WAC Basketball: 4 takeaways from major expansion news
By Joey Loose
The Future of the Southland
At initial glance, this is a big blow for the Southland Conference. Stephen F. Austin has been the clear breadwinner in recent memory, Abilene Christian is a program on the rise, Sam Houston State has been solid in recent years, and Lamar has a rich history of success. None of these four programs are easily replaceable, and all will certainly be missed.
These moves leave the Southland with just nine members: five are in Louisiana, three in Texas, and Central Arkansas. There have already been rumors that Central Arkansas will announce their departure in the near future as well. The footprint of the conference is clearly in eastern Texas and Louisiana. There aren’t exactly a plethora of teams in that area looking to leave for the Southland, meaning that any plans of expansion will likely come from non-D1 programs.
Staying at nine teams isn’t optimal, especially with some of the greatest programs leaving the league. It’s too early to speculate on exactly which D2 or D3 programs are attractive to the Southland, but it’s clear that they’ll want teams in Louisiana or Texas that have football programs. Since New Orleans and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi do not field football, the conference is getting dangerously close to not qualifying for an auto-bid to the FCS Tournament.
The Southland Conference is not dead, but will need to get creative to stay viable and successful. The basketball in the league will certainly take a hit in the near future, but this may not be the end of the world. Perhaps a program like Northwestern State (who do boast that 2006 upset win over 3-seed Iowa), could take over the top spot in the program; or perhaps someone new carries the torch.