There was sort of good news for the WAC yesterday: Despite Hawaii's announcement that it intends to leave, it does have a meeting set up with WAC commissioner Karl Benson later this week.
WAC looks to avoid losing Hawaii | The Salt Lake Tribune
Benson, on Monday afternoon, confirmed that he has extended an offer to Hawaii, urging the school to remain in the WAC as a football-only member, while parking its non-revenue sports in the Big West Conference. Benson is scheduled to meet with Hawaii athletic director Jim Donovan in Las Vegas later this week. He says he will reiterate the offer to Donovan since he hasn’t heard from Hawaii since making the original offer.Several reports last week indicate Hawaii is in an advanced stage of negotiations with the Mountain West, although a formal invitation has yet to be extended, according to Benson.
However, that glimmer of hope was offset today by news that North Texas has decided not to consider a move for the WAC.
WAC snubbed by North Texas… again | CollegeFootballTalk
Following up on Monday night reports that had the Mean Green once again considering an offer from the league, the Denton Chronicle reports that UNFT has once again decided against making the jump from the Sun Belt. Benson had phoned the school earlier in the day to gauge their level of interest in the conference.
Again, this is not good p.r. for the conference and although it might present an option for a program like Seattle University that remains independent, Evan Pfaff of SBN Denver is now wondering if the University of Denver made a mistake by committing to the struggling conference.
Should the University Of Denver Pioneers Reconsider Moving To The WAC? - Mile High Buzz - SB Nation Denver
So what's the WAC's solution? Looking at inviting another non-football playing, lower-tiered basketball school in the University of Seattle Redhawks. This simply is not an answer.If you are a conference trying to make it in this money-driven world, having North Texas and Montana reject you should tell you something. Having your only marquee programs leave should tell you something. Having to resort to inviting schools for the sake of having qualifying numbers should tell you something.
But again, at this point the question is not only whether Seattle is the answer for the WAC but whether the WAC is the answer for Seattle. Although a conference is necessary, when all around you people are leaving the conference, it might indeed be reason for pause before making your decision.