The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

with member institutions located in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Due to most of the conference's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

-playing members leaving the WAC for other affiliations, the conference discontinued football as a sponsored sport after the 2012–13 season, left the NCAA's

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(formerly known as Division I-A) and became one of the NCAA's eleven Division I non-football conferences. The WAC thus became the first Division I conference to drop football since the

Big West The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

in 2000. The WAC then added men's soccer. The WAC underwent a major expansion on July 1, 2021, with four schools joining. The conference reinstated football at that time, competing in the

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

(FCS). One year later, on July 1, 2022, one FCS football school ( Lamar) and one non-football school ( Chicago State) left, and one FCS football school (

Southern Utah Dixie is a nickname for the populated, lower-elevation area of south-central Washington County, the southwest corner of the State of Utah, bordering nearby Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. The area lies in the northeastern Mojave ...

) and one non-football school (

UT Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A&M ...

) joined. The WAC again became a non-football conference in 2023, when the WAC and the

Atlantic Sun Conference The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. ...

(ASUN) merged their FCS football leagues as the

United Athletic Conference The United Athletic Conference (UAC), also known as The United, is an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) intercollegiate athletic conference. The conference is a merger of the existing football leagues of the Atlantic Sun Con ...

Members

Existing full members

These institutions are the existing full members of the Western Athletic Conference: Members departing for the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

on July 1, 2026.
Members departing for the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

on July 1, 2026.
Members departing for the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

on July 1, 2025. ;Notes:

Affiliate members

These nine schools field programs in the WAC for sports not sponsored by their primary conferences: ;Notes

Future affiliate members

After Grand Canyon departs for the Mountain West in 2026, their men's soccer team will remain as an affiliate.

Former full members

The WAC has 34 former full members: ;Notes:

Former affiliate members

;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1962 till:2032 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1962 till:1978 text:

(1962–1978) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:2011 text:

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2024 text:

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:end text:

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

bar:2 color:Full from:1962 till:1978 text:

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

(1962–1978) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:2011 text:

bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2024 text:

bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:end text:

bar:3 color:Full from:1962 till:1999 text: BYU (1962–1999) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:2011 text:

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Janu ...

bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:2011 till:2023 text: WCC bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:

bar:4 color:Full from:1962 till:1999 text:

(1962–1999) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:2011 text:

bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2011 till:2024 text:

bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text:

bar:5 color:Full from:1962 till:1999 text:

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

(1962–1999) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:end text:

bar:6 color:Full from:1962 till:1999 text:

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

(1962–1999) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:end text:

bar:7 color:Full from:1968 till:1999 text: Colorado State (1968–1999) bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:2026 text:

bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:2026 till:end text:

bar:8 color:Full from:1968 till:2005 text:

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...

(1968–2005) bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2026 text: CUSA bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:2026 till:end text:

bar:9 color:Full from:1978 till:1999 text:

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

(1978–1999) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:2026 text:

bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:2026 till:end text:

bar:10 color:Full from:1979 till:2012 text:

Hawaiʻi Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

(1979–2012) bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2026 text:

bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2026 till:end text:

bar:11 color:Full from:1980 till:1999 text:

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

(1980–1999) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:end text:

bar:12 shift:(-50) color:AssocOS from:1990 till:1993 text:(Assoc 1990–1993) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:2001 text:

bar:12 color:Full from:2001 till:2011 text:

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

(2001–2011) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2026 text:

bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2026 till:end text:

bar:13 shift:(-50) color:AssocOS from:1990 till:1993 text:(Assoc 1990–1993) bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:2005 text:

Ind Ind or IND may refer to: General * Independent (politician), a politician not affiliated to any political party * Independent station, used within television program listings and the television industry for a station that is not affiliated with ...

(1996–2003) / Great West bar:13 color:AssocOS from:2005 till:2013 text:(Assoc 2005–2013) bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2022 text: Big Sky bar:13 color:Full from:2022 till:2023 text:

(2022–present) bar:13 color:FullXF from:2023 till:end bar:14 color:Full from:1992 till:2012 text:

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

(1992–2012) bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2026 text:

bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:2026 till:end text:

bar:18 color:AssocOS from:1995 till:1998 text:(Assoc 1995–1998) bar:18 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2026 text:

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

(2013–2026) bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2026 till:end text:

bar:19 color:Full from:1996 till:1999 text:

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

(1996–1999) bar:19 shift:(60) color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:end text:

bar:20 color:Full from:1996 till:2001 text:

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

(1996–2001) bar:20 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:2005 text: CUSA bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:2005 till:2012 text:

bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:end text:

bar:21 color:Full from:1996 till:2005 text:

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

(1996–2005) bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2023 text: CUSA bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text:

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

bar:22 color:Full from:1996 till:2005 text: SMU (1996–2005) bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2013 text: CUSA bar:22 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2024 text:

bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: ACC bar:23 color:Full from:1996 till:2005 text:

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

(1996–2005) bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2014 text: CUSA bar:23 color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:end text:

bar:24 color:Full from:1996 till:2013 text:

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

(1996–2013) bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:

bar:27 color:Full from:2000 till:2012 text:

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

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bar:28 color:Full from:2001 till:end text:

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

(2001–2013) bar:28 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text: CUSA bar:31 color:Full from:2005 till:end text: Utah State (2005–2013) bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2026 text:

bar:31 color:OtherC2 from:2026 till:end text:

bar:32 color:Full from:2005 till:2013 text:

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

(2005–2014) bar:32 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2014 text: bar:32 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text: Big Sky bar:33 color:Full from:2005 till:2013 text:

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

(2005–2023) bar:33 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2023 bar:33 color:AssocOS from:2023 till:end text: CUSA bar:36 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2012 bar:36 shift:(-80) color:FullxF from:2012 till:2013 text:

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

(2012–2013) bar:36 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

bar:37 shift:(-120) color:Full from:2012 till:end text: UTSA (2012–2013) bar:37 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2023 text: CUSA bar:37 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text:

bar:38 shift:(-120) color:Full from:2012 till:end text: Texas State (2012–2013) bar:38 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered stretching across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the Parallel 36°30′ north. Several climates can be found in the re ...

bar:39 shift:(-120) color:FullxF from:2012 till:2013 text:

(2012–2013) bar:39 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2022 text:

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

(2012–2025) bar:40 color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text: WCC bar:42 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2013 bar:42 shift:(-60) color:FullxF from:2013 till:2020 text:

Cal State Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Ba ...

(2013–2020) bar:42 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:end text:

bar:44 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2022 text: Chicago State (2013–2022) bar:44 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:2024 text: Ind. bar:44 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:end text:

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

bar:45 shift:(-115) color:FullxF from:2013 till:2015 text: UT–Pan American (2013–2015) bar:45 color:FullxF from:2015 till:2024 text:

UTRGV The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Edinburg, Texas, and multiple other campuses throughout the Rio Grande Valley (Texas), Rio Grande Valley region of Tex ...

(2015–2024) bar:45 color:AssocOS from:2024 till:end text: Southland bar:46 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2020 text: UMKC (2013–2020) bar:46 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:end text:

bar:47 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2026 text:

Utah Valley Utah Valley is a valley in North Central Utah located in Utah County, Utah, Utah County, and is considered part of the Wasatch Front. It contains the cities of Provo, Utah, Provo, Orem, Utah, Orem, and their suburbs, including Alpine, Utah, A ...

(2013–2026) bar:47 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text:

bar:50 shift:) color:FullxF from:2018 till:2026 text: Cal Baptist (2018–2026) bar:50 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text:

bar:51 shift:(-100,-5) color:FullXF from:2020 till:2021 text: Dixie State (2020–present) bar:51 color:Full from:2021 till:2022 bar:51 color:Full from:2022 till:2023 text: Utah Tech bar:51 color:FullXF from:2023 till:end bar:52 shift:(-100,-5) color:FullXF from:2020 till:2021 text:

Tarleton Tarleton is a village and civil parish in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is situated approximately north-east of Liverpool and south-west of Preston. The parish includes the village of Mere Brow and the hamlets of ...

(2020–present) bar:52 color:Full from:2021 till:2023 bar:52 color:FullXF from:2023 till:end bar:53 shift:(-80) color:Full from:2021 till:2023 text: Abilene Christian (2021–present) bar:53 color:FullXF from:2023 till:end bar:54 shift:(-80) color:Full from:2021 till:2022 text: Lamar (2021–2022) bar:54 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: Southland bar:55 shift:(-120) color:Full from:2021 till:2023 text:

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

(2021–2023) bar:55 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: CUSA bar:56 shift:(-120) color:Full from:2021 till:2023 text: Stephen F. Austin (2021–2024) bar:56 color:FullXF from:2023 till:2024 bar:56 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: Southland ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1962 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"WAC Membership History" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <# *Prior to the 1996–97 season, both Air Force and Hawaii had most to all of their women's sports competing in other conferences before joining the WAC full-time with their men's sports counterparts. At that time, Air Force was in the Colorado Athletic Conference, and Hawaii was in the

. *Since the 2021–22 season, the WAC has played football at the FCS level.

Map of the members

History

Formation

The WAC formed out of a series of talks between

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

athletic director Eddie Kimball and other university administrators from 1958 to 1961 to form a new athletic conference that would better fit the needs and situations of certain universities which were at the time members of the

Border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

Skyline A skyline is the wikt:outline, outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural area, rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the ...

, and

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

Conferences. Potential member universities who were represented at the meetings included BYU,

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, Oregon State,

, and

. While the three Washington and Oregon schools elected to stay in a revamped Pac-8 Conference that replaced the scandal-plagued PCC, the remaining six schools formed the WAC. The Border and Skyline conferences, having each lost three of their stronger members, dissolved at the end of the 1961–62 season. The charter members of the WAC were

, BYU,

, and

and Utah State applied for charter membership and were turned down; they would eventually become WAC members 43 years later.

Success and first expansion

The conference proved to be an almost perfect fit for the six schools from both a competitive and financial standpoint. Arizona and Arizona State, in particular, experienced success in baseball with

garnering the 1963

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

(CWS) runner-up trophy and ASU winning the CWS in 1965, 1967, and 1969. Colorado State and Texas–El Paso (UTEP), at that time just renamed from Texas Western College, were accepted in September 1967 (joined in July 1968) to bring membership up With massive growth in the state of Arizona, the balance of WAC play in the 1970s became increasingly skewed in favor of the Arizona schools, who won or tied for all but two WAC football titles from 1969 onward. In the summer of 1978, the two schools left the WAC for the Pac-8, which became the Pac-10, and were replaced in the WAC by

and, one year later,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. The WAC further expanded by adding

in the summer of 1980. A college football national championship won by Brigham Young in 1984 added to the WAC's reputation. This nine-team line-up of the WAC defined the conference for nearly 15 years.

Second wave of expansion

expanded its athletic program in the early 1990s and was granted membership in 1992 as the nationwide trend against major college programs independent of conferences accelerated. The WAC merged with the High Country Athletic Conference, a parallel organization to the WAC for women's athletics, in 1990 to unify both men's and women's athletics under one administrative structure. In 1996, the WAC expanded again, adding six schools to its ranks for a total of sixteen.

, and SMU joined the league from the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

, which had disbanded.

members

and

were also admitted, as well as

from the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

. Also, two WAC members for men's sports at the time, Air Force and Hawaii, brought their women's sports into the WAC. With the expansion, the WAC was divided into two divisions, the Mountain and the Pacific. To help in organizing schedules and travel for the far-flung league, the members were divided into four quadrants of four teams each, as follows: Quadrant one was always part of the Pacific Division, and quadrant four was always part of the Mountain Division. Quadrant two was part of the Pacific Division for 1996 and 1997 before switching to the Mountain Division in 1998, while the reverse was true for quadrant three. The scheduled fourth year of the alignment was abandoned after eight schools left to form the Mountain West Conference. The division champions in football met from 1996 to 1998 in the WAC Championship Game, held at

Sam Boyd Stadium Sam Boyd Stadium (formerly the Las Vegas Silver Bowl) is a closed American football, football stadium in Whitney, Nevada, an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas Valley. It honors Sam Boyd (1910–1993), a major figure in the hotel and casin ...

(also known as the Silver Bowl) in the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

Turbulence at the turn of the millennium

Increasingly, most of the older, pre-1996 members—particularly Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming—felt chagrin at this new arrangement. Additional concerns centered around finances, as the expanded league stretched approximately from Hawaii to Oklahoma and covered nine states and four time zones. With such a far-flung league, travel costs became a concern. The presidents of Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming met in 1998 at

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , often referred to by locals as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At , Effective Ju ...

and agreed to split off to form a new league. The breakaway group invited old-line WAC schools New Mexico and San Diego State, and newcomer UNLV to join them in the new

, which began competition in 1999. A ''USA Today'' article summed up the reasons behind the split. "With Hawaii and the Texas schools separated by about 3,900 miles and four time zones, travel costs were a tremendous burden for WAC teams. The costs, coupled with lagging revenue and a proposed realignment that would have separated rivals such as Colorado State and Air Force, created unrest among the eight defecting schools." BYU and Utah would later leave the MWC for the

and

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

, respectively; BYU joined the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

in 2023 while Utah followed in 2024.

WAC in the 2000s

In 2000, the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

(Nevada) of the Big West joined as part of its plan to upgrade its athletic program. TCU left for

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

in 2001 (it would later leave C-USA to become the ninth member of the

in 2005, and joined the

in 2012). The Big West announced that it would drop football after the 2000 season, but four of its football-playing members (

, and Utah State) were unwilling to drop football. Boise State was invited to join the WAC and promptly departed the Big West, while New Mexico State and Idaho joined the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

(NMSU as a full member, Idaho as a "football only" member) and Utah State operated as an independent D-IA program. At the same time,

(LA Tech) ended its independent Div. I-A status and also accepted an invitation to join the WAC with Boise State. In 2005,

sought new members to replenish its ranks after losing members to the

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

, which had lost members to the ACC. Four WAC schools, former SWC schools

and SMU, as well as

and

, joined Conference USA. In response, the WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State—all former Big West schools which left the conference in 2000 along with Boise State when that conference dropped football. The three new schools were all land grant universities, bringing the conference total to five (Nevada and Hawaii).

Membership changes and the elimination of football

The decade of the 2010s began with a series of conference realignment moves that would have trickle-down effects throughout Division I football, and profoundly change the membership of the WAC. Boise State decided to move to the Mountain West Conference (MWC) for the 2011–12 season, and to replace departing BYU, the MWC also recruited WAC members Fresno State and Nevada for 2012–13. WAC commissioner Karl Benson courted several schools to replace those leaving, including the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

, which declined, as well as the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA or UT San Antonio) is a Public university, public research university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Established in 1969,Texas State University-San Marcos Texas State University (TXST) is a public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to be one of the largest univer ...

, which all accepted effective 2012–13. But the resulting eastward shift of the conference's geographic center led Hawaii to reduce travel expenses by becoming a football-only member of the MWC and joining the California-based

for all other sports. Further invitations were then issued by the WAC to

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

and the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...

. These changes meant that the conference would have 10 members for 2012–13, seven of which sponsored football, and Benson announced that the WAC planned to add two additional football-playing members to begin competition in 2013. A further boost came when Boise State decided to join the

in football, and return to the WAC in most other sports, as of the 2013–14 academic year. So by the end of 2011, the WAC seemed to have weathered the latest round of conference changes, and once again reinvented itself for the future. But from this seemingly strong position, early 2012 brought forth a series of moves that shook the conference to its very core, beginning with Utah State and

accepting offers to join the MWC. Four similar announcements followed with UTSA and

jumping to

, plus Texas State and

heading to the

, all as of 2013–14. Boise State also canceled plans to rejoin the WAC, instead opting to place its non-football sports in the

, before eventually deciding to simply remain in the MWC. These changes left the WAC's viability as a Division I football conference in grave doubt. The two remaining football-playing members, New Mexico State and Idaho, began making plans to compete in future seasons as

FBS Independents National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions whose football programs are not part of an NCAA-affiliated conference. This means that FBS independents are not required to schedule ...

; they ultimately spent only the 2013 season as independents, rejoining their one-time football home of the Sun Belt as football-only members in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In order to rebuild, as well as forestall further defections, the conference was forced to add two schools—

Utah Valley University Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah, United States. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July ...

and

CSU Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Ba ...

—which were invited in October 2012 to join the WAC in 2013–14, but this did not prevent two more members from leaving. Denver decided to take most of its athletic teams to The

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

as of the 2013–14 season, shortly after Idaho opted to return all of its non-football sports to the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

in 2014–15. The conference responded over the next two months by adding

Grand Canyon University Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administrativel ...

Chicago State University Chicago State University (CSU) is a Historically black colleges and universities, predominantly black (PBI) public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It includes an honors program for undergraduates and offers bachelor's and master ...

, and the University of Texas-Pan American. Then, in February 2013, the WAC announced the

University of Missouri–Kansas City The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC or Kansas City) is a Public university, public research university in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and has a UMKC School of Medicine, medic ...

would join in the summer of 2013 as well. These changes would put the conference's membership at eight members by 2014 with only one, New Mexico State, having been in the WAC just three years earlier. Due to losing the majority of its football-playing members, the WAC would stop sponsoring the sport after the 2012–13 season, thereby becoming a non-football conference. In 2013, the

University of Texas System The University of Texas System (UT System) is a public university system in the U.S. state of Texas. It includes nine universities and five independent health institutions. The UT System is headquartered in Downtown Austin. It is the large ...

announced that Texas–Pan American would merge with the

University of Texas at Brownsville The University of Texas at Brownsville (abbreviated as UTB and formerly known as the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College TB/TSC was an educational institution located in Brownsville, Texas. The university was on the l ...

; the new institution, the

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public research university with its main campus in Edinburg, Texas, and multiple other campuses throughout the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas. It is the southernmost member of the Uni ...

(UTRGV), began operation for the 2015–16 school year. UTRGV inherited UTPA's athletic program and WAC membership. In January 2017,

California Baptist University California Baptist University (Cal Baptist or CBU) is a private Baptist Christian university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1950 as California Baptist College, it is affiliated with the California Southern Baptist Convention, an organiz ...

announced it would transition from

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

and join the WAC in 2018. In November 2017,

announced it would accept an invitation to the Big West and join its new conference in 2020. In January 2019,

Dixie State University Utah Tech University (UT), formerly named Dixie State University (DSU), is a polytechnic four-year public university in St. George, Utah, in southwest Utah (also known by the longtime nickname of " Utah's Dixie" region). UT offers doctoral degre ...

, now known as Utah Tech University, announced it would move its athletics to Division I and join the WAC in 2020. In June 2019, the

announced it would leave the WAC to join the Summit League in 2020; this announcement came shortly before the rebranding of its athletic program as the Kansas City Roos. In September 2019,

Tarleton State University Tarleton State University is a Public university, public research university in Stephenville, Texas, United States. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 15,000 students in the fall of 2022. It is Carnegie C ...

of Division II announced that it would move to Division I and join the WAC in 2020.

2021–2025 membership changes and reinstatement of football

On January 14, 2021, the Western Athletic Conference announced its intention to reinstate football as a conference-sponsored sport at the FCS level, as well as the addition of five new members to the conference in all sports, including football, at a press conference held at the

NRG Center The NRG Center (former name Reliant Center) is a convention center in Houston, Texas, and the eighth largest convention center in the United States. It is part of the NRG Park complex that was constructed around the NRG Astrodome and NRG Stad ...

in Houston, Texas. The new members announced included four

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

members from Texas in

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the ...

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (Sam Houston, SHSU or Sam) is a public research university in Huntsville, Texas, United States. Founded in 1879, it is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools wes ...

, and

Stephen F. Austin State University Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU or SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas, in the United States. Named after Stephen F. Austin, one of the founders of Texas, SFA was founded as a teachers college in 1923 and built on part ...

, which would soon be dubbed the "Texas Four", plus

Southern Utah University Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah, United States. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now has over 1,800 graduates each year with baccalaureate and other graduate degrees from its ...

from the

. The conference also announced that it would most likely add another member that fielded a football team at a later date. While the WAC originally announced that all new members would join on July 1, 2022, commissioner Jeff Hurd later said that the arrival of the Texas Four "was expedited" to July 1, 2021. The conference officially confirmed this on January 21, 2021, adding that the relaunch of football was moved forward to fall 2021. The conference also confirmed media reports that the Southland had expelled the Texas Four after they announced their departure. Southern Utah entered as scheduled in 2022. During the aforementioned press conference, Hurd also announced that the WAC would split into two divisions for all sports except football and men's and women's basketball. One division will consist of the six Texas schools (the Texas Four plus existing members Tarleton and UTRGV). Also on January 14, 2021, news broke that UTRGV, a non-football playing member of the conference, had committed to create an FCS football program by 2024. In addition, UTRGV will also launch women's swimming and diving for the same year. The launch of football was later put off to 2025; it has since been confirmed that UTRGV football will become part of the new ASUN–WAC Football Conference (see below). The WAC's planned reestablishment of a football conference at the FCS level has also been accompanied by speculation that the conference intends to eventually move its football league back up to FBS in the future, possibly by 2030. Later that same month, the WAC moved the start of their FCS sponsorship of football to Fall 2021, with media reports indicating that the

University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas, United States. Founded in 1907, the university is one of the oldest in the state. As the state's only normal school at the time, UCA has hist ...

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options. History Founding ...

, and

Jacksonville State University Jacksonville State University (JSU or Jax State) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, mas ...

would be added as football affiliates for 2021. The three schools were set to join the

ASUN Conference The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. ...

in July 2021; that league planned to add FCS football, but not until at least 2022. The entry of the three incoming ASUN members into the new football league was officially confirmed at a February 23, 2021, ASUN press conference. These schools joined the Texas Four in a round-robin schedule officially branded interchangeably as the "ASUN–WAC Challenge" and "WAC–ASUN Challenge"; the two conferences proposed an amendment to NCAA bylaws that would allow their partnership (and presumably any others of its kind) to receive an immediate FCS playoff berth. Utah Tech (formerly Dixie State) and Tarleton are included in alliance members' schedules, but are not eligible for the FCS playoffs until completing their Division I transitions in 2024; at least for 2021, games involving those two schools did not count in alliance standings, although both were included in the separate WAC league table. On the same day as the WAC's initial announcement,

announced it would leave the WAC in June 2022. Chicago State was originally added in 2013 along with the

, originally with an intention for both institutions to serve as anchors for a midwestern-centered division for the conference. No other universities in the region were added to the WAC, and UMKC (now known for athletic purposes as

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

) departed the conference in 2020 for its former home of the

. This left Chicago State, which does not sponsor football, as the only WAC member east of Texas. Chicago State's departure rendered

as the only WAC member institution not geographically located in the southwestern United States. On November 5, 2021, it was reported that

and

would be leaving the WAC for

in 2023. The WAC responded by adding Incarnate Word from the

and

from the

; however, UIW later reversed course and decided to stay with the SLC only days before the 2022-23 athletic season officially began. Lamar also announced that it too would return to its former home of the Southland Conference in 2023 roughly three months prior to UIW's announcement, on April 8, 2022; however, three months later, it was announced that the SLC and Lamar would be accelerating the rejoining process so that Lamar could return for the 2022 athletic season instead. Jacksonville State and Sam Houston both started FBS transitions in the 2022 season, rendering both ineligible for the FCS playoffs and also dropping both the ASUN and WAC to 5 playoff-eligible football members, one short of the six required for an automatic playoff berth. This led the WAC and ASUN to renew their football partnership for the 2022 season. Both conferences would hold their own 2022 football seasons; on June 10, 2022, the WAC announced that the two leagues would determine the alliance's automatic qualifier by a process that was not announced at that time. ESPN reported on December 9, 2022, that the WAC and ASUN had agreed to form a new football-only conference that planned to start play in 2024. The initial membership would consist of Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton, and Utah Tech from the WAC, plus

Austin Peay Austin Peay (; June 1, 1876 – October 2, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Tennessee from 1923 to 1927. He was the state's first governor since the Civil War to win three consecutive terms and the first to die ...

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state ...

Eastern Kentucky Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

, and

North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

from the ASUN. UTRGV would become the 10th member upon its planned addition of football in 2025. The new football conference also reportedly plans to move "from what is currently known as FCS football to what is currently known as FBS football at the earliest practicable date." On December 20, the two conferences jointly announced that they would fully merge their football leagues effective in 2023 under the tentative name of "ASUN–WAC Football Conference". The initial membership will be the aforementioned nine programs, with UTRGV becoming the tenth in 2025. The new football league will play a six-game schedule in 2023 before starting full round-robin conference play in 2024. Neither conference's announcement mentioned any plans to move to FBS. On April 17, 2023, the football league announced its permanent name of

. In March 2024, however, UTRGV announced they also would be departing for the Southland for the 2024-25 academic year. Two months later, in May 2024, both Grand Canyon and Seattle announced they had accepted invitations to join the

, beginning in the 2025-26 academic year. However, in November 2024, Grand Canyon declined the invitation to join the West Coast Conference after receiving an invite to join the Mountain West Conference. GCU will join the Mountain West no later than July 1, 2026. In February 2025, rumors began circulating about California Baptist and Utah Valley departing the conference for the

. If the schools were to leave for the Big West, it would have pushed the WAC to just 5 members, pushing the conference into uncertainty. However, the schools would have voted on moving on from the WAC on Friday, February 28, however, no word was officially given about the move by either schools on that date. Instead, on March 5, California Baptist would then admit to departing to the Big West, with a 1.2 million dollar exit fee. Utah Valley followed suit, announcing their move to the Big West on June 4, 2025.

Commissioners

Sports

The Western Athletic Conference currently sponsors championship competition in 9 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned sports. Nine other schools are currently associate members in four sports.

Men's sponsored sports by school

;Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Western Athletic Conference which are played by WAC schools

Women's sponsored sports by school

;Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Western Athletic Conference which are played by WAC schools

Football

The WAC sponsored

from its founding in 1962 through the 2012 season. However, the defection of all but two football-playing schools to other conferences caused the conference to drop sponsorship after fifty-one years.

Reinstatement

On January 14, 2021, the WAC announced its intention to reinstate football as a conference-sponsored sport at the FCS level, as well as the addition of five new members to the conference in all sports, including football. The new members announced include the "Texas Four" of

, and

, then members of the

, along with

, currently of the

. Originally, all schools were planned to join in July 2022, but the entry of the Texas Four was moved to July 2021 after the Southland expelled its departing members. The WAC also announced that it would most likely add another football-playing institution at a later date. On the same day, news broke that the

, a non-football playing WAC member, had committed to create an FCS football program by 2024. The program will most likely compete as part of the newly-reinstated WAC football conference. The WAC ultimately partnered with the

to reestablish its football league, with the Texas Four being joined by three incoming ASUN members for at least the fall 2021 season in what it calls the ASUN–WAC (or WAC–ASUN) Challenge. The Challenge was abbreviated as "AQ7", as the top finisher of the seven teams would be an automatic qualifier for the FCS postseason. The two conferences renewed their alliance for the 2022 season, although both leagues will conduct separate conference seasons and then choose the alliance's automatic qualifier by an as-yet-undetermined process. Both the WAC and ASUN initially planned to have 6 playoff-eligible teams in 2022, but each lost such a member with the start of FBS transitions by Jacksonville State and Sam Houston. The WAC has been speculated to move back up to FBS in the future following the reestablishment of the football conference at the FCS level. As noted previously, further conference realignment led to a full merger of the ASUN and WAC football leagues, with the new

having started play in 2023.

Men's basketball

Members departing in 2025. WAC tournament Rivalries Men's basketball rivalries involving WAC teams include: Awards

Women's basketball

Members departing in 2025. WAC tournament Rivalries Women's basketball rivalries involving WAC teams include:

Baseball

The WAC has claimed seven NCAA baseball national championships. The most recent WAC national champion is the

2008 Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team The 2008 Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team represented California State University, Fresno in the NCAA Division I baseball season of 2008. They played their home games at Beiden Field in Fresno, California. The team was coached by Mike Ba ...

. WAC tournament

Championships

Current champions

Source: * For the sports in which the WAC recognizes both regular-season and tournament champions: ** (RS) indicates regular-season champion. ** (T) indicates tournament champion. * For other sports, only a tournament champion is recognized. * Champions from a previous school year are indicated with the calendar year of their title.

National championships

The following teams have won

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

national championships while being a member of the WAC: *

–

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

(

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

) *

– baseball (

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

) * BYU – men's track & field (shared the national title in 1970) * BYU – men's golf (1981) * BYU – women's cross country (1997) *

–

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

(1998) *

– baseball (

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

) *

– baseball (

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

) *

– NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country (1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981) *

– NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Track and Field (1974,1975,1976,1978,1980,1981,1982) *

– NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field (1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982) *

– men's golf (1998) The WAC has also produced one AP national champion in football: * BYU (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

) The following teams won

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

(and forerunner DGWS) women's national championships while their universities were members of the WAC: *

(15) – swimming (8), badminton (4), softball (2), golf (1) *

(3) – cross country (Div. II), gymnastics, skiing *

(1) – indoor track and field

Spending and revenue

Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights/licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, food and novelties. Total expenses includes coaching/staff, scholarships, buildings/ground, maintenance, utilities and rental fees and all other costs including recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues and insurance costs.

Facilities

Deaprting memebers.

Awards

Commissioner's Cup The WAC awards its Commissioner's Cup to the school that performs the best in each of the conference's 19 men's and women's championships. Joe Kearney Award Named in honor of former WAC commissioner Dr. Joseph Kearney, the awards are given annually to the top male and female WAC athlete. The various WAC member institutions Athletics Directors select the male award winner, while the WAC member institutions Senior Women's Administrators choose the female honoree. Stan Bates Award The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates and honors the WAC's top male and female scholar-athletes, recognizing the recipients' athletic and academic accomplishments. In addition, the awards carry a $3,000 postgraduate scholarship.

Media

WAC Digital Network

In 2014–15, the WAC initiated a new digital network to give fans high quality streaming internet access to many of its regular season games and postseason championships including volleyball, soccer, swimming and diving, basketball, softball and baseball.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Articles which contain graphical timelines