DALLAS -- Imagine life without Brigham Young University. Or even Utah, for that matter. The Western Athletic Conference is, in its own quiet way, and it's what you call controlled panic. BYU, Utah seem
destined to leave WACIn the year 2000, the major television networks and the big-daddy conferences from across the country will be sitting in a war room -- not unlike the Big Board found in the Stanley Kubrick movie ''Dr. Strangelove" -- studying a computer-generated map of the United States.
This modern-day version of Risk will have television sets for game pieces in all the strategic locations. Market shares, conference realignments and bowl alliance dollars will dominate discussions as men in suits try to figure the best way to carve up a children's game.
Just what scenarios will come to fruition over the next couple of years was a hot topic this week among the Western Athletic Conference's commissioner, coaches and sports writers, who love to speculate just what pieces of the puzzle will go where and under which flag.
Texas and Colorado are likely to leave the Big 12 for the Pac-10. Texas A&M is a perfect fit for the Southeastern Conference, leaving three holes to fill in a league that not only secured the trademark for the Big 12, but the Big 16 as well.
Who would step in to fill those openings? Well, BYU is certainly waiting in the wings, especially after what happened last year when the Fiesta Bowl decided to snub the highly qualified Cougars in favor of a Texas-Penn State matchup.
Losing millions for not being selected in a major New Year's Day bowl was bad enough for BYU. But when the conference recently reached a deal with the powerful Bowl Alliance that resulted in a low payoff compared to other conferences, it was the killing blow.
If the Big 12 comes a calling for BYU, the Cougars will leave their happy WAC home without looking back. It's possible rival Utah would join them, especially considering what the Utes bring to the basketball table.
That possibility so frightened the WAC, it decided to hold its annual media day in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in an effort to give the league much-needed exposure to savvy football fans in its largest television market.
Granted, no invitations are in the mail. Some would even argue it's pure speculation. But the Pac-10 is waiting to see if the Big 10 will make it an even dozen by inviting either Notre Dame or Syracuse to the 11-member conference.
The Southeastern Conference and the Big 12 are jockeying for position as well in hopes of attracting the kind of dollars that would put the 112 Division I schools into two distinct groups -- rich and poor.
It also could leave the WAC without any marquee teams and little shot of ever having anyone among the top five in the country in football or basketball. A conference that so wanted to be a major player is destined to become just another Big West or Big Sky conference.
Just how the new WAC shapes up should two of its money makers be picked off is a major cause of concern for financially strapped schools such as Texas-El Paso and San Jose State, and hard-to-reach outposts such as Hawaii and Wyoming.
The possibility of the WAC circling the wagons to a more marketable number of 10 schools -- SMU, TCU, Rice, Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, Tulsa, Nevada-Las Vegas, Fresno State and San Diego State -- makes perfect dollars and sense.
Hawaii has its appeal, but league teams now forced to pay their own way to the islands might view the Rainbows as a luxury they can no longer afford, especially if the Cougar cash cow is no longer in the mix.
It's still several years away, but Hawaii officials would do well to study the alternatives should the big schools on the mainland move and cause a ripple effect that could be a tsunami by the time it reaches the island shores.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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