Is the Western Athletic Conference holding its No.1 tournament seed hostage over an exit fee from Utah Valley university before the actual basketball action begins Wednesday? Absolutely they are, in what is essentially a ransom to play.
In its final year of existence, the WAC has decided to demand a $1 million exit fee for Utah Valley by 7 p.m. ET Tuesday night, or it will re-seed the bracket for Wednesday’s tournament that is set to get underway in Las Vegas.
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But, what you might have missed over the last week is that a judge ordered the WAC to immediately reinstate Utah Valley in all post-season tournaments as this divorce played out in a courtroom.
This all stems from Utah Valley informing the WAC last summer that it planned on leaving for the Big West conference starting with the 2026-2027 academic year.
Then, last month, the Western Athletic Conference filed a lawsuit against Utah Valley in Texas after the school had allegedly failed to pay its $1 million exit fee, which also led to the conference taking the team off its broadcasts of basketball games this season.
So, Utah Valley filed its own lawsuit in a Utah court, seeking an injunction that would allow the team to participate in the upcoming postseason tournaments. When a judge granted the injunction, it was supposed to allow UVU to play this week, and possibly beyond.
But on Wednesday, the WAC released a statement on social media that was essentially a ransom letter demanding the $1 million exit fee, or the conference would take the No.1 seed out of the bracket before the start of the conference tournament Wednesday.
"As of this time, Utah Valley University has not complied with a Utah's Judge's order that directs UTah Valley University to to place $1 million in escrow with the court- The amount of their agreed-upon exit fee from the Western Athletic Conference. As the court ordered preliminary injunction is contingent upon that directive, the WAC board of Directors has instructed the commissioner to plan for the men's and women's WAC basketball tournament without Utah Valley University, as it would be a member not in good standing.
"The conference will release new brackets if the university does not comply with the court's directive within the order by 5:00 p.m MT on Tuesday, March 10. The conference regrets that the intentional actions of Utah Valley University have caused uncertainty and harm for institutions, student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans across the WAC - including Utah Valley University."
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