CSU- Bakersfield Accepts invite to Big West

[Kadeezy]

Wtf...

Sees like SAC would be a much better fit in the BW, while remaining Football-only members in the BSC, like Davis and Poly. Come. On!

 

[Green Cookie Monster]

Why? SB has a 5,000 seat really nice arena on campus and a 3,600 seat baseball stadium than is big/nice enough to host regionals. Sac State has......chirp, chirp, chirp.

 

[SDHornet]

Bako, not San Bernadino, got the BW invite along with UCSD. BW now sits at 11 members.

The Big West Conference Board of Directors today announced the addition of California State University, Bakersfield and the University of California San Diego as the 10th and 11th members of the Conference.

CSU Bakersfield will become an official member of the conference on July 1, 2020, and will be immediately eligible in round-robin and single-site championship sports for Big West titles, awards and honors and continue its eligibility for NCAA automatic qualification in these sports.

UC San Diego will begin an NCAA mandated four-year reclassification period to Division I on July 1, 2020. Its teams will be included in all Big West round robin sports schedules beginning with the 2020-21 academic year. UC San Diego will become an official member of the conference on July 1, 2024.

 

[SJHornet]

Until we build a real basketball facility, and prove we care about basketball, we’re not getting a sniff by the BW. Not sure that’s a bad thing. I keep hearing about a Big Sky split. If this were to happen (maybe with a nudge now by NMSU and UVU???), I would think it would be good for the program. It will get interesting.

It’s a shame. I had hoped we could get CSUB on board with us if we were to change conferences as a travel partner and new rival. It’s the move they’ve wanted for a long time. Congrats to them I suppose.

 

[SDHornet]

WAC is going to have a hard time from here on out. The WAC did Bako some good, and Bako prospered there. Now they will be just another CA public school in the BW morass...but if you're Bako you have to make that move, especially since they were denied by the BW two previous times.

I wonder if Hornet soccer will be looking for a new home in a few years?

 

[Green Cookie Monster]

What about baseball? Is the WACKED in danger of dropping below the required number of teams?

We won’t get a sniff by anyone looking to add with Hornet Gymnasium, no matter how much lipstick they put on it. And a b-ball team in a free fall.

Really a head scratcher as we have the highest budget in the Big Sky, but the worst facilities.

 

[GreenArmySwarm]

Sigh...

I really wanted for us to be the CSU school that joins the conference with UCSD. As much as I love the Big Sky, it just makes so much more sense for us to be in the Big West for our Olympic Sports. If you're for a Big West affiliation, then it's looking extremely bleak at the moment. We all know the unique politics of the BW due to the UC vs CSU dynamic. With the conference rounding out at 5/5 +1 Hawai'i, it seems almost impossible for the board to approve a Sac State invite. Unless UC Santa Cruz or UC Merced wants to make the jump which is extremely unlikely.

Congrats to UCSD and CS-Baskersfield for the invite. They've waited and waited for half a decade now so I'm happy for them. At the same time, I'm saddened for Sac State.

 

[SDHornet]

It's a logical fit but the BW is just a conference of convenience for most of it's membership. There is pretty much no innovation or drive for its membership to truly invest in athletics. They largely have a "just happy to be D1" mentality. If you don't believe it, just look at their gyms...a lot of them are just larger versions of The Nest. While that move would have saved us a good amount in travel, I believe our leadership (Nelsen) has a bigger vision.

IMO, the most depressing part of this news is that the WAC is now back in panic mode. The WAC has a more western membership in large metro areas. Prior to the Bako departure, I felt the WAC would have been a better fit if we were to leave the BSC (assuming FB had a solid home). The WAC had lots of potential, and still does, if it can hang on through this new turmoil.

The larger D1 picture is more interesting. The P4 conferences will all get new TV deals by the mid-2020's which will most likely be preceded by another massive round of conference realignment (main domino is the cannibalization of the desirable B12 programs). How the fallout from that move ripples throughout the remaining D1 FB (G5, top tier FCS) membership will be something to keep an eye on.

 

[GreenArmySwarm]

It's a logical fit but the BW is just a conference of convenience for most of it's membership. There is pretty much no innovation or drive for its membership to truly invest in athletics. They largely have a "just happy to be D1" mentality. If you don't believe it, just look at their gyms...a lot of them are just larger versions of The Nest. While that move would have saved us a good amount in travel, I believe our leadership (Nelsen) has a bigger vision.

IMO, the most depressing part of this news is that the WAC is now back in panic mode. The WAC has a more western membership in large metro areas. Prior to the Bako departure, I felt the WAC would have been a better fit if we were to leave the BSC (assuming FB had a solid home). The WAC had lots of potential, and still does, if it can hang on through this new turmoil.

The larger D1 picture is more interesting. The P4 conferences will all get new TV deals by the mid-2020's which will most likely be preceded by another massive round of conference realignment (main domino is the cannibalization of the desirable B12 programs). How the fallout from that move ripples throughout the remaining D1 FB (G5, top tier FCS) membership will be something to keep an eye on.

Totally agree that the BW is "just a conference of convenience", but I don't think it matters when it comes to the Olympic sports. Personally, for low-budget sports (I'd put our basketball into this as well), natural "rivalry" games are the most important. I know I'm using the word rivalry very loosely here so I apologize in advance hehe. I also noticed that there's a contract between BW and ESPN to show some of their "marquee" basketball matchups throughout the year (Usually on ESPNU/ESPNNews) but I think that still means something. I guess I just want our student-body to show be more involved in our athletic programs and matching up year round with school that these students have actually heard of is a big step forward to doing that. I recently graduated from the University and most of my ex-classmates applied to half of these BW schools alongside with Sac State so they naturally know about these schools.

Once again, I completely agree with your comment about the WAC. At the same time, I think the Universities that made that Conference relevant does not want to be in the Conference. It's sad but it's true. I think Grand Canyon is dying to join the WCC. It makes a lot of sense too, a private religious-affiliated university with one of the best basketball programs out West. They just scream WCC. New Mexico State, they're just waiting and praying for a C-USA invite. UMKC, they're just waiting for an invite to the Summit. So yes, on paper, WAC looks pretty strong, but in reality, not really.

To wrap this up, I think Nelsen and Orr is waiting out and see what's going to happen after the next major TV deal like you said above. So let's just hope we're on the right side of things.

 

[superhornet]

With the exception of LBSU, SD is correct. The only arena even close to D-I standards (IMO) besides the Pyramid was Spanos Center, and now THAT arena is in the West Coast Conference. The worst was UC Riverside, whose gym was about the size of a middle school gym. They let opposing fans dominate the court all the time...even if it's just ONE fan. I know because I was that one fan.

Of course, that wouldn't happen at LBSU or Foolerton. They have fans that are much more spirited....

 

[SJHornet]

Not Sac St related, but reports are swirling that Gonzaga may be headed to the MWC. They will decide within the next few weeks. More interestingly, several agencies have reported that the MWC wants to make a 16 team super conference, with two eight team divisions. NMSU, GCU and Seattle have all been mentioned as targets. Sac won’t be considered for a place in the super conference (if it even has a chance in hell), but it does raise interesting questions about how the west will shake out. Plenty of school out there to make a hypothetical new mid-major conference, or even Big Sky expansion.

 

[superhornet]

And I'm hearing reports (rather early and vague, mind you) of that D-I INO Utah Valley to the WCC to replace the Zags.

That would be ANOTHER questionable move, IMO.

 

[GreenArmySwarm]

Well, Zags stay in the MWC but this doesn't affect Sac much if at all.

Anyone think we should move our Baseball team out of the WAC and into the Big West? (If they let us).
With CSUB leaving, WAC baseball will be weaker than ever. Doesn't make a lot of sense for us to continue to stay in the conference. Big West is actually one of the better mid-major if not THE best in the country. With Cal State Fullerton (pretty much a top-25 team every year) and Long Beach State, it'd definitely boost our SOS. We have the talent to keep up, (I think we're 14-16 against PAC12 teams since 2012). The only downfall is that our chances of making it to the NCAA Tournament will not be as great every year because of the reason mentioned above. Which is actually a pretty big deal when it comes to recruiting and such. But if you want to raise the school profile is all aspect of athletics, then you just have to bet on your ability to win in a better conference.

 

[SDHornet]

Interesting post GAS. Baseball to the BW would be cool but that won’t happen. That would mean the Hornets having 2 of the 3 marquee BW men’s sports without full membership. Not gonna happen.

WAC baseball will be fine, and by that I mean not much will change with Bako leaving. WAC was never on track to get more than the conference tourney champ into Regionals, nor was a WAC champion ever going to host a Regionals, not when it has the BW, P12, MW, and WCC to compete against on the west coast. Based on this site, 2017 RPI rankings went P12 (5), BW (8), WCC (11), MW (17), WAC (25) of 31 conferences. 2018 RPI currently stands at P12 (5), MW (7), WCC (14), BW (15), WAC (20).

Bako has a solid program but is currently regressing (and are regressing across the board as is appears they no longer have a desire to invest in athletics with the move to the BW). NMSU has always been a solid baseball program, and GCU is pouring millions into their athletics. Seattle and UVU have won titles in the last 5 years. UNC has made significant improvement under Iwasaki the past few years. UTRGV has been down but they look to be turning things around. The only true dog in the WAC is Chi State, and they might not even have D1 athletics in the near future. Point being there is quite a bit of parity in the WAC with a few teams in the running for the regular season title year in and year out. I haven’t followed WAC baseball that closely this season as I have the past few years, but it appears this season is no different than others in the recent past.

As far as how the Hornets would do in the BW? Well I think we would do just fine sooner rather than later assuming funding is increased to BW levels. Yes the conference competition would be a step up, but Christiansen has proven he can recruit and more importantly develop talent at every position. So if this program were to regularly play in talent rich SoCal, I have no doubt Christiansen would land some SoCal studs that would further elevate this program to BW championship caliber standards. I would expect this program to finish in the top half of the BW year in and year out and be in the conversation for regular season hardware on a regular basis with the occasional at-large bids to Regionals. :twocents:

 

[GreenArmySwarm]

SD Hornet,
Good insight on the RPI rankings! Totally agreed on the evaluations on the schools left in the WAC. The concern I have with the WAC is that everyone in it is trying to get out.

-CSU Baskersfied - gone
-New Mexico State, if they keep it up with the recent success of football and basketball, they'll get either an invite to C-USA (most likely) or MWC. They're building momentum towards it from what I've read.
-GCU - their train is headed straight towards the WCC. They program fits the culture and geographic setting of the conference perfectly. Pretty sure they'd actually improve the RPI of the conference as a whole. They're already better than half the schools in the conference.
-Seattle - they're just hopping to attach a car to GCU's WCC train

UVU, UTGRV, and UNC - good luck.

That leaves us. My point is, we don't need to be aligned with 3 different conferences for all 4 main sports. WAC was once a great mid-major conference, now, it's just a conference of misfits and we should want no part of it. They're adding the tiny California Baptist University as a conference member next year for crying out loud. It's time to leave.

Football & Basketball - Big Sky
Baseball - WAC
Soccer - Big West

 

[Green Cookie Monster]

They're adding the tiny California Baptist University as a conference member next year for crying out loud. It's time to leave.

This tiny university has done something Sac State cant figure out how to do. Build a 5,000 seat Events Center.
http://cbulancers.com/sports/2017/10/30/cbu-events-center.aspx

Sure there are talks by Sac State admins and the students voted for it, but 14yrs. later it is only a minor discussion behind closed doors.

Dallas Baptist University was in the conference not too long ago and kicking ass and not taking names. Their baseball facility rivals many Pac12 schools.
http://dbupatriots.com/facilities/?id=4

Sac State would be a forgotten cog in the BW Bus League, at least where it is positioned now we have a chance of winning a conference title. The Beach VB team is in the BW and has a 4-15 record, getting body slammed by every BW team.

Sac State has a very high athletics budget but it seems it is all spent on coaches salaries. Certainly not facilities.

Sac State mens Soccer has done ok in the BW surprisingly, but that has to do with the HC, who has been at Sac since dirt was discovered and has a recruiting edge due to this.

Christianson is a stud and the best HC at Sac by far. It wont be long until his talents are noticed and a big fat offer from a P5 school comes calling.

 

[EventCenterNow]

With regard to the event center, I wish somebody would carry the torch for this campaign. The first post I made, I pointed out that Sac State doesn't have anyone like Kevin Johnson or Carmichael Dave or Crown Downtown to make people aware of the university's need for an event center. :thumbdown: Mark Orr may be asking for help on this matter, but it seems he's getting met with a lot of resistance and indifference. :tothehand: I truly want to see people in Sacramento start caring about its university, but it's going to take a lot of arm twisting and pressure on the part of so many people :twisted: to get anything accomplished.