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Mountain West invites Fresno and Nevada, WAC implications?

Green Cookie Monster said:
It would be easier to add a $22M football addition and the prestige of a UC vying to be a top-10 research institution then Sac State who needs a minimum of $80M for an arena and stadium. Plus, an AD who is actively shopping for a different job. If both schools are basing anything on assurances, I'd go with the assurance of UCFE being able to find the money easier than Sac.
Money is so easy for them to come by that they were not impacted at all during this tough economic time. :roll:
 
We wouldn't be required to have an on campus arena. Plus our stadium meets the requirements without any expansion needed. the only reason to redo the stadium is to make it prettier and accommodate more fans. Our baseball facility is obviously already adequate enough for the WAC. If we cut a deal with Memorial or Arco we will be fine and have time to start raising funds. Many schools do this now.

UCFE would have to expand its stadium before it could join the WAC or any other 1A conference, a costly expenditure. It only seats 10,000 and the requirement is 15,000 They are already cutting sports to save money. Same goes for Cal Poly (except for the cutting sport programs). I think they will have a harder time than us getting in.
 
SJHornet said:
We wouldn't be required to have an on campus arena. Plus our stadium meets the requirements without any expansion needed. the only reason to redo the stadium is to make it prettier and accommodate more fans. Our baseball facility is obviously already adequate enough for the WAC. If we cut a deal with Memorial or Arco we will be fine and have time to start raising funds. Many schools do this now.

UCFE would have to expand its stadium before it could join the WAC or any other 1A conference, a costly expenditure. It only seats 10,000 and the requirement is 15,000 They are already cutting sports to save money. Same goes for Cal Poly (except for the cutting sport programs). I think they will have a harder time than us getting in.
This.
 
Well, now that they are gone from the WAC, is there really a point in trying to move up to the WAC with just The Ho around as a local rival? It would be have been one hell of a local conference with Reno and Fresno and The Ho with us and even ucd.

Thoughts? Is the current Big Sky makeup basically on par with the remnants of the WAC?
 
SactoHornetAlum said:
Well, now that they are gone from the WAC, is there really a point in trying to move up to the WAC with just The Ho around as a local rival? It would be have been one hell of a local conference with Reno and Fresno and The Ho with us and even ucd.

Thoughts? Is the current Big Sky makeup basically on par with the remnants of the WAC?
I think it depends on who else the WAC invites but I agree, Nevada and Fresno took a lot of the positives associated with a move to the WAC out of the equation. The biggest positives were the sure to be ticket sales either team would have brought with them to Hornet Stadium. :x
 
Stunning series of events. My initial reaction to Sac State joining the WAC after everything that happened today is one of great hesitation. The WAC has to be the most unstable conference in America. The Sun Belt looks more stable.

The future WAC, with Fresno and Reno leaving, has no cornerstone program that garners national attention that a Boise State did or a Fresno State did a few years ago. There is no guarantee that schools like LA Tech or New Mexico State would even stick around in the long term. Scenarios could unfold that have those two schools joining the Sun Belt or Conference USA if a team (s) eventually bolt the latter conference for greener pastures. Will San Jose State even have football by the decade's end? Is it really worth Sac State raising and expending funds to join a conference littered with bottom feeders? Where is the excitement in playing a Utah State? No different than a Weber. Or, exchange Montana for Idaho? I would rather play the Griz. Or, exchange NAU for New Mexico State? Or, playing potential new members Texas State or University of Texas at San Antonio? Yaawwwn.

Now, if the Sac State athletic department was brimming with excited donors willing to shell out millions of dollars for a football stadium renovation, or to build an onsite basketball arena, than I would be for moving up. But we are not TCU, who recently announced a $105 million football stadium renovation to be built in a year and funded by a handful of donors.

But, the truth is, we have it pretty good in the Big Sky. The football is entertaining, and the facilities are vastly improved. We have a chance to compete in the Sky and at a national level if good enough to make the playoffs. Moving up to the WAC would put us right into that elite category of a MAC's Eastern Michigan, a Sun Belt's University of Louisiana - Monroe, or a WAC's San Jose State. And, if BYU joins the WAC in all sports except football, think about perpetually losing to them in all the Olympic sports.

And, that is all I have got to say about that.
 
Rat, for the most part, I agree with you. But a conference like the Big Sky, even outside of football, handicaps competition in all the other sports. Volleyball has suffered probably the biggest injustice because Debby Colberg had a legitimate top 25 program, but because of the conference we are in, severely held us back when it came time for the NCAA's.

IF BY? is really serious about the WAC in all non-football sports, then its still a very attractive conference nationally. I think they pulled a Texas in the past 3 days personally and had no intention of leaving.

If you think about this, with the exception of TCU and BSU, this is really the old WAC from 12 years ago without Hawai'i and The Ho, and next year, Utah.
 
I agree with what has been said, but do we want to risk the health of the athletic department (and risk fielding a football team)for what could potentially be a jump to a sinking ship?
 
SDHornet said:
I agree with what has been said, but do we want to risk the health of the athletic department (and risk fielding a football team)for what could potentially be a jump to a sinking ship?

Actually, it'll still be healthier than playing FCS football because even ESPN televises all FBS leagues. Can the same be said about FCS? The amounts of money even the Sun Belt get is obscene compared to the Big Sky, Colonial, SoCon, etc.
 
SactoHornetAlum said:
SDHornet said:
I agree with what has been said, but do we want to risk the health of the athletic department (and risk fielding a football team)for what could potentially be a jump to a sinking ship?

Actually, it'll still be healthier than playing FCS football because even ESPN televises all FBS leagues. Can the same be said about FCS? The amounts of money even the Sun Belt get is obscene compared to the Big Sky, Colonial, SoCon, etc.
True, but is that exposure and TV revenue enough to cover the added scholarship, travel, and coaches salaries at the FBS level? Also the make-up of the new WAC may be so terrible that its exposure may even go down. The only two remaining relevant TV markets in the WAC will be Honolulu and San Jose; and both of those markets have issues. San Jose is dominated by the Pac-12 influence and Honolulu is a 6 hour time difference to the east coast (home of major network stations, mainly ESPN). What major network will shell out big bucks to gain access to those markets?
 
SDHornet said:
SactoHornetAlum said:
SDHornet said:
I agree with what has been said, but do we want to risk the health of the athletic department (and risk fielding a football team)for what could potentially be a jump to a sinking ship?

Actually, it'll still be healthier than playing FCS football because even ESPN televises all FBS leagues. Can the same be said about FCS? The amounts of money even the Sun Belt get is obscene compared to the Big Sky, Colonial, SoCon, etc.
True, but is that exposure and TV revenue enough to cover the added scholarship, travel, and coaches salaries at the FBS level? Also the make-up of the new WAC may be so terrible that its exposure may even go down. The only two remaining relevant TV markets in the WAC will be Honolulu and San Jose; and both of those markets have issues. San Jose is dominated by the Pac-12 influence and Honolulu is a 6 hour time difference to the east coast (home of major network stations, mainly ESPN). What major network will shell out big bucks to gain access to those markets?

Versus actually comes to mind. They have greatly grown their NHL property, their IndyCar numbers are on the rise in year two. They do televise college football pretty good. They actually CARE about their sports properties, unlike the WWL.
 
SactoHornetAlum said:
SDHornet said:
SactoHornetAlum said:
SDHornet said:
I agree with what has been said, but do we want to risk the health of the athletic department (and risk fielding a football team)for what could potentially be a jump to a sinking ship?

Actually, it'll still be healthier than playing FCS football because even ESPN televises all FBS leagues. Can the same be said about FCS? The amounts of money even the Sun Belt get is obscene compared to the Big Sky, Colonial, SoCon, etc.
True, but is that exposure and TV revenue enough to cover the added scholarship, travel, and coaches salaries at the FBS level? Also the make-up of the new WAC may be so terrible that its exposure may even go down. The only two remaining relevant TV markets in the WAC will be Honolulu and San Jose; and both of those markets have issues. San Jose is dominated by the Pac-12 influence and Honolulu is a 6 hour time difference to the east coast (home of major network stations, mainly ESPN). What major network will shell out big bucks to gain access to those markets?

Versus actually comes to mind. They have greatly grown their NHL property, their IndyCar numbers are on the rise in year two. They do televise college football pretty good. They actually CARE about their sports properties, unlike the WWL.
I don't think its such a good thing to place the WAC TV viewership ratings side-by-side with NHL :lol: and IndyCar :lol: :lol: :lol: . That is definitely not a good sign.
 
The bottom line (in my opinion) is this:
Our football program does not have much of a successful tradition (I think you all would agree with me).
In order for our University or community to benefit from having a football program (FBS or not) we must win some games, get into the post-season and be a regional or national contender. Until that happens, we will continue to only have 8 people post on this board, have the Sac Bee limit our press to a paragraph once a month and continue to be a ugly shadow of this region.
If we win in the Big Sky I could see us turn into as powerful a program as Montana. If we win the WAC I could see us turn into a Fresno State, Nevada or even Boise.
Bottom Line: Just win baby.
 
SDHornet said:
SactoHornetAlum said:
SDHornet said:
SactoHornetAlum said:
SDHornet said:
I agree with what has been said, but do we want to risk the health of the athletic department (and risk fielding a football team)for what could potentially be a jump to a sinking ship?

Actually, it'll still be healthier than playing FCS football because even ESPN televises all FBS leagues. Can the same be said about FCS? The amounts of money even the Sun Belt get is obscene compared to the Big Sky, Colonial, SoCon, etc.
True, but is that exposure and TV revenue enough to cover the added scholarship, travel, and coaches salaries at the FBS level? Also the make-up of the new WAC may be so terrible that its exposure may even go down. The only two remaining relevant TV markets in the WAC will be Honolulu and San Jose; and both of those markets have issues. San Jose is dominated by the Pac-12 influence and Honolulu is a 6 hour time difference to the east coast (home of major network stations, mainly ESPN). What major network will shell out big bucks to gain access to those markets?

Versus actually comes to mind. They have greatly grown their NHL property, their IndyCar numbers are on the rise in year two. They do televise college football pretty good. They actually CARE about their sports properties, unlike the WWL.
I don't think its such a good thing to place the WAC TV viewership ratings side-by-side with NHL :lol: and IndyCar :lol: :lol: :lol: . That is definitely not a good sign.

Actually with Comcast owning Versus and buying NBC, anyone who has aligned with Versus will probably get some cross over with NBC once the sale is completed.
 
runningbomb said:
The bottom line (in my opinion) is this:
Our football program does not have much of a successful tradition (I think you all would agree with me).
In order for our University or community to benefit from having a football program (FBS or not) we must win some games, get into the post-season and be a regional or national contender. Until that happens, we will continue to only have 8 people post on this board, have the Sac Bee limit our press to a paragraph once a month and continue to be a ugly shadow of this region.
If we win in the Big Sky I could see us turn into as powerful a program as Montana. If we win the WAC I could see us turn into a Fresno State, Nevada or even Boise.
Bottom Line: Just win baby.
I agree. Winning is very important and if a move is made by Sac State, it would be that much harder for the Bee and other local media to ignore the Hornets. Also it wouldn't take much for the Hornets to compete in the WAC. Most of the remaining schools are bottom feeders so the talent gap the would need to be bridged would be not as great.
 
SactoHornetAlum said:
Actually with Comcast owning Versus and buying NBC, anyone who has aligned with Versus will probably get some cross over with NBC once the sale is completed.
That is possible and it would definitely be a plus in the exposure category.
 

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