WAC won’t broadcast Utah Valley home basketball games

The Western Athletic Conference, which, for those who aren’t in the loop, is merging with the ASUN this summer, is making the wrong kind of headlines ahead of such a move.

The league, which has just seven teams competing this season in each of men’s and women’s basketball, is currently in a civil dispute with Utah Valley over an unpaid exit fee of $1 million as the school nears its exit to the Big West this summer as part of a shift in the league. The WAC’s first public punishment was to ban the first-place Wolverines from competing in any WAC-sanctioned postseason tournaments. There is an open suit as the league seeks the money it claims it is owed.

The league escalated its public shaming of Utah Valley on Feb. 5. Starting with Utah Valley’s men’s basketball home game against Abilene Christian, the WAC announced that it won’t allow any home UVU games to be broadcast on ESPN+, the league’s streaming host. The WAC claims that outgoing UVU President Astrid S. Tuminez wrote in January that the school refused to pay the hefty exit fee.

The broadcast punishment was also cited in the lawsuit, but was announced by the WAC commissioner, Rebekah Ray, on the league’s Twitter/X account on Feb. 5 via a quote graphic with the replies turned off.

To be frank, this move is petty. The WAC’s issue is with the Utah Valley administration and whatever reason it has for not paying the exit fee. This move hurts the student-athletes who have zero control over their admins’ choices. It hurts the fans who are enjoying a great season, and it hurts college basketball.

If the WAC keeps the Wolverines out of the conference tournament, then it is almost a guarantee they’d miss the NCAA Tournament. Utah Valley, a member of the men’s Never Made the Tournament Club, entered Feb. 5 with a 16-6 overall record and a 6-3 record in WAC play, good for a three-way tie for first-place in a seven-team conference. The women’s team is 3-6 in the conference and 10-10 overall this season.