Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[heavybass]

For the MWC... they'll need Gozanga for basketball purposes and then North Dakota State for Football....

[Red Wolf]

15 hours ago, GDAWG said:

Interesting that UT-Arlington and Arkansas-Little Rock could get kicked out of the Sun Belt.  Could both join the WAC/SLC as non football members or even Conference USA?

 

I don't know of the status of Arkansas-Little Rock in terms of getting a football program but I know it's been non-existent in UT-Arlington. 

 

Finally, a topic I have some knowledge on where I don't have to recklessly speculate. Little Rock football ain't happening. When the Razorbacks were pushing harder to get out of playing games at War Memorial, the city and the state parks department were worried about all of the lost revenue and decided to push for UA-Little Rock to finally start football.

 

The university wasn't super interested, but the parks department and the city agreed to pay 2/3 of a feasibility study. The results? Real bad. For one, the amount of donors who said they would give for football was super low, which is saying something since people will usually pretend they'll give money until they actually have to. I suspect this is because most of Little Rock's donors are already big Razorback football fans, as evidenced by the license plates one sees when walking through the donor lot at basketball games.

 

The study also said that if they did start football, it would be best to be an FCS (specifically in the Ohio Valley I believe was the suggestion) as that would be more in line with Little Rock's budget. They would have also needed to increase the student athletic fee which was (is?) already the highest in the state. If I recall correctly, I believe it was the same amount that UTSA increased to when they started football. Also worth pointing out that UA-Little Rock has really struggled with enrollment lately, partially because UCA, just 30 minutes up the road, has become a much more attractive option for a lot prospective students.

 

15 hours ago, GDAWG said:

I don't know of the status of Arkansas-Little Rock in terms of getting a football program but I know it's been non-existent in UT-Arlington.  However, there's the issue of the old Texas Rangers stadium, the former Globe Life Park, now Choctaw (as in the Indian Casino) Stadium.   The major tenant is North Texas SC, the developmental team of FC Dallas.  They used to host XFL's Dallas Renegades and were supposed to host the Dallas Jackals of Major League Rugby.  When the conversion happened, I had read that the stadium was going to be used for Arlington ISD football and that has happened.  Some college football has happened there.  

 

UTA's AD said that they had no interest in football several years back, basically claiming that they needed to better fund everything else before even looking into it. They also have their own stadium, but it seems pretty rinky-dink and would need massive upgrades to be FBS compliant. So it may be better for them to just play at the Rangers stadium under this hypothetical.

[PrimalCookie]

Expanding based on markets and nothing else is what made C-USA the hollow husk it is today. If I'm the AAC I want proven success and/or large fanbases above everything else, and the first four that come to mind are UAB, Appalachian State, Marshall, and Army (who won't accept, even with Navy in the conference, but it's worth a try). After that I don't know - FAU maybe? Southern Miss? Liberty?

 

I think the first three adds would be a slam dunk, as would Army if they can somehow get them, but the problem is there isn't really a fourth option that pops off the pages. I can't see them poaching the Mountain West aside from maybe Air Force if they get Army, but no one in the MWC makes even a little sense geographically for the American (and, aside from Boise State and San Diego State, no one really makes sense competition-wise either).

 

I can't imagine Wichita State is very happy with their current situation. They left their longtime home in the Missouri Valley to become the only non-football member in a football-centric conference that's now losing it's three most valuable members. Where do they even go from here? They're in a much worse position now than if they'd never left the MVC. 

[Dilbert]

Would UTEP leave CUSA for MTN West?

 

[Red Wolf]

29 minutes ago, Dilbert said:

Would UTEP leave CUSA for MTN West?

 

 

Yes, and C-USA wouldn't try and stop them either.

[PrimalCookie]

30 minutes ago, Dilbert said:

Would UTEP leave CUSA for MTN West?

 

Absolutely, and if I'm not mistaken they've tried in the past. However, the MWC has never shown any interest in adding them.

[Lights Out]

On 9/18/2021 at 5:58 PM, Geoff said:

The Mountain West bent over backwards to keep Boise State out of the Big East. They offered them a sweetheart TV deal similar to what OU and Texas have in the Big XII. When the MWC was renegotiating new TV deals, they wanted to end the special deal that Boise State got. The per-team increase didn't offset loss of the sweetheart deal.  Additionally, the athletic department (this may have changed since the AD change) felt like the league didn't promote the Broncos the way other leagues promote their moneymakers.

 

I believe Harsin, and possibly some of their other sports, had scheduling complaints as well.

 

The real reason the Big East lost out on Boise State (and SDSU) wasn't anything the MWC did. It was because TCU backed out, then other schools started getting poached, then the Catholic 7 spun off into their own conference, and then they failed to deliver on their promise of a western division to ease travel concerns. It was just hit after hit after hit that made the conference fundamentally less attractive than it was when those schools first agreed to join.

[rams80]

On 9/20/2021 at 5:46 PM, Magic Dynasty said:

Absolutely, and if I'm not mistaken they've tried in the past. However, the MWC has never shown any interest in adding them.

The MWC explicitly abandoned UTEP in the WAC despite UTEP being a charter WAC member.

[Geoff]

Listening to this week's Going For Two and Matt said it sounds as though Colorado State and Air Force is all but finalized. Seems as though there are two main considerations: geography and the future of the MWC. It's a helluva lot easier and cheaper to fly your softball, track, etc. teams to places like Dallas, Philly, Tampa, New Orleans, etc. than to Honolulu. 

 

The TV money might end up being about the same but what about in a few years when Boise ends up in the Big XII. Depending on who the Big XII ends up taking, the AAC without Memphis looks better than the Mountain West without Boise State.

[Red Wolf]

10 minutes ago, Geoff said:

Listening to this week's Going For Two and Matt said it sounds as though Colorado State and Air Force is all but finalized. Seems as though there are two main considerations: geography and the future of the MWC. It's a helluva lot easier and cheaper to fly your softball, track, etc. teams to places like Dallas, Philly, Tampa, New Orleans, etc. than to Honolulu.

 

Sounds like they just shouldn't schedule those sports against Hawaii then since they're a football-only member.

[Dilbert]

1 hour ago, Geoff said:

 It's a helluva lot easier and cheaper to fly your softball, track, etc. teams to places like Dallas, Philly, Tampa, New Orleans, etc. than to Honolulu. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Red Wolf said:

 

Sounds like they just shouldn't schedule those sports against Hawaii then since they're a football-only member.

I know University of Hawaii pays subsidies to the schools who travel to the island for football in the Mountain West and im guessing for basketball in the Big West. I guess thats not the case for olympic sports.

[Luigi74]

Was Colorado State even on the Big 12's radar? To me it seems like they'd be #5 on the list behind the 4 teams that were added, maybe even a notch above BYU since they don't bring all that baggage.

[heavybass]

Air Force and Colorado State to the AAC?

[heavybass]

9 minutes ago, heavybass said:

Air Force and Colorado State to the AAC?

Probably looks dumb so i don't believe it.

[rams80]

10 hours ago, Dilbert said:

 

I know University of Hawaii pays subsidies to the schools who travel to the island for football in the Mountain West and im guessing for basketball in the Big West. I guess thats not the case for olympic sports.

 

Big West nowadays (which is where Hawaii has basketball/Olympic sports) is all California schools aside from Hawaii.  That's about as good a travel situation as you can get in a league with Hawaii.

[McCall]

2 hours ago, Luigi74 said:

Was Colorado State even on the Big 12's radar? To me it seems like they'd be #5 on the list behind the 4 teams that were added, maybe even a notch above BYU since they don't bring all that baggage.

I think you're highly overvaluing Colorado State's appeal. They are never really considered for any Power 5 conference. Not only is BYU (and the other 3 new Big XII schools) ahead of them, but plenty of other schools are as well. Memphis, Boise State & San Diego State, just to name a few.

[Burmy]

I honestly think that Colorado State and Air Force could be beneficial for the American...not only would they give Wichita State a close rival, but having Air Force on board could sweeten the pot for Army to join (at least as a football-only member).  Only roadblock is, I assume it's essential to both schools that the Army-Navy Game be the very last game of the FBS regular season and get a weekend all to itself, so I don't know how that would work out if it was an intraconference game.

 

And of course, who would the Mountain West look to pick up to replace any departing teams? (My guesses would be Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington and Portland State, with Northern Colorado being an alternate pick should one of these four decline)

[heavybass]

Wouldn't they go after UTEP and North Texas?

[CrimsonBull9584]

1 hour ago, Burmy said:

I honestly think that Colorado State and Air Force could be beneficial for the American...not only would they give Wichita State a close rival, but having Air Force on board could sweeten the pot for Army to join (at least as a football-only member).  Only roadblock is, I assume it's essential to both schools that the Army-Navy Game be the very last game of the FBS regular season and get a weekend all to itself, so I don't know how that would work out if it was an intraconference game.

 

And of course, who would the Mountain West look to pick up to replace any departing teams? (My guesses would be Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington and Portland State, with Northern Colorado being an alternate pick should one of these four decline)

 

I agree with Montana and Montana State, but I'm not so sure about EWU and Portland State. EWU because of the continued financial issues they've been having and Portland State because their primary stadium, Hillsboro Stadium, is not up to MW standards. Sure they have Providence Park, but they don't always play games there. In fact, they don't play a single game at Providence Park this season.

 

Now I could see Idaho return to the FBS and teams like NAU or Weber try and make a move up. 

 

 

[PrimalCookie]

7 hours ago, Luigi74 said:

Was Colorado State even on the Big 12's radar? To me it seems like they'd be #5 on the list behind the 4 teams that were added, maybe even a notch above BYU since they don't bring all that baggage.

Nope. The first 4 out were Boise State, Memphis, SMU, and USF, and no one else was seriously considered.