The WAC Takes it to Court

So I figured that I better chime in on what is going on in the Western Athletic Conference before it either becomes a non-story or blows up into a huge national headliner. Let me try and set the table first, in a nutshell; Back in July, the BYU Cougars hinted that they were looking to leave the Mountain West Conference, become independent in football, and join the WAC in all other sports (they did leave the MWC, but joined the West Coast Conference in most other sports). WAC commissioner Karl Benson really liked that idea, but only if the rest of his conference stayed in place (Boise State was already leaving long before all this went down). So he put in place a fee wherein any team wanting to leave would have to pay the conference 5 million dollars, but it only applies to the first team that bolts. Also, they have to let him know by July 1st in order to leave after the subsequent season. The moment BYU got serious about leaving, MWC commissioner Craig Thompson was on the phone inviting WAC schools Fresno State and Nevada to join BSU as WAC defectors. They agreed, but on July 18th, well beyond the deadline date to leave after the coming school year. This is exactly what Karl Benson was trying to prevent from happening when he instituted the fee; a mass exodus from his conference. Too bad for him. But now the controversy is whether both schools have to pay the 5 million dollars, or only one, can they share it, and when can they leave the WAC officially?

Here is the story from Yahoo! News about what the WAC and commissioner Karl Benson are doing to keep Nevada and Fresno State in the conference until after the 2011 season. The story says that the lawsuit doesn't mention the 5 million dollars owed, but it does say that the WAC is entitled to "compensation as the court sees fit." Whatever that means. Benson also says that the money is a separate issue, which I'm pretty sure it is not. I don't see how it can be a separate issue. Maybe that's why I'm not a lawyer and never dreamed of being one. As one would expect, the Wolfpack and the Bulldogs are not very happy about the legal proceedings and both feel it could have been discussed and settled outside of court. The word "unfortunate" is used by their university presidents to describe the situation. That's how you know it's serious. So someone is lying. Either they weren't returning Benson's phone calls, or Benson jumped the gun a little bit and is making it a bigger deal than it should be.

Here is my take on it; When the remaining WAC schools agreed on the exiting fee (after Boise State had said they were leaving but before Nevada and Fresno), the agreement said that only the first school would have to pay up, not multiple schools if there happened to be more than one. So which of the two schools announced their intentions first? That is the 5 million dollar question. The WAC is trying to get the fee from both schools, which is redonculous. If they left simultaneously, then they should split it, right? The Mountain West has offered to help them pay the fee, but we first need to know what the fee is going to be and who has to pay it. What a mess. I think that they should just split the fee, get it over with, and Karl Benson needs to not be so butt hurt about his conference going down the toilet (pun intended). You and the WAC will survive. You have before when the creation of the Mountain West literally reduced your conference into almost nothing. Get over it and look to the future, you have a lot of work to do, and probably quite a few sleepless nights. As ridiculous as it may sound, that is only half of the story and apparently not the issue in the lawsuit.

The Bulldogs and the Wolfpack want to leave for the Mountain West after this current season, meaning they would compete in MWC play next year at this time. But the WAC says July 1st was the deadline to announce intentions and both universities missed it, so they must stay until after the 2011 season. Benson says something about it that makes a lot of sense; "The damages the WAC could incur if Fresno State and Nevada left early are very, very significant, That's what has driven this: to protect the assets of the WAC as a corporate entity." What he is saying is that if he loses Boise State, Fresno State, and Nevada all at the same time, he is left with San Jose State, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Idaho, Hawai'i, and Utah State. That is bad enough to put Benson on suicide watch. That's not an athletic conference, that is a list of the cellar dwellers of a conference that isn't that great to begin with! At the same time, I expect Louisiana Tech to join the MAC or Conference USA sometime soon so as to play games closer to home. Also, Hawai'i will go independent within the next couple of years.

Think about it, who is there to replace these defecting schools? UC Davis? Portland State? Sacramento State? Montana? The WAC is in a world of hurt. Also, financially, the WAC would not survive without its three cash cow schools. So Nevada and Fresno State should stay put until 2012, they at least owe that to the conference that has been so good to them since joining. The future of the WAC is in doubt and Benson is trying to hold on to what he can for as long as he can. What else is there to do? You would do the same thing.