Beaver-Poke

Call him a liar if you wish, but here is a quote from WCC commissioner Stu Jackson on GU leaving: “They were very transparent about conversations and shared what they could along the way during discussions with both of those conferences,” Jackson told me. “It wasn’t a surprise call. I congratulated them. I wished them the best.”

Gonzaga had been talking about leaving the WCC for years. So, the WCC added Grand Canyon and Seattle. WCC commish Stu Jackson said GU kept him in the loop throughout the process and that GU leaves with absolutely no hard feelings.

The MAC boards are saying NIU to the MWC for football is a done deal, but Toledo is probably staying put. NIU is just looking for someplace to park their other sports programs and once that happens the move will be announced.

It was a fun night, great atmosphere, I think there were more than 9k students at the game. Your previous QB leaving was the best thing that happened to your team. The guy who took over is a handful. There was pretty clearly PI in the end zone on the last play but the refs let it go. They pretty much took the night off and didn't call anything on either team, UNLV's left tackle had about three false starts that were not called and it's impossible for two teams to play an entire game with only one holding call, but it happened. Still, we would have had to score, then get another 2-pointer, to even tie and force OT. No guarantee we'd win there for sure, our defense is so beat up we had trouble stopping you all night. Disappointed that we lost, but the team that deserved to win won. If not for that absolutely horseshit roughing to passer call against Syracuse you guys would be having a really great season.

Just went to Wednesday's win over FIU and had a fabulous time. The Sun Bowl is such a neat old stadium, and they have done a great job of sprucing up place with all the food trucks and new graphics on the concourse. Parking was a breeze, concessions were plentiful and affordable. Next they need LED lighting, the field was sort of dark and the new lighting system enables you to do the light shows that have become popular. The fans that we there were passionate about the Miners. The ticket person we talked to said the midweek games just kill attendance, a problem that will be resolved when they join the MWC. Even though they were winless, the team played very hard and the reserves seemed very involved on the sidelines. The new coach clearly hadn't lost the team despite the 0-6 start. Great bookstore, too. A positive experience all-around.

Not my monkey, not my circus. I just believe in regional leagues. Texas State is not in the mountain west region. As I look out my hotel room at the Organ Mountains, I see that NMSU is.

I am actually in Las Cruces and toured NMSU yesterday and today. They have done an outstanding job adding to the physical plant on campus, both academically and athletically. The football stadium is getting another upgrade, the basketball arena is nice, baseball and softball stadiums are good. Their market is small. But so is Wyoming's. NMSU traditionally punches above its weight. They would be a perfectly acceptable 8th or 9th program.

Ha. If Georgia and Alabama were in the same division and actually played each other every year in the regular season, like Ohio State and Michigan, they'd have half as many championships because someone would have been eliminated from the championship game and not gotten the second bid to the playoffs. The P4 need those 3-4 annual home games against FCS/G5 teams to inflate their records and ensure bowl eligibility. If they only played P4 opponents almost everyone would go 9-3 and that's not sexy enough for the networks that run college football.

Uh, I was just at the 17th Street Cafe two months ago. I can assure you it is operating. Facebook If you are game for a scenic drive, the Bear Bottom in Centennial has excellent pizza and good food as well.

Excluding the meaningless Covid season, Wyoming was 53-38 since 2016 inclusive, once Bohl's systems were in place. It was 4-2 in bowls. USU had five losing seasons in that span, Wyoming had none. Wyoming also won 4 of the 6 games in the series since 2016 inclusive. It won 20 or more basketball games in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022, twice played in the NCAA tournament and won an NCAA game, unusual for a MWC program not named SDSU. Wyoming wasn't great, but it was more than competitive in the MWC, despite the obvious recruiting disadvantages associated with being a small, rural, rather isolated state.

There are numerous downtown options that are not anywhere close to "fast food." If you're close to campus, I'd recommend the 17th Street Cafe, the former Rainbow Grocery. Excellent food, informal atmosphere. Two blocks south of Grand.

Wyoming was more than competitive in the MWC, both in football and in basketball. Wyoming averages 250,000-300k per football broadcast, nearly half of the state is watching. That's tremendous market penetration. However, its market size is just too small. Market size kept Wyoming out of the Pac-12. Not competition, not bad facilities (Wyoming's are outstanding), not a lack of institutional/program support. Market size.

Why wouldn't the Tourism Board continue to subsidize the Pac-12 Tournament? They certainly don't want those thousands of GU fans going to Portland or Seattle instead.

Again, if you have Gonzaga, there is no need for St. Mary's. You just took the only team from the WCC with real national value. Adding another team, especially a non-football program, would add nothing and just make for a smaller slice of the media rights pie.

Yeah but 5.4 million of those people tuned in to watch coach Prime and the Buffs, not the Bison.