Over Before it Started

 Earlier this week, Incarnate Word University (or rather the Southland Conference) announced the Cardinals would stay in the SLC, less than two weeks before they were supposed to join the Western Athletic Conference. 

While many folks are proclaiming this the doom and gloom of the WAC, I think this is great for the conference. The main thing this affects is the football numbers.

As it is, New Mexico State is a football independent at the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A), while the WAC resumed football sponsorship at the Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA). The Aggies are leaving at the end of the year to go to Conference USA with Sam Houston State. Tarleton State University and Utah Tech University are transitioning from Division II and not eligible for postseason play. As such, their numbers do not count towards the minimum needed for an automatic berth for the conference into the postseason. Lamar made the odd decision to go back to the Southland, which is a terrible conference for all things non-football. California Baptist, Grand Canyon, Seattle U, Utah Valley along with UTA do not sponsor the sport. That leaves Abilene Christian, Southern Utah and Stephen F. Austin as full, postseason eligible members. Once, the DII transition is complete and once UT-Rio Grande Valley starts their program, the WAC will be at the bare minimum. 

That was what Incarnate Word brought to the table. A warm body.

Now, granted they did okay in football, going 10-3 this past season (regular season champions and 1-1 in the FCS playoffs), 3-3 in the COVID-effected season prior, 5-7 in 2019 and 6-5 in 2018 (co-regular season champions and 0-1 in FCS playoffs).

But they are terrible in everything else. 

This past season, the Cardinals had the following RPI rankings (NET for the two basketballs): 273 (out of 340 schools) in women's volleyball, 267 (342) in women's soccer, 350 (358) in men's basketball, 312 (356) in women's basketball, 186 (301) RPI in baseball and 237 (301) in softball. No team in the top half of Division I. That's the definition of an RPI anchor.

Their facilities are sub-par too. Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium (6,000) is on par with a mid-level high school stadium. It is a better soccer stadium, though certainly empty due to the higher capacity. The McDermott Convocation Center (2,000) is a step above Texas Hall, which is sub-par to the rest of the WAC schools. Sullivan Field (1,000) is reminiscent of Clay Gould prior to most of its renovations. Cardinals Field (250) is similar to Allan Saxe Field prior to its renovations as well. The Maybry Tennis Center is on par with the UTA Tennis Center. When the tennis facility is the best your school has, then you know there are issues. They were adequate DII venues. They are sub-par since they moved up to Division I.

They've promised renovations for years now, with nary a concrete result to show for it. The likelihood they would magically find a way after moving to the WAC is miniscule.

The Southland went from the equivalent of the current Sun Belt in the late 1970's and early to mid-1980's to the dregs of DI, routinely the bottom quarter of all conferences. This happened as the conference took any school with a pulse, and preferably a football team. The bottom-feeders like Houston Baptist, New Orleans and Incarnate Word made Nicholls State look like conference contenders every year. That's what UTA escaped from. It's what SFA, Sam and ACU escaped from too.

The loss of Lamar leaving the WAC for a return to the SLC hits the Mavericks a little harder. The Montagne Center is still a great, if overly large, basketball arena. Provost Umphrey Stadium is on the upper half of FCS schools. Vincent-Beck is a patch-work baseball stadium that beats ours in many respects. I haven't personally toured the softball venue, but a cursory glance on Google Maps shows something much nicer that Incarnate Word's.

UTA also has a rivalry with Lamar stretching over 60 years. Twice conference rivals and a familiar face to fans of both sides. That doesn't exist with Incarnate Word.

Bottomline, UTA, without a football team, benefits from Incarnate Word's reneging on the WAC. I'd say it's addition by subtraction, but since they never joined, it's just good news. UTA with a football team benefits as well, should they resurrect one. They would be a better warm body than the Cardinals would.