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The University of Texas-Arlington has been invited to join the Western Athletic Conference and is expected to join the league on Thursday, pending approval by the Texas Board of Regents, The Salt Lake Tribune has confirmed.
The move cements the WAC's snub of Utah Valley University, which made a pitch to join the league last month at the presidents' meetings in Park City. The WAC invited the University of Seattle at that time — which, like Arlington and UVU does not have a football team — and there was speculation that the WAC did not want to add any more nonfootball playing schools.
Reached on Saturday night by The Tribune, UVU athletic director Mike Jacobson reacted to the news with shock and disappointment.
"Seattle University got into the WAC because Idaho wanted ghem as a travel partner," Jacobson said. "It's apparent that UT-Arlington is getting in because the Texas schools want them as a travel partner. Utah State did not want us as a travel partner. They did not like us. Obviously, this cones as a surprise that the WAC would make a move now after the meetings."
Arlington will join the conference in time for the 2012-2013 season, pushing the conference to 10 teams overall. The league still needs one football-playing school to satisfy the NCAA minimum. With seven such schools slated for 2012, the WAC will have just one guaranteed bowl tie-in — which will go to the league champion. Commissioner Karl Benson has repeatedly stated that he seeks to add more football-playing schools in the coming year.
Reached Saturday afternoon, Benson had little to say about UT-Arlington's inclusion into a league that's been rocked by the recent defections of Boise State, Nevada, Hawaii and Fresno State.
However, news outlets in Texas are reporting the move is all but a foregone conclusion and indeed approval is listed on the regents' published agenda for their Thursday meeting.
"We've been in dialogue with UT-Arlington for the past two weeks," Benson said. "But until the Board of Regents concludes their meeting on the 14th, I won't have any further comment."
Benson, according to sources, pushed hard for a 10-team league during the Park City meetings, believing it was necessary for the conference's long-term viability.
Sources said there was never much support for UVU, but Arlington was attractive from the outset, mainly because of its large television market.
Like Seattle, the Mavericks also play in a glitzy basketball arena. However, Arlington has yet to prove its program on the court. Last year the Mavericks were 13-16 and were among schools with the lowest RPI in the country. The school has 30,000 students but its attendance averaged less than 1,000 per game.