WAC/Atlantic Sun

Over the past decade the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and the Atlantic Sun Conference have proven themselves to be the lower-tier conferences of college sports. It seems like when a new team comes in, a more experienced team leaves. It happened again to both conferences this year. Earlier this year, North Alabama announced the move from the Gulf South Conference in Division II to the Atlantic Sun. Just a few weeks ago, South Carolina-Upstate said it will move from the Atlantic Sun to the Big South Conference. The WAC experienced the same thing this year. California Baptist will be joining next year, while Bakersfield State will be leaving in 2020. That got me to think who might replace the two departing schools. After all, a conference must have 6 postseason eligible teams in order to have an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, and a school must be a division I school for at least five years to be eligible. So these conference need to have a couple extra teams to be safe. Where might these schools come from. I think for both conferences the replacement teams will come from division II, because I do not think any division I teams will make the move to either of those two conferences. For each conference I will make one-sentence arguments for division I teams to join. WAC Division I Arguments 1) Sacramento State- They are already in the WAC for baseball. 2) Montana- The WAC once tried to get this team in, but Montana won't go without Montana State. 3) Montana State- If the WAC can get both teams, then they would be secure as a conference for a while. 4) Northern Arizona- It could be a potential rival for Grand Canyon. 5) Denver- No football program and the basketball team could better compete for a spot in the NCAA tournament. I think the actual replacement will come from division II. The first three teams I will argue as a business standpoint and two will be based on talent. 1) Simon Fraser- SFU is the only foreign university that is part of the NCAA, for now anyway. The WAC has an opportunity to get a market not even the major conferences have. Based out of Burnaby, BC, a suburb of Vancouver; not only could the WAC get the Vancouver market, but possibly the Canadian market if this school joined. 2) Alaska-Anchorage- Like Simon Fraser, the WAC could get a market that no one else has in Division I. Anchorage has a little over 200,000 people. Alaska-Anchorage hosts a basketball tournament called "The Great Alaska Shootout" where they play three games against division I teams; and they usually get a win in that tournament. 3) CETYS-Mexicali- This school is not in the NCAA, but it wants to be. It has applied to join the CCAA in division II. My argument is why not skip to division I and join the WAC? That conference could have the first Mexican university in the NCAA, and could have a rivalry with California Baptist. 4) Cal Poly-Pomona- This school is competitive in just about every sport and in just about every year. Their community supports the Broncos and they have won a division II national championship in basketball within the past ten years. 5) Northwest Missouri State- Since geography doesn't seem to matter in Division I, I think this would be the perfect team. It is a football power (since the WAC no longer has football, I would put the Bearcats in the Missouri Valley Football Conference). The basketball team is also the defending Division II national champions, and is currently undefeated this year. Another attractive thing about this pick is that it is only 100 miles away from WAC league member, Missouri-Kansas City. This is a league that should be desperate for a rivalry, and these two could have an in-state one. Now I will do the same thing for the Atlantic Sun. First my one-sentence division I arguments. 1) Bethune-Cookman: Hampton is leaving MEAC for the Big South, and I can see this school leaving the MEAC, too. 2) St. Peter's: Maybe as a travel partner for NJIT. 3) Liberty: Football team is leaving Big South, the other programs might as well, too. 4) Tennessee Tech: New market for the Atlantic Sun Conference. 5) Jackson State- Atlantic Sun may want to expand to the state of Mississippi. Division II Possibilities 1) Tampa- The Spartans are a baseball and basketball power. They even beat the Philadelphia Phillies in an exhibition game. Plus they are in the perfect area geographically. 2) Alabama-Huntsville- The Chargers are in Division I for hockey. I believe it will be just a matter of time before the other programs come up, too. 3) Bellarmine- The same argument for Alabama-Huntsville could be made for Bellarmine. The lacrosse team competes in division I. With the addition of Bellarmine, the Atlantic Sun can have a team in Kentucky again. Another plus is that Bellarmine University is located in Louisville, so it would have a big city in its league. 4) West Florida- The Argonauts just played for a division II national championship in football and the basketball team is currently undefeated. The likely member that does come up will either be from the Sunshine State Conference or the Gulf South Conference. 5) Puerto Rico-Mayaguez- Okay, this one is a stretch. I honestly do not see any Puerto Rico school going to division I, but if Puerto Rico becomes a state, will that encourage some of its schools to be more involved with the NCAA?