Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[Lights Out]

Why can't we have a system like they have in Canada with Junion Hockey?

You mean the same junior hockey system that has gone through a child-molestation scandal of its own and has been described as a hockey sweatshop, where drug use and mistreatment are common? That junior hockey system?

[ESTONES6]

You know folks, I was roundly criticized for my ideas on the Big East, NYU and other schools.

In light of Penn State, I agree with what was said about NYU deemphasizing sport. Penn State should do the same. Immediately. The toothless beat that is the NCAA can say what it wants; so can the Big 10. Penn State should be over. Go raid Maryland or whoever else you think fits the academic/demographic footprint.

The sport has become a travesty....USC, Ohio State, Miami and now this. Awful. Just awful.

Why can't we have a system like they have in Canada with Junion Hockey?

Same reason Canada has universal health care and we do not.

[rams80]

Why can't we have a system like they have in Canada with Junion Hockey?

........

...You can't be serious can you? You are?

Congratulations. You trotted out one of the few athletic organizations in this region that does an even poorer job of catering to the well being of the people involved in it than NCAA Division I-A.

[winghaz]

The SEC should have a rule that it will have only teams from states that were once in the Confederacy.

That way, so long, Missouri. It was nice knowing you for this short time. And so long, Kentucky. You served us well, but you were on the wrong side of the border.

(And this coming from a guy who thinks Sioux Falls is in the Deep South.)

[Jigga]

The SEC should have a rule that it will have only teams from states that were once in the Confederacy.

That way, so long, Missouri. It was nice knowing you for this short time. And so long, Kentucky. You served us well, but you were on the wrong side of the border.

(And this coming from a guy who thinks Sioux Falls is in the Deep South.)

Maybe that would have been a suitable rule in 1932, but in 2011-12??

[Lights Out]

So it's looking like BYU will join the Big East. This likely clinches Boise's departure to the BE as well. According to the rumors, the divisions will look something like this:

West:

BYU

Boise State

Houston

SMU

Air Force

UCF(!)

East:

UConn

Rutgers

USF

Louisville

Cincinnati

Navy

No, I you not - UCF would likely end up in the West division. Why? Because Louisville and Cincy have already flat-out refused to go to the West and get smashed by BYU, BSU, Houston, SMU, and AFA every year. Can't say I blame them, but the geography sticklers will be whining even more.

[Foxxtrot44]

No, I you not - UCF would likely end up in the West division. Why? Because Louisville and Cincy have already flat-out refused to go to the West and get smashed by BYU, BSU, Houston, SMU, and AFA every year. Can't say I blame them, but the geography sticklers will be whining even more.

Fixed for accuracy

[thespleenenator]

Why can't we have a system like they have in Canada with Junion Hockey?

........

...You can't be serious can you? You are?

Congratulations. You trotted out one of the few athletic organizations in this region that does an even poorer job of catering to the well being of the people involved in it than NCAA Division I-A.

I'm sorry rams, but:

[McCall]

So it's looking like BYU will join the Big East. This likely clinches Boise's departure to the BE as well. According to the rumors, the divisions will look something like this:

West:

BYU

Boise State

Houston

SMU

Air Force

UCF(!)

East:

UConn

Rutgers

USF

Louisville

Cincinnati

Navy

No, I you not - UCF would likely end up in the West division. Why? Because Louisville and Cincy have already flat-out refused to go to the West and get smashed by BYU, BSU, Houston, SMU, and AFA every year. Can't say I blame them, but the geography sticklers will be whining even more.

Louisville and probably Cincinnati are getting Big 12 invites for 2013.

[webdav]

OK...here's my review for who's left in the WAC.

Hawaii: Big question mark.

Idaho: Staying put unless everybody else leaves.

Louisiana Tech: Conference USA should send an invite.

New Mexico State: MWC will likely try luring them too (UNM-NMSU rivalry in-conference)

San Jose State: Ditto here (now that FSU's in the MWC and the future of SDSU football is pretty murky)

Utah State: Will likely stay unless everybody else leaves.

Which brings us to the question: "Who will the WAC try luring?"

My gut feeling is they'll cherry-pick the FCS Big Sky, so the most logical options would be Montana (football AND basketball juggernaut), Portland State (major market, newly renovated stadium also home to an MLS team), and Sacramento State (to reestablish the Central Valley market). They might try for Eastern Washington (to continue a Portland State rivalry), Idaho State (to give Idaho an in-state in-conference rival again), and Montana State (if Montana wants to play hardball about joining).

Which leaves me wondering how NAU, NCU, and Weber State would do for themselves...

I can see Louisiana Tech returning to the Sun Belt myself. On the FCS level though, I can see Portland State, Sacramento State, and Montana wanting to jump to FBS, but there's no way Idaho can support 3 FBS teams. That said though, you do make a fair point with Montana State.

TS-San Marcos and UT-San Antonio do make a lot of sense though. Didn't know about Texas State's intentions to move up though.

You guys are joking, right?

Portland State averages less than 6,000 in attendance per football game (80th in FCS). That means they fill 31% of their seats. And when Montana State visited this year (and Montana last year), the crowd could have been mistaken as being for the visiting team.

Sacramento State averages a little over 8,700 (47th in FCS) and 41% of their seats.

Meanwhile, Montana State averages 17,577 per game with the Brawl of the Wild this next weekend sure to top 20,000 despite temps in the teens and snow. Nearly 100% capacity every game (with the first weekend of hunting being the lowest attendance.) The Bobcats travel well, making up nearly half of the crowd at Northern Colorado, Weber State and Portland State this season.

Montana averages 25,662 in Washington-Grizzly stadium. That's over 100% capacity. And they travel very well.

Not to mention, the Griz (#7) and Bobcats (#1) are the two most successful Big Sky teams of the last decade, with only Eastern Washington coming close.

Last year ended the Griz run of 18 straight playoff appearances and 12 straight shares or outright league titles. The Bobcats have had a share of the Big Sky in four of the last ten seasons. (Eastern Washington has three and were National Champions last season.)

The Idaho State football program is a joke and the chances that Mike Kramer (former EWU and MSU coach) will turn it around quickly are slim. He's good at rebuilding programs, but they are at least two or three seasons from being much more than a decent NAIA squad, much less FCS or FBS.

The only two programs that would have a chance in FBS from the Big Sky are Montana and Montana State. The facilities are first class and the programs are doing very well. However, I don't believe either program has an interest in moving up to FBS. Montana all but had an invite and decided they'd be better off as a big fish in the FCS pond.

[DCDuck]

The only two programs that would have a chance in FBS from the Big Sky are Montana and Montana State. The facilities are first class and the programs are doing very well. However, I don't believe either program has an interest in moving up to FBS. Montana all but had an invite and decided they'd be better off as a big fish in the FCS pond.

Both Montana and Montana State have said repeatedly that they are happy playing in the Big Sky.

[thespleenenator]

OK...here's my review for who's left in the WAC.

Hawaii: Big question mark.

Idaho: Staying put unless everybody else leaves.

Louisiana Tech: Conference USA should send an invite.

New Mexico State: MWC will likely try luring them too (UNM-NMSU rivalry in-conference)

San Jose State: Ditto here (now that FSU's in the MWC and the future of SDSU football is pretty murky)

Utah State: Will likely stay unless everybody else leaves.

Which brings us to the question: "Who will the WAC try luring?"

My gut feeling is they'll cherry-pick the FCS Big Sky, so the most logical options would be Montana (football AND basketball juggernaut), Portland State (major market, newly renovated stadium also home to an MLS team), and Sacramento State (to reestablish the Central Valley market). They might try for Eastern Washington (to continue a Portland State rivalry), Idaho State (to give Idaho an in-state in-conference rival again), and Montana State (if Montana wants to play hardball about joining).

Which leaves me wondering how NAU, NCU, and Weber State would do for themselves...

I can see Louisiana Tech returning to the Sun Belt myself. On the FCS level though, I can see Portland State, Sacramento State, and Montana wanting to jump to FBS, but there's no way Idaho can support 3 FBS teams. That said though, you do make a fair point with Montana State.

TS-San Marcos and UT-San Antonio do make a lot of sense though. Didn't know about Texas State's intentions to move up though.

You guys are joking, right?

Portland State averages less than 6,000 in attendance per football game (80th in FCS). That means they fill 31% of their seats. And when Montana State visited this year (and Montana last year), the crowd could have been mistaken as being for the visiting team.

Sacramento State averages a little over 8,700 (47th in FCS) and 41% of their seats.

Meanwhile, Montana State averages 17,577 per game with the Brawl of the Wild this next weekend sure to top 20,000 despite temps in the teens and snow. Nearly 100% capacity every game (with the first weekend of hunting being the lowest attendance.) The Bobcats travel well, making up nearly half of the crowd at Northern Colorado, Weber State and Portland State this season.

Montana averages 25,662 in Washington-Grizzly stadium. That's over 100% capacity. And they travel very well.

Not to mention, the Griz (#7) and Bobcats (#1) are the two most successful Big Sky teams of the last decade, with only Eastern Washington coming close.

Last year ended the Griz run of 18 straight playoff appearances and 12 straight shares or outright league titles. The Bobcats have had a share of the Big Sky in four of the last ten seasons. (Eastern Washington has three and were National Champions last season.)

The Idaho State football program is a joke and the chances that Mike Kramer (former EWU and MSU coach) will turn it around quickly are slim. He's good at rebuilding programs, but they are at least two or three seasons from being much more than a decent NAIA squad, much less FCS or FBS.

The only two programs that would have a chance in FBS from the Big Sky are Montana and Montana State. The facilities are first class and the programs are doing very well. However, I don't believe either program has an interest in moving up to FBS. Montana all but had an invite and decided they'd be better off as a big fish in the FCS pond.

Actually, Portland State is the largest university in Oregon. If they put more emphasis on athletics, they could make it to the FBS. The problem is that they have the Oregon Ducks in the same state. I will say, however, that the PSU fans actually traveled relatively well when we played them last year. If PSU were to get an on campus stadium (which I don't know why they haven't already), and schedule more games on weekdays, they would get fans.

[TBGKon]

To the above post talking about the WAC....

Isn't Hawaii Mountain West bound for football only soon?

[McCall]

To the above post talking about the WAC....

Isn't Hawaii Mountain West bound for football only soon?

Next year.

[DCDuck]

Hawaii is going to trade an upgrade in football for a downgrade in every other sport.

@ spleen: Student enrollment has nothing to do with student support or suitability for an athletic conference. Take the state of Virginia for example. VCU is the largest school in the state by undergraduate enrollment (32,000+), followed by George Mason and Old Dominion. Virginia Tech is fifth in the state by enrollment, while UVA is eighth. Yet those two schools are the only relevant ones when it comes to college football (which is the only thing that matters, otherwise we'd be talking about Baylor to the SEC or Tulane to the Big XII or something).

[Lights Out]

Hawaii is going to trade an upgrade in football for a downgrade in every other sport.

Just goes to show how much bigger football is than the other college sports.

[TBGKon]

BYU to Big East?

I've also heard that Houston has a press conference setup for tomorrow afternoon, assumingly announcing Big East acceptance. Talk also says that, combined with Houston's undefeated record and game against rumored Big East invitee SMU,is why College Gameday is in Houston this weekend.

[illwauk]

Actually, Portland State is the largest university in Oregon. If they put more emphasis on athletics, they could make it to the FBS. The problem is that they have the Oregon Ducks in the same state. I will say, however, that the PSU fans actually traveled relatively well when we played them last year. If PSU were to get an on campus stadium (which I don't know why they haven't already), and schedule more games on weekdays, they would get fans.

Portland State has the same problem as my school and many others like it... it's a relatively young school (founded after WWII) in a relatively large city where there isn't too much space for a new football stadium in general, let alone on campus.

[Dexter Morgan]

Big East is going to change their name right?

[thespleenenator]

@ spleen: Student enrollment has nothing to do with student support or suitability for an athletic conference. Take the state of Virginia for example. VCU is the largest school in the state by undergraduate enrollment (32,000+), followed by George Mason and Old Dominion. Virginia Tech is fifth in the state by enrollment, while UVA is eighth. Yet those two schools are the only relevant ones when it comes to college football (which is the only thing that matters, otherwise we'd be talking about Baylor to the SEC or Tulane to the Big XII or something).

Have you ever been to PSU? It's absolutely huge. Maybe not bigger than Oregon as in area wise, but that's because UO is more spread out. Plus, it's the only university in a big city. If they got an on campus stadium, they could do it.