It’s safe to say Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson probably hasn’t slept well for much of this summer.

After all, how could he sleep in peace after the one thing holding together the conference he runs bolted for bigger and better things nearly ten weeks ago? Yes, that “thing” is two-time BCS Bowl champion and WAC dominion Boise State.

But as if the WAC wasn’t already shaping up to be another Sun Belt Conference, this week’s news has really thrown Benson for a loop.

Upon learning of our beloved Bulldogs and neighbor state rival Nevada’s sudden Mountain West invitation, Benson now finds himself heading up a six-team conference in the coming years.

I feel for Karl Benson. Not just because he will most likely be the face of the weakest conference in the country, but the fact that only one of his conference mainstays truly deserved to be invited to the MWC.

Since Boise State stormed onto the scene in 2006 with a Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma, it has compiled a near perfect resume worthy of stiffer conference competition.

Neither Fresno State nor Nevada has won a WAC title in recent years, or even come seriously close for that matter.

Your sympathy should go out to Benson, even after he went all Dan Gilbert on the ‘Dogs and Wolf Pack, calling the programs “selfish” and hinged the WAC’s certain downfall on their recent separation.

Benson is even threatening to hold the programs in his dwindling conference until 2012 and is banking on millions of dollars in buyout money as a last stand, so to speak (see Page 1).

Although blaming the conference’s demise solely on this summer’s events is a little extreme, I still can’t help but think Benson was left at the altar on his wedding day.

Prior to June 11, the WAC was in decent shape, with a perennial national contender at its forefront, and able contenders next in line. Then Benson’s nightmare ensued and in a matter of days he became the commissioner of perhaps the most hapless conference in major college football.

I am just as excited as the next guy to see new faces come through Fresno. I admittedly felt goose bumps when President Welty made the formal announcement of the conference change during Wednesday’s press conference. The MWC is indeed the closest thing to a BCS conference without actually being one, so when presented with this opportunity, of course Fresno State is going to bail.

Factor in the obvious financial increase in the long run and the expanded fan base Fresno State will see, not just in football but all sports, and the decision was a no brainer for the administration.

So obviously the decision was beneficial, but did we deserve it? After all, the choice to jump ship revolved around football, the biggest athletic moneymaker. But the ‘Dogs have dropped two straight bowls and have finished no better than third in the WAC since 2003.

Welty may be “confident” in Fresno State’s pending success as a MWC member, as he said in Wednesday’s press conference, but something tells me he won’t be getting a Christmas card from Benson anytime soon.