2022 Season in Review: SFA, ACU shine in WAC

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Like many conferences in college football, the Western Athletic Conference has been anything but stable. The season started with news that Lamar was returning to the Southland Conference and UIW deciding to remain in the Southland, which left teams scrambling to fill their schedules.

Once the games began, the WAC didn’t disappoint. From a classic finale, for now, in the Battle of the Piney Woods to the unofficial WAC championship game to end the season, let’s look back on how each team did last year.

 

The Good

Anything good must start with the champs. Stephen F. Austin would fit into any of the three categories at some point throughout the season. But when you finish the season as the WAC champions, you had a good year. It’s easy to forget how bad the Lumberjacks were until Colby Carthel became head coach following the 2018 season. Carthel and his staff inherited a depleted roster, dealt with NCAA sanctions from the previous regime, and won a conference title in 5 years. That’s pretty darn good.

The surprise team last season was Abilene Christian. The Keith Patterson era got off to a rousing start, with the Wildcats contending for a conference title until the final weekend of the regular season. ACU has the facilities to attract recruits, and Patterson and his staff have successfully found guys that fit in the transfer portal. The future is bright in Abilene.

The detractors look at Tarleton’s 6-5 record for the second consecutive season and may see a team in decline. It’s time to provide clarity and perspective to what Todd Whitten and his staff have accomplished in Stephenville. The Texans are one of only three teams since 2004 to begin a reclassification period with three winning seasons. The others are North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and Central Arkansas. NDSU and SDSU met in the FCS title game this year. There is no doubt that Whitten has Tarleton on the right path.

 

The Bad

Sam Houston entered 2022 as a true unknown while beginning a transition to FBS and Conference USA and competing in the Bearkats' final campaign at the FCS level. But expectations were still high for a proud program with many players from the 2020 FCS national championship squad. K.C. Keeler decided to employ a new strategy of redshirting some of his better players to give them an opportunity to play in a bowl game in two years. The results were less than ideal. However, many young Kats received playing time, and SHSU will reap the benefits of that depth moving forward.

 

The Ugly

No team fits this category this year, but the ASUN-WAC power rankings were one of the worst creations. The move to create the rankings was due to both conferences needing to align to keep an automatic berth in the playoffs. What ensued was a confusing set of rankings. For example, before the final week of the regular season, Eastern Kentucky was at the top of the ratings while sitting fourth in the ASUN. Austin Peay was rated second while being ahead of EKU in the ASUN rankings. The powers that be have an entire offseason to figure out how to decide the AQ bid moving forward. Let’s hope it’s understandable to the average fan.

 

Biggest offseason question

Can the WAC avoid any further defections? Entering 2022, talks persisted of the WAC transitioning to an FBS conference in 10 years. Those talks were rekindled with the ASUN-WAC football alliance. However, Sam Houston didn’t wait for the chance to jump to the next level, and many believe they won’t be the last. Tarleton is the school most rumored to make the jump next, but SFA and ACU may be looking to jump sooner. Both schools will likely see how the Kats adjust for a couple of years before making a jump, but that’s just a guess.

 

Way-Too-Early 2023 Outlook

The battle for WAC supremacy will be fun to watch. Some pundits will place SFA as the favorite to repeat as champions, but the Lumberjacks have many questions on offense heading into next year. That gives ACU the edge to win the WAC title next year, with Tarleton and Utah Tech finishing their last year of reclassification to FCS.

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