The WAC is still headquartered in Denver, and commissioner Karl Benson, after successfully reinventing the WAC and landing back-to-back BCS bowls, remains at the post he held since 1994. He took special pride that a WAC team, Frenso State baseball, beat the SEC for a national title last week in Omaha 10 years after Kentucky denied Utah for the 1998 basketball crown.
DP: That had to be the lowest point of your professional life 10 years ago when the Mountain West teams left. Have things turned out better than you would have ever imagined back then?
KB: May and June 1998 was certainly difficult. It was challenging, tumultuous and gut wrenching both professional and personally. Ten years later I don’t think any one out there would have predicted or projected the WAC would have had this type of success in the last 18 months. We’re been on center stage with national headlines. It’s testimony to the resilience of the three members we have who were left behind _Hawaii, Fresno State and San Jose State. The only person from 10 years ago is Fresno State president John Welty. He challenged the presidents to get better. We brought in new schools.
He was instrumental in not letting the WAC go backwards but made sure we went forwards. In the early days of 1999-2001, it was Fresno State football that allowed the WAC to maintain some credibility and notoriety. I’m convinced Fresno State football in 2001 (a top-10 start) brought ESPN back to the WAC.
DP: Did you ever see a time the whole league would dissolve like the old Southwest Conference?
KB: Everyone talked about the original blow when the eight left. It was a year later SMU and TCU were trying to get out. TCU made it out. That was a blow but it was TCU’s departure that opened the door for Boise State’s invitation.
DP: Wouldn’t there be just one WAC and no Mountain West if the WAC hadn’t first expanded to the Tulsas, maybe cherry picking TCU, Boise State, Nevada? Wasn’t a 16-team league doomed from Day 1?
KB: The 16-team WAC imploded inside not outside. The outside view was positive. I believe the fact BYU in 1996 didn’t get selection by what was then Alliance, and now BCS, that may have been the beginning of the end of the 16 teams. The bottom line was there wasn’t enough money to satisfy 16 schools. Had BYU gone to one of the (Alliance) bowls there would have been a financial infusion that would have perhaps would have satisfied the 16 families or at least the ones with the most equity.
DP: It was brilliant taking in Nevada before its basketball run and Boise State but you look at football additions Utah State, New Mexico State, Idaho, and you’re like the Statue of Liberty of college athletics: Give me you poor, your tired, your huddled masses.
KB: We were forced to fill some holes, fill the gaps. Nevada and Boise State added to the value; Louisiana Tech won it all the first year they were in the WAC. We claim when teams join the WAC they get better, some get better quicker than others. I’m still confident our last three additions are going to get better. San Jose State (with a new administration) has finally taken advantage of its WAC membership. The WAC brand is much more recognized than the Mountain West brand. I made the statement a year ago that the WAC re-established itself as the second-most recognize league in the West after the Pac-10. I didn’t say the WAC was better than the Mountain West. Ten years ago there wasn’t a Mountain West, it was the Pac-10 and the WAC.
DP: In the national perception outside the region, people don’t know who’s in the MWC and who’s in the WAC. Is it because people here couldn’t name everyone in the ACC or C-USA?
KB: It is regional in nature. A day doesn’t go by that someone in the Denver or at the national level doesn’t ask me, ‘Remind me who’s in the WAC?’ They know Hawaii, Boise State and Fresno State are in the WAC. I get the questions ‘Is CSU or Wyoming or New Mexico still in the WAC?’ The WAC’s had over 40 years of history in the Rocky Mountain area. We’re the only conference in the country headquartered in a state where we don’t have a school.
DP: How much of the WAC recognition do you attribute to your ESPN contract?
KB: You can’t underestimate the power of ESPN and the influence of ESPN. We were without it for the first two years (after the MWC split). Unfortunately, they took us back at a pretty small rights fee compared to what the Mountain West was then getting from ESPN. (Originally seven years for nearly $49 million.) Now, the relationship we have with ESPN and what they have meant to the WAC’s ability to continue as a recognized conference you can’t put a dollar to it. Obviously we want more revenue from TV and hope what we’ve done in two years our value will increase and closer the MWC.
DP: With the turnover in (administrative and coaching) personnel, do you think the a lot of the old hard feelings have dissipated?
KB: The rivalry between the WAC and the MWC is healthy. We share the same footprint and recruiting territories. We share the history of what happen in ’98. The WAC and Mountain West should be playing each other. With travel issues and the economic issues of what cost to travel we should play each other more.
DP: The non-automatic qualifying BCS leagues agreed to share any BCS revenue. What are your thoughts on indirectly giving money to the Mountain West after the Fiesta and Sugar Bowls?
KB: It’s an irony the Mountain West benefited from our football success.
