Western Athletic Conference

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah and Washington along with the Midwest state of Illinois and the Southwest state of Texas.

Western Athletic Conference
WAC
Established	July 27, 1962 (1962-07-27)
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I
Subdivision	Non–football
Members	9
Sports fielded	19 men's: 9 women's: 10
Region	Western United States West South Central United States Midwestern United States
Headquarters	Englewood, Colorado
Commissioner	Jeff Hurd (since March 9, 2012)
Website	www.wacsports.com
Locations

Due to most of the conference's football-playing members leaving the WAC for other affiliations, the conference discontinued football as a sponsored sport after the 2012–13 season and left the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A). The WAC thus became the first Division I conference to drop football since the Big West in 2000. The WAC then added men's soccer and became one of the NCAA's eleven Division I non-football conferences.[1]

Members

Current members

The following institutions are the full members of the Western Athletic Conference.

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Joined	WAC Titles[2]
California Baptist University	Riverside, California	1950	Private	11,045	Lancers		2018	1
Chicago State University	Chicago, Illinois	1867	Public	2,964	Cougars		2013	0
Dixie State University	St. George, Utah	1911	Public	11,193	Trailblazers		2020	0
Grand Canyon University	Phoenix, Arizona	1949	Private	20,000	Antelopes		2013	30
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888	Public	21,874	Aggies		2005	68
Seattle University	Seattle, Washington	1891	Private	7,755	Redhawks		2012	20
Tarleton State University	Stephenville, Texas	1899	Public	13,115	Texans		2020	0
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	Edinburg, Texas	1927	Public	27,809	Vaqueros		2013	5
Utah Valley University	Orem, Utah	1941	Public	41,728	Wolverines		2013	15

Notes

1. With the elimination of football as a WAC-sponsored sport, New Mexico State's football program is currently an FBS Independent member.
2. The founding date for UTRGV listed in this table reflects that of Edinburg College, the predecessor to the former University of Texas–Pan American. While UTRGV was created by the merger of UTPA with UT Brownsville, the UTRGV athletic program traces its history solely through UTPA.
3. Chicago State's continued membership is problematic. Considering the school's current strained financial situation and the needs of the athletic program, in April 2016, the University Budget Committee recommended that the Athletic Department "... study the benefits of being Division I or another division." [3]
4. Championships title totals are through Spring 2016.
5. California State University, Bakersfield will be leaving for the Big West Conference in 2020.[4][5]
6. The University of Missouri–Kansas City will be leaving to return to the Summit League in 2020.[6]

Affiliate members

The following 10 schools field programs in the WAC for sports not sponsored by their primary conferences.

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	WAC Sport(s)	Joined	WAC Titles[2]	Former Full Member
United States Air Force Academy (Air Force)	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1955	Federal	4,413	Falcons	Mountain West	men's soccer, men's swimming	2013–14^m.soc 2013–14^m.sw	11	Y
California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State)	Sacramento, California	1947	Public	27,972	Hornets	Big Sky	baseball	2005–06	7	N
Houston Baptist University	Houston, Texas	1960	Private	2,567	Huskies	Southland	men's soccer	2013–14	0	N
University of Idaho	Moscow, Idaho	1889	Public	12,312	Vandals	Big Sky	women's swimming	2014–15	17	Y
University of the Incarnate Word	San Antonio, Texas	1881	Private	8,455	Cardinals	Southland	men's soccer	2014–15	0	N
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)	Paradise, Nevada	1957	Public	29,069	Rebels	Mountain West	men's soccer, men's swimming	2013–14^m.soc 2013–14^m.sw	7	Y
Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff, Arizona	1899	Public	18,824	Lumberjacks	Big Sky	women's swimming	2004–05	6	N
University of Northern Colorado	Greeley, Colorado	1889	Public	10,097	Bears	Big Sky	baseball, women's swimming	2013–14^bs. 2012–13^w.sw	1	N
San Jose State University	San Jose, California	1857	Public	30,448	Spartans	Mountain West	men's soccer	2013–14	18	Y
University of Wyoming	Laramie, Wyoming	1886	Public	12,496	Cowboys	Mountain West	men's swimming	2013–14	25	Y

Notes

1. Four schools became affiliate members in men's soccer in July 2013; the WAC announced on January 9, 2013 that it would reinstate the sport, which it had sponsored from 1996 to 1999. Because the conference dropped football, it was necessary to add a new men's team sport to maintain its Division I status. It chose men's soccer because three of the confirmed members for 2013–14 (CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, and Seattle) already sponsored the sport, and filled out its soccer ranks by attracting four schools from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Three of these schools have past WAC connections—former full members Air Force, UNLV and San Jose State.[7] After the WAC announced it would add men's soccer, the conference gained an eighth soccer school for the 2013 season when UMKC, which already sponsored the sport, joined. In addition, Utah Valley added the sport for 2014, UT-Pan American (now known as UT Rio Grande Valley) added it for 2015, and Chicago State was slated to add it for 2016 but did not do so until 2020 (by which time UMKC returned to the Summit League under its current athletic identity of Kansas City).
2. Four schools (three of which are former WAC full members: Air Force, UNLV and Wyoming; and North Dakota) became affiliate members in men's swimming and diving in July 2013; the WAC announced on May 16, 2013 that it would reinstate the sport, which it had sponsored from 1962 to 2000.[8]
3. Northern Colorado joined the WAC for baseball for the 2014 season (2013–14 academic year).[9] Baseball will leave for the Summit League after the 2021 season;[10] the school will remain a WAC affiliate in women's swimming & diving.
4. Sacramento State was formerly an associate member of the WAC in baseball from 1992–93 to 1995–96.
5. Championships title totals are through Fall 2014.

Former full members

The WAC has 29 former full members.

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	WAC Titles[2]	Current Primary Conference
United States Air Force Academy (Air Force)	Falcons	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1954	Federal	4,413	1980	1999	11	Mountain West
University of Arizona	Wildcats	Tucson, Arizona	1885	Public	39,236	1962	1978	18	Pac-12
Arizona State University	Sun Devils	Tempe, Arizona	1885	Public	59,794	1962	1978	29	Pac-12
Boise State University	Broncos	Boise, Idaho	1932	Public	22,678	2001	2011	33	Mountain West
Brigham Young University (BYU)	Cougars	Provo, Utah	1875	Private	34,130	1962	1999	193	WCC Division I FBS Independent
California State University, Bakersfield	Roadrunners	Bakersfield, California	1965	Public	10,500	2013	2020	7	Big West
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State)	Bulldogs	Fresno, California	1911	Public	22,565	1992	2012	78	Mountain West
Colorado State University	Rams	Fort Collins, Colorado	1870	Public	28,417	1968	1999	15	Mountain West
University of Denver	Pioneers	Denver, Colorado	1864	Private	11,476	2012	2013	7	Summit
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	Rainbow Warriors & Rainbow Wahine	Honolulu, Hawaii	1907	Public	20,435	1979	2012	62	Big West Mountain West (football only)
University of Idaho	Vandals	Moscow, Idaho	1889	Public	12,312	2005	2014	17	Big Sky
University of Missouri–Kansas City (Kansas City)	Roos	Kansas City, Missouri	1933	Public	16,944	2013	2020	17	Summit League
Louisiana Tech University	Bulldogs (men's) Lady Techsters (women's)	Ruston, Louisiana	1894	Public	11,581	2001	2013	30	C-USA
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)	Rebels	Paradise, Nevada	1957	Public	28,203	1996	1999	7	Mountain West
University of Nevada, Reno	Wolf Pack	Reno, Nevada	1874	Public	18,227	2000	2012	22	Mountain West
University of New Mexico	Lobos	Albuquerque, New Mexico	1889	Public	35,211	1962	1999	46	Mountain West
Rice University	Owls	Houston, Texas	1912	Private	6,082	1996	2005	29	C-USA
San Diego State University	Aztecs	San Diego, California	1897	Public	28,789	1978	1999	20	Mountain West
San Jose State University	Spartans	San Jose, California	1857	Public	30,448	1996	2013	18	Mountain West
Southern Methodist University (SMU)	Mustangs	University Park, Texas	1911	Private	12,000	1996	2005	44	The American
Texas Christian University (TCU)	Horned Frogs	Fort Worth, Texas	1873	Private	9,725	1996	2001	18	Big 12
University of Texas at Arlington	Mavericks	Arlington, Texas	1895	Public	33,439	2012	2013	2	Sun Belt
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)	Miners	El Paso, Texas	1914	Public	21,011	1968	2005	58	C-USA
University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)	Roadrunners	San Antonio, Texas	1969	Public	30,474	2012	2013	2	C-USA
Texas State University	Bobcats	San Marcos, Texas	1899	Public	34,229	2012	2013	3	Sun Belt
University of Tulsa	Golden Hurricane	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1894	Private	4,352	1996	2005	14	The American
University of Utah	Utes	Salt Lake City, Utah	1850	Public	32,388	1962	1999	68	Pac-12
Utah State University	Aggies	Logan, Utah	1888	Public	28,796	2005	2013	32	Mountain West
University of Wyoming	Cowboys & Cowgirls	Laramie, Wyoming	1866	Public	12,496	1962	1999	25	Mountain West

Former affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	WAC Sport(s)	Joined	Left
Boise State University	Boise, Idaho	1932	Public	22,678	Broncos	Mountain West[fa 1]	gymnastics	1990–91, 2012–13	1992–93, 2012–13
California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)	San Luis Obispo, California	1901	Public	20,186	Mustangs	Big West	baseball	1994–95	1995–96
California State University, Bakersfield (Cal State Bakersfield)	Bakersfield, California	1965	Public	8,720	Roadrunners	Big West[fa 2]	baseball, women's swimming	2012–13^bs. 2012–13^w.sm.	2012–13^bs. 2012–13^w.sm.
California State University, Fullerton (Cal State Fullerton)	Fullerton, California	1959	Public	38,128	Titans	Big West[fa 3]	gymnastics	2005–06	2010–11
California State University, Northridge (Cal State Northridge)	Northridge, California	1958	Public	38,310	Matadors	Big Sky	baseball	1992–93	1995–96
California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State)	Sacramento, California	1947	Public	27,972	Hornets	Big Sky[fa 4]	gymnastics	2005–06	2012–13
Dallas Baptist University	Dallas, Texas	1898	Private	5,422	Patriots	Lone Star (NCAA Division II)[fa 5]	baseball	2012–13	2012–13
University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	1864	Private	11,476	Pioneers	Summit[fa 6]	gymnastics	2011–12	2011–12
Drury University	Springfield, Missouri	1873	Private	5,474	Panthers	Great Lakes Valley (NCAA Division II)	men's soccer	1999–2000	1999–2000
Grand Canyon University	Phoenix, Arizona	1949	Private, For-profit	17,650	Antelopes	WAC	baseball	1994–95	1997–98
University of Hawaii at Hilo (Hawaii–Hilo)	Hilo, Hawaii	1901	Public	20,186	Vulcans	Pacific West (NCAA Division II)	baseball	1999–2000	2000–01
University of North Dakota	Grand Forks, North Dakota	1883	Public	15,250	Fighting Hawks	Summit[fa 7]	baseball, men's swimming, women's swimming	2013–14^bs. 2013–14^m.sm. 2011–12^w.sm.	2015–16^bs. 2016–17^m.sm. 2016–17^w.sm.
University of San Diego	San Diego, California	1949	Private	8,105	Toreros	West Coast[fa 8]	women's swimming	2004–05	2009–10
Southern Utah University	Cedar City, Utah	1897	Public	8,297	Thunderbirds	Big Sky[fa 1]	gymnastics	1990–91, 2005–06	1992–93, 2012–13

1. Neither the Big Sky Conference nor the MW sponsors women's gymnastics. Boise State and Southern Utah house that sport in the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference.
2. Cal State Bakersfield was a full WAC member from 2013 to 2020.
3. Cal State Fullerton no longer sponsors women's gymnastics.
4. The Big Sky Conference does not sponsor women's gymnastics. Sacramento State houses that sport in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
5. The Dallas Baptist baseball team currently competes as a single-sport member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
6. The Summit League does not sponsor women's gymnastics. Denver houses that sport in the Big 12 Conference.
7. North Dakota no longer sponsors any of the sports it housed in the WAC.
8. The WCC does not sponsor women's swimming and diving. San Diego houses that sport in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Membership timeline

Full members Full members (non-football) Other conference Other conference Associate Member

• Prior to the 1996–97 season, both Air Force and Hawaii had most to all of their women's sports competing in other conferences before joining the WAC full-time with their men's sports counterparts. At that time, Air Force was in the Colorado Athletic Conference, and Hawaii was in the Big West Conference.

History

Formation

Arizona

Arizona State

BYU

New Mexico

Utah

Wyoming

Locations of WAC founding schools

The WAC formed out of a series of talks between Brigham Young University athletic director Eddie Kimball and other university administrators from 1958 to 1961 to form a new athletic conference that would better fit the needs and situations of certain universities which were at the time members of the Border, Skyline, and Pacific Coast Conferences. Potential member universities who were represented at the meetings included BYU, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Arizona State, and Wyoming. While the three Washington and Oregon schools elected to stay in a revamped Pac-8 Conference that replaced the scandal-plagued PCC, the remaining six schools formed the WAC. The Border and Skyline conferences, having each lost three of their stronger members, dissolved at the end of the 1961–62 season. The charter members of the WAC were Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. New Mexico State and Utah State applied for charter membership and were turned down; they would eventually become WAC members 43 years later.

Success and first expansion

The conference proved to be an almost perfect fit for the six schools from both a competitive and financial standpoint. Arizona and Arizona State, in particular, experienced success in baseball with Arizona garnering the 1963 College World Series (CWS) runner-up trophy and ASU winning the CWS in 1965, 1967, and 1969. Colorado State and Texas-El Paso (UTEP), at that time just renamed from Texas Western College, were accepted in September 1967 (joined in July 1968) to bring membership up to eight.[11][12]

With massive growth in the state of Arizona, the balance of WAC play in the 1970s became increasingly skewed in favor of the Arizona schools, who won or tied for all but two WAC football titles from 1969 onward. In the summer of 1978, the two schools left the WAC for the Pac-8, which became the Pac-10, and were replaced in the WAC by San Diego State and, one year later, Hawaii. The WAC further expanded by adding Air Force in the summer of 1980. A college football national championship won by Brigham Young in 1984 added to the WAC's reputation as one of the best NCAA Division I conferences. This nine-team line-up of the WAC defined the conference for nearly 15 years.

Second wave of expansion

Fresno State expanded its athletic program in the early 1990s and was granted membership in 1992 as the nationwide trend against major college programs independent of conferences accelerated. The WAC merged with the High Country Athletic Conference, a parallel organization to the WAC for women's athletics, in 1990 to unify both men's and women's athletics under one administrative structure.

⇙ Hawaii

Fresno State

San Diego State

San Jose State

UNLV

Air Force

Colorado State

Wyoming

BYU

New Mexico

Utah

UTEP

Tulsa

TCU

SMU

Rice

WAC member locations during the four-pod system (1996–1998)

In 1996, the WAC expanded again, adding six schools to its ranks for a total of sixteen. Rice, TCU, and SMU joined the league from the Southwest Conference, which had disbanded. Big West Conference members San Jose State and UNLV were also admitted, as well as Tulsa from the Missouri Valley Conference.[13] Also, two WAC members for men's sports at the time, Air Force and Hawaiʻi, brought their women's sports into the WAC. With the expansion, the WAC was divided into two divisions, the Mountain and the Pacific.

To help in organizing schedules and travel for the far-flung league, the members were divided into four quadrants of four teams each, as follows:[13]

Quadrant 1	Quadrant 2	Quadrant 3	Quadrant 4
Hawaiʻi	UNLV	BYU	Tulsa
Fresno State	Air Force	Utah	TCU
San Diego State	Colorado State	New Mexico	SMU
San Jose State	Wyoming	UTEP	Rice

Quadrant one was always part of the Pacific Division, and quadrant four was always part of the Mountain Division. Quadrant two was part of the Pacific Division for 1996 and 1997 before switching to the Mountain Division in 1998, while the reverse was true for quadrant three. The scheduled fourth year of the alignment was abandoned after eight schools left to form the Mountain West Conference.

The division champions in football met from 1996 to 1998 in the WAC Championship Game, held at Sam Boyd Stadium (also known as the Silver Bowl) in the Las Vegas Valley.

Turbulence at the turn of the millennium

Increasingly, most of the older, pre-1996 members —particularly Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming— felt chagrin at this new arrangement. Additional concerns centered around finances, as the expanded league stretched approximately 3,900 miles (6,300 km) from Hawaiʻi to Oklahoma and covered nine states and four time zones. With such a far-flung league, travel costs became a concern. The presidents of Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming met in 1998 at Denver International Airport and agreed to split off to form a new league. The breakaway group invited old-line WAC schools New Mexico and San Diego State and newcomer UNLV to join them in the new Mountain West Conference, which began competition in 1999.[13]

A USA Today article summed up the reasons behind the split. "With Hawaii and the Texas schools separated by about 3,900 miles and four time zones, travel costs were a tremendous burden for WAC teams. The costs, coupled with lagging revenue and a proposed realignment that would have separated rivals such as Colorado State and Air Force, created unrest among the eight defecting schools."[14][15]

BYU and Utah would later leave the MWC for the West Coast Conference and Pac-12 Conference, respectively; BYU football is an FBS independent.

WAC in the 2000s

⇙ Hawaii

Fresno State

San Jose State

Boise State

Louisiana Tech

Idaho

New Mexico State

Utah State

Nevada

Locations of WAC full members from 2005 through 2011

In 2000, the University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada) of the Big West joined as part of its plan to upgrade its athletic program.

TCU left for Conference USA in 2001 (it would later leave C-USA to become the ninth member of the Mountain West in 2005, and joined the Big 12 in 2012).

The Big West announced that it would drop football after the 2000 season, but four of its football-playing members (Boise State, Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State) were unwilling to drop football. Boise State was invited to join the WAC and promptly departed the Big West, while New Mexico State and Idaho joined the Sun Belt Conference (NMSU as a full member, Idaho as a "football only" member) and Utah State operated as an independent D-IA program. At the same time, Louisiana Tech (LA Tech) ended its independent D-IA status and also accepted an invitation to join the WAC with Boise State.

In 2005, Conference USA sought new members to replenish its ranks after losing members to the Big East, which had lost members to the ACC. Four WAC schools, former SWC schools Rice and SMU, as well as Tulsa and UTEP, joined Conference USA. In response, the WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State – all former Big West schools which left the conference in 2000 along with Boise State when that conference dropped football. The three new schools were all land grant universities, bringing the conference total to five (Nevada and Hawaiʻi).

Membership changes and the elimination of football

Main article: 2010–13 Western Athletic Conference realignment

See also: 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment

The decade of the 2010s began with a series of conference realignment moves that would have trickle-down effects throughout Division I football, and profoundly change the membership of the WAC. Boise State decided to move to the Mountain West Conference (MWC) for the 2011–12 season,[16] and to replace departing BYU, the MWC also recruited WAC members Fresno State and Nevada for 2012–13.[17][18] WAC commissioner Karl Benson courted several schools to replace those leaving, including the University of Montana, which declined,[19][20] as well as the University of Denver, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), and Texas State University-San Marcos, which all accepted effective 2012–13.[21]

But the resulting eastward shift of the conference's geographic center led Hawaiʻi to reduce travel expenses by becoming a football-only member of the MWC and joining the California-based Big West Conference for all other sports.[22][23] Further invitations were then issued by the WAC to Seattle University[24] and the University of Texas at Arlington.[25] These changes meant that the conference would have 10 members for 2012–13,[26] seven of which sponsored football, and Benson announced that the WAC planned to add two additional football-playing members to begin competition in 2013.[27] A further boost came when Boise State decided to join the Big East in football, and return to the WAC in most other sports, as of the 2013–14 academic year.[28] So by the end of 2011, the WAC seemed to have weathered the latest round of conference changes, and once again reinvented itself for the future.

Chicago State

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

Seattle

UTRGV

Utah Valley

California Baptist

Dixie State

Tarleton State

Locations of current WAC full members: Blue=current

But from this seemingly strong position, early 2012 brought forth a series of moves that shook the conference to its very core, beginning with Utah State and San Jose State accepting offers to join the MWC.[29] Four similar announcements followed with UTSA and Louisiana Tech jumping to Conference USA, plus Texas State and UT Arlington heading to the Sun Belt Conference, all as of 2013–14.[30][31][32][33][34][35] Boise State also canceled plans to rejoin the WAC, instead opting to place its non-football sports in the Big West Conference, before eventually deciding to simply remain in the MWC.[36][37] These changes left the WAC's viability as a Division I football conference in grave doubt. The two remaining football-playing members, New Mexico State and Idaho, began making plans to compete in future seasons as FBS Independents;[38][39] they ultimately spent only the 2013 season as independents, rejoining their one-time football home of the Sun Belt as football-only members in 2014.[40]

In order to rebuild, as well as forestall further defections, the conference was forced to add two schools—Utah Valley University and CSU Bakersfield—which were invited in October 2012 to join the WAC in 2013–14,[41] but this did not prevent two more members from leaving. Denver decided to take most of its athletic teams to The Summit League as of the 2013–14 season,[42] shortly after Idaho opted to return all of its non-football sports to the Big Sky Conference in 2014–15.[43] The conference responded over the next two months by adding Grand Canyon University,[44] Chicago State University,[45] and the University of Texas-Pan American.[46][47] Then, in February 2013, the WAC announced the University of Missouri–Kansas City would join in the summer of 2013 as well.[48] These changes would put the conference's membership at eight members by 2014 with only one, New Mexico State, having been in the WAC just three years earlier. Due to losing the majority of its football-playing members, the WAC would stop sponsoring the sport after the 2012–13 season, thereby becoming a non-football conference.[1]

In 2013, the University of Texas System announced that Texas–Pan American would merge with the University of Texas at Brownsville; the new institution, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), began operation for the 2015–16 school year. UTRGV inherited UTPA's athletic program and WAC membership.

In January 2017, California Baptist University announced it would transition from NCAA Division II and join the WAC in 2018.[49]

In November 2017, Cal State Bakersfield announced it would accept an invitation to the Big West and join its new conference in 2020.

In January 2019, Dixie State University announced it would move its athletics to Division I and join the WAC in 2020.

In June 2019, the University of Missouri–Kansas City announced it would leave the WAC to join the Summit League in 2020;[50] this announcement came shortly before the rebranding of its athletic program as the Kansas City Roos.[51]

In September 2019, Tarleton State University of Division II announced that it would move to Division I and join the WAC in 2020.[52]

Commissioners

Years	Commissioners
1962–1968	Paul Brechler
1968–1971	Wiles Hallock
1971–1980	Stan Bates
1980–1994	Joseph Kearney
1994–2012	Karl Benson
2012–present	Jeff Hurd

Sports

The Western Athletic Conference currently sponsors championship competition in nine men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports.[53] Nine schools are currently Associate members in four sports.

Teams in Western Athletic Conference competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	10	-
Basketball	9	9
Cross country	8	9
Golf	8	9
Soccer	12	9
Softball	-	7
Swimming & Diving	7	7
Tennis	6	6
Track and field (indoor)	7	8
Track and field (outdoor)	8	9
Volleyball	-	9

• Men's soccer was a newly sponsored sport for 2013–14; UTRGV added it for 2015, and Chicago State did so in 2020.

Men's sponsored sports by school

Departing members in red.

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Total WAC Sports
California Baptist	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	7
Chicago State	N[54]	Y	Y	Y	Y[lower-alpha 1]	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Dixie State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	5
Grand Canyon	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
New Mexico State	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	5
Seattle	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Tarleton State	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	5
UTRGV	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Utah Valley	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	7
Totals	8+2[lower-alpha 2]	9	9	8	7+5[lower-alpha 3]	3+3[lower-alpha 4]	5	6	7	62+10

1. Chicago State was expected to add men's soccer by 2014. The school budgeted the sport for the 2016–17 school year. However, the ongoing State of Illinois budgetary crisis and the school's own critical financial problems have set this back once more. With the school's current financial situation and the needs of the athletic program, in April 2016, the University Budget Committee recommended that the Athletic Department "... study the benefits of being Division I or another division." [3] CSU finally added men's soccer for the 2020–21 school year while also eliminating baseball.[54]
2. Affiliates Northern Colorado and Sacramento State, with Northern Colorado leaving for the Summit League after the 2021 season.
3. Affiliates Air Force, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, San Jose State, and UNLV.
4. Affiliates Air Force, UNLV, and Wyoming.

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Western Athletic Conference which are played by WAC schools

School	Football	Volleyball	Water Polo	Wrestling
California Baptist	No	No	WWPA	No
Dixie State	FCS independent[lower-alpha 1]	No	No	No
Grand Canyon	No	MPSF	No	No
New Mexico State	FBS independent	No	No	No
Tarleton State	FCS independent[lower-alpha 1]	No	No	No
Utah Valley	No	No	No	Big 12

1. Dixie State and Tarleton State became FCS independents upon joining the WAC. Both played Division II football in 2019, respectively in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Lone Star Conference.

Women's sponsored sports by school

Departing members in red.

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Total WAC Sports
California Baptist	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	8
Chicago State	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Dixie State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	9
Grand Canyon	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
New Mexico State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Seattle	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Tarleton State	Y	Y	Y	N [lower-alpha 1]	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
UTRGV	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Utah Valley	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Totals	9	9	9	8	7	5+2[lower-alpha 2]	7	7	9	9	79+2

1. Tarleton is adding women's soccer during its transition to Division I.
2. Affiliates Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Western Athletic Conference which are played by WAC schools

Departing member in red.

School	Beach Volleyball	Equestrian	Rowing	Water Polo
California Baptist	No	No	No	GCC
Grand Canyon	Independent	No	No	No
New Mexico State	No	Independent	No	No
Seattle	No	No	WIRA	No

Football

Main article: Western Athletic Conference football

The WAC sponsored football from its founding in 1962 through the 2012 season. However, the defection of all but two football-playing schools to other conferences caused the conference to drop sponsorship after fifty-one years.[55]

Men's basketball

Team	First Season	All-Time Record	All-Time Win %	NCAA Tournament Appearances	NCAA Tournament Record	Arena	Head Coach
New Mexico State	1905	1329–1018–2	.566	18	10–20	Pan American Center	Chris Jans
Seattle	1946	978–874	.528	11	10–13	Redhawk Center	Jim Hayford
Grand Canyon	2013	103-58	.639	0	0–0	GCU Arena	Dan Majerle
Utah Valley	2004 [56]	234–194	.547	0	0–0	UCCU Center	Mark Madsen
UTRGV	1968	599-804	.427	0	0–0	UTRGV Fieldhouse	Lew Hill

WAC tournament

Main article: WAC Men's Basketball Tournament

Rivalries

Men's basketball rivalries involving WAC teams include:

Teams		Meetings	Record	Series Leader	Current Streak
New Mexico State	New Mexico	208	95–113	New Mexico	New Mexico State Won 2
New Mexico State	UTEP	200	102–98	New Mexico State	New Mexico State Won 6

Awards

Main article: Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Women's basketball

Team	First Season	All-Time Record	All-Time Win %	NCAA Tournament Appearances	NCAA Tournament Record	Arena	Head Coach
New Mexico State	1973	437–406	.518	4	0–4	Pan American Center	Mark Trakh
Seattle	1978	–	.	1	0–1	Redhawk Center	Suzy Barcomb

WAC tournament

Main article: WAC Women's Basketball Tournament

Rivalries

Women's basketball rivalries involving WAC teams include:

Teams		Meetings	Record	Series Leader	Current Streak

Baseball

The WAC has claimed seven NCAA baseball national championships. The most recent WAC national champion is the 2008 Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team.

WAC tournament

Main article: Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament

Championships

Current champions

Source:[57][58]

• For the sports in which the WAC recognizes both regular-season and tournament champions:
  • (RS) indicates regular-season champion.
  • (T) indicates tournament champion.
• For other sports, only a tournament champion is recognized.
• Champions from a previous school year are indicated with the calendar year of their title.

Season	Sport	Men's champion	Women's champion
Fall 2019	Cross country	Utah Valley	California Baptist
	Soccer	Seattle (RS & T)	Seattle (RS & T)
	Volleyball	—	New Mexico State (RS & T)
Winter 2019–20	Indoor Track & Field	Grand Canyon	New Mexico State
	Swimming & Diving	Air Force	Northern Arizona
	Basketball	New Mexico State (RS & 2019 T)	Kansas City (RS) New Mexico State (2019 T)
Spring 2020	Golf	Kansas City (2019)	New Mexico State (2019)
	Tennis	Grand Canyon (2019, both RS & T)	Grand Canyon (2019 RS) New Mexico State (2019 T)
	Softball	—	Seattle (2019, both RS & T)
	Outdoor Track & Field	Utah Valley (2019)	Grand Canyon (2019)
	Baseball	California Baptist, New Mexico State, UTRGV (2019 RS) Sacramento State (2019 T)	—

National championships

The following teams have won NCAA national championships while being a member of the WAC:

• Arizona – baseball (1976)
• Arizona State – baseball (1965, 1967, 1969, 1977)
• BYU – men's track & field (shared the national title in 1970)
• BYU – men's golf (1981)
• BYU – women's cross country (1997)
• Fresno State – softball (1998)
• Fresno State – baseball (2008)
• Rice – baseball (2003)
• UTEP – NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country (1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981)
• UTEP – NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Track and Field (1974,1975,1976,1978,1980,1981,1982)
• UTEP – NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field (1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)
• UNLV – men's golf (1998)

The WAC has also produced one AP national champion in football:

• BYU (1984)

The following teams won AIAW (and forerunner DGWS) women's national championships while their universities were members of the WAC:

• Arizona State (15) – swimming (8), badminton (4), softball (2), golf (1)
• Utah (3) – cross country (Div. II), gymnastics, skiing
• UTEP (1) – indoor track and field

See also: List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships and List of NCAA schools with the most Division I national championships

Facilities

Departing affiliate member Northern Colorado (baseball) highlighted in red.

School	Soccer stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Softball park	Capacity	Baseball park	Capacity
California Baptist	CBU Soccer Field	N/A	CBU Events Center	5,050[59]	John C. Funk Stadium	500[60]	James W. Totman Stadium	800[60]
Chicago State	Kroc Stadium	500	Jones Convocation Center	7,000	Non-softball school		Cougar Stadium Non-baseball school as of June 23, 2020[54]	1,000[61]
Dixie State	Greater Zion Stadium	10,000[62]	Burns Arena	4,779[63]	Karl Brooks Field	N/A	Bruce Hurst Field	2,500[64]
Grand Canyon	GCU Stadium	2,800 seats 6,000 cap.	GCU Arena	7,000[65]	GCU Softball Stadium	300[66]	Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark	1,500
New Mexico State	Aggie Soccer Field	1,253	Pan American Center	12,482[67]	NMSU Softball Complex	1,050	Presley Askew Field	1,000
Seattle	Championship Field	650	Redhawk Center	999	Logan Field at Seattle University Park	250	Bannerwood Park	700[68]
Tarleton State	To be announced; adding women's soccer soon		Wisdom Gym	2,400[69]	Tarleton Softball Complex	500[70]	Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex	750[71]
UTRGV	UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex[72]	1,555	UTRGV Fieldhouse	2,500[73]	Non-softball school		UTRGV Baseball Stadium	4,000
Utah Valley	Clyde Field	1,000	UCCU Center	8,500	Wolverine Field	500	UCCU Ballpark	5,000

School	Soccer stadium	Capacity	Baseball park	Capacity
Affiliate members
Air Force	USAFA Soccer Stadium	1,000	Soccer-only member
Houston Baptist	Sorrels Field	500	Soccer-only member
Incarnate Word	Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium	6,000	Soccer-only member
UNLV	Peter Johann Memorial Field	2,500	Soccer-only member
Northern Colorado	Baseball-only member		Jackson Field	1,500
Sacramento State	Baseball-only member		John Smith Field*	1,200
San Jose State	Spartan Soccer Field	500[74]	Soccer-only member

Awards

Commissioner's Cup

The WAC awards its Commissioner's Cup to the school that performs the best in each of the conference's 19 men's and women's championships.

Joe Kearney Award

Named in honor of former WAC commissioner Dr. Joseph Kearney, the awards are given annually to the top male and female WAC athlete. The various WAC member institutions Athletics Directors select the male award winner, while the WAC member institutions Senior Women's Administrators choose the female honoree.

Stan Bates Award

The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates and honors the WAC's top male and female scholar-athletes, recognizing the recipients’ athletic and academic accomplishments. In addition, the awards carry a $3,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Media

WAC Digital Network

In 2014–15, the WAC initiated a new digital network to give fans high quality streaming internet access to many of its regular season games and postseason championships including volleyball, soccer, swimming and diving, basketball, softball and baseball. [75]

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External links

• Official website