The Western Athletic Conference could move its tournament to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in 2011, joining the West Coast Conference and Mountain West Conference which also host tournaments in Sin City. Hey Pac-10 and Big West, what are you doing having your conference tournaments in Los Angeles and Anaheim respectively? Maybe you too could move your tournaments to Las Vegas. Maybe they could erect a court on Fremont Street and have them play.
But, for right now, the WAC appears serious.
So serious, in fact, that WAC commissioner Karl Benson watched the WCC tournament final in what could only be described as a fact finding mission, and not just a reason to hang out in Las Vegas. The thinking is that the WAC tournament would follow the WCC tournament the next day. The WAC nearly had an agreement to play its conference tournament in the past, but a couple of school presidents refused to sign off.
Those presidents could be persuaded if Nevada is able to knock off Utah State this week in the conference tournament. Especially if one of those president's was from Utah State.
Benson not only witnessed a future venue for his conference tournament, he also witnessed the last gasp of Utah State's flimsy hopes for an at-large bid evaporate. St. Mary's was blown out by Gonzaga. And the Gaels, you may remember, beat the Aggies -- even without point guard Patrick Mills -- in the BracketBusters. That loss, along with the refusal to schedule quality opponents, put Utah State in a position to win or else. A daunting task consider that the Aggies have lost at Nevada this year.
So if Utah State loses on Nevada's home court, there is going to be a push for a conference tournament on a neutral court. Hence, Las Vegas.
