Seattle U to the WAC?

The Tacoma News Tribune's Don Ruiz did a little reading between the lines and thinks that the Western Athletic Conference (the WAC) may have a spot for Division I aspirants Seattle U.

The West Coast Conference is S.U.'s conference of choice--they don't play football, there's a natural rivalry with Gonzaga, and all but one of the schools are, like S.U., Catholic.

But the WCC said ix-nay to the Redhawks, even though the conference commissioner is an SU alum. Ouch.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson (a Pullman kid, though he attended Boise State) is a little more flexible.

The WAC, you see, has nine schools, so one team's always the odd duck. That's OK for football, what with bye weeks and all, but bad for basketball because it requires one-game road trips, scheduling non-conference opponents at annoying times, and other indignities.

Says Benson, via Ruiz: "Our basketball coaches have made it clear that a 10th team would be better from a scheduling standpoint. But I don’t think we’re at a point where it’s urgent. We would not rule out a non-football member."

Benson added that they aren't considering any new members, but, as Ruiz says:

The WCC seemed to make sense because it’s a non-football conference and a geographical fit. But the WAC also is a geographical fit. And if they’re not looking to add a football member....hmmm.

The WAC would seem to be a comedown from the WCC, but settling for an annual road trip to Hawai'i isn't a bad consolation prize.

These are the nine WAC schools:
Boise State
Fresno State
Hawaiʻi
Idaho
Louisiana Tech
Nevada
New Mexico State
San Jose State
Utah State