The Rise & Fall of the Western Athletic Conference

The Western Athletic Conference was home to some of College Football’s greatest small school stories in the modern era. We saw BYU in 1984 win the National Championship with a 13-0 finish, Hawai’i make it all the way to the Sugar Bowl in 2007 following an undefeated regular season, and the rise of Boise State whose dominance spanned for years. From upsetting Oklahoma to the Kellen Moore led Broncos, these teams were among the best of the small schools in the entire country. And who could forget College Football’s best stadium in Idaho’s Kibbie Dome. You likely picked a school from the WAC in your NCAA Dynasties because all of these schools had potential and were just fun programs. For a while, this Conference was one that housed good College athletic programs, and was arguably the best outside of the Power 5. However, a series of moves changed the tide of the Conference all together, and by the 2014 season, it had ceased to play Football altogether. While they plan to bring the sport back amongst new members, this was a Conference that accomplished a lot with a little, and soon vanished. So, what happened to the Western Athletic Conference? In today’s video, we will be looking into their rise to prominence, the fall that led to them stopping football period, and the outlook for the future. This, is the Fall of the Western Athletic Conference

[@JKJ002]

With a recent wave of realignment within College Sports, I wanted to bring a video talking about how one Conference in specific was negatively impacted by realignment, the Western Athletic Conference. How do you feel about realignment within College Sports in 2023? Also, *Promo Code: "Jason0662" for $20 off your first purchase with Seatgeek*

[@Comradeslush]

As a Ohio state big 10 I’m excited to see some new schools in the rotation and some better competition!

[@Comradeslush]

Your video got recommended to me because I kept looking up stuff about the realignment!

[@soar123]

I think college football is eating itself

[@PrincessSoci]

i really think conferences should be geographic based at the end of the day these are still schools these kids arent getting paid for their effort, most of them are just doing it for fun and because they're somewhat decent at it too many realignments is all just about money and it shouldnt be like that imo

[@caidendaniel24]

Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 ❤

[@B3FMandCProductions]

It's amazing to think that the WAC once had teams like Arizona, Arizona State, and BYU and was essentially a power conference is now reduced to falling to FCS and merging with an East Coast league to bring football back. Still, I remember watching teams like Boise State and Hawai'i tear it up when I was a kid and the Kibbie Dome will always remain legendary

[@austinunderwood]

I've heard at least one of those FCS teams is pretty good

[@Sam-ps8zz]

A good bit of the wac teams are power 5 and even outside of those there's teams like Boise and San Diego which have a shot at making it in the next wave or so of realignment

[@caidendaniel24]

Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9❤

[@troyturner173]

In a lot of ways, the classic WAC was college football's first "mid-major" conference. A good number of night games, and being underserved by the Byzantine NCAA TV rules kept the WAC largely a mystery. But once exposed, folks nationwide fell for the WAC's freewheeling style of football that ASU introduced, but BYU turned into an art form-the other conference schools had to open up to keep up

[@ZackFrisbee]

Didn't help that the Mountain West became a factory cranking out teams like TCU and Utah and elevating them.

[@zxmoore1]

David Carr at Fresno, Colin Kaepernick at Nevada, Colt Brennan at Hawaii, Kellen Moore at Boise St, Ladanian Tomlinson at TCU. It was a fun time in the WAC and once BYU slowed down, it opened the doors for a lot of different teams with good talent to take over and give the conference a boost. Their late games were always a part of my weekend football viewing. Great time!!

[@rws91942]

also Marshall Faulk at SDSU

[@SDV208]

Devonte Adams played at Fresno St. too. Demarcus Lawerence from BSU, Fred Warner LB for the 49ers played for BYU.

[@caidendaniel24]

Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 ❤

[@tlhamp0]

@@caidendaniel24 dude this isn't Sunday and we are talking football not religion

[@dcbfan1231]

UTEP Miners fan here. Hated to see the WAC fall when ceased to play football. This conference was great back in the day.

[@dandanziger4596]

Same. Do you see any other conferences taking UTEP because Conference USA is going downhill

[@raoularmagnac2037]

I'm a UTEP Miner fan also - from El Paso, in fact. I was always hoping that we would seek out membership in the Mountain West Confetence. And then we'd be reunited with some of our old rivals in both BASKETBALL as well as football. That would be WONDERFUL! 🏀🏈🏀

[@WVUer21]

Steelers fan here. Sorry about Sean Kugler's head coaching tenure.

[@markschlingloff5155]

Fresno State Fan here Bulldogs were always taking a bite out of the Miners. Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere!!!! Go Dogs!

[@bradjames891]

I was a missionary in El Paso. I love all of the El Pasoans :)

[@Ramen_Hibachi]

Big East next please

[@EU_Red_Fox]

That’ll be the rise and rise. Getting rid of football has been good for the conference. It has risen to national championships and consistent top 25 for half the sides annually. An asshat AD of iirc Pittsburgh decided to blow it all up. There was a blood bath of college basketball with some football, but it’s been just as strong in baseball. Very happy as a BE alum.

[@KB8Killa]

Big east was tough

[@kennethmayner]

Good one. Death of the Big East and the creation of the American.

[@TRUTHaintHATING]

Exactly

[@1234Peacekeeper]

ESPN did a 30 on 30 on that

[@kek3908]

1975 Fiesta Bowl, ASU 17, Nebraska 14. That undefeated ASU team deserved a share of the national championship.

[@areguapiri]

Who was the quarterback for that 1975 ASU team?

[@cheehee808_]

As a born and raised Hawaii fan and alum, it’s crazy how we used to be able to fill 50,000 at aloha stadium, every game there was lit 🔥. I was a senior in HS that year we beat Boise and went to the sugar bowl, was such an amazing run. Even before colt Brennan, we had Timmy Chang in the late 90s too. Sad that my alma matter is pretty much a D2 school now, local kids nowadays don’t even know anything about the glory days lol

[@HIdefend808]

We shall rise again #GoBows

[@Deckotaocho]

Brah, when Hawaii beat Boise state in Aloha stadium. *chef kiss*

[@RockHudrock]

The Rainbows 🌈 were a phenomenal team in those days. OSU 🦫 (my team) would often play Hawaii non-conference and I think in an Aloha Bowl here and there. A lot of Hawaiian players were recruited to OSU too. Ezra Tualo for example. 🫶🏼

[@edgaryzen4925]

Get out!! Hawaii is a D1 school still, are you sure?!! 🤯

[@collin9324]

As a BSU fan … we had an off day that game

[@alexbarcelo5094]

I grew up in SEC country but the WAC growing up did have some great games to watch.

[@charlesallison6932]

Thursday night WAC games were a must after I got home from reffing JV games.

[@ryansteve2893]

When ESPN would play the WAC on Wednesday & Thursday night Football was so fun as a kid.

[@jaggerdebusk14]

Arizona State dominated this conference when they were in it (the Frank Kush era). They are the reason the Fiesta Bowl was created, so they would get an automatic bowl bid as the WAC championship. They were also the only undefeated team in 1975 and finished 2nd in the college football rankings.

[@pinchevulpes]

Go devils

[@troyturner173]

The tie-in with the OG WAC only lasted from 74-77. The REASON the Fiesta was created was that ASU/WAC alums were ticked that there was very little room in the bowl pecking order (in 71, a top-ten ASU could only get a Peach Bowl bid, while in 68-Wyoming won the WAC, but didn't get a bowl bid)

[@jaggerdebusk14]

@troyturner173 ASU won the WAC in 69 and didn't get a bowl either. ASU played in the Peach Bowl in 1970, not 1971. The tie-in started in 1971 when the first Fiesta Bowl was played. ASU made 5 as a WAC member, BYU and Wyoming made the other two.

[@troyturner173]

@@jaggerdebusk14 The Fiesta began in 72 (Missouri-ASU) You're correct that ASU played 5 as a WAC member, but the tie-in wasn't official until 74 (a condition of CBS picking up the Fiesta's first national TV broadcast)

[@jaggerdebusk14]

@troyturner173 No. The first Fiesta Bowl was 1971. ASU vs Florida St. ASU won 45-38.

[@j.thompson9345]

I'd love to see the Rise of the Sun Belt Conference!

[@adriansmith5279]

That conference, in my opinion, has a chance to surpass the American as the best Group of Five Conference within the future.

[@ryguye7709]

Sec is way better

[@j.thompson9345]

@@ryguye7709 bro. We know about the SEC.

[@ryguye7709]

@@j.thompson9345 ya and it’s way better sun belt teams are ass

[@j.thompson9345]

@@ryguye7709 duh. We know the SEC is better. Did I say the Sun Belt was better? I don't think I did. Dude I'm a UGA fan. I know enough about the SEC. What I want to know more about is how the SBC went from nearly folding in the early 2010s, to arguably being the best G5 conference in 2023.

[@vancemic]

In 1985, Air Force finished 12-1, beat Texas in a bowl and finished in the Top 10 and beat Norte Dame 4 straight years in a row. The WAC had games on ESPN on late Saturday nights and they were known for the high scoring offensive games (the Wacky WAC).

[@thequixoticangler3364]

Yup the last true shootout league. Defense was optional. A ton of fun to watch. Always the wildest games on Saturday.

[@jamesfields2916]

Air Force was good. Went 10-2 in 83 and beat my Ole Miss Rebels in the Independence Bowl.

[@jamesfields2916]

Dee Dowis was an incredible option qb for Air Force. Unfortunately he was killed in an auto accident not far from my home in Buford,Ga.

[@MattLindon-wv8jy]

1975 Arizona State WAC Champs finished #2 in the country.....1996 BYU finished #5

[@jamesfields2916]

They finished #5.

[@danieljohnson5775]

The fall of the wac was sad. Its the conference i watched the most growing up. When they expanded and split into divisions i was excited for what could be. Not only did it have a great rivalry in BYU vs Utah but Colorado st new mexico and air force brought there A game evey week. It was a fun conference to watch

[@Eloso3135]

UTEP fan here. Used to love being in the Sun Bowl screaming and yelling when we played Fresno State, or Boise State. Miss those WAC days.

[@07Dsach]

Just a little correction, the OT victory for Boise was the Statue of Liberty play not the hook and ladder

[@justing6292]

​@Jason0662 the hook and ladder was the touchdown prior to go to OT. The winning two point conversion was the Statue of Liberty.

[@areguapiri]

The hook and ladder is a completely different play.

[@mve8625]

Hahaha! Yeah, the meathead in me was screaming, “It’s not the hook and ladder. FOR SHIT’S SAKE! It was the Statue of Liberty!!!” And then I said to myself, “Wow, I’m such a dick!” This dude puts up this, AWESOME 4 Star piece, and I’m yelling cause the trick play wasn’t phrased correctly. Anyway- THANKS SO MUCH for your hard work on this- really well done!!!! (And yeah, Btw, they had run the hook and ladder to tie the game to put it in to overtime.)

[@johnchedsey1306]

My dad had Colorado State football season tickets from the 60s to his passing in 1998. So I got to see a lot of games in Ft Collins through the 80s and 90s. My brother & I kept going to games for a few years afterwards. CSU was abysmal in the 80s and although I was maybe 11, I do remember that 1984 BYU team coming to town and just beating the snot out of CSU. In the 90s, CSU became a lot better so games were much more fun. But the WAC expansion felt like too much at the time and once they started discussing the dissolution of long time rivalries, it did seem like tradition was being squandered. CSU needs to play Wyoming and Air Force every year. Period. The MWC was a fun conference to watch from its inception and preserved the rivalries for awhile. I moved away from Colorado in early 2006 and kinda fell away from watching college football, so it's kinda crazy to hear how the WAC changed so much.

[@aBrewster29]

I loved going to those CSU-BYU games with Lubick growing up.

[@johnchedsey1306]

@@aBrewster29 At least when Lubick was coaching, they had a chance against BYU! Those games in the 80s were massacres. I may still be traumatized.

[@matthewtrauger3683]

Come on now. CSU would get crushed by an average high school team. And always would have. CSU and Wyoming are glorified community College teams.

[@johnchedsey1306]

@@matthewtrauger3683 There have certainly been years where that feels true.

[@michaeltyler163]

You forgot to mention that Air Force won the WAC and was #10 in the country in 1998 with a 12-1 record. I believe that was the last yea before the split with the Mountain West Teams.

[@porterwake3898]

Right?? Or Air Force in 1985 could have been national champions if they had just beaten BYU in conference.

[@ReisterJP]

Didn't UTEP beat BYU in 1985 UTEP's only win that year.

[@hamburgermatty]

As a Hawai’i fan, Mahalo for making the effort to properly pronounce my home state. I truly appreciate it along with the history lesson of the WAC 🤙🏻 I will always be grateful to the WAC for the many core UH memories I enjoyed growing up. Go Bows and Play Up!

[@spankynater4242]

The proper pronunciation is with a W, not a V.

[@user-ub8uc8gq7r]

Nigga you’re Chinese. Foh saying “aloha” Ching Chong boy. You went to Taiwanese university

[@TheBlackScatPack]

This video was recommended to me. It’s well put together and gives me an insight of the WAC.

[@kevinw2509]

Shows how times have changed. Travel was a concern for some of these schools moving conferences and now the Big Ten is about to be coast to coast.

[@troybaxter]

I truly hope the Big Ten also collapses for the very same reasons. It is bad for college sports in general and the STUDENT athletes to have such large conferences.

[@wiggz2254]

@@troybaxter Yeah Imagine having to play at 10;30 pm est as a east coast team lol that would suck

[@jonathanschaper1650]

BYU, Utah, Arizona, Arizona state, SDSU, Boise State, Colorado State, Air Force, Fresno State, New Mexico, UNLV, Wyoming. That would be Awesome!

[@redbeardsbirds3747]

My fondest memories of the WAC that has always stuck out in my mind was in the early 1990's and I remember watching an SEC game and seeing that I'd have to stay up late ( I lived in Alabama) if I wanted to catch a WAC conference showdown rivalry game between the Wyoming Cowboys and the Colorado State Rams....the ESPN commercials hyped it up and I wanted to see what it was all about. The game was truly bizarre to me as I was more familiar with SEC and the other conferences. The game was an incredible offensive shootout and I started to cheer for the Cowboys to win....they came so close sadly ! 😮 Late in the 4th quarter a huge wall of Rocky Mountain fog rolled down on Fort Collins and at one point visibility was terrible for the players.....it was a very strange but exciting late night game! I was sad that the Wyoming Cowboys lost that game by a small margin because they played their hearts out ( both teams did). After that I became a huge Wyoming Cowboys fan next to my home state Crimson Tide ! 🤠🐎🐘🏈 Thank you...very interesting...new subscriber! 👍

[@WhoBeSilly]

What's crazy, is that even though the Pac-12 is dwindled in member schools, they have so many ranked teams this year.

[@joshuawalton6447]

I am a diehard fan of a WAC school (student at Utah Valley University) and loved this video. I think you should do a video on the current state of the WAC. We are a very good basketball conference and my UVU Wolverines had a memorable season. We beat two pac-12 schools (Oregon and Colorado) and two big 12 schools (BYU and Cincinnati). I really enjoy the WAC and embrace being a fan of a “mid-major” conference. It’s a good time to be a college sports fan. Go Wolverines!

[@sammyrhoads265]

I’d love to see this with the OG super conference of the 1920s SoCon

[@kyleb5169]

No kidding! They birthed both the SEC and ACC!!

[@haroldrayfield3971]

Great mini-documentary. Well done.

[@bennadler6374]

Glad I've just found your channel! Hope to see more great content soon!

[@andrewwicke8031]

Great video! Really enjoyed it, anytime I play the old NCAA games I like to pick the WAC teams.

[@arcticphoenix2789]

I played as Hawaii in NCAA 10 and UTSA in NCAA 13. I won the Natty with both schools.

[@jamesfields2916]

I grew up an ASU fan in the 70s and even living in Southern California we would not know the ASU score from Saturday until Monday morning!

[@daviddejesus5376]

Excellent video. East coast person here. I worked late shifts at a retail store and/or fast food restaurants in the late 90's and I loved watching late night WAC games after work on ESPN.

[@RB725GamingHD]

La Tech fan here, great video. My fav season was 2012, we really had momentum to go to the orange bowl for awhile. But we lost 59-57 to Texas A&M and then eventually to Utah State

[@dantheman6441]

first video I've seen of yours, really loved it! would enjoy more conference breakdowns. subbed!

[@badebw]

Great work

[@sohamsorathia74]

Great video, I was always curious as to how so many 'david' type teams were in the WAC and then open up NCAA 13 to find the conference hanging by a thread

[@markschlingloff5155]

Hell yeah, The WAC was home for the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Greatest game I seen The Dogs win, The Freedom Bowl against USC. Cool upload. Thanks for the video. Go Dogs!

[@MrFresco702]

Those 2000s WAC offenses were so much fun to watch. Run n shoot Pistol Etc it was a cool identity for the WAC

[@justice85151]

You have to do a MAC conference one now. The MAC conference has had some of the greatest mid major teams of all time. Some of the greatest coaches of all time played have coached in the conference . Some in the likes of John Harbaugh, Nick Sabin, Sean McVey and many more.

[@michaelsamuel9841]

Randy moss Jason Taylor

[@ryanrzjr]

One problem would be the MAC is alive & well. They may not be thriving, but they could be like CUSA, who’s basically dead.

[@willl604]

MAC is doing fine tho, there's little danger of them leaving, and they're one of the healthiest conferences in G5. Plus ESPN brought back MACtion

[@Erik_C_]

Appreciate you putting this together! I wish you could’ve provided some more detail on the drama that ensued between the Mountain West and the WAC, especially in 2010. BYU at the time was looking to leave the mountain west for the WAC. Utah’s athletic director caught wind of the plan and alerted the Mountain West commissioner about BYU’s plan to join the WAC along with San Diego State, UNLV and Gonzaga. The Mountain West responded by adding Fresno and Nevada from the WAC which basically killed BYU’s hopes of rejoining a revitalized WAC.

[@That1PlaceBehindTheBush]

Interesting. This adds a lot of perspective as to why BYU doesn’t want Utah in the Big 12

[@ColeAdams]

Stellar video man this provided me so much nostalgia

[@JKJ002]

Thank you Cole! Glad to see you back uploading

[@TheMemeSheriff]

As a student of a WAC school, I always thought the conference was just a glorified hub for low level programs to try and shoe horn their way into March Madness or the NCAA World Series. To think that this was one a powerful program with dynasty schools is truly eye opening. Even after your great video, I'm still astonished how far it fell.

[@shanestanton8]

10:10, they ran a hook and lateral to convert a 4th and 18 and get the td to force overtime with 5-10 seconds left in regulation. To get the win in overtime, they ran a Statue of Liberty play

[@rngfootball759]

Lots of late Saturday nights in the wild wac from BYU to Marshall Faulk, Tomlinson, June Jones' Hawaii teams to Boise State and Pat Hill's anytime anywhere Fresno squads. It stinks that they suffer from conference realignment. Hopefully Conference USA video will be up. Another conference with a lot of volatility.

[@zombie191919]

Love finding smaller channels, great content man you gonna be big if you keep it up

[@adriansmith5279]

Shoutout to JKJ on this video. Your right about the WAC not being the first but probably not the last league that folded. Because a lot of us are looking at the PAC 12 all together!

[@kyleb5169]

Southwest Conference folded as well and had some pretty good teams but a lot of corruption and of course SMU and the death penalty in 1984. It had Texas, SMU, Baylor, Texas Tech, Arkansas, etc...

[@randalluthe4792]

Overall, a great video. I love the history and detail. The only thing that this video needed was at least an extra 3-4 minutes on the current situation and teams. This video, and the WAC, deserve to have the current story told a little more. This is especially true as it relates to the FBS/FCS relationship and current realignments as a whole.

[@dragonkingsports]

As a BYU fan, it’s insane that they went from unranked in the preseason to national champion. I’m also a TCU fan and I almost saw it happen again with them.

[@straddlecakes]

Right, BYU "won" the national championship against a depleted and injured 6-6 Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl. They didn't have to face off against Florida or Washington, both much better teams with only one loss each. One of those teams would have absolutely blasted them. They only beat 2 teams with 7 wins. What a sham "championship."

[@kennethreedy5258]

Amen to that. Absolute clownery.

[@kennethreedy5258]

65-7 is hardly "almost"

[@dragonkingsports]

@@kennethreedy5258 I’m not talking about the national championship I’m talking about the season as a whole

[@dragonkingsports]

@@straddlecakes Bitter grapes

[@lukeontheplains]

Great stuff!

[@ZakAttak38]

I was a UTEP fan during their final years in the WAC. I will never forget how dominant Boise State was every year when they played and utterly crush UTEP in the process.

[@jamesfields2916]

Wyoming went 10-0 and played in the 1968 Sugar Bowl against LSU. They finished in top 10. ASUs 1970 Peach Bowl ein was much bigger than the 71 Fiesta which was in it's first year. Arizona never won a full WAC football title. They only played in the 68 Sun Bowl.

[@James_A_Bailey87]

I remember there being a lot of talk about Montana joining back in 2009-2010 timeframe.

[@andrewe.7907]

The 10pm EST WAC game was always epic!

[@GruntledWookiee]

You’re like the Summoning Salt of sports. New subscriber here! Keep it up!

[@joerogan2676]

Great video, I loved watching it as a Fresno State fan. I always hated Boise State, and even hearing about their dominance back then, it still for some reason pisses me off even though I was 8 lmao

[@MattLindon-wv8jy]

The reality is BSU has needed to be in a P5 conference. They are arguably one of the most dominating programs in the history of the game. Even before they joined Division 1. Boise State has national titles in every single other level of the sport, and set career win records in at level of the sport. In 97 years they have had a grand total of 3 losing seasons..... ever....and are the only Division 1 team to not have a losing season in the 21st century. Im not even a BSU fan, but god dam that is unbeatable levels of success. Its crazy to think that for how amazing Petersen was at Boise State, by career record he ranks 4th all time..... Their best coach ever went 151-18-1.... I dont think thats even beatable, especially not in todays game.

[@1234Peacekeeper]

Good video, hope you keep up the content 1 every 1 to 2 months is ideal to keep your, growing subs. Quality counts

[@pursang6792]

Growing up I always loved the WAC. Today with conference changes (refuse to use realignment) it's gotten to a ridiculous state. With USC, UCLA, and now Oregon and Washington moving to the BIG 10 (14? 16?) it just means that the strength of conferences, regional rivalries, are being lost along the way. I'm lucky that the Big 12 while suffering from poached schools, have been able to replace them with strong programs. Maybe not Oklahoma or Texas, but pretty darn good schools. This is the first video I've seen from you and it was a quality product, keep up the good work.

[@thedorman3419]

I love your videos!!!

[@ChristineCAlb1]

U of New Mexico fan/alumna here. It was always a challenge when our basketball teams went up against BYU. Also I remember going to some football games against Hawaii, and was always amazed at the number of U of H fans that showed up.

[@johnshoemaker234]

This was as a very good video about the WAC history

[@jxckk.5]

you have the best cfb vids bro

[@ryangabbert3646]

Amazing video.

[@Christian-fn6yu]

Great stuff my good sir

[@ginomoreno5117]

I'm a Texas A&M Aggie so I'm SEC. However, I'm a fan of college football in general. I used to LOVE Saturdays watching Game Day and starting on the east coast, watching big games ALL day and I used to tell people, "I don't go to bed until Hawaii is finsihed playing! I miss the WAC and I was very proud of the product they put on the field. They brought FUN to football.

[@nlyoswag7151]

Yeah the wac and big east sounded like fun conferences

[@texasrangers4]

great video

[@ricardotrevino2775]

UTEP fan here. The WAC was known for high scoring games. If there were streaming services like ESPN+ back in the day this conference would have survived.

[@giancarlotorres3520]

Living In Boise since 2007. It is wild the fandom here. When we moved, they played the Fiesta Bowl on loop at wal mart for years and years. It’ll be interesting to see what they do now with all these realignments.

[@Nobody-kg8md]

Sadly Boise State is on the outside looking in- football is their only coveted asset by the P5, their academics are completely lacking, which is what conferences regard as a dealbreaker.

[@MattLindon-wv8jy]

@@Nobody-kg8md But yet they will turn around and act like the conferences are put together based on actual skill in the sport....

[@thequixoticangler3364]

Ahh the WAC. Also know as the LOC: the Left Overs Conference. Neat video man. Subbed.

[@spankynater4242]

I am still mourning the loss of the Southwest Conference.

[@stevestewart4187]

The good ole days. Man I fear for the future of CFB 😢

[@troybaxter]

You and me both. Too many people want to focus on the money and forget about the people. They seem to forget that these athletes are STUDENTS. And I cannot emphasize that enough. While yes, a lot of the top level athletes may be skirting by academically, most of the second string players and lower on the depth chart have to worry about their education because they likely have no shot at the NFL. College football isn't the NFL. It is SCHOOL sports and must be treated as such.

[@clayscloset2618]

You were suggested today so I thought I’d give it a watch and it’s a really good video. I especially love all the clips of Tomlinson since I always route for SMU first and then TCU and Baylor and the smaller schools like that around Texas. Since I’m a visual learner, if it’s not too difficult, maybe include some maps where it shows the location of the schools, not Missy every time there was a change by every few changes. I mean I know we’re rice is because I live in Dallas and I know we’re Hawaii is but just showing people can have more benefit 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@JKJ002]

Great suggestion, I’ll definitely do that moving forward!

[@orlandocolon877]

I have NCAA 06 I play with Colorado State in my dynasty

[@orlandocolon877]

Thanks

[@jackson711247]

How is that dynasty going?

[@dfoleyusa]

I was at Utah during peak WAC - it was a perfect scrappy underdog mega conference. Way ahead of it’s time but without the prestige, contract $’s and geography doomed to failure. Still the memories are fond.

[@ralphwilliams2396]

Thanks for always wondered what happened

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Nice, never knew about this

[@hdoghillyer8932]

I went to every single game Colin Kaepernick played during his senior season with Nevada. It was such a magical time and it showed that the WAC was a under appreciated conference. The Mountain West has nothing on the old WAC.

[@spankynater4242]

I'm so sorry to hear that. My condolences.

[@RyanPatton]

As a Louisiana Tech fan, I still can't wipe my memory of watching Kaepernick break a few tackles and fake going out-of-bounds to convert a 20+ yard TD on 4th-and-9 and take a commanding lead in the 4th quarter back in 2010 I think it was. That guy was really frustrating to watch (on the other team) but really, really impressive.

[@gregpayton6935]

Before he turned into a social justice warrior and turned on his white parents. Sad he turned into a sorry piece of 💩.

[@Zay4Life]

Would love to see them go FBS again. The MWC definitely needs some competition

[@CreightonRabs]

I'd be interested in seeing your take on the rise and fall of the Big East as a football conference. Because there seem to be so many similarities between the WAC and Big East.

[@mringram]

Informative

[@jordans4827]

I liked saying "WAC" when talking football. The new version of "UAC" doesnt have the same ring. BRING BACK WAC!!! Thank you for your video.

[@dannyfrog]

Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas is a member of the WAC. Tells you where the conference is now.

[@MrRiddler6]

I'm surprised there was barely a mention of Fresno State. any of the conferences wins over BCS schools came from them. sure, they never got as Boise did, but they were up there as the top 2-3 schools in the conference's history.

[@mongoslade277]

In 2001 Fresno State won at Wisconsin. Won at Colorado (the Big 12 champs) beat Oregon State who was in the top 5 the previous year. The Bulldogs were on their way to a major bowl until Boise State upset them in Fresno. That's when Boise State became famous

[@MrRiddler6]

@mongoslade277 see. My point exactly. They did an awful lot for the conference. But you wouldn't know that from this video. Hawaii got mentioned more and they only had one good season. Where they went unbeaten in the regular season before getting destroyed my Georgia in the Sugar Bowl

[@kaielkins6375]

oh to have been alive for the 80’s and 90’s byu. being an ‘02 kid has made me lose a lot of hope for the program. hoping the Big 12 era will be good for us

[@joshleyva2249]

I always liked the WAC and was sad to see it go. I liked all of the old SWC teams when they went there & seriously considered New Mexico and Colorado State for college so I always had a reason to keep up with it.

[@RebelReindeer]

The WAC was fun, but sometimes tormenting as a Fresno State fan. We would beat big schools like Wisconsin and #10 at-the-time Oregon State in 2001, then end up falling to Boise State every season. Weird thing is once we joined the Mountain West we started beating Boise and have won several conference championships since joining. Aside from football, the best moment for me was our baseball team winning the 2008 College World Series as a member of the WAC.

[@25dramamomma]

could you do a video on the rise, fall, and hopeful resurgence of Southern Miss football?

[@_kingdan]

That’s crazy I play at Tulsa and I never knew we played against these schools

[@skidawg22]

My alma mater is UMKC, which was one of the non-football schools that joined the WAC. Our only basketball postseason experience came as a WAC school. We eventually returned to the Summit League, which makes more sense geographically. Coincidentally, another brief recent member of the WAC was Lamar University - my parents' alma mater.

[@zjshredz2774]

i remember going to UH games in the early 2010’s shit was awesome

[@g94433]

With all the realignment going on. This would be amazing to get this back with all the original teams.

[@Hyperion856]

You wouldn't see that happen. The WAC has a ton of schools with no football in it already and I don't think the schools want to leave anytime soon.

[@baugh3162]

@10:28 The Hook and Lateral was to score the TD...The Statue of Liberty was the 2 pointer that won them the game

[@GrubWarp]

WAC football on Versus was legendary 😅

[@nathanmuller0042]

This will be its 3rd season back but first with an being fully united with ASUN. The last two seasons they had the WAC-ASUN challenge which was similar. It’s to give them an auto bid to the playoffs as each conference alone doesn’t have enough teams for that.

[@drhouse6165]

The Hook n Ladder was the play Boise used to score a late td. The 2 point conversion was a statue of liberty in OT

[@kennethmayner]

Do the craziness of Conference USA or the rise of The American.

[@DwayneIsK1NG]

It's kinda crazy that I didn't even noticed that it got this bad. I am 28 and for my whole life since starting to watch sports, the WAC was ALWAYS been to me a bunch of smaller schools with not really the name recognition and talent of the Big 5 schools, but had the heart, grit, and smarts to EASILY be some of the best schools in the nation and capable of beating those same Big 5 schools that took those top recruits. They've always been that in my mind so it's sad to see THIS decline

[@johnhebert3855]

I love the teams in the old WAC, perpetual underdogs in the Rocky Mountain region. You would usually see them late, as the last game on Saturday evenings. We lived in Utah from 1983 to 1985, at the pinnacle of WAC play. 1984 was the last great year in College Football. Never again will we see a team come out of nowhere to win a National Championship, only one of 4 or 5 top programs will from now on. No fun.

[@MattLindon-wv8jy]

Boise State nearly did it in 2010 despite the league making it impossible for them to make it. But a 36-0 record with multiple wins over the team in 2nd plus 4 Top 25 wins that season including another win over a different P5 conference champ was going to force the selection as much as the P5 was screaming to not let them in. If only they didnt choke and miss three FGs. If Brotzman didnt miss (heck if Brotzman didnt miss 3 FGs Boise State would have gone 53-0), its very likely that college football would be an incredibly different sport today, as I simply do not see Auburn beating that Boise State team even with Cam Newton. Auburn simply did not have the defense, and even if you say BSU's #2 ranked defense was overrated, their #2 ranked offense certainly wasnt....

[@Coal-RubL]

Instantly subscribed Keep it up

[@olivianatwick7603]

Your video on the rise and fall of the wac conference is by no means complete. Back in the 60s University of Wyoming was one of the dominant teams in the wac and had risen in 1968 to the number three ranking in college football. Wyoming then participated in the Sugar Bowl in 1969. That was back when Arizona and Arizona State byu-utah CSU and other former wac teams were still together.

[@EU_Red_Fox]

Realignment has made regional and traditional football worthless. Rivalries and trophies are dead all for the mighty dollar and thanks to fuckin Oklahoma. Big Ten used to have a cultural identity and now, much like the SEC, it’s just a place schools play like a conference in the NFL yet worse. In the NFL I have my regional rivals in the Bears, Vikings, and Lions. I’m in the minority as it seems most don’t care. It’s actually why I’ve liked the Sun Belt far more than most other CFB conferences as they embrace regionalism.

[@adriansmith5279]

I was cool with OU and Texas in the SEC as time fly because it is still okay from a regional standpoint. But when USC and UCLA decided to go to the Big Ten, WTF!

[@ryanrzjr]

It’s good for the sport. Regionalism was a limitation, and they got us to like it as some homey feeling. I’d rather see USC & UCLA play Michigan & OSU than watch OSU beat up on tiny big ten teams.

[@colbyrobinson807]

@@ryanrzjrbut that’s because they just simply wasn’t scheduling each other not because of how regional the conference was

[@idahocougarfan9511]

BYU has come a long way and is now going to be a Big 12 member

[@gregpayton6935]

Only problem it's full of pompous Mormons