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The Western Athletic Conference today announced the addition of the University of Texas-Arlington as a non-football member, effective July 1, 2012.
Currently a member of the Southland Conference, UT-Arlington will give the WAC 10 members in 2012 as Hawaii, Fresno State and Nevada depart for the Mountain West. However, only seven of them will be football-playing institutions.
The WAC will consist of Denver (non-football), Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Seattle (non-football), Texas State, UT Arlington (non-football), UTSA and Utah State.
"UT Arlington and the Dallas-Fort Worth region also bring in another Top 20 media market to go along with the recent additions of Seattle and Denver," commissioner Karl Benson said in a release. "The addition will significantly help the WAC in securing more lucrative television rights fees in the future," said Benson said.
UT Arlington’s move to the WAC comes in the first full season of volleyball and basketball to be played in its new College Park Center, a 6,500-sea arena.
Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams have competed recently in the NCAA basketball tournament with the men last appearing in 2008 and the women the season prior. The volleyball team had its most successful season in 1989 when it advanced the Final Four.
