Report: Utah Valley University to join WAC in 2013

OREM — Utah Valley University will be joining the Western Athletic Conference for the 2013-14 seasons, according to a report by the Provo Daily Herald published Friday.

The report states that UVU will join Idaho, New Mexico State, Denver, Seattle, and fellow new conference member Cal State Bakersfield in time for the 2013 fall athletic calendar.

UVU athletic director Mike Jacobsen declined to comment, according to the Herald report.

While UVU does not have a football program, a move to the WAC is good news for the school's basketball teams, as the WAC has traditionally been granted a berth in the NCAA Tournament, given to the winner of the conference tournament.

The NCAA requires conferences who receive an automatic tournament berth to consist of seven or more teams, but the WAC has been granted a two-year exception to this rule, meaning that UVU could compete for a bid to the Big Dance immediately upon entry to the conference in 2013.

UVU's move to the WAC will come just as Utah State leaves the league in favor of the Mountain West Conference. Utah's other local universities, Weber State and Southern Utah, will remain in the Big Sky Conference.

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