As Seattle University considers its Division I future, of greatest concern in this ongoing WAC forthcoming expansion/ongoing contraction saga might be whether the conference will be able to keep its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
During a media teleconference earlier today, WAC commissioner Karl Benson said that Seattle University is indeed still on the radar and that he's hopeful a change in NCAA policy might help the WAC maintain enough legitimacy to keep an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.
WAC football (and basketball): Benson talks about the future | College Hotline
Benson does not expect the WAC to lose its automatic bid to NCAA championhip events, including March Madness.That’s because of legislation making its way through the system that would eliminate the continuance-of-membership clause, which requires leagues to have at least six continuing members to receive automatic berths to NCAA championships.
Again, the WAC would have only five continuing members without Hawaii. But Benson is confident the legislation will be adopted in January.
This is good news if indeed Seattle U considers this opportunity to be their best bet.
But it's still far from a great situation.