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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wac’s Rules Changes Are Too Late For Wyoming

Associated Press

University of Wyoming officials said they are glad the Western Athletic Conference is taking steps to prevent winning teams from experiencing the postseason snub endured by the Wyoming Cowboys last year.

“What’s happened has happened, but when there’s a chance to correct an error and make the playing field more level, I’m all for it,” Wyoming athletic director Lee Moon said Wednesday.

During a meeting in Houston last weekend, conference officials voted to revise the WAC’s current agreement with the Copper Bowl.

Under the proposal, the loser of the WAC’s championship game would be guaranteed a Copper Bowl berth if it has more Division I victories than any of the remaining WAC teams or if it did not play in the Copper Bowl the previous season.

WAC associate commissioner Jeff Hurd said the proposal, which will be voted on at the WAC presidents’ meeting in early June, should easily pass.

Hurd agreed the change was needed to prevent problems the 10-2 Cowboys experienced in 1996, when the Copper Bowl overlooked Wyoming and extended an invitation to 8-3 Utah.

Wyoming was nipped by Brigham Young 28-25 for the WAC title. But the Utes were expected to draw a larger fan following. However, they but proved no match - losing 38-10 - against the Big 10’s Wisconsin.

“We recognized that there was an inequity there and this is a move that will hopefully address that,” Hurd said during a telephone interview from the WAC offices in Denver.

Moon said the proposal is a big step forward.

In June, WAC officials will also decide whether to limit basketball tournament participation to 12 of the 16 conference teams.