The WAC is in trouble. It currently only has seven schools for the 2012 football season (you need at least eight schools to remain a conference; the NCAA has granted a two-year waiver period), but five of those teams are leaving on July 1 in 2013, meaning the WAC will be down to just Idaho and New Mexico State. 

At Thursday’s Media Days, interim commissioner Jeff Hurd all but confirmed that the WAC was dead: “We don’t believe football is feasible for the 2013 season. We’ve gone through every option and we’ve gone coast to coast looking for those options.”

Idaho and New Mexico St. are likely headed to land of being Independent, unless the WAC can add a bunch of teams, and according to The Salt Lake Tribune’s Tony Jones, there’s still a chance of that happening. And the push is being led by JMU. 

There still appears to be hope for a conference that’s taking mammoth hits to its membership over the past three years. Hurd told The Tribune that a group of FCS schools back east, led by James Madison and Jacksonville State, are making a push for FCS status, and could potentially enter into the WAC in time for the 2014 season.

That is shockingly baffling. 

I like the move to go FCS, but, to the WAC? Trying to “save” a dead conference? 

As Jason Kirk, a college football mind much smarter than I, said, “If gotdamn Charlotte can get into CUSA, JMU can do better.”

Indeed.

UPDATE: And of course the very instant I press “Publish,” this tweet appeared in my timeline, from Mark Selig: 

WAC interim commissioner Jeff Hurd just denied a report by @TonyAggieville that said #JMU is making a push to join its conference. …