WAC Media Days 2012: Schedule, Location, Participant List and More

With college football approaching fast, the talk of media days has fans all over the country ready for the action. One conference that may be in more trouble than anyone else as the season approaches, though, is the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

The turnover in this conference embodies the problems in college football today, and the media days for the overrated WAC will expose just how bad things have gotten.

As much as WAC loyalists will disagree, the end of the road for the rich football tradition is coming faster than anyone thought, possibly even next season.

Where: Orleans Hotel & Arena in Las Vegas

When: July 25-26

Participant List

(Not Finalized)

Idaho

Louisiana Tech

New Mexico State

San Jose State

Texas State

Utah State

UTSA

Top Storylines Heading into 2012-2013

The Departures

Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii (Boise State in 2011)

This offseason embodies the problems that this conference has faced over the past few years. Instead of doing everything in its power to keep teams, the WAC’s efforts have done nothing to sway teams from leaving at will.

Not only did the conference’s biggest star leave when Boise State split last year, the loss of the next three biggest schools in the conference (Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii) to the Mountain West Conference will be the final straw that breaks the football program’s back.

I would not be surprised if the WAC drops football completely as early as next season.

The Arrivals

Texas State and Texas-San Antonio

In a temporary fix, the WAC got two smaller schools in Texas State and Texas-San Antonio to join the conference and keep the football department alive, but it will do nothing but prolong the inevitable.

With both Texas State and Texas-San Antonio planning on leaving the WAC after this season, this was the ultimate Band-Aid move to squeeze every last dollar from football programs left.

The Sad Truth

If you are one of the three remaining fans of the WAC, this is the point in the article where I would ask you to look away as I reveal the hard truth.

WAC football will be dead after this season.

With the talk of the remaining schools jumping ship to other conferences after this season is over, the fact that no one wants to play football in the WAC means the conference is doing something wrong. If the conference wants to have a chance of ever returning to prominence, its best bet would be to take a year off and formulate a plan.

There is little doubt that the WAC will not only lose its football programs next season, but likely for good.

It looks like the Mountain West is the new WAC.

Check back for more on the NCAA Football as it comes, and don’t miss Bleacher Report’s College Football page to get your fill of College Football.

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