OT: WAC News. Dixie State University joining the WAC.

[wolfpack1]

5 hours ago, ole blu dude said:

Actually 3,161,000 people. Dixie wants the Big Sky membership. USU is located within 90 miles of 2,000,000 people many grads live that close.

At this point i think the only way they get into the Big Sky is if a school leaves the conference. There has already been rumblings from some schools from within Big Sky that they are to big as it is right now especially for football.

[bigd]

1 hour ago, wolfpack1 said:

At this point i think the only way they get into the Big Sky is if a school leaves the conference. There has already been rumblings from some schools from within Big Sky that they are to big as it is right now especially for football.

Yeah I'd love to see the WAC add football and steal a few Big Sky schools away. Something like:

Azusa Pacific

Cal Poly (football only)

Dixie State

Northern Arizona

Southern Utah

UC Davis (football only)

UTRGV

[SalinasSpartan]

1 hour ago, wolfpack1 said:

At this point i think the only way they get into the Big Sky is if a school leaves the conference. There has already been rumblings from some schools from within Big Sky that they are to big as it is right now especially for football.

I wonder if the Big Sky has considered doing the exact opposite and expanding? What if they added Seattle, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, UVU, and Dixie State and they essentially killed off the WAC? Obviously if NMSU was interested you would add them instead of Seattle or Cal Baptist. By growing to 16 full members they could set up divisions for basketball and function like two 8 team conferences with a scheduling agreement. Would cut down on travel costs by ensuring more games against the closer schools. And it’d also just make them a better conference as far as quality of play, as NMSU would immediately be the best program and all would probably finish in the top half of the conference. 

[alum93]

1 hour ago, SalinasSpartan said:

I wonder if the Big Sky has considered doing the exact opposite and expanding? What if they added Seattle, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, UVU, and Dixie State and they essentially killed off the WAC? Obviously if NMSU was interested you would add them instead of Seattle or Cal Baptist. By growing to 16 full members they could set up divisions for basketball and function like two 8 team conferences with a scheduling agreement. Would cut down on travel costs by ensuring more games against the closer schools. And it’d also just make them a better conference as far as quality of play, as NMSU would immediately be the best program and all would probably finish in the top half of the conference. 

Ok, how did expanding to 16 work out for the MWC last time?  And instead of 12 schools competing for 1 autobid,  you will have 16 schools doing the same?  If anything, i would think the Big Sky would be very wary of taking on any more schools in the future.  The WAC, MWC, WCC, Big Sky, and Big West can all coexist out west, and that's 5 NCAA tourney bids guaranteed.  

[jdgaucho]

2 hours ago, SalinasSpartan said:

I wonder if the Big Sky has considered doing the exact opposite and expanding? What if they added Seattle, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, UVU, and Dixie State and they essentially killed off the WAC? Obviously if NMSU was interested you would add them instead of Seattle or Cal Baptist. By growing to 16 full members they could set up divisions for basketball and function like two 8 team conferences with a scheduling agreement. Would cut down on travel costs by ensuring more games against the closer schools. And it’d also just make them a better conference as far as quality of play, as NMSU would immediately be the best program and all would probably finish in the top half of the conference. 

 

While adding several non-football schools isn't ideal, that would work out fine with 3/4 of the members sponsoring it.  Another side effect of this, the Big Sky would then also be able to sponsor baseball and men's soccer. 

[Wyobraska]

2 hours ago, bigd said:

Yeah I'd love to see the WAC add football and steal a few Big Sky schools away. Something like:

Azusa Pacific

Cal Poly (football only)

Dixie State

Northern Arizona

Southern Utah

UC Davis (football only)

UTRGV

This would be FCS football right?

[bigd]

36 minutes ago, Wyobraska said:

This would be FCS football right?

Yeah, the west should have two FCS leagues. 

[SalinasSpartan]

3 hours ago, alum93 said:

Ok, how did expanding to 16 work out for the MWC last time?  And instead of 12 schools competing for 1 autobid,  you will have 16 schools doing the same?  If anything, i would think the Big Sky would be very wary of taking on any more schools in the future.  The WAC, MWC, WCC, Big Sky, and Big West can all coexist out west, and that's 5 NCAA tourney bids guaranteed.  

I think you meant how did 16 work out for the WAC. But regardless, I said why I think they should consider it. It would reduce travel costs and make the conference better, so instead of 12 teams competing for a play-in game/16 seed, maybe its 16 teams competing for a 13 or 14 seed. 

Anyways, I’m not saying they definitely should do this, just wondering if they have considered it. 

[wolfpack1]

8 hours ago, bigd said:

Yeah I'd love to see the WAC add football and steal a few Big Sky schools away. Something like:

Azusa Pacific

Cal Poly (football only)

Dixie State

Northern Arizona

Southern Utah

UC Davis (football only)

UTRGV

I don't know if WAC is looking to get football back. They are trying to hold things together as a hodge podge conference right now.

[wolfpack1]

8 hours ago, SalinasSpartan said:

I wonder if the Big Sky has considered doing the exact opposite and expanding? What if they added Seattle, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, UVU, and Dixie State and they essentially killed off the WAC? Obviously if NMSU was interested you would add them instead of Seattle or Cal Baptist. By growing to 16 full members they could set up divisions for basketball and function like two 8 team conferences with a scheduling agreement. Would cut down on travel costs by ensuring more games against the closer schools. And it’d also just make them a better conference as far as quality of play, as NMSU would immediately be the best program and all would probably finish in the top half of the conference. 

I don't think they have considered it and may not even have interest especially since some of the schools in the Big Sky think they are to big already. With Seattle their goal is to get back into the West Coast Conference. That could also be the goal of Grand Canyon to get to the West Coast Conference. Those two might be the first schools WCC look at if anyone leaves WCC or if WCC decides to expand. NMSU probably would already be in the MWC if it wasn't for how badly their football program performs and well being in Las Cruces doesn't help them either. 

[SalinasSpartan]

21 minutes ago, wolfpack1 said:

I don't think they have considered it and may not even have interest especially since some of the schools in the Big Sky think they are to big already. With Seattle their goal is to get back into the West Coast Conference. That could also be the goal of Grand Canyon to get to the West Coast Conference. Those two might be the first schools WCC look at if anyone leaves WCC or if WCC decides to expand. NMSU probably would already be in the MWC if it wasn't for how badly their football program performs and well being in Las Cruces doesn't help them either. 

Why would being in the Big Sky make the WCC less likely to add Seattle and/or Grand Canyon? 

[UofMTigers]

The WAC should be a FBS conference made up of:

NMSU
Idaho
Montana
Montana State
North Dakota State
North Dakota
Dixie State
Sacramento State
----non football----
Grand Canyon
Utah Valley
Seattle

20 game, home-home basketball schedule plus a 7 game conference football schedule.

[Wyobraska]

9 minutes ago, UofMTigers said:

The WAC should be a FBS conference made up of:

NMSU
Idaho
Montana
Montana State
North Dakota State
North Dakota
Dixie State
Sacramento State
----non football----
Grand Canyon
Utah Valley
Seattle

20 game, home-home basketball schedule plus a 7 game conference football schedule.

I disagree.  There are already too many teams in FBS.  That is a large footprint for a conference that wouldn't make a lot of money either.  There are travel partners, but most of those programs are better off in the Big Sky.  

[307dude]

6 hours ago, UofMTigers said:

The WAC should be a FBS conference made up of:

NMSU
Idaho
Montana
Montana State
North Dakota State
North Dakota
Dixie State
Sacramento State
----non football----
Grand Canyon
Utah Valley
Seattle

20 game, home-home basketball schedule plus a 7 game conference football schedule.

Nope. I think leadership at each of those schools, sans NMSU, would tell you FCS is their proper place 

Additionally, N Dakota is about to join NDSU in the Missouri Valley FB Conference, which is a much better fit for them than the Big Sky.

[alum93]

59 minutes ago, 307dude said:

Nope. I think leadership at each of those schools, sans NMSU, would tell you FCS is their proper place 

Additionally, N Dakota is about to join NDSU in the Missouri Valley FB Conference, which is a much better fit for them than the Big Sky.

I think he meant that as an FCS conference.  

[307dude]

1 hour ago, alum93 said:

I think he meant that as an FCS conference.  

Even so, it’s difficult to imagine NDSU and ND leaving the MV. That league is arguably the strongest in FCS and a logical fit geographically.

[alum93]

18 minutes ago, 307dude said:

Even so, it’s difficult to imagine NDSU and ND leaving the MV. That league is arguably the strongest in FCS and a logical fit geographically.

I agree, that mix of schools makes no sense for FCS or FBS.  Also,  the WAC as a basketball conference has ranked pretty high for a mid major, close to MWC last couple years.  It has been above CUSA, Big Sky, and Big West as well.  With NMSU leading the way from an RPI/NET standpoint and teams like GCU and UVU improving steadily,  i can't see why a conference of mixing and matching would help NMSU unless it was for an FBS home.  N Dakota State, Dixie State, and Sacramento State in football?  Our schedule is already filled with home and home series with the likes of SDSU, Fresno, Hawaii, UNM, UTEP, SJSU, Nevada, USU, and Wyoming over the next 4-5 years, not to mention multiple P5 schools.  I'll take the current WAC for oly sports and indy FBS over any new FCS best of best scenarios.  

[Wyobraska]

2 hours ago, alum93 said:

I think he meant that as an FCS conference.  

He said FBS in his post.

[alum93]

1 hour ago, Wyobraska said:

He said FBS in his post.

I missed that.  i clarified after it didn't make sense for FCS or FBS as of today.  IF the big boys decided to take their ball and stop playing G5, or IF there is serious conference movement again like Texas and Oklahoma moving as one example,  maybe some schools would reconsider.  Let's just say for argument sake that the top 64 or so schools formed a new top division, then that would leave 70ish schools at the current FBS.  Maybe that would open up conversations about schools like North Dakota or Montana joining that level.  With the current setup and without realignment, those schools aren't going to go FBS.  The Big Sky is stable and has regional FCS rivalries.  I can't see any of them moving and starting up FBS in a new conference with the investment needed.

[wolfpack1]

14 hours ago, SalinasSpartan said:

Why would being in the Big Sky make the WCC less likely to add Seattle and/or Grand Canyon? 

Seattle and probably Grand Canyon's first choice if they were leaving for another low major conference would be West Coast Conference. Seattle was in it once before dropping and both schools being religious schools hey identify more with WCC than other conferences. I really don't see Big Sky inviting either of them if they would expand again or had to replace other members. If Big Sky were to expand again, I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at Utah Valley St because they already have Southern Utah but I don't know if Utah Valley would drop baseball like Southern Utah did when they went to the Big Sky.