Ding-dong the WAC is dead.

[Mark Gommesen]

WAC interim commissioner Jeff Hurd says it's too soon to predict conference demise

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2012-05-04/wac-commissioner-jeff-hurd-says-its-too-soon-to-predict-conference-demise#ixzz1twJWN3pl

Five programs this week have announced they are leaving the Western Athletic Conference. That doesn’t leave interim commissioner Jeff Hurd much to work with. Still, he’s looking for a semblance of sunshine where none seems to exist.

"We certainly have a major challenge ahead of us to maintain our status as a BCS viable Division I conference, but I think it's a little too early to speculate that the WAC will not be around," Hurd said on College Football Playbook. "We're going to explore every possible option there is and move forward as quickly as we can."

Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii—all former WAC members—will become participating Mountain West Conference members in July. Boise State, another former WAC member, joined the MWC, but is leaving for the Big East next season.

This week alone, San Jose State (MWC), Utah State (MWC), Louisiana Tech (Conference USA), Texas-San Antonio (C-USA) and Texas State (Sun Belt) all announced their plan to change conferences beginning in 2013.

MORE on expansion: Conference USA now at 13 members | Mountain West adds SJSU, Utah State

The only teams on the current WAC roster that would remain heading into 2013 are Idaho and New Mexico State.

It is with that backdrop that New Mexico State president Barbara Couture and athletic director McKinley Boston issued an open letter to fans.

It read in part: “This is truly a new day when the sports, primarily football, are ruled by the potential for TV coverage. We all understand that. Now we are beginning to better comprehend just how far-reaching this new reality can be. Of course, New Mexico State University has no major media market to bring to the table. Without that market our "value" as a conference member appears to be less than other schools with less successful programs but that are located in areas with a greater population. The same thing appears to be the case for the University of Idaho.”

Hurd acknowledged that it might not be as easy for the league to rebuild as perhaps it would have been in the past.

"In previous years of departures and additions, there seemed to be ready options available," he said. "This particular time the apparent options aren't as readily noticeable or readily apparent as they were in the past and we're going to have to be creative as we look ahead."

New Mexico State could be a potential target for the Sun Belt, the San Jose Mercury News reported. On Twitter, Idaho quarterback Dominique Blackman expressed his concerns.

"What's going on with the WAC is scaring me man," Blackman tweeted from his account, @vandalsQB3. "Just give us a chance to show u this year we deserved to be DI (we'll) shock the world with the schedule we have this year #vandalNATION."

His concerns are certainly valid. Idaho, if left behind by every one of its fellow WAC mates, could find itself dropping down to FCS. The Big Sky Conference has already said it would welcome the Vandals.

Conference realignment has been a nonstop issue for the past two years and is not, as Hurd pointed out, restricted to the WAC. But it's the WAC that stands to be left in the worst position.

For now, New Mexico State and Idaho are holding on for dear life.

The president's statement continued:

“Make no mistake, we will be playing football next year and we will be competing in a revised WAC conference for the 2012-2013 school year. Our near-term goals are to compete successfully. We look forward to having you there with us as we show the rest of the world what makes NMSU an excellent athletic-and academic-institution.”

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

NMSU should have stayed in the Belt.. ... and all of those here that wanted us to go to the WAC.... well it would have terrible for us.

[MDH]

NMSU should have stayed in the Belt.. ... and all of those here that wanted us to go to the WAC.... well it would have terrible for us.

Had we gone to the WAC or had NMSU stayed in the Belt the result would have been the same. This was about markets and commitment to athletics. I'm glad we didn't have to have the worry of being in the WAC and seeing a conference crumbling beneath us; however, had we gone to the WAC years ago we might have had our commitment to athletics and student support even sooner and had the chance to play amongst some BCS busting programs (Fresno, Boise, Nevada, Hawaii) the past few years instead of remaining in the Belt. We would have had to have done extremely well to have got the nod over SMU for the Big East and still would have ended up where we are today most likely.

[Rudy]

NMSU should have stayed in the Belt.. ... and all of those here that wanted us to go to the WAC.... well it would have terrible for us.

I always thought it was a stab in the back the way Utah State and NMSU left. I'd love it for them to return to the SBC. I wouldn't mind playing them OOC. We had a nice rivalry developing the frist couple of years in the Belt.

[GrandGreen]

I hope that the WAC is not dead, there is more to a conference than football. Denver for example is a super school that just didn't fit in the Belt.

I don't think many thought that NMSU or Idaho were anything but good conference mates but, like Denver they didn't fit the foot print. You could say the same about Utah State, but they left a lot of ill feelings because the consensus was that they used the Belt with no intent of every bringing their other sports into the conference.

[Mark Gommesen]

I cannot imagine why the Sunbelt would want NMSU. Just do not have that much to offer except increase travel costs.

[greenminer]

I cannot imagine why the Sunbelt would want NMSU. Just do not have that much to offer except increase travel costs.

I liked it when we duked it out with them the early Belt years. Despite low budget, they were competitive and gave us some of the best, most thrilling games I can recall.

That being said, a second go-round with them doesn't guarantee anything. They haven't seemed to change much (maybe I'm missing something), while we have added so much regarding facilities, staff "upgrades", etc...