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SAN BRUNO, Calif. - The West Coast Conference announced today that Brigham Young University has formally accepted an invitation to join the WCC with competition to begin in the 2011-12 academic year.

"The West Coast Conference is excited to welcome Brigham Young University as our ninth member institution," University of Portland President and WCC Presidents' Council Chair Rev. E. William Beauchamp said. "In BYU, we are adding a private, faith-based institution with a strong academic reputation and tradition of excellence in athletics. We feel they will be a good athletic fit with our programs that are annually challenging for post-season appearances and national championships. We are looking forward to working with BYU in the months and years ahead."

"We're grateful and honored to accept this invitation from the West Coast Conference," said BYU President Cecil O. Samuelson. "We are pleased to be associating with a group of fellow private, faith-based institutions with whom we also share strong academics. We admire the collegiality and stability this conference enjoys and look forward to competing with them."

Brigham Young University brings to the West Coast Conference a track record of success in academics and athletics. BYU has been consistently recognized as one of the top-rated academic institutions in the nation and is home to an athletic program that has enjoyed success at both the conference and national levels. BYU, which will become an independent in FBS football, will compete in the West Coast Conference in baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, men's and women's tennis and women's volleyball.

"This is an historic day for the West Coast Conference," WCC Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich said. "The addition of Brigham Young University adds to our membership another private, faith-based institution, which shares the common bond of an aligned emphasis on combining excellence in academics with excellence in athletics. We look forward to welcoming the Cougars to the WCC for the 2011-12 academic year."

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Nice addition to the WCC.

GO ZAGS!

BYU was wise to not go to the WAC, and go to the WCC, but I think they Mtn. West is a better overall conference than the WCC

Nevada, UNLV, San Diego State, New Mexico and If BYU would have stayed, would be a strong B-ball conf

BYU welcome back to being a true mid-major. You now can be in the mid-major top 25.

BYU a "mid major", thats not going to go over well in Provo.

webfan wrote:BYU a "mid major", thats not going to go over well in Provo.

If they wanted to play in Sac/PSU style gyms why not join the Big Sky? I think most of the WCC is like Sac/PSU. Gonzaga only has 6,000 seats and is the biggest. Gonzaga obviously a better conf mate than Weber State but they could have an in-state conf rival again instead of it being OOC games.

No way BYU would lower itself by joining the BSC. Yea, I can't believe they joined the WCC. I think they were desperate. But, the BYU vs Gonzaga games will be good. Otherwise I think they dominate this conferance.

webfan wrote:No way BYU would lower itself by joining the BSC. Yea, I can't believe they joined the WCC. I think they were desperate. But, the BYU vs Gonzaga games will be good. Otherwise I think they dominate this conferance.

both gonzaga and byu have losing records at weber. byu is 7-10; zags are 1-21 (no joke).

I'm an old dude so I can remember the Zags when they were in the BSC. They were pretty much a joke. I remeber Weber playing against John Stocton ZAG teams. Weber would totally shut Stocton down. They'd usually double or triple team him. He was a one man team.

weberwildcat wrote:

webfan wrote:BYU a "mid major", thats not going to go over well in Provo.

If they wanted to play in Sac/PSU style gyms why not join the Big Sky? I think most of the WCC is like Sac/PSU. Gonzaga only has 6,000 seats and is the biggest. Gonzaga obviously a better conf mate than Weber State but they could have an in-state conf rival again instead of it being OOC games.

watch BYU come out and say they are too good to play in the Dee like Utah did

I'm surprised that hasn't happened yet. They are going to find the WCC pretty micky mouse compared to the MWC. Could they have gone independant in football and stayed in the MWC for all other sports? MWC MBB is highly regarded nationally.

webfan wrote:I'm surprised that hasn't happened yet. They are going to find the WCC pretty micky mouse compared to the MWC. Could they have gone independant in football and stayed in the MWC for all other sports? MWC MBB is highly regarded nationally.

I think the MWC is like the Big Sky of old, meaning that the MWC requires all sport members, and dont allow affiliate members, If the MWC didnt then BYU wouldnt have left, for basketball anyway. Although if BYU keeps playing the way they are now in football, they are going to wish they were still in the MWC, especially when ESPN doesnt want to show thier games anymore.