Big Sky -- Divisions?

[Herd]

Geographically, there is no divisional alignment that would not put UND in the same division with Montana and Montana State

Ya, the competition would be fun and make everyone better. But hopefully you are not in the save divsion as all 3 of the top teams if they split into divisions, but you'd certainly want to be in with MT and MSU. On a side note, MSU has a great stadium, but it will be awesome when the bowl is complete. I envy their outdoor football stadium situation. Bozeman is a great town.

[dakota fairways]

I guess if we go without divisions, there will be years we won't play one of the Montana schools in football as we'll only be able to play 8 or 9 of the other 12 football schools. This could mean some years we play a road game in Montana but none of them at home. That will hurt attendance as I imagine those two teams will be our biggest league draws. Maybe we host NDSU those years?

For other sports, we will likely play only some of the schools twice (unless everyone agrees to a 20 game, double round-robin schedule, which I doubt). We need to get Idaho and Utah State for non-football so we can go to two divisions, or hope one of the non-Montana schools finds another conference so we can have a ten-team conference. A 13 and 11 team conference is awkward.

Is NDSU going to be that accommodating... scheduling UND at times that are convenient for the Sioux and in Grand Forks.

13 is the tough one, with or without divisional play. Fullerton was aiming for divisions before USD got the MVFC invitation, but even 7 team divisions is awkward: 6 in-division games and 3 opposite division games means there is a team you will not play for 2 seasons. Since the Sioux are happy to be in the Big Sky, what is ultimately the answer? Does the Big Sky add a team or lose a team or teams?

[ShilohSioux]

Is NDSU going to be that accommodating... scheduling UND at times that are convenient for the Sioux and in Grand Forks.

13 is the tough one, with or without divisional play. Fullerton was aiming for divisions before USD got the MVFC invitation, but even 7 team divisions is awkward: 6 in-division games and 3 opposite division games means there is a team you will not play for 2 seasons. Since the Sioux are happy to be in the Big Sky, what is ultimately the answer? Does the Big Sky add a team or lose a team or teams?

If we're going to resume the series -- in at least some form -- it would make sense to play the Bison in Grand Forks on years neither of the Montana schools will venture here. I can't see what difference it would make to SU as long as they got to host half the games.

[star2city]

Would be surprised if Big Sky football is at 13 teams for more than one or two years:

Texas State Bobcat Report: interview with WAC's Karl Benson

Finally, what I considered to be the best part of our talk. Benson acknowledged a 3 to 5 year plan to extend membership to some combination of Cal Poly, Sacramento State, UC-Davis, Montana, Montana State – plus “some Texas schools to join us whenever they are ready”.

Until Montana announces at least one additional women's sport needed for FBS, they aren't going anywhere.

From this recent article, it's rather clear Cal Poly is open to moving up once they have the financial wherewithal.

SLO's #2 Sports Story: Big Sky membership

[big Sky membership] also gave the department the chance to raise funds and expand its facilities at its own pace. A move to the FBS would have forced an immediate pledge to increase the seating capacity at Alex G. Spanos Stadium and required increased all-around athletics spending.

Edited December 31, 2010 by star2city

[ShilohSioux]

Of course, a lot can change in a few years, but if the current financial model is still in place I don't perceive either Montana school moving up, nor the California schools. It takes an enormous amount of resources to add scholarships, additional sports, pay for more travel, etc.... and these schools don't have them. Furthermore, the two Montana schools have probably about tapped out on the number of potential fans, donors, etc.... In California, there's just not the interest there in these schools, with UC Davis the possible exception. Texas is a whole nother story. There's lots of enthusiasm, money and fan support at Texas State and UTSA with the potential for it to grow even more. I think the one person was right on -- UTSA will likely dominate the new WAC in a few short years and may be scooped up by Conference USA then.

Another factor is the WAC itself. It is completely unattractive right now to anyone wanting to move up. Might not be the case in 2017, but right now it has leprosy.

I see the all-sport membership in the BSC remaining stable for many years, with the possibility we could pick up Idaho, or even Utah State.

[ShilohSioux]

Does the Big Sky have a message board or forum?

[Rick]

Does the Big Sky have a message board or forum?

http://www.bigskyfans.com/forum/

[bincitysioux]

http://www.bigskyfans.com/forum/

It is pretty slow there usually, but you can access each Big Sky schools own forum from there..................

[bincitysioux]

Doug Fullerton had a meet & greet at the University of Montana today, where he addressed the future of the Big Sky. Here is the twitter page of an Egriz member that attended and posted updates.................

Key remarks:

-Feels there may be the potential for some FBS schools to drop to FCS

-Confirmed the 8 game/2 rival system for football schedules, and 20 conference basketball games

-Big Sky is one of the few conferences that turns a profit on its TV deal

[dmksioux]

Doug Fullerton had a meet & greet at the University of Montana today, where he addressed the future of the Big Sky. Here is the twitter page of an Egriz member that attended and posted updates.................

Key remarks:

-Feels there may be the potential for some FBS schools to drop to FCS

-Confirmed the 8 game/2 rival system for football schedules, and 20 conference basketball games

-Big Sky is one of the few conferences that turns a profit on its TV deal

Any speculation, other than Idaho, as to which schools these could be? I know there are a few MAC schools that struggle with the attendance issue. Any other FBS schools out west that are struggling in that regard?

[ShilohSioux]

Doug Fullerton had a meet & greet at the University of Montana today, where he addressed the future of the Big Sky. Here is the twitter page of an Egriz member that attended and posted updates.................

Key remarks:

-Feels there may be the potential for some FBS schools to drop to FCS

-Confirmed the 8 game/2 rival system for football schedules, and 20 conference basketball games

-Big Sky is one of the few conferences that turns a profit on its TV deal

I know there are drawbacks and some here don't care for it but I really like the idea of a 20 game, double round-robin basketball schedule. First, it provides a true regular season champion and accurate placings. Don't have to worry about who didn't play who and is it fair, or that who you play or don't play will impact conference tournament qualification or seeding. Second, it means more of the games have meaning. Assuming we play half our games at home, 10 of the 14 will count for something in league and we don't have to wait six weeks into the season for a game that truly counts in the standings. Now, my other wish list items are a) annual non-league tilts with NDSU and USD.... plus an annual game with either Minnesota or Wisconsin; b) Friday-Saturday night games (opposite hockey) so the crowds will be larger. The last one is probably a pipe dream but if we're the odd-team outlier due to geography, maybe the others will go for it since they would be coming our way for a single game? Mr. Faiso, can you make this happen?

[gfhockey]

Was over on egriz.com. Lot of posters arent happy about UND being in the big sky mainly for travel but also for fivaling UM in academics. A lot of them think they have to fly to fargo and bus to grand forks.

[82SiouxGuy]

I know there are drawbacks and some here don't care for it but I really like the idea of a 20 game, double round-robin basketball schedule. First, it provides a true regular season champion and accurate placings. Don't have to worry about who didn't play who and is it fair, or that who you play or don't play will impact conference tournament qualification or seeding. Second, it means more of the games have meaning. Assuming we play half our games at home, 10 of the 14 will count for something in league and we don't have to wait six weeks into the season for a game that truly counts in the standings. Now, my other wish list items are a) annual non-league tilts with NDSU and USD.... plus an annual game with either Minnesota or Wisconsin; b) Friday-Saturday night games (opposite hockey) so the crowds will be larger. The last one is probably a pipe dream but if we're the odd-team outlier due to geography, maybe the others will go for it since they would be coming our way for a single game? Mr. Faiso, can you make this happen?

The Friday-Saturday schedule is going to be impossible. These teams are going to have to travel a long ways between games to get to Grand Forks. So they are going to need travel time in between, especially since connections might be tough at times. It would be very difficult, if not impossible to play somewhere else on Friday night and get to Grand Forks at a reasonable time for a Saturday game, or play in Grand Forks on Friday and get somewhere else for a Saturday game. Traveling team would be at more than a normal disadvantage on Saturday night. And weather will interfere with travel at times throughout the season, much of the Big Sky is in country with real winter. They need the travel day in between. Let the dream die, it doesn't have a chance of happening. And that doesn't even take into consideration the hockey factor. I'm sure the Big Sky will try to work with UND, but there is no way that they can guarantee that the basketball team can be scheduled opposite of the hockey team.

[ShilohSioux]

The Friday-Saturday schedule is going to be impossible. These teams are going to have to travel a long ways between games to get to Grand Forks. So they are going to need travel time in between, especially since connections might be tough at times. It would be very difficult, if not impossible to play somewhere else on Friday night and get to Grand Forks at a reasonable time for a Saturday game, or play in Grand Forks on Friday and get somewhere else for a Saturday game. Traveling team would be at more than a normal disadvantage on Saturday night. And weather will interfere with travel at times throughout the season, much of the Big Sky is in country with real winter. They need the travel day in between. Let the dream die, it doesn't have a chance of happening. And that doesn't even take into consideration the hockey factor. I'm sure the Big Sky will try to work with UND, but there is no way that they can guarantee that the basketball team can be scheduled opposite of the hockey team.

But if teams only have to come our way for one game it shouldn't matter to them what night they play us. And, if teams will play us Friday or Saturday, they won't miss out on school as much as if they played us on Thursday.

[82SiouxGuy]

But if teams only have to come our way for one game it shouldn't matter to them what night they play us. And, if teams will play us Friday or Saturday, they won't miss out on school as much as if they played us on Thursday.

To make a 20 game schedule work they are going to have to play 2 games pretty much every week. There is no way to set up a regular traveling partner schedule like the NCC had where 2 schools would come to North Dakota for a weekend and swap opponents on the second night. That means they are going to have to play in Grand Forks one night and in another town the next night. We don't know what that other town is, but all of them involve at least 2 airplane rides. Some of them include 3. So under your plan a team would have to play in Grand Forks on Friday night, get up early Saturday morning to take 2 or 3 flights, and hope they don't miss any connections, just to play again that night. That team would be at a large disadvantage playing on Saturday night since they spent most of the day on an airplane. That is the best case scenario if they can make the connections work and if the weather doesn't interfere. One delayed flight would cancel the game. Does that really sound fair, or even feasible? Is the league going to risk that 10 times a year for UND when the chances for delay are so good in Grand Forks, Minneapolis and at several other locations across the league? It isn't going to happen.

The league isn't going to go a long ways out of their way to set up a special schedule for UND. They play on Thursday and Saturday, with 1 Sunday game every week. That is the way the schedule will set up for UND. It is the only way they can do it because of the long travel distances between so many of the schools. Traveling to UND is going to be the longest for most, if not all, of the schools.

[ShilohSioux]

To make a 20 game schedule work they are going to have to play 2 games pretty much every week. There is no way to set up a regular traveling partner schedule like the NCC had where 2 schools would come to North Dakota for a weekend and swap opponents on the second night. That means they are going to have to play in Grand Forks one night and in another town the next night. We don't know what that other town is, but all of them involve at least 2 airplane rides. Some of them include 3. So under your plan a team would have to play in Grand Forks on Friday night, get up early Saturday morning to take 2 or 3 flights, and hope they don't miss any connections, just to play again that night. That team would be at a large disadvantage playing on Saturday night since they spent most of the day on an airplane. That is the best case scenario if they can make the connections work and if the weather doesn't interfere. One delayed flight would cancel the game. Does that really sound fair, or even feasible? Is the league going to risk that 10 times a year for UND when the chances for delay are so good in Grand Forks, Minneapolis and at several other locations across the league? It isn't going to happen.

The league isn't going to go a long ways out of their way to set up a special schedule for UND. They play on Thursday and Saturday, with 1 Sunday game every week. That is the way the schedule will set up for UND. It is the only way they can do it because of the long travel distances between so many of the schools. Traveling to UND is going to be the longest for most, if not all, of the schools.

I'm not making myself clear. With 11 teams, someone is going to be solo. If it was us, then teams wouldn't have to worry about playing a second game the next night or two nights later. They come to Grand Forks for one game, then go home. So, say Idaho State plays in GF Friday night, and Weber State Saturday night. Neither team has another game on this road trip. Someone is going to have to be single....why not us?

[82SiouxGuy]

I'm not making myself clear. With 11 teams, someone is going to be solo. If it was us, then teams wouldn't have to worry about playing a second game the next night or two nights later. They come to Grand Forks for one game, then go home. So, say Idaho State plays in GF Friday night, and Weber State Saturday night. Neither team has another game on this road trip. Someone is going to have to be single....why not us?

I understood that part. But my point is that they have to squeeze the schedule to get 20 games in during the shortest number of weeks in the season. So it will probably be a rotating schedule instead of having traveling pairs plus 1. Montana and Montana State will probably not be playing the same 2 teams every week during the season. To do that they would have to have 2 weeks where they had the traveling pairs play a single game against each other and UND didn't play (which would add a week to the conference schedule), or have the traveling pairs play home and home the same week with UND not playing. Neither is going to fly. Most of the time the teams playing at UND will still have to play a second game that weekend.

Besides, I will ask again why the Big Sky would give UND special treatment for their schedule? Especially if there are schools mad about bringing UND in because of the distance. UND is not going to get preferential treatment.

[bincitysioux]

Here's a link to the Montana St. beat writer's blog. This is a post made from last May's Big Sky meetingings where they addressed going away from the "lone wolf" schedule and doing away with Friday-Saturday games.............

[darell1976]

Here's a link to the Montana St. beat writer's blog. This is a post made from last May's Big Sky meetingings where they addressed going away from the "lone wolf" schedule and doing away with Friday-Saturday games.............

4. Debate on neutral site mens tournament in Spokane not even an official agenda item

Thats what Kasper told me, but Montana State athletic director Peter Fields, who said he still likes the idea of a neutral site tournament, said he didnt feel disheartened that there wasnt much discussion. He called this year, in which a proposal was put forth by the Spokane Arena to host the tournament, a step in the direction of actually getting some serious consideration for a neutral site for the mens tournament.

Wouldn't Denver make more sense since its a major airport hub or even Salt Lake City...but Spokane? Its good if you live in WA, ID, or MT.

[supersioux]

Wouldn't Denver make more sense since its a major airport hub or even Salt Lake City...but Spokane? Its good if you live in WA, ID, or MT.

I still vote for Vegas, destination city, cheaper flights, with-in the Big Sky foot print.....and really who doesn't want a reason to take a trip in March to Vegas.

[UND1983]

I still vote for Vegas, destination city, cheaper flights, with-in the Big Sky foot print.....and really who doesn't want a reason to take a trip in March to Vegas.

I believe The Orleans casino hosts one or two conference tournaments every year. Maybe there are others that could host them.

[darell1976]

I still vote for Vegas, destination city, cheaper flights, with-in the Big Sky foot print.....and really who doesn't want a reason to take a trip in March to Vegas.

Vegas would be better than Spokane. At least I get a direct flight from Fargo to Vegas.

[ShilohSioux]

Vegas would be better than Spokane. At least I get a direct flight from Fargo to Vegas.

Vegas already hosts the WCC tournament at the Orleans Arena, and the Mountain West Conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV. That's both the men and the women for both. Not sure there's room for the Big Sky, or if we want to play third fiddle to those two.

[ShilohSioux]

Here's a link to the Montana St. beat writer's blog. This is a post made from last May's Big Sky meetingings where they addressed going away from the "lone wolf" schedule and doing away with Friday-Saturday games.............

Ok, if they're not going to use pairs or allow the "lone wolf" approach like the WAC does with Hawaii, I guess the Friday-Saturday thing is out. Too bad. I really think that would have aided the size and enthusiasm of the crowd. Not only are they more vocal on the weekends, but some folks from out of town, like me, can come for a Friday-Saturday series but not generally Thursday-Saturday or Saturday-Monday.

[Cratter]

Vegas would be better than Spokane. At least I get a direct flight from Fargo to Vegas.

And I get a direct flight to Vegas from Grand Forks.