The WAC to Denver: Thanks for the, um, memories.
According to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com, Denver is set to join the Summit League in 2013. That coming after Denver left the Sun Belt Conference to join the WAC this season.
Denver will join the Summit League next season, sources told CBSSports. Realignment never, ever ends.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) November 26, 2012
The move is a bad one for the WAC, who could possibly face dissolving as a conference with so many teams leaving. Texas State is also checking out of the conference for the Sun Belt after spending this season there.
Denver had been a marginal get for the conference, at best. The Pioneers had been somewhat of an outcast in the Sun Belt — with the closest opponent being North Texas, 838 miles away — and were a better geographical fit among the west-coast and Rocky-Mountain-centric WAC.
Only problem was, the current uncertain future with the conference led them to question the move, and apparently, they decided it was time to get out of Dodge.
The Summit League is also a solid fit for Denver, both geographically and historically. The Pioneers have one 20-win season since 2000 and not much postseason success. It fits with schools like South Dakota, IUPUI and South Dakota State in that category and will make for somewhat shorter travel to places like Brookings, S.D., Omaha and Kansas City, Mo., with the longest trips being the two to Indiana to play IUPUI and Fort Wayne.
Not necessarily a bad move or a relegation for Denver, but a disappointing move for the WAC in terms of men’s basketball. The school didn’t have a football team, but any defection doesn’t help a conference who is waning on it’s own existence at best.
David Harten is the editor of The Backboard Chronicles. You can follow him on Twitter at @David_Harten.