LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson held a press conference and answered reporters' questions. I have no idea which day that happened. I don't even know what day it is now, but fortunately, I took notes.

Here's how it went.

First, Benson talked about Las Cruces. (The tournament was held here last year, too.) "Thus far," Benson said, "I would say the review is just as positive as it was last year."

He talked about how cool it is to hold the tournament in a small city where it's the biggest event in town and most of the community gets behind it and takes pride in it. (The blog thinks it would be a lot cooler to hold it in a city with a building taller than 2 stories.)

There is a big push by the WAC coaches to move the tournament to a neutral site because it's such an advantage for the host school. The WAC has never had a neutral site, mostly because attendance is better at a conference school arena.

The No. 2-seeded New Mexico State men won last year and if they win again this year, some are saying the Aggies simply bought their way into the NCAA Tournament two years in a row by putting in the best bid for the tournament. If you'll recall, the New Mexico State women nearly won last year, too, even though they were the No. 7 seed. They lost 49-46 to Boise State in the final.

One of the biggest proponents of a neutral site is Utah State coach Stew Morrill. That should come as no surprise, since his team lost last year's tournament title game to the host school, New Mexico State, 72-70, and lost the 2006 tournament title game to that year's host school, Nevada, in overtime. On a neutral court, Utah State probably wins both of those games.

Here's a clip of last year's title game here in Las Cruces.

Quick aside ...
Yesterday, the blog tried to make small talk with Nevada coach Mark Fox, which did not go well. It never does. He ducked his head and walked off as if I were a homeless guy begging for change. I have a perfect starting point for conversation with him because we're both originally from southwest Kansas. That alone has to be worth 5 minutes of chatting. But I haven't even gotten far enough to work that in. He always walks off. In fairness, his team was playing the next game, so he probably had plenty on his mind. Can I just say that for 39 years old, the guy looks really fit? The reporters who cover his team regularly say he's actually a decent guy, but he's a dictator when it comes to his team. Getting interviews is nearly impossible. And who can forget last year when Fox was reprimanded for berating referees after a WAC tournament game here in Las Cruces. And of course there was THIS classic, when he bumped the referee at a Utah State game. There was really no reason for this quick aside. I just wanted to show that referee clip.

So anyway, Benson broke the news that the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas had tried to get the WAC Tournament for 2009 and 2010, and the coaches and athletic directors had been in support, but the WAC board of directors shot it down because of queaziness about the gambling aspect. Instead, the next two years went to Reno, whose bid was much lower than runner-up Salt Lake City. The decision between Salt Lake City, a neutral, but much more expensive site, and Reno, came down to a 5-4 vote by athletic directors. (Benson said the Save Mart Center in Fresno had also made a bid.) Reno is different than Vegas, apparently, as a gambling entity, because its an on-campus tournament there, not out in public where the gambling rage just takes hold of a man and turns him into a betting robot.

Benson said the neutral sites that will likely be considered for the 2010 and 2011 WAC Tournaments are Sacramento, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.

The next subject was television appearances. The WAC men's basketball coaches are not happy about how little the conference is on ESPN. The reasons are explained in this great story by Idaho Statesman reporter Nick Jezierny, who covers the Boise State men's basketball team. For those too busy to click the link, apparently a couple seasons ago ESPN wanted to put some of the WAC football games on ESPNU, instead of ESPN or ESPN2. The WAC, though, didn't like that, and held the network to a literal version of the contract. So ESPN said fine, we'll stick to a literal version of the basketball contract, too, which
states they only have put three WAC basketball games on TV per season. It's a tad petty, but it's what they're doing. The WAC is trying to renegotiate the current contract, but ESPN won't pay as much as the WAC wants, so they're at a stand-off.

Before the blog forgets, we should point out that Nick Jezierny is the only media member who preseason picked the Fresno State women's basketball team to win the WAC. I know, because he's sitting three seats away from me right now on press row. As I type this, Boise State and New Mexico State are going to overtime in the men's final. The Bulldogs won the women's final here this afternoon and are going to their first NCAA Tournament. ESPN currently has them projected as a No. 13 seed. More on that later. Poke around our web site and watch the video clips of today's celebration.

This is the part of the column where I roast the current tournament site. Benson said critics of Las Cruces said it was too expensive for travel, and too difficult to get to. He did not mention the wind or the smell, which I thought was kind of him. Las Cruces is about four decent restaurants away from being a low-end Peoria, Illinois. They should put all the prisons here. No one would ever try to escape. No event should be held here that isn't a rodeo or a monster truck rally. NASCAR is too high-brow for Las Cruces. Next year, it will be missed like a colon infection.

OK, I'm out of material. This men's final is going to triple-OT and my ears are bleeding.