The WACspansion saga that's decidedly not taken the country by storm is expected to reach its denouement this afternoon, when commissioner Karl Benson has scheduled a 5 p.m. EST teleconference to announce the conference's intention to add three new member schools to its ranks: the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners, the Texas State Bobcats, and the University of Denver Pioneers. The two Texas schools will compete in all sports, while Denver will serve as a conference member in everything but football.
And how will these three programs fare in replacing BCS top-five regular Boise State, offensive powerhouse Nevada, and Fresno State, which, well, Fresno's probably nice at some point during the year, just never when we've been there?
UTSA is starting a football program that will begin play in 2011. Former Miami coach Larry Coker is the Roadrunners' coach.
Texas State plays in the Southland Conference in the Championship Subdivision of Division I, but has been exploring the possibility of moving up to FBS. The Bobcats are 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the Southland Conference this season.
Denver competes in the Sun Belt in most sports and does not have a football team.
To dull the gleaming edge of victory just a trifle more, presumed fourth newcomer program Montana (the best-positioned of any of the four programs to actually compete at the I-A level in football) has just announced it intends to remain with the Big Sky conference, meaning the WAC will likely extend a non-football membership invitation to the University of Seattle:
President Royce Engstrom said in a release Thursday that it was a complex decision. But, he adds, the better course for the school is to stay with the conference it helped establish in 1963.
This, of course, is code for "We're waiting for the inevitable invitation from the Big 12 and don't want to have to change our stationery more than once."