Aggies joining WAC at a great time, commissioner says

By Tyler Riggs

March 4, 2004 | Some day, Western Athletics Conference Commissioner Karl Benson envisions the Utah State Aggies in the NCAA Basketball Final Four, with the fans chanting "WAC, WAC, WAC," showing conference pride.

Benson spoke to a small gathering of Aggie boosters Friday in the Champ Room of the Spectrum. He said the Aggies arrived in the WAC at an exciting time.

"For those of you that have waited 40-plus years for the Aggies to join the WAC, I can say that I hope you'll be rewarded for the wait," he said. "I think that the WAC will be rewarded for getting our act together."

Benson said the conference was fortunate that a school like Utah State was still available when it needed to expand. Even though the Aggies' entrance date of July 1, 2005, is still more than a year away, the entrance of the school to the conference will be at the perfect time.

"I wish that it was next year [that Utah State joined the WAC]," Benson said. "It's going to be a little awkward transitioning. Unfortunately the last eight years that I've been the commissioner of the WAC, I've had to go through that transition on a regular basis."

In 1996 the WAC expanded to 16 teams. Eight teams later left the to form the Mountain West Conference. Stability has been something the WAC hasn't had the luxury of experiencing, Benson said.

Benson said Utah State has a good reputation among other Western schools and has a rich tradition of athletic success. He said while other teams have been jumping from Division 1-AA to 1-A, Utah State has always been a member of the highest NCAA division.

With the Aggies starting to compete against WAC teams in 2005, Benson said Utah State teams would start to see a higher level of competition.

"Competition in the WAC will be a move upward," he said. "Utah State cannot afford to stand still."

Benson said Utah State has done a good job to prepare itself for membership in the WAC, but work cannot stop. In the coming years, Benson said the Aggies, along with other WAC teams, would have a legitimate shot of getting into a Bowl Championship Series game for football.

"Utah State will have a legitimate opportunity to take advantage of the work that has been done to open the doors of the BCS," he said.

"There's so many great things happening on this campus."

Overall, with Tulsa, Southern Methodist University and Rice leaving the WAC and Utah State and New Mexico State coming in, the WAC got the better end of the deal, Benson said.

"We truly believe that the WAC as a conference is going to be much stronger, much more stable," he said. He said he didn't see any reason why members of the WAC would want to leave for the Mountain West Conference.

"As good of a rivalry as [Utah State against BYU and Utah] has been, I think this will become a WAC versus Mountain West game," he said.

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