Southland commissioner Tom Burnett addressed the league’s departures Thursday morning. Instead of allowing the four Texas schools to stay through June of 2022 as originally planned, the Southland made a “sudden change” earlier this week, Hurd said, forcing Lamar, SFA, Sam Houston and ACU to leave at the end of the 2021 athletic year. While all Lamar sports will transition to the WAC in 2022, football will do so sooner because of an “expedited” decision by the Southland Conference, according to WAC commissioner Jeff Hurd. That division format will help cut travel costs for Olympic sports and was a major part of Lamar’s decision to join the WAC, according to Cardinals’ athletic director Marco Born. The other division will include Southern Utah, Dixie State, New Mexico State, Grand Canyon University, California Baptist University, Seattle University and Utah Valley. One division will consist of the Texas-based institutions including current WAC members Tarleton State and UT Rio Grande Valley. The new WAC additions will create a 13-team conference that will be divided into two divisions for sports other than football and basketball. “The institutions that we are joining are likewise in high-growth modes.” “The growth that (Lamar) has experienced of late is certainly on people’s radar,” Evans added. “As a result of the expansion of the WAC and because our close rivals are joining the league, it simply makes sense, individually, and collectively for the whole group, that Lamar University join this increasingly competitive conference,” he said. With geographical rivals Sam Houston and SFA leaving the Southland, Evans said it didn’t make sense to stay.
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