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EDINBURG – For the first time in 15 years, all student-athletes at The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) are able to compete for spots in NCAA Championship events as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Throughout the summer, UTPA Athletics will be posting WAC Facts to UTPABroncs.com to get everyone ready for their first year of competition in the WAC.

A complete schedule of upcoming stories can be found here.
 
Bronc Country Just Got a Whole Lot Bigger… Welcome to the WAC.

2013-14 Members
•California State University Bakersfield
•Chicago State University
•Grand Canyon University
•Idaho University
•New Mexico State University
•Seattle University
•The University of Missouri-Kansas City
•The University of Texas-Pan American
•Utah Valley University
 
•All nine full-time members are in the top 126 media markets in the nation, with eight in the top 91 and five in the top 33

•In 2012, the Rio Grande Valley was the fastest growing of those markets, adding 5,810 TV homes, an increase of 1.6 percent

•The WAC has four of the top 15 Hispanic markets, including No. 6 Chicago (Chicago State), No. 9 Phoenix (Grand Canyon), No. 10 Rio Grande Valley (UTPA) and No. 15 El Paso/Las Cruces (New Mexico State)

2013-14 Affiliate Members
•Air Force (men's soccer, men's swimming and diving)
•Houston Baptist (men's soccer)
•Northern Arizona (women's swimming and diving)
•Sacramento State University (baseball)
•San Jose State (men's soccer)
•Southern Utah University (men's swimming and diving)
•University of Nevada-Las Vegas (men's soccer, men's swimming and diving)
•University of Northern Colorado (baseball, women's swimming and diving)
•University of North Dakota (baseball, men's and women's swimming and diving)
•University of Wyoming (men's swimming and diving)
 
History of the WAC
•Formed July 27, 1962

•Sixth oldest among the NCAA's 11 Division I-A conferences

•Member institutions met quick success as Utah reached the NCAA Final Four while BYU won the NIT in 1966

•More recent success includes 1998, when Utah reached the men's basketball championship game, Fresno State won the national championship in softball and UNLV won the national championship in men's golf

•Since 2000, Tulsa has won the NIT (2001) while Rice and Fresno State have won NCAA championships in baseball (2003 and 2008 respectively). Additionally, in 2006, Louisiana Tech's Paul Milsap became the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in rebounding three years in a row

•The WAC has sent at least two teams to the men's basketball NCAA Tournament in 24 of the last 29 seasons