Not sure if everyone has been following the events in the WAC, but in case not, here is a short summary:
1. Boise State, Nevada, and Fresno State have all confirmed that they will depart the WAC and compete in the MWC. MWC seems to be positioning itself to form a 12-member conference. WAC now down to 6 football members.
2. After BYU initially suggested they would depart the MWC Conferece and go independant in football and play all other sports in the WAC, it now looks like they will remain in the MWC.
3. Rumours out of Hawaii suggest that they may go independant for football, and compete in all other sports in the WCC (Gonzaga, Santa Clara, Pepperdine, etc.) This would drop the WAC to 5 football members.
4. Other rumors suggest that with BYU staying in the MWC, Utah State could get another invite, bringing the MWC to 12 members. (They initially turned down a MWC invite before they knew Nevada and Fresno agreed to join.......so much for loyalty, eh?)
If #3 or #4 happen, the WAC is dead.
There have been rumors of Sac State, PSU, Montana, MSU, Cal-Poly, and Cal-Davis possibly making the jump. However, Montana seems to be only half-heartedly pursuing their "move-up" study, and MSU just confirmed that despite rumor, they have, in fact not been in contact with the WAC. These are probably the two programs that the WAC would want/need in order to survive.
Perhaps Portland State and Sac State haven't been showing their entire hands, but at this juncture I haven't seen anything that would suggest serious discussion to make the move within the time frame that would be required to save the WAC. Perhaps Cal-Poly or Davis are in discussion, although I have a hard time seeing how they would fund it with the state of California's economy.
All of this begs the question: What's going to happen to schools like Idaho, San Jose, New Mexico State, and LA Tech. If the MWC doesn't extend an invite to the remaining 4 WAC schools, they could all be in serious trouble. LA Tech could easily join the Sun Belt (there's already 2 LA schools in that conferece). Not sure what San Jose State would do, or NMSU....Sun Belt? Not really a good fit for San Jose State geographically.
How about Idaho? Seriously, if the WAC folds, and they find themselves with no home, what are they going to do? Sun Belt? They were a member before, but the travel costs associated with competing with the geographic locations of those schools would be astronomical. Would anyone in Moscow even be interested in watching the Vandals play LA-Lafayette and LA-Monroe.......Western Kentucky? Does this really make the most sense for them, both economically and regionally? Maybe Vandal folks would see it differently, but I would suggest that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
But if the MWC doesn't extend them an invite, and they find themselves without a home......why not the Big Sky Conference, of which they were a founding member? Seriously, why wouldn't they want to re-new their old rivalries with Montana, MSU, Eastern, etc? Maybe many UI people would rather see their school drop football than drop "back down", but if all of the above happens, wouldn't this make the most sense for them.
Hell, if San Jose finds themselves in the same situation, I say we try to grab them as well.
Why wouldn't the BSC take advantage of the opportunity to solidify it's position in FCS in the western US? Adding San Jose State would give Sac an in-state rival and would generate more interest in their program. Add Davis and Cal-Poly out of the GWC, and you have 4 California Schools competing in the BSC.
A newly formed BSC could looks like this: I broke it down by potential travel partners.
*Denotes new conference member
"Pacific Davision"
Eastern Washington
Portland State
Sac State
*Cal-Davis
*Cal-Poly
*San Jose State
Northern Arizona
"Mountain Division"
Montana
Montana State
*Idaho
Idaho State
Weber State
*Southern Utah
Northern Colorado
Probably a pipe dream, but no one has actually mentioned that the BSC and FSC could actually come out stronger through all of this conference re-alignment stuff.
1. Boise State, Nevada, and Fresno State have all confirmed that they will depart the WAC and compete in the MWC. MWC seems to be positioning itself to form a 12-member conference. WAC now down to 6 football members.
2. After BYU initially suggested they would depart the MWC Conferece and go independant in football and play all other sports in the WAC, it now looks like they will remain in the MWC.
3. Rumours out of Hawaii suggest that they may go independant for football, and compete in all other sports in the WCC (Gonzaga, Santa Clara, Pepperdine, etc.) This would drop the WAC to 5 football members.
4. Other rumors suggest that with BYU staying in the MWC, Utah State could get another invite, bringing the MWC to 12 members. (They initially turned down a MWC invite before they knew Nevada and Fresno agreed to join.......so much for loyalty, eh?)
If #3 or #4 happen, the WAC is dead.
There have been rumors of Sac State, PSU, Montana, MSU, Cal-Poly, and Cal-Davis possibly making the jump. However, Montana seems to be only half-heartedly pursuing their "move-up" study, and MSU just confirmed that despite rumor, they have, in fact not been in contact with the WAC. These are probably the two programs that the WAC would want/need in order to survive.
Perhaps Portland State and Sac State haven't been showing their entire hands, but at this juncture I haven't seen anything that would suggest serious discussion to make the move within the time frame that would be required to save the WAC. Perhaps Cal-Poly or Davis are in discussion, although I have a hard time seeing how they would fund it with the state of California's economy.
All of this begs the question: What's going to happen to schools like Idaho, San Jose, New Mexico State, and LA Tech. If the MWC doesn't extend an invite to the remaining 4 WAC schools, they could all be in serious trouble. LA Tech could easily join the Sun Belt (there's already 2 LA schools in that conferece). Not sure what San Jose State would do, or NMSU....Sun Belt? Not really a good fit for San Jose State geographically.
How about Idaho? Seriously, if the WAC folds, and they find themselves with no home, what are they going to do? Sun Belt? They were a member before, but the travel costs associated with competing with the geographic locations of those schools would be astronomical. Would anyone in Moscow even be interested in watching the Vandals play LA-Lafayette and LA-Monroe.......Western Kentucky? Does this really make the most sense for them, both economically and regionally? Maybe Vandal folks would see it differently, but I would suggest that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
But if the MWC doesn't extend them an invite, and they find themselves without a home......why not the Big Sky Conference, of which they were a founding member? Seriously, why wouldn't they want to re-new their old rivalries with Montana, MSU, Eastern, etc? Maybe many UI people would rather see their school drop football than drop "back down", but if all of the above happens, wouldn't this make the most sense for them.
Hell, if San Jose finds themselves in the same situation, I say we try to grab them as well.
Why wouldn't the BSC take advantage of the opportunity to solidify it's position in FCS in the western US? Adding San Jose State would give Sac an in-state rival and would generate more interest in their program. Add Davis and Cal-Poly out of the GWC, and you have 4 California Schools competing in the BSC.
A newly formed BSC could looks like this: I broke it down by potential travel partners.
*Denotes new conference member
"Pacific Davision"
Eastern Washington
Portland State
Sac State
*Cal-Davis
*Cal-Poly
*San Jose State
Northern Arizona
"Mountain Division"
Montana
Montana State
*Idaho
Idaho State
Weber State
*Southern Utah
Northern Colorado
Probably a pipe dream, but no one has actually mentioned that the BSC and FSC could actually come out stronger through all of this conference re-alignment stuff.
