Big Sky/WAC Merger

[The Sicatoka]

Let's summarize Idaho: no WAC money and trying to play FBS FB in a very small stadium. Not a formula for success in my eyes.

[UNDvince97-01]

Brian Murphy ‏@murphsturph

Idaho will go independent in football and join the Big Sky in all other sports.

Unbelievable great news for our new conference, The Big Sky.

They will follow in football in the near future too I bet - maybe 2 years.

[Siouxperfan7]

Unbelievable great news for our new conference, The Big Sky.

They will follow in football in the near future too I bet - maybe 2 years.

What is the timeine? I would assume that 2013 would be when they join the Big Sky for all other sports.

[SIOUXFAN97]

does the bsc take denver and seattle or is that just too many schools?

[UNDvince97-01]

does the bsc take denver and seattle or is that just too many schools?

I think the BSC (Fullerton) would take them simply to lock down the west and get to 16. It would help with travel etc. I think 16 would be the max and is what Fullerton ultimately wants.

Whether the Presidents would go for it is another thing.

[The Sicatoka]

Idaho under this plan (just Olympic sports, not FB in BSC) would make 12 for Olympic sports / 13 for football.

Adding in Seattle U and DU, non-football schools, would make for 14 playing the Olympic sports.

That seems a little unwieldy to me unless they come up with some creative scheduling for BB.

[sultan]

does the bsc take denver and seattle or is that just too many schools?

Looks like NDSU might of missed their opportunity to get into the Big Sky too. I guess they will be stuck in the Summit.

[UNDColorado]

Here come the trolls in 3...2...1...

[UND-1]

^{Fullerton has stated that he would not want to have 16 teams because you wake up one morning and 8 of them have broken off and formed their own conference.}

[The Sicatoka]

Forgive my insensity toward Idaho, but they are just delaying the inevitable:

- they'll bleed fiscally trying to put together five home FBS games and ultimately end up going FCS, or

- the NCAA will shove them down to FCS for not averaging the FBS minimum 15k per home game*

The outcome is the same.

*You must average 15k home attendance once every two years (on a rolling two-year basis). Idaho has averaged 15k once in the last six, and not in the last three.

[SIOUXFAN97]

you have to know that denver is a school most presidents would love to be affiliated with? i still think seattle will wiggle into the wcc sooner rather than later which would leave denver justing hanging around...i would love for und to have denver as a oly sport conference member....

[WeAreNorthDakota]

Idaho under this plan (just Olympic sports, not FB in BSC) would make 12 for Olympic sports / 13 for football.

Adding in Seattle U and DU, non-football schools, would make for 14 playing the Olympic sports.

That seems a little unwieldy to me unless they come up with some creative scheduling for BB.

That seems like an ideal option. Then when Idaho realizes they can't survive as an FBS independent they become our 14th football member. How great would it be to have Denver as a rival in all sports but football?

[darell1976]

Idaho being in the Indy league is like UND being in the Indy league. You are stuck with no conference schedule and try to find 5 or 6 teams to come up to the Kibbie Dome? They can hardly get any FBS teams to do that. They had to rely on UND to come up there. Idaho + Indy = DEATH!

[bincitysioux]

This is great news for the Big Sky. Surely Vandal football will join the party within 3 years. What a great school to be affiliated with.........

It is truly amazing how much the Big Sky has raised its academic profile in the last couple years in adding UC Davis, Idaho, North Dakota, and Cal Poly.........................

[fightingsioux4life]

This is great news for the Big Sky. Surely Vandal football will join the party within 3 years. What a great school to be affiliated with.........

It is truly amazing how much the Big Sky has raised its academic profile in the last couple years in adding UC Davis, Idaho, North Dakota, and Cal Poly.........................

Yes, but our Bison friends will keep telling us that the Summit is sooooo much better for us and we should have went there instead.

[Hayduke]

Yes, but our Bison friends will keep telling us that the Summit is sooooo much better for us and we should have went there instead.

I always forget the name of that conference. I keep calling it the leftovers conference.

[bincitysioux]

So, the Idaho A.D. says he doesn't expect to be an independent for more than two years. That means in 2015 he expects Idaho to have a conference for football.

Remind me, when do Nevada, Fresno St., and Hawaii have to stop making their installment payments for the exit fees?

[Cratter]

Will UND ever make March Madness now?

[Cratter]

you have to know that denver is a school most presidents would love to be affiliated with?

Are you so sure of that? Their last conference didn't really want them. The conference they want doesn't want them. And I am not talking the WAC. No teams really want the leftover WAC teams. Hence the situation they are in. Look at Boise St noproblem finding a conference.

[bincitysioux]

I've been contemplating Denver. Most of us North Dakota fans are intrigued by them due to hockey. But, really that is all they bring to the table. They never have had much success in basketball, which is most important to a non-football school or conference. Outside of hockey, they don't have alot of fan support. They are a private school. Basically, in the big picture of all this conference shuffling, all they have going for them is location. And by location, I mean ease of air travel. Competetively, their location is not ideal considering they have to compete with Colorado, Colorado St., Air Force, and even Northern Colorado, in addition to four professional teams for entertainment dollars.

I think Denver's options are just as limited as Idaho's. Despite how much I love the hockey rivalry with the Pioneers, I can't say I'd be in favor of them being in the Big Sky, especially now that Idaho is in the fold.

Personally, I think Denver probably has two realistic options left, but probably not for at least 3 years. One is that I think Idaho will end up playing football in the Big Sky. The Mountain West will add New Mexico St. and Texas-El Paso. That will give the MWC 12 football schools, allowing for divisional play and a championship game, but leaving them with 11 all-sports schools. I could see the MWC then adding Denver to round out the all-sports school alignment and not alterting the geography of the league at all. The second is, that eventually Oakland University will leave the Summit. When that happens, the Summit would be obliged to consider Denver. Although the Summit has been condensing its footprint in recent years, they still remain the most volatile of all DI conferences, and need to protect against future defections. I believe Denver would actually be closer to all of the I-29 schools in the Summit Leauge than Oakland is.

[southpaw]

I've been contemplating Denver. Most of us North Dakota fans are intrigued by them due to hockey. But, really that is all they bring to the table. They never have had much success in basketball, which is most important to a non-football school or conference. Outside of hockey, they don't have alot of fan support. They are a private school. Basically, in the big picture of all this conference shuffling, all they have going for them is location. And by location, I mean ease of air travel. Competetively, their location is not ideal considering they have to compete with Colorado, Colorado St., Air Force, and even Northern Colorado, in addition to four professional teams for entertainment dollars.

I think Denver's options are just as limited as Idaho's. Despite how much I love the hockey rivalry with the Pioneers, I can't say I'd be in favor of them being in the Big Sky, especially now that Idaho is in the fold.

Personally, I think Denver probably has two realistic options left, but probably not for at least 3 years. One is that I think Idaho will end up playing football in the Big Sky. The Mountain West will add New Mexico St. and Texas-El Paso. That will give the MWC 12 football schools, allowing for divisional play and a championship game, but leaving them with 11 all-sports schools. I could see the MWC then adding Denver to round out the all-sports school alignment and not alterting the geography of the league at all. The second is, that eventually Oakland University will leave the Summit. When that happens, the Summit would be obliged to consider Denver. Although the Summit has been condensing its footprint in recent years, they still remain the most volatile of all DI conferences, and need to protect against future defections. I believe Denver would actually be closer to all of the I-29 schools in the Summit Leauge than Oakland is.

As a UND alum who lives in Colorado, I would welcome DU to the Big Sky. It means more chances for us fans to pack DU venues to watch UND play.

[UNDColorado]

As a UND alum who lives in Colorado, I would welcome DU to the Big Sky. It means more chances for us fans to pack DU venues to watch UND play.

AGREED

[GeauxSioux]

I've been contemplating Denver. Most of us North Dakota fans are intrigued by them due to hockey. But, really that is all they bring to the table. They never have had much success in basketball, which is most important to a non-football school or conference. Outside of hockey, they don't have alot of fan support. They are a private school. Basically, in the big picture of all this conference shuffling, all they have going for them is location. And by location, I mean ease of air travel. Competetively, their location is not ideal considering they have to compete with Colorado, Colorado St., Air Force, and even Northern Colorado, in addition to four professional teams for entertainment dollars.

I think Denver's options are just as limited as Idaho's. Despite how much I love the hockey rivalry with the Pioneers, I can't say I'd be in favor of them being in the Big Sky, especially now that Idaho is in the fold.

Personally, I think Denver probably has two realistic options left, but probably not for at least 3 years. One is that I think Idaho will end up playing football in the Big Sky. The Mountain West will add New Mexico St. and Texas-El Paso. That will give the MWC 12 football schools, allowing for divisional play and a championship game, but leaving them with 11 all-sports schools. I could see the MWC then adding Denver to round out the all-sports school alignment and not alterting the geography of the league at all. The second is, that eventually Oakland University will leave the Summit. When that happens, the Summit would be obliged to consider Denver. Although the Summit has been condensing its footprint in recent years, they still remain the most volatile of all DI conferences, and need to protect against future defections. I believe Denver would actually be closer to all of the I-29 schools in the Summit Leauge than Oakland is.

I think the Big Sky will attempt to "capture" Denver, not letting them go east. Denver is very good academically and according to their Wikipedia page, they were the highest ranked non-football playing school in the NACDA Director's Cup. Also, UND has a ton of alums in the Denver metro, bringing UND athletics to the fans. If/when the WAC shuts down, Women's S/D will be looking for a home. Perhaps adding Idaho and Denver will get Big Sky S/D going. I know that UNA has swimming, but not sure who else has it.

[UNDvince97-01]

Ummm....this is interesting. Work with me here...

Ok, a friend of mine in GF swears he saw WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd on campus this week.

And don't ask me how he knows what Jeff Hurd looks like. All I know is that Hurd is a Minot native and my "older" friend happens to be from Minot originally.

Let the speculation begin...

EDIT: What a post for #800

[The Sicatoka]

The current WAC -

Denver: Faison worked with them to form the NCHC and knows them from the WCHA.

Idaho: GF Herald story today has Faison saying their AD Rob Spear is an old friend.

New Mexico State: Faison was the AD there before coming here.

Seattle: No know Faison connection.

That the end of today's "Six Degrees of Brian Faison".

Then again, Hurd could be on campus because he's a Minot guy, he was the WAC's media coordinator (a position Sean Johnson just left at UND) for a long time before being named WAC interim commissioner, and he may be out of a job soon (if the WAC folds).