Seattle University is newest member of the WAC
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 1:44 am
Seattle University is officially the newest member of the WAC and Utah Valley University is left out and is still a member of the far-flung Great West Conference. With every league looking to earn the all-mighty dollar in television deals, Seattle made more sense than UVU since they are just miles from BYU’s campus and the school was a junior college as recently as the 2002-03 academic year. So, their fan base is small and they are vastly behind Utah and even Utah State for fans.
Whereas Seattle is in an untapped market for the WAC and they have a top-notch arena with a coach from the area:
“Along with KeyArena and (hiring) Cameron Dollar (as basketball coach) I think that in the last two years Seattle U. has demonstrated their commitment back to Division I,” Benson said. “They are certainly a player in the Seattle college sports market and we look forward to taking advantage of that.”
Seattle has been the rare independent within college basketball, so a conference schedule that includes a set schedule and an easier path to the NCAA tournament.
WAC Commissioner even speculated that Seattle has the makings to be the next Gonzaga-type program.
As for Utah Valley, they did have a presentation at this meeting and were not happy that they did not get the invite:
“We are disappointed that the Western Athletic Conference presidents chose not to add Utah Valley University to their conference at this time. However, we are grateful we had the opportunity to present our compelling case and show why we would be a great fit for the WAC. While things did not work out this time, we will continue building our programs in anticipation of future regional conference opportunities that may arise.”
[...]
“We’re going to continue to try and build up the Great West,” Jacobsen said. “I think there’s going to be some opportunities there with some decisions the NCAA is making. We’re committed to helping them continue to be successful and build itself.”
Whereas Seattle is in an untapped market for the WAC and they have a top-notch arena with a coach from the area:
“Along with KeyArena and (hiring) Cameron Dollar (as basketball coach) I think that in the last two years Seattle U. has demonstrated their commitment back to Division I,” Benson said. “They are certainly a player in the Seattle college sports market and we look forward to taking advantage of that.”
Seattle has been the rare independent within college basketball, so a conference schedule that includes a set schedule and an easier path to the NCAA tournament.
WAC Commissioner even speculated that Seattle has the makings to be the next Gonzaga-type program.
As for Utah Valley, they did have a presentation at this meeting and were not happy that they did not get the invite:
“We are disappointed that the Western Athletic Conference presidents chose not to add Utah Valley University to their conference at this time. However, we are grateful we had the opportunity to present our compelling case and show why we would be a great fit for the WAC. While things did not work out this time, we will continue building our programs in anticipation of future regional conference opportunities that may arise.”
[...]
“We’re going to continue to try and build up the Great West,” Jacobsen said. “I think there’s going to be some opportunities there with some decisions the NCAA is making. We’re committed to helping them continue to be successful and build itself.”
