SFA is Out

Stephen F. Austin State University announced a couple of weeks ago that they intended to depart the Western Athletic Conference and rejoin the Southland Conference, effective in one month. That ended weeks of speculation regarding their intentions to move.

SFA officials trumped up the move, of course. Citing benefits that were generally esoteric in nature, save for the student athletes (an increasingly archaic term) decreasing their time out of the classroom with reduced travel time, a cost savings and ability for fans to see the team on the road. 

For the WAC, it does several things and I'll give my take on both entities.

I have it from a reliable source that when SFA traveled to Northwestern State in men's basketball this past season, the SFA traveling contingent was miniscule. It was the closest road game for the Lumberjacks. While non-conference games carry little weight in one-bid conference (to the NCAA tournament), it does question the idea of fans chomping at the bit to travel to SFA games. 

There will be travel savings, but as I've mentioned prior, once Seattle leaves, there will be in the WAC as well. Lamar spent a year in the WAC before they pioneered the change back to the SLC. The Cardinals saved $350,000 year-over-year. If SFA sees the same thing, they'd save approximately 1.5 percent of their athletic budget. 

Considering SFA is leaving this year and paying for a $2 million exit fee, I highly doubt travel costs are a big factor in their decision. It will take six years to even out the difference.

When SFA left the SLC the first time, there were concerns the rest of the conference would drag the performance of the 'jacks down, who pride themselves in their all-sports performance. As McNeese State will attest in men's basketball, who earned a 12 seed in this year' NCAA's, in spite of the conference, not because of it. Or as Lamar will attest in baseball, who did not receive an at-large despite being second in the nation in wins. The SLC's competitiveness has not changed. The SLC invited Texas A&M-Commerce from Division II out of survival and still have Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Southeastern Louisiana, New Orleans and Nicholls State Universities dragging down the conference in most sports. SFA will face the same, if not worsened, conditions of elevating their programs. 

I've mentioned many times on this blog about how UTA's peers from prior decades have passed them by. SFA has now said Sharp Gymnasium and Husky Stadium at HCU, McDermott Convocation Center and Benson Stadium at UIW, Stopher Gym and Guidry Stadium at NSU, Prather Coliseum at NWST, Texas A&M-Commerce Fieldhouse at TAM-C and UTRGV Fieldhouse at UTRGV are their peer facilities. The worst gym in the WAC is Wisdom at Tarleton, which won't last long as the school is getting a replacement this decade. After that, it's Utah Tech's Burns Arena, which is a top half SLC venue. On the plus side, SFA goes from the lower end of the top half in the WAC to top three in most venues in their new home.

However, they will, or should, increase their win totals. That alone could build fan support. But I'd suggest a win over Grand Canyon would mean more than McNeese State to the fan base. After that, I'd suggest UT Arlington or Abilene Christian would be better rivals than any Texas school in the Southland, save maybe Lamar. Northwestern State offers proximity, but not meaningful games. Without Lamar or McNeese, what does the SLC offer SFA in terms of rivalry? Close teams at best, which isn't a bad start.

Good luck to SFA in their future endeavors. I enjoyed the renewed rivalry. It could have been something as the years progressed. Judging by their fan reactions, I'm not the only one disappointed with what appeared to be inevitable news.

As for UTA and the WAC, there are concerns and opportunities.

The NCAA requires a minimum of seven schools for an automatic bid into the postseason basketball tournaments and six schools for most all other sports. In short, the WAC can not afford any more losses. It will cease to exist if one school leaves and there's no school to take their place.

However, if these seven schools can band together, this will be one heck of a conference to be a part of. Now obviously that is a big if. However, a rough computation of the most recent NET rankings have the seven WAC schools quite a bit ahead of the SLC. Now that isn't an apples-to-apples comparison, as games against the departing members and SFA replacing WAC games with SLC ones, but it does show a trend that the WAC should be higher from the start.

The Southland Conference will have 12 schools. The WAC seven. Yet most conference distributions will be equal, or in some cases favor the WAC. If one NCAA tourney unit is $350,000 per year, WAC schools will receive $50,000 to the SLC schools earning $29,100 or so. While the $21,000 isn't world beating, it is an advantage. It's also one year's worth. A conference earns a unit per appearance in the men's basketball tournament. Grand Canyon appeared twice, giving the WAC two units. Those funds will be distributed over a six-year period. UTA is receiving a share of New Mexico State's two units from a couple of years ago and now will be getting GCU's. With the talent in this conference, there's a good shot it will happen again, further increasing the divide between the WAC and the SLC. 

If the seven schools can band together, they will be helping themselves tremendously financially. 

Second, and perhaps the more important one to me as a fan. the increased chance of postseason play. It's the law of averages. Seven teams competing for a postseason berth have a better chance than 12 entities do, all else equal.

Third, increased exposure opportunities come with fewer schools. The WAC has a similar ESPN airing of games as the Sun Belt Conference did. With seven schools versus 10, 12, 14 or whatever, UTA has a one out of three and a half chance of getting on TV. Coaches, administrators and fans love the increased spotlights TV games bring.

Fourth, with Seattle U's departure, much of the conference is compact, reducing the need for travel. CBU, SUU and Utah Tech are within 300 miles. Utah Valley is 300 miles from the other two Utah schools. UTA, Tarleton and ACU are within 200. There are some travel partner pairing issues, as it isn't obvious like UT/SUU, but travel should be easier.

Now all this depends on seven jittery schools working together. There is a clear prisoners dilemma. If you wait or pass up an opportunity to change conferences, you may be left holding the bag. It will be interesting to see how the next year shakes out regarding this. It could be really good, or really bad.