Steve Carp: WAC needs to rethink its hoop slate

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

STEW MORRILL DIDN'T need to be so emphatic, because nobody was disagreeing.

Morrill, the fine coach at Colorado State, had just lost for the second time to Utah, the nation's fifth-ranked team, Saturday. Meanwhile, just up the road in Laramie, Wyoming was disposing of 1-19 Brigham Young for the second time.

He was upset about the inequity of the Western Athletic Conference basketball schedule which called for 16 games, 14 home-and-home within each of the eight-team divisions and a home-and-home with one team in the other. Wyoming won't play Utah this season and CSU won't see BYU.

In WAC parlance, it's called the "crossover." From Morrill's point of view, it's a "screwover." Why does his team get stuck playing Utah while Wyoming gets BYU? Why is San Jose State stuck playing Tulsa while Fresno State gets Rice? And UNLV coach Bill Bayno was less than thrilled to see Texas Christian as the Rebels' crossover opponent.

But that's what happens in a 16-team league.

Several coaches would like to see a schedule where you play everyone once a year with perhaps an additional game against your travel partner. It's a plan that has a lot of merit and one the WAC should strongly consider implementing.

For instance, UNLV would play each of the other 15 WAC teams once with a home-and-home against Air Force, its travel partner. One year, the Rebels would play half their opponents on the road. The following year, those teams would come to the Thomas & Mack Center.

While you don't get a chance to offset the road trips in the same season, the advantages outweigh the shortfalls. For starters, you do get to play that same team at home. It just comes within a two-year span. It also means everyone is in the same boat.

By playing everyone, you also get a sense of unity, that this is indeed one league. Utah coach Rick Majerus made a good point when he said he couldn't tell you a single thing about anyone in the Pacific Division with the exception of Colorado State.

And by playing everyone once, nobody can complain they got the short end of the stick. Wyoming would have to play Utah, just like Colorado State. UNLV would get to play Rice, same as Fresno State.

And by sticking to 16 games, you allow schools to maintain a maximum number of nonconference slots that can be filled with the usual assortment of cupcakes and holiday tournaments, sprinkled in with regional and national television games.

The only question is, will the WAC Council -- the presidents -- listen to reason? To the best of anyone's knowledge, this arrangement wasn't etched in stone.

And what better lesson for the WAC's student-athletes to learn that when there's a wrong, you can do the right thing and correct it? After all, this is supposed to be the education business, and part of learning is admitting you made a mistake and rectifying it before it causes further damage and distress. That would be sending a good message to everyone.