MplsBison

Which is everything I was thinking to (except the part about the gentleman's agreement). So unless Houston's success this season has got TCU second guessing if they want another Texas BCS school in the conference, I can't for the life of me see Reno getting in over Houston. Unless, of course, the power brokers are calling in favors left and right to push UNR through.

Boise and Fresno are no-brainers to me. Both are great football programs with strong fan support. Fresno gives SDSU an in-state rival and a gives the MWC a presence in Northern California (somewhat). Nevada really adds nothing...IMO. Small market. MWC already has Las Vegas with UNLV. I can only think of two reasons why Nevada would get it over Houston: 1) Nevada power brokers are forcing the MWC to take UNR in the same way that the ACC was forced to take Virginia Tech, 2) TCU black-balled Houston because they don't want any more BCS schools in Texas. Neither would surprise me, but clearly the conference has much more to gain from adding Houston than Nevada, IMO.

That would be excellent! And I can't argue against anything you say...Ill State to the MAC does seem to benefit all and fulfills ISU's stated goal of FBS football.

Yeah but there are too many DI schools in Louisiana as it is. The state is obviously dominated by LSU in every corner. Plus you have Tech in the WAC, Monroe and Layfayette in the SunBelt and Tulane in CUSA, then Southeastern, Nicholls, McNeese and Northwestern in the Southland and Southern and Grambling in the SWAC. Louisiana only has about 4 million people.

Hmm...nope. It wasn't on here that I could find.

Oh Denver did decide to leave? Can you provide the link to the announcement please?

Makes sense. Most people in NO care about the Saints, Hornets, LSU and Tulane. Now that the Belt would be dropping down to 12 members, will Denver still consider leaving? Ark State - UALR, FAU - FIU, ULL - ULM, MTSU - WKU, USA - Troy, North Texas - Denver? I guess if Denver and UNO left, this would be TX State's shot to pair up with UNT in the Belt.

There's no point in arguing this any further. The topic of the thread is that more schools are going to move up to FBS and I agree with that 100%. I'm simply pointing out that the move-ups are going to be more Western Kentucky's.

Sorry, CUSA. They're going to watch CUSA football instead of SEC football? Nope. Okay...so all things being equal, it's faster to take the interstate than to take the "piney woods 2 lane highways" that you lament and supposidly this is going to drive 50k Mobil bay 'Bama fans to stay home and watch USA on Saturdays? Nope.

That's slower than taking the interstate.

I don't buy either of your stories for a second. 50k to watch SunBelt football? Nope. Oh and by the way, you take I-65 from Mobile up to Birmingham and then I-20 over to Tuscaloosa to go to 'Bama games. Not sure what you're talking about. USA can certainly have their Mobil/Pensacola following, and what's wrong with that? 25-30k is pretty damn good. They can have a Southern Mississippi/Troy type of program.

Having family in east Mobile bay, I know exactly what you're saying. And I agree that there are folks, especially USA alumns, living in the Mobile/Pensacola area who will travel to Ladd stadium to watch SunBelt football. But, at best you're looking at a Troy type team. They will never get to the 80k-90k crowds that 'Bama and Auburn get.

Your historical examples are irrelevent because I am referring to new move ups. Not existing teams. All of Virginia is covered by UVa and VT. OD might have an opportunity to attract ODU alumns who still live in Norfolk...but that's about it. They are never going to compete with UVa or VT. Same with UC Davis. All of California is covered by the Pac 10 schools. Again, they can appeal to UC Davis alumns who still live in the Sacramento area, and that's about it. Also note that UC Davis is a very high research school. That means a lot of grad school types who are mostly international folks who could care less about American football. I'm not saying ODU and UC Davis can't be 25k avg. attendance type schools. They can. But they are never going to be like BCS schools.

But you just proved my point. Where are those schools going to draw 80k fans a game from? The majority in VA follow UVA or VT. The majority in northern Cal follow Stanford or Cal (or UCLA or USC) The majority in Alabama (esp S. Alabama) follow Auburn or the Tide The majority in Texas (esp. San Antonio) follow Texas You can't have a major program without major support. Simply getting it done on the field isn't enough at that level.

You may see a lot of teams move, but I don't think you're going to ever see another Boise State emerge (at least in terms of support and facilities). The rest of the move ups are going to be on the level of Western Kentucky. You get fan excitement and upgrades to facilities, but you're program is really never going to crack the upper echelon of college football. There aren't any more Oklahoma/Texas/Alabama/Florida type programs waiting in the wings to develop to that level.

AFAIK, the requisite is 6 members. Losing even 3 would still give MVFC enough (NDSU, SDSU, UNI, WIU, IND St, S Ill). Youngstown would leave for the MAC in a split second. MO St and IL St would move up given the right situation. The Sun Belt and CUSA may be in need of members once this plays out. You never know.

Any talk of the MVFC expansion pre-assumes that some of the outlying MVFC who are the true obstructionists to expansion are gone

The MVFC won't do any expanding as is. Thus, any talk of the MVFC expansion pre-assumes that some of the outlying MVFC who are the true obstructionists to expansion are gone. Get with the program.

Summit League (bold with football): NDSU UND SDSU USD Mont St - SUU Oakland - IPFW IUPUI - WIU ORU - UMKC Of course, SUU would probably go to the Big Sky. Probably add Chicago State.

I think once Boise and Fresno leave the MWC, Montana is guaranteed an invite. Whether they go or not, that remains to be seen. I wonder if Montana State would stay in FCS and the Big Sky if Montana left. Maybe MSU would get invited to the MVFC?

MWC adding Boise, Fresno and Houston seems like a no-brainer to me. Add two very strong football programs in Boise and Fresno and add the Houston TV market to bolster the TV contract. Then they're up to 12 football teams and a championship game, probably in SLC, Denver or Vegas.

The only reason USD and SDSU own their facilities is because both are located in cities that are too small to have the money to build them. If either was in Sioux Falls, you can be sure that the facilities would have been built by the city. Not that it's an advantage or disadvantage either way.

What are the maintenance costs vs. the revenue generated?

SL did it before the original SBoHE deadline. SR isn't even going to respect the SBoHE deadline extention, and I suspect won't get anything done by the end of the 2nd extension. That means they aren't ever going to get anything done and you pull the plug.

Thanks for the comments. Hey, if I'm wrong it won't be the first or last time. I 100% support the government subsidizing the construction of new infrastructure. We all know that there is no way the private sector would ever make such an investment on their own. Building expensive infrastructure is not what the private sector does. It gets the government to do that for them. I can't really see how it would not be cost effective, once built. You're generating power, for basically no cost (other than building the tower in the first place) and getting money for the providing the power. Unless the towers have massive maintenance costs, it would seem that once they're up, it's basically providing power for nothing.