Chris Murray rearranges the WAC

Circumstances sometimes makes things happen that wouldn't ordinarily take place or even be considered and high transportation costs just may force some sort of Western Athletic Conference (WAC) realignment.

Chris Murray offers some ideas on what the WAC could do.

Could the WAC use a 10th member?
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
9/19/2008

In Saturday's newspaper, we looked at the effect the rise in travel cost has had on universities in the Western Athletic Conference. The Nevada athletic department spent an estimated $2.1 million on travel last season. A story in the Sporting News found athletic programs across the country will face a 16 percent hike in travel costs this year. For Nevada, that translates to an extra $336,000 increase in costs in the spread-out WAC.

One of the possible solutions in making travel more efficient in the WAC would be to add a 10th member to the conference, which would create travel partners in basketball and decrease the number of costly one-game road trips. Nevada athletic director Cary Groth said the majority of the conference's ADs would support a 10th team, but that it would have to be the right team to make sense. Another big question is whether that school needs to have a football program. Here are five possible options for a 10th WAC school...

Go here for the remainder.

Here's another Murray-written article that contains this intriguing quote:

When the WAC athletic directors hold their fall meetings at the end of the month, one of the big issues on the agenda will be travel.

"My message as they come to that meeting is, 'Anything's on the table,'" WAC commissioner Karl Benson said during July's football media preview. "It may cause us to do some drastic measure that might have been unheard of or even unthought of two or three years ago."