WAC looks to Texas schools for football expansion

The Western Athletic Conference is close to completing expansion plans that would bring Texas State and Texas-San Antonio into the conference for football beginning with the 2012 season, league officials said. Denver and Seattle don’t play football but are strong candidates to join in other sports, including men’s basketball. The WAC’s expansion timeline has accelerated in the two months since Fresno State and Nevada announced they would jump to the Mountain West, leaving the conference with six football-playing schools, including San Jose State. “You’d like to get the league set as quickly as possible so it settles things for recruits,” SJSU coach Mike MacIntyre said. “You don’t want to go into their homes (this winter) and have them ask you all kinds of questions.” WAC commissioner Karl Benson originally targeted next spring as the window for inviting new members. But that plan changed after coaches encountered negative recruiting by teams in other conferences, which have told recruits that the WAC’s future is in jeopardy. Now the league hopes to extend invitations by the end of November. — San Jose Mercury News