Best chance to be successful in the WAC

[clawman1]

Which BSC school do you think has the best chance of being competitive by joining the WAC?
While the Griz fans feel it is the next step for their program and feel they could be the next Boise State, I feel the Eagles could fill that role better. The whole state of MT has less than 900k people. In the greater Spokane area we are approaching 1/2 that number. The rivalry between the Eagles and the Vandals would rekindle immediately and that would take the casual fan away from the Cougars.
All of this speculation in totally dependent on $$$.
It would be a huge leap for the Eagles to make this next step but I feel this program in in the the right location to make it work.

 

[EWURanger]

The biggest thing is money.....massive budget cuts state-wide aren't making things easy as it is. Additional football scholarships plus additional women's sports/scholarships. Another thing is facilities. A move would mean we'd most likely have to go back to playing at Joe Albi, which is a far better facility to be sure, but it means moving the games off-campus....not a big fan of that.

That said, I wouldn't want to see us move to the WAC. It's a conference that is a shell of its former self. True, a renewed rivalry with Idaho would take place, but what about the rest of the games.........if people in Spokane aren't massively interested in watching us play UNC and ISU, what makes anyone think they'd be impressed enough to come out and watch New Mexico State.......Texas San Antonio? At least the Big Sky is somewhat regional with Portland State, ISU, and the Montana Schools......and it's also got an increased presence in California with the addition of Cal Poly and UC Davis. The WAC doesn't have this......exposure in California is critical to recruiting. We get solid players there. Meyer, Nichols, Taiwan, Mario Brown.....all California kids, and there are more coming.

Right now the Big Sky is in a better position than the WAC. It is more solvent and will be the premier FCS football conference starting in 2012. Not sure why we'd want to go anywhere, especially the WAC(k). There are definitely benefits for a move to the FBS, but IMO the landscape of college football is going to continue to change over the next several years. The new super-BCS conferences will completely shut the smaller FBS conferences out of all the big money bowl games. Effectively, that's going to create a new Division......don't be surprised if you see the upper FCS and lower FBS conferences combine to create a new 1-AA. Schools like Idaho and Utah State have a lot more in common in a competitive aspect with Montaa and Portland State than they do BSU and Utah.

Forgot to add: Do I think Washington could support another FBS team? Yes. Do I think Eastern would be competitive in the WAC right now? Definitely.

 

[FreeBird]

Strictly from a demographics perspective there's no reason Eastern couldn't be as successful as Boise St, and more successful than Idaho is or Montana could be. The only real difference is Missoula is loaded with hard core football fans. I just haven't seen that from Spokane.

I think if Spokane could demonstrate that level of passion for football, it would be a no brainer.

 

[EWURanger]

Forgot to add that I think from a demographics perspective Portland State is the best suited for an FBS move. Followed by Sac, followed by Eastern. Montana would be the best bet right out of the gate, but I don't see them going anywhere without Montana State, and I'm not sure if a state with Montana's population base could support 2 x FBS programs.

From a purely competitive aspect, it'd be Montana, Eastern, and MSU. Those three schools would be competitive right now in what's left of the WAC, even with just 63 scholarships.

 

[EWURanger]

Strictly from a demographics perspective there's no reason Eastern couldn't be as successful as Boise St, and more successful than Idaho is or Montana could be. The only real difference is Missoula is loaded with hard core football fans. I just haven't seen that from Spokane.

I think if Spokane could demonstrate that level of passion for football, it would be a no brainer.

I agree with most of what you said. The BSU comparison is a tough one, though. Keep in mind that they (BSU) had massive financial support during their transition from a lot of the big companies in Boise like JR Simplot, Micron, HP, etc........they also always had a really decent facility in Bronco Stadium that is right in the middle of town. I believe they were drawing 20k+ even back in their Big Sky days.

I'm not sure there will ever be another Boise State. It was a perfect storm for them.

 

[ewunerd]

.if people in Spokane aren't massively interested in watching us play UNC and ISU, what makes anyone think they'd be impressed enough to come out and watch New Mexico State.......Texas San Antonio?

I think EWU would still see much better attendance/attention from Spokane if they were IA playing those teams. Spokane really is a pretty terrible sports town (even calling it a sports town is a stretch...) so no matter how good EWU is being in IAA will give them the impression that they're second tier. Look at the support they give WSU with how bad they've been the last few years. I guarentee if WSU were Big Sky they wouldnt see that kind of support. But being in IA would give them the impression that EWU is big time football and I think they would come out in droves.

But I do agree with you on the rest of what you said. For any team I think going to the WAC is a terrible idea given the increased costs with questionable returns money wise. A fuller stadium will offset much of that, but really the money these days is in television and I dont think the WAC will be seeing much of that revenue in the future...

What EWU really needs to do is strike while the irons hot and upgrade their darn facilities so they're in that position if opportunity calls and its a right move. We're at a high point right now with he buzz of the red turf and national championships still in peoples minds so I think we'd be able to generate some decent excitement from Spokane for such a project, as opposed to say a couple of years ago. Would at least send a message that EWU is serious about their football.

 

[Obzerver]

nerd has a great point in regards to second tier status. Someone said Spokane isn't passionate enough about Football but how does one explain the Shock's record breaking attendence? Heck they pulled in over 16,000 for an indoor game...outside at Albi. Bet if WSU would play their games in Spokane their attendence would close to double especially if the campus was in Spokane).

 

[Screamin_Eagle174]

nerd has a great point in regards to second tier status. Someone said Spokane isn't passionate enough about Football but how does one explain the Shock's record breaking attendence? Heck they pulled in over 16,000 for an indoor game...outside at Albi. Bet if WSU would play their games in Spokane their attendence would close to double especially if the campus was in Spokane).

Spokane is a bandwagon town for teams that are top-tier level of play and/or National Championship contenders. That's part of the Shock's success, but also the time of year they play... when nothing else is going on. Who really wants to go to an Indian's game when they can go see the shock indoors and air conditioned? Spokane is full of fair-weather fans, figuratively and literally.

That said, hno: at this thread. The last thing we need is move up threads, especially to the WAC. I'd rather us be NC contenders with a poor fanbase, than a contender in THE bottom feeder conference in FBS with no playoffs, only a pathetic bowl, but with a decent fanbase (mostly fair-weather fans).

 

[ewunerd]

That said, hno: at this thread. The last thing we need is move up threads, especially to the WAC. I'd rather us be NC contenders with a poor fanbase, than a contender in THE bottom feeder conference in FBS with no playoffs, only a pathetic bowl, but with a decent fanbase (mostly fair-weather fans).

Ditto but I dont think it hurts to talk about it now and then. EWU's always found ways to field solid teams so whos to say that wouldnt continue in IA? But like I said earlier it would be great to see us in a position that if an FBS conference did come calling and the move was a smart one (unlike the current WAC situation) we'd be in a position to make the jump.

The fact that we'd be competitive in the WAC goes a long way in supporting how teams like Idaho and most Sun Bet teams are closer to Big Sky teams vs most BCS teams. If the 6 BCS conferences did form their own division of sorts its feasible the rest of IA would be merged with IAA.

 

[JasonBourne]

I like that idea, would be cool to see Eastern move up to the WAC and become the dominant program in that conference.

 

[eaglesfootball]

if the WAC were a more regional conference as in something along the lines of what the old Big Sky used to look like with Eastern, BSU, UI, ISU, UM, MSU, Nevada etc. then I think there would be some legitimacy in aspiring to be a part of that. that was a great regional conference back in the day and it's a shame that it has changed so much since then. however the new Bigger Sky is looking like its going to be a great conference so unless something massive changes in the next couple of years I dont know why we would want to change anything. agree that the WAC is going to be a really poor football conference with a bunch of Texas start ups and programs like San Jose and New Mexico State? Quite possibly 2 of the worst 2 fbs programs in existence imo. and I think montana would have the best chance of being successful in that conference quite possible dominate but i also agree that montana might not be capable of supporting two fbs schools.

 

[kalm]

We would be better off waiting for the BSC to move up in mass.

 

[EdubAlum]

We would be better off waiting for the BSC to move up in mass.

I thought that was disallowed these days?

 

[LDopaPDX]

We can wipe this idea of the map entirely, at least at this moment. Eastern has always been successful, but has been that way with one of the smallest AD budgets in the conference, general deficit spending (not uncommon, but not desirable), and a small revenue stream.

There is NO way Eastern can afford to add sports and scholarships necessary to move up to the WAC. Remember, this isn't about expanding one sport, we must meet all Title IX requirements. That is also the hanging point for Montana, because further investment in that arena is an investment without any return at all... it just doesn't make sense unless moving to the WAC is going to represent HUGE growth in football and basketball revenues, and although those segments might grow for Montana, they won't grow enough to offset the additional expenses.

As for the Spokane market supporting the move, well, let's just say I wouldn't hold my breath. Spokane is fickle and has shown a complete unwillingness to support either WSU or Idaho in the past. Gonzaga's b-ball team draws OK, but they only have to fill a 6,000-seat arena across the river from downtown... that's far easier than bringing in football sized crowds in a more remote place.