http://www.collegesportingnews.com/content.php?204-BCS-Conference-Changes-and-the-FCS-%28Part-II%29
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More WAC stuff
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Did someone even proofread that article...wow!!
Two things, Hornet Stadium never hosted the I-AA Champ Game in 1980. That was Hughes Stadium.
Second, the AD is not dependent at all on the State's General Fund, so that is not something we need to worry about.
Two things, Hornet Stadium never hosted the I-AA Champ Game in 1980. That was Hughes Stadium.
Second, the AD is not dependent at all on the State's General Fund, so that is not something we need to worry about.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/nick_christensen/index.ssf/2010/06/vikings_still_a_player_in_coll.html
Vikings still a player in college shuffle
Published: Friday, June 18, 2010, 8:00 AM Updated: Friday, June 18, 2010, 8:25 AM
Nick Christensen, The Hillsboro Argus
Story tools
The Big 12 has 10 teams, the Big Ten has 12 teams, the Pac-16 is a pipe dream and the Mountain West went from being bride to bridesmaid yet again.
There’s still one more player to show its cards in the college football restructuring, one that could have a Fiesta Bowl contender playing at PGE Park.
No, the Ducks won’t be kicking off a Rose Bowl campaign at Portland’s new soccer palace.
The Western Athletic Conference has a void to fill with the loss of Boise State, and to hear some western media outlets tell it, Portland State is a prime candidate for the WAC’s replacement plans.
The Vikings will be playing their home schedule at Hillsboro Stadium this year, before returning to the football-only PGE Park for the 2011 season. And with the Big Sky Conference being the point of origin of many of the WAC’s success stories, including Boise, Nevada-Reno and Idaho, Portland State and its accompanying TV market represent low-hanging fruit.
Torre Chisholm, the Vikings’ director of athletics, said he hasn’t thought about the possibility of making the jump. But the school clearly has plenty at stake in the WAC’s decision.
“You can’t deny the greater exposure, and you can’t deny the overall benefit of competing at the bowl level and the awareness and pageantry,” Chisholm said. “Those pieces are irrefutable, but they all come at a cost, too.”
After all the shenanigans of the last two weeks, nobody’s going to put up a big neon sign saying “Pick me!”
But in a teleconference before Boise bolted for the Mountain West, WAC commissioner Karl Benson, who has been brilliant at keeping his conference somewhat relevant after facing several challenges, said he thinks his member schools will act “much sooner than later.”
That action could include Football Championship Subdivision schools, he said.
Portland State has successfully competed against the WAC in the last few years, with a winning percentage in head-to-head competition with WAC schools highlighted, ironically, by a 21-14 loss at Boise State in 2005, a game that was tied in the fourth quarter against a team that finished the season 9-4.
So the competition is there. What about the facilities?
“With the new PGE Park renovation, we’re going to make that a top-quality facility,” Chisholm said. “We’ve played basketball at the Rose Garden and Coliseum before, so we can always revisit that.”
The biggest question is whether Portland State fits the WAC profile, both academically and financially.
Scrooge McDuck doesn’t have enough money in his vault to fill the void between Portland State’s annual athletics budget of $9 million and the average WAC budget of $20 million — a sea of gold that won’t be immediately filled by television revenue from the conference’s ESPN contract.
When Boise and Idaho made the jump, that gap was much smaller, Chisholm said.
“Part of it is just a leap of faith. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t,” he said. “It comes at a cost. If you look at the institutional investment in conferences like the WAC or Sun Belt or Mid-American, all those athletic programs are subsidized heavily by the general university.”
That could be a similar problem at other public institutions apparently on the short list.
Other candidates include UC Davis, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Sacramento State. Presumably off the list is Montana, the most obvious choice to make the jump but a school that has, in the past, resisted making the promotion from the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).
The Grizzlies reportedly would be reluctant to make the jump without being joined by their rivals from Montana State.
Sacramento State and UC Davis are the other highly attractive candidates, with a new football stadium, a history of playing FBS teams and access to two television markets (Sacramento and the Bay Area).
But WAC members San Jose State, Fresno State and Nevada-Reno might be reluctant to see competition for recruits pop up in their fertile ground, particularly with UC Davis having better facilities and a superior academic reputation to the three longtime WAC competitors.
Fresno State, in particular, has made a point of branding itself as the Central Valley’s football team, an edgy alternative to California’s polished Pac-10 programs.
All this, and more, is what Chisholm is faced with as the game of “Musical Conferences” works its way down to the Big Sky level.
“We have to be aware of everything that’s out there,” he said. “The biggest fear is being caught unaware. If something happens, and the Big Sky is minus two schools, our whole conference and our membership is at risk.”
And that could put Chisholm — and all of his Big Sky peers — into a poker game where you have to play offense, not defense, to win.
Readers can reach Nick Christensen at 503-214-1129 or [email protected]
Vikings still a player in college shuffle
Published: Friday, June 18, 2010, 8:00 AM Updated: Friday, June 18, 2010, 8:25 AM
Nick Christensen, The Hillsboro Argus
Story tools
The Big 12 has 10 teams, the Big Ten has 12 teams, the Pac-16 is a pipe dream and the Mountain West went from being bride to bridesmaid yet again.
There’s still one more player to show its cards in the college football restructuring, one that could have a Fiesta Bowl contender playing at PGE Park.
No, the Ducks won’t be kicking off a Rose Bowl campaign at Portland’s new soccer palace.
The Western Athletic Conference has a void to fill with the loss of Boise State, and to hear some western media outlets tell it, Portland State is a prime candidate for the WAC’s replacement plans.
The Vikings will be playing their home schedule at Hillsboro Stadium this year, before returning to the football-only PGE Park for the 2011 season. And with the Big Sky Conference being the point of origin of many of the WAC’s success stories, including Boise, Nevada-Reno and Idaho, Portland State and its accompanying TV market represent low-hanging fruit.
Torre Chisholm, the Vikings’ director of athletics, said he hasn’t thought about the possibility of making the jump. But the school clearly has plenty at stake in the WAC’s decision.
“You can’t deny the greater exposure, and you can’t deny the overall benefit of competing at the bowl level and the awareness and pageantry,” Chisholm said. “Those pieces are irrefutable, but they all come at a cost, too.”
After all the shenanigans of the last two weeks, nobody’s going to put up a big neon sign saying “Pick me!”
But in a teleconference before Boise bolted for the Mountain West, WAC commissioner Karl Benson, who has been brilliant at keeping his conference somewhat relevant after facing several challenges, said he thinks his member schools will act “much sooner than later.”
That action could include Football Championship Subdivision schools, he said.
Portland State has successfully competed against the WAC in the last few years, with a winning percentage in head-to-head competition with WAC schools highlighted, ironically, by a 21-14 loss at Boise State in 2005, a game that was tied in the fourth quarter against a team that finished the season 9-4.
So the competition is there. What about the facilities?
“With the new PGE Park renovation, we’re going to make that a top-quality facility,” Chisholm said. “We’ve played basketball at the Rose Garden and Coliseum before, so we can always revisit that.”
The biggest question is whether Portland State fits the WAC profile, both academically and financially.
Scrooge McDuck doesn’t have enough money in his vault to fill the void between Portland State’s annual athletics budget of $9 million and the average WAC budget of $20 million — a sea of gold that won’t be immediately filled by television revenue from the conference’s ESPN contract.
When Boise and Idaho made the jump, that gap was much smaller, Chisholm said.
“Part of it is just a leap of faith. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t,” he said. “It comes at a cost. If you look at the institutional investment in conferences like the WAC or Sun Belt or Mid-American, all those athletic programs are subsidized heavily by the general university.”
That could be a similar problem at other public institutions apparently on the short list.
Other candidates include UC Davis, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Sacramento State. Presumably off the list is Montana, the most obvious choice to make the jump but a school that has, in the past, resisted making the promotion from the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).
The Grizzlies reportedly would be reluctant to make the jump without being joined by their rivals from Montana State.
Sacramento State and UC Davis are the other highly attractive candidates, with a new football stadium, a history of playing FBS teams and access to two television markets (Sacramento and the Bay Area).
But WAC members San Jose State, Fresno State and Nevada-Reno might be reluctant to see competition for recruits pop up in their fertile ground, particularly with UC Davis having better facilities and a superior academic reputation to the three longtime WAC competitors.
Fresno State, in particular, has made a point of branding itself as the Central Valley’s football team, an edgy alternative to California’s polished Pac-10 programs.
All this, and more, is what Chisholm is faced with as the game of “Musical Conferences” works its way down to the Big Sky level.
“We have to be aware of everything that’s out there,” he said. “The biggest fear is being caught unaware. If something happens, and the Big Sky is minus two schools, our whole conference and our membership is at risk.”
And that could put Chisholm — and all of his Big Sky peers — into a poker game where you have to play offense, not defense, to win.
Readers can reach Nick Christensen at 503-214-1129 or [email protected]
superhornet
Active member
That writer apparently equates "new stadium" with attractive. I don't think he stopped to think about the fixed capacity that's way too low. (That's the Manure Pile, BTW.)
The key point from the Portland State article is that PSU AD Torre Chisholm hasn't even begun FBS discussions, if what he is saying is truthful.
So the only two FCS administrations that are actively seeking WAC membership (and FBS status) appear to be Sac State and Texas State. PSU, UC-Davis, Cal Poly, Montana, and Montana St have all denied current interest, but may have FBS as a long-term plan. It's possible that UT-San Antonio could also be approaching the WAC about membership, but they are like four years from FBS status: Texas State would only require two years. UT-San Antonio is being evicted from the Southland Conference because UTSA refuses to schedule FCS games in conference. It is also possible that both Texas State and UTSA could be granted football only membership (UTSA later), and both schools play other sports in the non-football Summit. But it's doubtful the WAC would nurture any Texas school through the FBS transition that could later bolt. Sacramento State would have only one loyalty: the WAC.
What's also interesting is that Benson has indicated that the WAC would also look at non-football schools. The western candidates would be Denver, Seattle, and Utah Valley. Since the WAC needs a new FBS member as insurance for La Tech leaving, the WAC has to take an FCS school.
More and more it seems Sacramento State and Denver may be the WAC additions. Denver adds another media market, has easy travel, help fill out the western geography, has it's games on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain, and would be the traveling partner of NMSU.
http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2010/06/18/ccripe/boise_states_move_could_cost_wac_money
So the only two FCS administrations that are actively seeking WAC membership (and FBS status) appear to be Sac State and Texas State. PSU, UC-Davis, Cal Poly, Montana, and Montana St have all denied current interest, but may have FBS as a long-term plan. It's possible that UT-San Antonio could also be approaching the WAC about membership, but they are like four years from FBS status: Texas State would only require two years. UT-San Antonio is being evicted from the Southland Conference because UTSA refuses to schedule FCS games in conference. It is also possible that both Texas State and UTSA could be granted football only membership (UTSA later), and both schools play other sports in the non-football Summit. But it's doubtful the WAC would nurture any Texas school through the FBS transition that could later bolt. Sacramento State would have only one loyalty: the WAC.
What's also interesting is that Benson has indicated that the WAC would also look at non-football schools. The western candidates would be Denver, Seattle, and Utah Valley. Since the WAC needs a new FBS member as insurance for La Tech leaving, the WAC has to take an FCS school.
More and more it seems Sacramento State and Denver may be the WAC additions. Denver adds another media market, has easy travel, help fill out the western geography, has it's games on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain, and would be the traveling partner of NMSU.
http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2010/06/18/ccripe/boise_states_move_could_cost_wac_money
superhornet
Active member
This non-football full member stuff surprises me. I'm not sure, but I think Denver may have an advantage over other I-AAA schools since they sponsor gymnastics, a WAC minor sport. Neither Seattle nor that glorified JC do.
Ugh! I'm so mad. SUU won the WAC championship, and we were dead last. Yuck!
Ugh! I'm so mad. SUU won the WAC championship, and we were dead last. Yuck!
Super Hornet said:
Reloading, we've won two WAC championships within the last five years.
Super Hornet said:
Denver has an incredibly unique sports offerings.
It's hockey conference extends into Alaska, it's men's lacrosse conference to New York, it women's lacrosse and gymnastics conference to California, and it main sports conference (Sunbelt) to Miami (FIU). The athletic teams probably rival La Tech (and only trail Hawaii) in air miles.
Not that it matters for the WAC, but Denver's hockey team has won 7 National Championships (same as us - there is a lot of hate in that rivalry), Denver's men's lacrosse team is expected to be a major power soon (they enticed possibly the best college coach from Princeton to move west), their Tennis, Swim, and Golf teams are all very good, and their skiing teams normally are top 3 if not national champions.
Their men's basketball team is also expected to be a mid-major power: their coach installed a Princeton offense and with a very young team went over .500 in the Belt.
SJHornet
Active member
I may be mistaken, but I think Denver is currently considering joining the Summit League, (or trying to get an invite). I'm not sure the WAC would be as appealing to a non football member. The WAC's main sport is football, conferences like the Summit are more basketball oriented.
SJHornet said:
Denver is being evicted from the Sunbelt because it does not play in it's minimum of 13 sports. Denver's conference choices are likely in this order: WCC, MVC, WAC, and then the Summit. It would avoid the Summit if it could, as it has no rivals in it (UND is a rival but not yet a member), is a low rated conference, and isn't within the region from which Denver draws students or where alumni live.
superhornet
Active member
Sioux: IS Denver in a gymnastics conference? I was looking at their site yesterday and saw no reference to such. It really looked like they are a gymnastics independent with a geographically eclectic schedule (Cali to Minnesota).
Looks like Denver is independent in gymnastics. Had heard discussion earlier about Denver gymnastics mostly having western and California opponents, so I made the erroneous assumption there were a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in that sport. They are only in the that "conference" for women's lacrosse and men's soccer.Super Hornet said:
Here's the link for the sports and participating schools in the Mountain Pacific Sports Fed. Sac State is a men's soccer member.
http://www.mpsports.org/members/mpsf-members.html
