Western Athletic Conference football

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) sponsored football and crowned a champion every year from 1962 to 2012. Once considered one of the best conferences in college football, steady attrition from 1999 to 2012 forced the WAC to drop football after fifty-one years.[1]

WAC football champions
Conference Football Champions
Western Athletic Conference Logo
SportFootball
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Played1962–2012
Current championUtah State Aggies (Final Champion)
Most championshipsBYU Cougars (19)
Official websiteWACSports.com Football

Former members

The WAC has 26 former football-playing members.

TeamFirst SeasonLast SeasonWAC TitlesCurrent Primary Conference
Air Force Falcons 1980 1998 3 Mountain West
Arizona Wildcats 1962 1977 2 Pac-12
Arizona State Sun Devils 1962 1977 7 Pac-12
Boise State Broncos 2001 2010 8 Mountain West
BYU Cougars 1962 1998 19 IND
Fresno State Bulldogs 1992 2011 3 Mountain West
Colorado State Rams 1967 1998 3 Mountain West
Hawaii Warriors 1979 2011 4 Big West
Idaho Vandals 2005 2012 0 Big Sky
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 2001 2012 2 C-USA
UNLV Rebels 1996 1998 0 Mountain West
Nevada Wolf Pack 2000 2011 2 Mountain West
New Mexico Lobos 1962 1998 2 Mountain West
New Mexico State Aggies 2005 2012 0 Independent
Rice Owls 1996 2004 0 C-USA
San Diego State Aztecs 1978 1998 1 Mountain West
San Jose State Spartans 1996 2012 0 Mountain West
SMU Mustangs 1996 2004 0 The American
TCU Horned Frogs 1996 2000 2 Big 12
UTEP Miners 1967 2004 1 C-USA
UTSA Roadrunners 2012 2012 0 C-USA
Texas State Bobcats 2012 2012 0 Sun Belt
Tulsa Golden Hurricane 1996 2004 0 The American
Utah Utes 1962 1998 2 Pac-12
Utah State Aggies 2005 2012 1 Mountain West
Wyoming Cowboys 1962 1998 7 Mountain West

Conference championships

By year
A 2007 WAC game, Boise State at Hawaii
SeasonChampionConference record
1962New Mexico2–1–1
1963Arizona State3–0
1964Arizona3–1
New Mexico3–1
Utah3–1
1965BYU4–1
1966Wyoming5–0
1967Wyoming5–0
1968Wyoming6–1
1969Arizona State6–1
1970Arizona State7–0
1971Arizona State7–0
1972Arizona State5–1
1973Arizona6–1
Arizona State6–1
1974BYU6–0–1
1975Arizona State7–0
1976BYU6–1
Wyoming6–1
1977Arizona State6–1
BYU6–1
1978BYU5–1
1979BYU7–0
1980BYU6–1
1981BYU7–1
1982BYU7–1
1983BYU7–0
1984BYU8–0
1985Air Force7–1
BYU7–1
1986San Diego State7–1
1987Wyoming8–0
1988Wyoming8–0
1989BYU7–1
1990BYU7–1
1991BYU7–0–1
1992BYU6–2
Fresno State6–2
Hawaii6–2
1993BYU6–2
Fresno State6–2
Wyoming6–2
1994Colorado State7–1
1995Air Force6–2
BYU6–2
Colorado State6–2
Utah6–2
1996BYU8–0
1997Colorado State7–1
1998Air Force7–1
1999Hawaii5–2
Fresno State5–2
TCU5–2
2000TCU7–1
UTEP7–1
2001Louisiana Tech7–1
2002Boise State8–0
2003Boise State8–0
2004Boise State8–0
2005Boise State7–1
Nevada7–1
2006Boise State8–0
2007Hawaii8–0
2008Boise State8–0
2009Boise State8–0
2010Boise State7–1
Nevada7–1
Hawaii7–1
2011Louisiana Tech6–1
2012Utah State7–0

By team
Members of the 2008 WAC champion Boise State team, before a game against Nevada
TeamChampionships
TotalOutrightShared
BYU19136
Boise State862
Arizona State752
Wyoming752
Hawaii413
Colorado State321
Air Force312
Fresno State303
Louisiana Tech220
New Mexico220
Arizona202
Nevada202
TCU202
Utah202
San Diego State110
UTEP101
Utah State110

Championship game

The Western Athletic Conference staged a conference title football game during the three years (1996–98) the league consisted of sixteen members. During this time, the league was split into two divisions, Pacific and Mountain, with eight teams in each division. The top finisher in each division played for the championship, which was held at Sam Boyd Stadium in the Las Vegas Valley. When conference membership was cut in half in 1999 with the formation of the Mountain West Conference, both the championship game and two-division format were discontinued. All participants in the three title games were among the defections to Mountain West.

Below are the results from all WAC Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game. ABC Sports televised all three games.

Date Mountain Division Pacific Division Stadium Location Attendance Ref.
December 7, 1996 #6 BYU28 (OT) #20 Wyoming25 Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, Nevada 41,238 [2]
December 6, 1997 #25 New Mexico13 #20 Colorado State41 12,706 [3]
December 5, 1998 #17 Air Force20 BYU13 32,745 [4]

Results by team
Rank Team Appearances Record PCT. PF PA
1BYU21–1.5004145
2Air Force11–01.0002013
2Colorado State11–01.0004113
4New Mexico10–1.0001341
4Wyoming10–1.0002528

Bowl games

The first bowl game appearance by a WAC team was at the 1964 Liberty Bowl, where Utah defeated West Virginia of the Southern Conference, 32–6.[5]

The WAC had conference tie-ins with various bowl games during its history, including:

Bowl Championship Series

The WAC champion received an automatic berth in one of the five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games if they were the highest ranked non-automatic qualifying conference champion and either of the following:

  • Ranked in the top 12 of the BCS Rankings.
  • Ranked in the top 16 of the BCS Rankings and its ranking was higher than that of an automatic qualifying conference champion.

By qualifying under the first criterion above, Boise State landed a berth in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, and Hawaii received a bid to play in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. In 2009, the Mountain West champion TCU Horned Frogs received the automatic BCS bid by finishing higher than Boise State in the final BCS rankings. However, Boise State received a BCS at-large bid and defeated TCU in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl. In three BCS bowl games, the WAC recorded two wins and one loss. In addition to those three teams that played in BCS bowls, four other WAC teams qualified for a BCS berth but were not selected to play in a BCS bowl game: TCU in 2000 and Boise State in 2004, 2008, and 2010.

Bowl WAC Opponent
TeamScore TeamScoreConference
2007 Fiesta Bowl #9 Boise State43 #7 Oklahoma42Big 12
2008 Sugar Bowl #10 Hawaii10 #4 Georgia41SEC
2010 Fiesta Bowl #6 Boise State17 #3 TCU10Mountain West

Rivalries

Notable football rivalries involving WAC teams are listed below. Records are not limited to years that the WAC was active.

TeamsRivalryYearsGamesSeries leader (W–L–T)Current win streakRef.
IdahoBoise StateGovernor's Trophy1971–201040Boise State (22–17–1)Boise State (12)[6]
New Mexico StateNew MexicoRio Grande Rivalry1894–2018109New Mexico (71–33–5)New Mexico (1)[7]
New Mexico StateUTEPThe Battle of I-101914–201896UTEP (57–37–2)New Mexico State (2)[8]
San Jose StateFresno StateValley Rivalry1921–201882Fresno State (42–37–3)Fresno State (2)[9]
Utah StateBYUOld Wagon Wheel1922–201888BYU (48–37–3)Utah State (2)[10]
Utah StateUtahBattle of the Brothers1892–2015113Utah (79–30–4)Utah (2)[11]

Divisional alignment

Starting in 1996, the 16 conference members were divided info four pods, each with four teams. Two pods comprised the Pacific Division, and the other two pods were the Mountain Division. Pod one would always compete in Pacific, while pod four would always compete in Mountain. The other two pods were scheduled to swap divisions every two years, with the new alignment to take effect in even-numbered years. The pods and divisional alignment were discontinued after 1998.

⇙ 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)
PodTeamsDivision
199619971998
1Fresno State
Hawaii
San Diego State
San Jose State		PacificPacificPacific
2Air Force
Colorado State
UNLV
Wyoming		PacificPacificMountain
3BYU
New Mexico
Utah
UTEP		MountainMountainPacific
4Rice
SMU
TCU
Tulsa		MountainMountainMountain
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References
  1. http://www.denverpost.com/colleges/ci_21002204/western-athletic-conference-considers-becoming-non-football-league
  2. http://sltrib.cougarstats.com/games.php?show=details&game_id=191
  3. "Western Athletic Conf. Championship". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. December 7, 1997. p. C9. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  4. http://sltrib.cougarstats.com/games.php?show=details&game_id=167
  5. "1964 Western Athletic Conference Year Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  6. http://www.winsipedia.com/idaho/vs/boise-state
  7. http://www.winsipedia.com/new-mexico-state/vs/new-mexico
  8. http://www.winsipedia.com/new-mexico-state/vs/utep
  9. http://www.winsipedia.com/san-jose-state/vs/fresno-state
  10. http://www.winsipedia.com/utah-state/vs/byu
  11. http://www.winsipedia.com/utah-state/vs/utah
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