Are the Western Athletic Conference and Sun Belt Conference Co-Dependent?

Less than 24 hours have passed and rumors are swirling that the new "competitive agreement" formed by Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference could expand to include a total of 24 schools.

This agreement would require the addition of eight more schools, and probably means the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and Sun Belt Conferences are likely to be targeted (again) by this new mega-conference.

Perhaps, the time has come for the WAC to take a page from the "competitive agreement" playbook and make a preemptive strike to preserve their own conference and prevent further damage to their brand.

The WAC shouldn't look any further than the Sun Belt Conference for a potential "competitive agreement" partner. It would appear to make a lot of sense for both conferences, as well as all of the schools involved.

Strictly from a football perspective, the conference would be 14 strong—enough to create a conference championship of their own. Now, we all know that football makes the collegiate world go round, but basketball should not necessarily be overlooked. A potential WAC–Sun Belt merger could grow to include a total of 18 schools—four of which would be basketball only.

On the football side, the schools involved would consist of Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Troy, Utah State and Western Kentucky.

Potential basketball additions could grow to include, Arkansas-Little Rock, Boise State, Southern Alabama and the University of Denver.

None of these schools are going to be confused with a top-ten football program. But in this day and age of conference realignment, being driven solely by television dollars and expanding into a 14-team football conference with the potential for an 18-team basketball conference, is likely the only option either conference has left—if they wish to remain even remotely relevant.

The creation of a championship game alone would be a cash infusion to a struggling conference. If this trend of conference mergers continues—coupled with a continued outcry for a true football-playoff system—then perhaps one day in the not so distant future we'll be treated to a playoff system, featuring all of the conference champions and three-at-large bids that will create a 12-team playoff to determine a national champion.

As we've seen with Boise State and TCU over the last decade, consistent improvement that develops into consistent domination of a conference (even a weak one) can yield great benefits down the line.

At the start of this decade, no one would have suspected that Boise State and TCU would become Top-10 power houses—elevating their stock to a level that has now landed them inclusion in AQ conferences and realistic hopes of a national championship.

Today's NCAA is solely about survival of the fittest. And as we've witnessed over the last year, the rich have continued to get richer, and the smaller, weaker conferences have just become more and more irrelevant.

The WAC is now faced with a huge decision. They can either take proactive steps to grow, or try to react later when they lose more schools and potentially disappear all together.