WAC Championship Game explained

WAC football championship game
Optional Subheader:Conference football championship
Sport:Football
Conference:Western Athletic Conference
Years:1996–1998
Most Recent:1998
Most Championships:Air Force, BYU, Colorado State (1)
Television:ESPN on ABC
All Stadiums:Sam Boyd Stadium (1996–1998)
All Locations:Whitney, Nevada (1996–1998)

The Western Athletic Conference football championship game was a short-lived annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

History

The Western Athletic Conference staged a conference title football game during the three years (1996–1998) the league consisted of sixteen members. During this time, the league was split into two divisions, Pacific and Mountain, with eight teams in each division. The top finisher in each division played for the championship, which was held at Sam Boyd Stadium in the Las Vegas Valley. When conference membership was cut in half in 1999 with the formation of the Mountain West Conference, both the championship game and two-division format were discontinued. All participants in the three title games were among the defections to Mountain West.[1]

Results

Results by year

Below are the results from all WAC Football Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game.

YearMountainPacificSiteAttendanceRef
1996style=6 2825OTSam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV41,238[2]
199713style=4112,706[3]
1998style=17 201332,745[4]

Results by team

TeamAppearancesRecordPCT.PFPA
2 1–1 .500 41 45
1 1–0 1.000 20 13
1 1–0 1.000 41 13
1 0–1 .000 13 41
1 0–1 .000 25 28

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Call . Jeff . The Great Divide: BYU and Seven Others Leave WAC . BYU Magazine . November 20, 2021 . 1998 .
  2. Web site: CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Wyoming 1996 WAC Championship Game. cougarstats.com.
  3. News: Western Athletic Conf. Championship . . . C9 . December 7, 1997 . March 8, 2019 . newspapers.com.
  4. Web site: CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Air Force 1998 WAC Championship Game. cougarstats.com.