Hawaii is joining the Mountain West Conference? Not so fast.
Texas Christian, meanwhile, has a standing invitation to rejoin the Western Athletic Conference in all non-football sports if the Fort Worth school wants to move its powerhouse football program to the Big East.
The escalating territorial war between the MWC and the Denver area-based WAC took more twists Monday when the WAC’s commissioner, Karl Benson, conducted a media conference call to clarify several issues.
It was announced last week by the MWC that it would consider accepting Hawaii as a football-only member starting in 2012 at the earliest. Benson said he will meet with Hawaii athletic director Jim Donovan about Hawaii remaining in the WAC, but only for football. Hawaii’s other sports appear headed to the Big West Conference, a move that would cut travel costs.
Benson said the WAC’s bargaining chip is the “ESPN contract that the Mountain West doesn’t have.”
Hawaii officials have sought MWC admission since the league was created during a 1998 meeting that split a 16-school WAC into two conferences.
If the WAC loses Hawaii, Benson said a seven-school WAC would survive — but lose its status as a Football Bowl Subdivision league. That essentially entails giving up some representation on national committees.
The WAC also is approaching Sun Belt Conference member North Texas about joining the WAC in all sports. Last week, the University of Denver accepted an invitation to become a nonfootball member of the WAC. Benson said Seattle University is still under consideration as another nonfootball member of the WAC.
If the MWC gets Hawaii, Benson said the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu likely would follow the Warriors as an MWC-affiliated postseason game.
