DU to WAC

DaTruRochin wrote:

The Key Arena is still a very good college venue,

Not at the game I went to, that place felt like a great chasm of emptiness. And the student section made ours look like the Cameron Crazies....

Wow, really. All of us who are so disheartened by the UP student section should be bused to Key Arena some night for a “Seattle U therapy session” so we could come back to the Chiles Center feeling really, really good about the student’s support for OUR team.

It would be great if the “Chiles Children” grew into something more than disinterested youngsters making inane comments to the opposition, but that may be too much to ask, especially if there is a BIG dance downtown after the game. (Sorry, the more I wrote, the more raw the nerve became).

I guess no one noted this here... Denver went from the WAC to the Summit League last year.

As far as future potential WCC expansion is concerned (or replacement if BYU ever gets its coveted Big 12 invite), the options are extremely limited -- IF the conference wants to maintain its profile of private universities.

I believe I am correct that there are currently only 5 private, D-I hoops schools in the Pacific and Mountain time zones that are not already members of the WCC. 2 of those are in the Pac12, so that leaves only Denver, Seattle U, and now Grand Canyon.

The next closest batch of private schools is in the Central time zone: Tulsa, Oral Roberts, Creighton, and a few in Texas.

Is Denver a Choice? As I understand it, they were already turned down even when they volunteered to pay travel. Seattle can't get past Gonzaga not wanting TV competition in the Seattle area.

And in the next tier, the most logical choice Creighton has already made feelers to no effect. ( well, they are an auxiliary member)

Yeah, basically there are not any good options out there. If BYU were to ever leave, I'd like to see the WCC snatch up Seattle U and stick to 10 members. SU is not up to par with the rest of the conference now, but it would be a solid move for the future.

As long as BYU stays put, I hope the WCC sticks with its current 10 members. I think we've built a solid conference identity and niche that makes it highly unlikely any of the true West Coast schools would leave for any other conference. And that includes Gonzaga.