 1, 2007, no one was happier than Karl Benson, who strutted through the press box at the Fiesta Bowl around the same time Boise State sent shock waves through the college football world by taking down mighty Oklahoma.

The WAC was on the verge of becoming a mainstay on the collegiate landscape, and Benson was the commissioner who was going to make it happen.

Only it never happened. Today, the WAC is on life support. Benson is headed to the Sun Belt Conference, and the league he has directed since 1994 is on the verge of extinction from the college football world.

Maybe this didn’t have to happen. A source says Benson asked the WAC presidents for a contract extension that would take him to retirement. He didn’t receive that extension, and that forced his hand to go and look for work elsewhere.

That’s a mistake on the part of the presidents.

The last thing this conference needs is more flux, more uncertainty. The last thing this league needs is a team of presidents with the task of trying to persuade somebody to board a conference that resembles the Titanic at its most panicked stage.

Already the sharks are circling. Utah State, San Jose State and Louisiana Tech are candidates to join the Mountain West/Conference USA alliance. New Mexico State could join Benson and the Sun Belt, and already Benson’s first point of order is expanding his league.

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/53607330-77/benson-conference-state-league.html.csp

UNTcrazy727 · February 29, 2012

Let's hope NMSU doesn't join the Belt. I'm fine with LT and one of the Texas start ups (TXST and UTSA), but NMSU brings absolutely nothing to the table. At least it'd be a fun road trip to San Marcus or San Antonio and there's a better chance we could develop a rivalary with one eventually.

GrayEagle · March 1, 2012

It's true that they don't bring anything in football; it's been their history. But, they're very good in basketball with good attendance figures as well.

Unless the Belt decides to go to sixteen teams I don't see a place for them. They'd still be at least 600 miles from San Antonio, San Marcos, Arlington and Denton, their closest potential rivals.

Rudy · March 1, 2012

Let's hope NMSU doesn't join the Belt. I'm fine with LT and one of the Texas start ups (TXST and UTSA), but NMSU brings absolutely nothing to the table. At least it'd be a fun road trip to San Marcus or San Antonio and there's a better chance we could develop a rivalary with one eventually.

We were developing quite the rivalry with them before they bolted for the WAC. I think it adds fuel to the fire that they "committed" to the SBC shortly before they and Utah State stabbed the league in the back.

UNTcrazy727 · March 1, 2012

We were developing quite the rivalry with them before they bolted for the WAC. I think it adds fuel to the fire that they "committed" to the SBC shortly before they and Utah State stabbed the league in the back.

That may be true, but current and future UNT students could careless about NMSU. It's hard to build a rivalry when most our students couldn't tell you one thing about the other school. If UNT wants a real rival it's going to have to be another school in Texas that our students are familiar with.