Here's why UIW decided to stay in the Southland instead of the WAC

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Last week, I was trying to finally nail down the details of another conference realignment story. Earlier, I had reported that officials with direct knowledge of the situation at both the WAC and Southland expected UIW to fulfill their original plans to join the WAC this month. Instead, the Cardinals elected to remain in the Southland Conference.

Then, a few hours before I could finally get UIW AD Richard Duran on the phone, all hell broke loose in college sports, thanks to USC and UCLA.

We shared a laugh about all of that (no, UIW didn't see this coming either). But if anything, he told me, such crazy realignment decisions elsewhere at least partially spoke to why UIW eventually decided to stick with the Southland.

"The WAC is an excellent league," Duran told me. "It has incredible schools, and they're well on the way towards reaching their goals of being a two-bid league."

But, he added, a lot has changed in college athletics, just over the last eight months.

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