Seems like yesterday, in some ways.
It’s been more than 25 years since I stood at the podium before a standing room only crowd in the old Hall of Fame Room within the bowels of the Thomas Assembly Center to introduce former Tech AD Jim Oakes.
Oakes, along with then Tech President Dan Reneau, made the announcement that day that the University would be making the all-sports move to the Western Athletic Conference.
That was the fall of 1999.
Now a quarter of a century later, which spans a pair of more than decade-long memberships in both the WAC and Conference USA, it appears as though the University will come full circle and rejoin the Sun Belt Conference after reports surface yesterday that the votes were in and the call had come.
And just like it was in 2001 and 2013, a decision to change leagues is the right one.
At least in my opinion; maybe not everyone’s.
I have been approached by numerous Tech fans over the past month as the drumbeat for this potential move got louder and louder. I have had some people make comments such as, “We should have never left the Sun Belt for the WAC.”
I have done my best to kindly listen to people’s opinions and then gently remind people that our memories are short – and selective – at times.
When the decision to join the WAC was made, it was the right one, especially from a football perspective.
In the late 1990s, Tech competed in the Sun Belt in all sports but football as the league didn’t “sponsor” the sport. Thus, Tech was an Independent in football at the time and found itself left out of the bowl game picture despite some impressive seasons with winning records, including an 8-3 mark in 1999 when the Bulldogs were ranked in the Top 25.
Think about that. 8-3. Top 25. Win over eventual SEC champion Alabama. And yet, no bowl invitation.
That would be unheard of today.
In 1999 the Sun Belt Conference was about to form a football league. And if we are being honest, at the time, football in the Belt didn’t look like a very strong football league.
The Tech administration – from the 16th floor down to the athletics department — wanted something better for its football program. Enter the WAC.
The WAC boasted teams like Fresno State, Boise State, Hawaii, Nevada – all strong football programs. During Tech’s 12 years in the league, all of those programs (plus the Bulldogs) were ranked in the Top 25 at one time or another.
Geographically, half of the WAC was located in the central time zone when Tech joined as high academic schools such as SMU, Rice, and Tulsa made up almost half of the league. Thus, the move was doable, and the strength of the league in football and men’s basketball made it a solid decision.
There was simply no comparison between the WAC and the Sun Belt when you think of some of those football programs and what they accomplished during those 12 years.
Fresno State with David and Derek Carr. Boise State with its Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma. Hawaii and Timmy Chang. Nevada with Colin Kaepernick.
An argument could easily be made it was 100 percent a football move. Period.
I will agree it wasn’t the best move for some of the sports, including the nationally prominent Lady Techster basketball program. Women’s basketball in the Sun Belt was simply better. WKU was an annual top 25 team and had Final Four appearances in its history. FIU was a strong team that also had plenty of NCAA appearances in the 1990s.
But there was no denying the strength of the WAC in both football and men’s basketball, and that is why the move was made.
And IF the makeup of the WAC had stayed the same (something that 20 to 25 years ago wasn’t as unimaginable as it is today), it would have been sustainable. Heck, even today, most every league is spread over numerous time zones.
But when SMU, Rice, Tulsa, and UTEP all departed the league in 2005 to join Conference USA, Tech became the geographical red-headed stepchild. For the next seven years, Tech teams did not play a road league came in the central time zone … let that sink in.
It was brutal. Only those of us who truly lived those road trips will ever understand how brutal.
So when Tech was finally extended an invitation to Conference USA, it never flinched. The University joined on July 1, 2013, after 12 years as a WAC member.
Fast forward to 2025, and college athletics has changed … A LOT.
Although geographical footprints are still not what they probably should be, stability and regional rivalries are even more important than ever. And during its CUSA membership, Tech has seen its top rivals depart for other leagues.
Southern Miss to the Sun Belt. Tulane to the American. UAB to the American. North Texas to the American.
In fact, of the 16 teams that comprised Conference USA in Tech’s inaugural year of 2013-14, only Middle Tennessee and FIU will be a part of the league following this coming year (UTEP is joining the Mountain West after this season).
It has left Tech without a true rival, and zero easy road trips. To put it into perspective, ULM, ULL, and USM are all shorter trips than the closest current CUSA member (Sam Houston). Eight of the 13 trips in the Sun Belt are “bus-able”.
Leadership within the Sun Belt Conference has also been successful in building some stability while its member schools have improved on the playing fields.
Tip your cap to the league.
As Tech fans look ahead to the future in the Sun Belt, they can look forward to more regional rivalries. Tech and Southern Miss will reunite after a few years apart. Tech and UL-Lafayette will be league members for the first since 2000-01.
And Tech and ULM? Well, it will be the first time the two schools separated by 30 miles will be in the same league in four decades.
That is not a typo.
The Bulldogs and the Warhawks (then the NLU Indians) have not been league mates since the conclusion of the 1986-87 season when Tech departed the Southland Conference for the American South. Both schools were still FCS members the last time they played as league foes.
I do not have a crystal ball. And anyone who tells you that they know what college athletics will look like in five or 10 years is not being truthful.
Conference USA has been a solid home for Tech for the past 12 years. But it simply isn’t the same league it was in 2013.
Thus, Tech’s potential move back to the Sun Belt Conference is the right one for so many reasons mentioned above and others: geographical, financial, rivalries, competition.
And I, for one, am looking forward to it. I think Tech fans are too.
