Opportunity for Aggies?

LOGAN — With the recently announced exodus of Southern Methodist University, Tulsa and Rice from the Western Athletic Conference to Conference-USA in 2005, rumors are again circulating that Utah State could be one of as many as five teams to join the WAC.

Utah State athletic director Rance Pugmire said Monday that he hadn't been approached by any representative of the WAC.

"We have not been contacted by any other league other than the Sun Belt," he said.

The Aggies, however, find themselves in different circumstances than they were in 2000 when they made their latest push to join the WAC.

The school has since landed in the Sun Belt Conference, and with the potential instability of the WAC, it might be in Utah State's best interest to say put.

"We're in a position now where we don't have to jump on the first ship that comes by. A few years ago we didn't have that advantage," Pugmire said.

Pugmire doesn't rule out the possibility of joining a new league, however. The school has no long-term commitment to the Sun Belt, nor will it face financial penalties if it chooses to leave.

"Now we have the advantage of being a lot more selective and making sure we have the opportunity to be aligned in a long-term situation in a viable league," he said. ". . . I'm confident that our president (Dr. Kermit L. Hall) is very much involved not just in talks in the West but in the East and the South. He's very connected in his role in the BCS stuff now. He's very politically astute. He looks at the big picture. He doesn't look to solve the immediate, easy problem."

Working in Utah State's favor in being selected by the WAC is its location as well as the possibility of the WAC expanding to a dozen schools.

"I wouldn't rule out 12, and it could be said that a nine-team or a 10-team league would be quite possible," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said. "We need to replace at least one to get to the required eight. I would doubt eight is the right number. I would think there would be nine or more."

NCAA rules say a conference must have at least eight schools in order to participate.

Benson said he wants to make a decision in 30 to 60 days, and a majority of the conference's decisions could hinge on whom the Big East adds to its conference in November because of Miami's and Virginia Tech's departure for the Atlantic Coast Conference. It is rumored that the Big East will add Louisville and Cincinnati for football.