Journal Staff and Wires
LAS CRUCES — Western Athletic Conference commissioner Jeff Hurd made public on Monday had been widely already assumed.
Hurd said the WAC is moving forward as a non-football conference after this season.
“It doesn’t mean we’ve given up on the idea of football for the future, but it’s apparent we don’t have enough members in 2013 to play football,” Jeff Hurd told The Associated Press on Monday.
That means Idaho and New Mexico State will have to play as FBS independents next year.
NMSU athletics director McKinley Boston said the school has been operating as if the 2012 season will be NMSU’s last as a WAC football school.
“We have been operating on the assumption for the last month that the WAC would not be a football conference after the 2012 season,” Boston said through an athletic department spokesman Monday afternoon. “We are well on our way in planning for the 2013 season with an independent football schedule.”
NMSU has not released its football schedule for 2013, but current WAC rival Idaho released plans to play a home-and-home series against the Aggies next season on its athletic website.
The Vandals also plan to seek membership in the Big Sky for non-football sports. NMSU’s conference future remains unclear.
“We will continue to explore options as pertains to conference realignment,” Boston said.