Western Athletic Conference football

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) sponsored football and crowned a champion every year from 1962 to 2012. Once considered one of the best conferences in college football, steady attrition from 1999 to 2012 forced the WAC to drop football after fifty-one years.[1]

WAC football champions
Conference Football Champions
Western Athletic Conference Logo
SportFootball
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Played1962–2012, 2021–future
Current championUtah State Aggies (Final Champion)
Most championshipsBYU Cougars (19)
Official websiteWACSports.com Football

On January 14, 2021, The Western Athletic Conference announced its intention to reinstate football as a conference-sponsored sport at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level, as well as the addition of five new members to the conference in all sports, including football.[2] The new members announced include: Abilene Christian University, Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, and Stephen F. Austin State University, all currently of the Southland Conference, along with Southern Utah University, currently of the Big Sky Conference. Original plans were for all new members to join in July 2022, but after the Southland Conference expelled its departing members, the WAC moved the arrival of those four schools and the relaunch of football to July 2021. Southern Utah's entry remains on the 2022 schedule.[3][4] The WAC football league will also include Dixie State University and Tarleton State University, both of which currently play as FCS independents after having moved from NCAA Division II to the WAC for non-football sports in July 2020. The conference also announced that it will most likely add another football-playing institution at a later date. The conference has been speculated to move back up to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision in the future following the reestablishment of the football conference at the FCS level.[5]

On the same day, news broke that The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), a non-football playing member of the conference, had committed to create a football program for NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level competition by 2024.[6] The program would most likely compete as part of the newly-reinstated WAC football conference.

Former members

The WAC has 26 former football-playing members.

TeamFirst YearLast YearWAC TitlesCurrent Primary Conference
Air Force Falcons 1980 1998 3 Mountain West
Arizona Wildcats 1962 1977 2 Pac-12
Arizona State Sun Devils 1962 1977 7 Pac-12
Boise State Broncos 2001 2010 8 Mountain West
BYU Cougars 1962 1998 19 Independent
Fresno State Bulldogs 1992 2011 3 Mountain West
Colorado State Rams 1967 1998 3 Mountain West
Hawaii Warriors 1979 2011 4 Mountain West
Idaho Vandals 2005 2012 0 Big Sky
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 2001 2012 2 C-USA
UNLV Rebels 1996 1998 0 Mountain West
Nevada Wolf Pack 2000 2011 2 Mountain West
New Mexico Lobos 1962 1998 2 Mountain West
New Mexico State Aggies 2005 2012 0 Independent
Rice Owls 1996 2004 0 C-USA
San Diego State Aztecs 1978 1998 1 Mountain West
San Jose State Spartans 1996 2012 0 Mountain West
SMU Mustangs 1996 2004 0 The American
TCU Horned Frogs 1996 2000 2 Big 12
UTEP Miners 1967 2004 1 C-USA
UTSA Roadrunners 2012 2012 0 C-USA
Texas State Bobcats 2012 2012 0 Sun Belt
Tulsa Golden Hurricane 1996 2004 0 The American
Utah Utes 1962 1998 2 Pac-12
Utah State Aggies 2005 2012 1 Mountain West
Wyoming Cowboys 1962 1998 7 Mountain West

Future members

The WAC will have 9 football members when it starts play in the 2021 fall season. Before the reinstatement of football was officially announced, media reports indicated that the WAC might add two more schools to join the conference for football.[7] On the same day that WAC confirmed the return of football, full conference member UTRGV announced that it would start an FCS football program no later than 2024. By the end of January 2021, three more schools were brought into WAC football for the 2021 fall season only. All are incoming members of the ASUN Conference, which plans to start an FCS football league in 2022.[8]

TeamLocationNicknameCurrent Primary ConferenceStarting Year
Abilene Christian Abilene, TX Wildcats Southland 2021
Central Arkansas Conway, AR Bears Southland
(ASUN in July 2021)		 2021
Dixie State St. George, UT Trailblazers WAC
(FCS independent)		 2021
Eastern Kentucky Richmond, KY Colonels Ohio Valley
(ASUN in July 2021)		 2021
Jacksonville State Jacksonville, AL Gamecocks Ohio Valley
(ASUN in July 2021)		 2021
Lamar Beaumont, TX Cardinals Southland 2021
Sam Houston State Huntsville, TX Bearkats Southland 2021
Stephen F. Austin Nacogdoches, TX Lumberjacks Southland 2021
Tarleton State Stephenville, TX Texans WAC
(FCS independent)		 2021
Southern Utah Cedar City, UT Thunderbirds Big Sky 2022
UTRGV Edinburg, TX Vaqueros WAC
(forming a new program)		 2024

Conference championships

By year
A 2007 WAC game, Boise State at Hawaii
SeasonChampionConference record
1962New Mexico2–1–1
1963Arizona State3–0
1964Arizona3–1
New Mexico3–1
Utah3–1
1965BYU4–1
1966Wyoming5–0
1967Wyoming5–0
1968Wyoming6–1
1969Arizona State6–1
1970Arizona State7–0
1971Arizona State7–0
1972Arizona State5–1
1973Arizona6–1
Arizona State6–1
1974BYU6–0–1
1975Arizona State7–0
1976BYU6–1
Wyoming6–1
1977Arizona State6–1
BYU6–1
1978BYU5–1
1979BYU7–0
1980BYU6–1
1981BYU7–1
1982BYU7–1
1983BYU7–0
1984BYU8–0
1985Air Force7–1
BYU7–1
1986San Diego State7–1
1987Wyoming8–0
1988Wyoming8–0
1989BYU7–1
1990BYU7–1
1991BYU7–0–1
1992BYU6–2
Fresno State6–2
Hawaii6–2
1993BYU6–2
Fresno State6–2
Wyoming6–2
1994Colorado State7–1
1995Air Force6–2
BYU6–2
Colorado State6–2
Utah6–2
1996BYU8–0
1997Colorado State7–1
1998Air Force7–1
1999Hawaii5–2
Fresno State5–2
TCU5–2
2000TCU7–1
UTEP7–1
2001Louisiana Tech7–1
2002Boise State8–0
2003Boise State8–0
2004Boise State8–0
2005Boise State7–1
Nevada7–1
2006Boise State8–0
2007Hawaii8–0
2008Boise State8–0
2009Boise State8–0
2010Boise State7–1
Nevada7–1
Hawaii7–1
2011Louisiana Tech6–1
2012Utah State7–0

By team
Members of the 2008 WAC champion Boise State team, before a game against Nevada
TeamChampionships
TotalOutrightShared
BYU19136
Boise State862
Arizona State752
Wyoming752
Hawaii413
Colorado State321
Air Force312
Fresno State303
Louisiana Tech220
New Mexico220
Arizona202
Nevada202
TCU202
Utah202
San Diego State110
UTEP101
Utah State110

Championship game

The Western Athletic Conference staged a conference title football game during the three years (1996–98) the league consisted of sixteen members. During this time, the league was split into two divisions, Pacific and Mountain, with eight teams in each division. The top finisher in each division played for the championship, which was held at Sam Boyd Stadium in the Las Vegas Valley. When conference membership was cut in half in 1999 with the formation of the Mountain West Conference, both the championship game and two-division format were discontinued. All participants in the three title games were among the defections to Mountain West.

Below are the results from all WAC Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game. ABC Sports televised all three games.

Date Mountain Division Pacific Division Stadium Location Attendance Ref.
December 7, 1996 #6 BYU28 (OT) #20 Wyoming25 Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, Nevada 41,238 [9]
December 6, 1997 #25 New Mexico13 #20 Colorado State41 12,706 [10]
December 5, 1998 #17 Air Force20 BYU13 32,745 [11]

Results by team
Rank Team Appearances Record PCT. PF PA
1BYU21–1.5004145
2Air Force11–01.0002013
2Colorado State11–01.0004113
4New Mexico10–1.0001341
4Wyoming10–1.0002528

Bowl games

The first bowl game appearance by a WAC team was at the 1964 Liberty Bowl, where Utah defeated West Virginia of the Southern Conference, 32–6.[12]

The WAC had conference tie-ins with various bowl games during its history, including:

Bowl Championship Series

The WAC champion received an automatic berth in one of the five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games if they were the highest ranked non-automatic qualifying conference champion and either of the following:

  • Ranked in the top 12 of the BCS Rankings.
  • Ranked in the top 16 of the BCS Rankings and its ranking was higher than that of an automatic qualifying conference champion.

By qualifying under the first criterion above, Boise State landed a berth in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, and Hawaii received a bid to play in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. In 2009, the Mountain West champion TCU Horned Frogs received the automatic BCS bid by finishing higher than Boise State in the final BCS rankings. However, Boise State received a BCS at-large bid and defeated TCU in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl. In three BCS bowl games, the WAC recorded two wins and one loss. In addition to those three teams that played in BCS bowls, four other WAC teams qualified for a BCS berth but were not selected to play in a BCS bowl game: TCU in 2000 and Boise State in 2004, 2008, and 2010.

Bowl WAC Opponent
TeamScore TeamScoreConference
2007 Fiesta Bowl #9 Boise State43 #7 Oklahoma42Big 12
2008 Sugar Bowl #10 Hawaii10 #4 Georgia41SEC
2010 Fiesta Bowl #6 Boise State17 #3 TCU10Mountain West

Rivalries

Notable football rivalries involving WAC teams are listed below. Records are not limited to years that the WAC was active.

TeamsRivalryYearsGamesSeries leader (W–L–T)Current win streakRef.
IdahoBoise StateGovernor's Trophy1971–201040Boise State (22–17–1)Boise State (12)[13]
New Mexico StateNew MexicoRio Grande Rivalry1894–2018109New Mexico (71–33–5)New Mexico (1)[14]
New Mexico StateUTEPThe Battle of I-101914–201896UTEP (57–37–2)New Mexico State (2)[15]
San Jose StateFresno StateValley Rivalry1921–201882Fresno State (42–37–3)Fresno State (2)[16]
Utah StateBYUOld Wagon Wheel1922–201888BYU (48–37–3)Utah State (2)[17]
Utah StateUtahBattle of the Brothers1892–2015113Utah (79–30–4)Utah (2)[18]

Divisional alignment

Starting in 1996, the 16 conference members were divided info four pods, each with four teams. Two pods comprised the Pacific Division, and the other two pods were the Mountain Division. Pod one would always compete in Pacific, while pod four would always compete in Mountain. The other two pods were scheduled to swap divisions every two years, with the new alignment to take effect in even-numbered years. The pods and divisional alignment were discontinued after 1998.

⇙ Hawaii
Fresno State
San Diego State
San Jose State
UNLV
Air Force
Colorado State
Wyoming
BYU
New Mexico
Utah
UTEP
Tulsa
TCU
SMU
Rice
WAC member locations during the four-pod system (1996–1998)
PodTeamsDivision
199619971998
1Fresno State
Hawaii
San Diego State
San Jose State		PacificPacificPacific
2Air Force
Colorado State
UNLV
Wyoming		PacificPacificMountain
3BYU
New Mexico
Utah
UTEP		MountainMountainPacific
4Rice
SMU
TCU
Tulsa		MountainMountainMountain

References
  1. "Western Athletic Conference considers becoming a non-football league". July 3, 2012.
  2. "WAC Announces Expansion, Plans to Reinstate Football" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  3. Blum, Sam (January 14, 2021). "As WAC announces addition of 5 schools, Frisco-based Southland Conference left in no man's land". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  4. "WAC Announces Expedited Entrance for Four Texas Institutions" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  5. Deaver, Colin. "Reports: WAC football to return in 2022, rise to FBS later in decade". KTSM.com. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  6. Jeyarajah, Shehan. "UTRGV commits to add FCS football by 2024". Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  7. Vejar, Alex (January 6, 2021). "Report: Two Utah schools in plans for return of WAC football in 2022". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  8. Jeyarajah, Shehan (January 28, 2021). "Report: Three schools to join WAC football for 2021 season only". Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  9. "CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Wyoming 1996 WAC Championship Game". cougarstats.com.
  10. "Western Athletic Conf. Championship". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. December 7, 1997. p. C9. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  11. "CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Air Force 1998 WAC Championship Game". cougarstats.com.
  12. "1964 Western Athletic Conference Year Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  13. "Winsipedia - Idaho Vandals vs. Boise State Broncos football series history". Winsipedia.
  14. "Winsipedia - New Mexico State Aggies vs. New Mexico Lobos football series history". Winsipedia.
  15. "Winsipedia - New Mexico State Aggies vs. UTEP Miners football series history". Winsipedia.
  16. "Winsipedia - San Jose State Spartans vs. Fresno State Bulldogs football series history". Winsipedia.
  17. "Winsipedia - Utah State Aggies vs. BYU Cougars football series history". Winsipedia.
  18. "Winsipedia - Utah State Aggies vs. Utah Utes football series history". Winsipedia.
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