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Movin' On Up

K

kalm

Active member
UMASS last year, ODU this year, and now App St., Georgia Southern and more than likely JMU are making the move to FBS. Ranger has been predicting a major realignment which makes sense as the non BCS schools struggle to break even and it sounds like the BCS conferences would rather separate from them at some point.

Idaho must be anticipating this and perhaps biding its time until some Big Sky schools decide to move up and they can join a new BSC or BSC/WAC hybrid. The Gateway would put us in that type of position from a facilities standpoint and perhaps generate the needed revenue to fund an additional 22 schollies.

Still, I like the playoffs...a lot. Imagine us in a playoff subdivision with some if not all of our current BSC members along with Idaho, Wyoming, Utah State, NMSU, SJSU, etc. :thumb:
 
I'm just not sure what "moving up" means anymore. Is a Sun Belt Conference with Idaho and a bunch of FCS teams really a move up from a competition standpoint? If it's about money, the Vandals won't see $1m in revenue from their new conference until their third or fourth year. Eastern can make half that now by playing better FBS teams every year, and we won't have to fly to Texas, Louisiana, or Arkansas to play our conference opponents. I think you're right Kalm. A playoff subdivision including Eastern and some competitive Western US teams would be great. I only hope there are enough quality teams that will join us if and when this version of musical chairs stops.
 
I think we will have to move up as the BCS teams/leagues look to be posturing to eliminate playing FCS teams as counters(SEC plays weak weak FCS teams to pad record). If FBS teams do this as well there goes our big money games. Can't survive without them, at least in the near future. I think the boys incharge can see the writing and know with the alignment changes coming soon we better be ready to make the move up or get left behind(shutter to think what that could mean).
 
We won't be transferring anywhere, except maybe the Greater Spokane League, with this high school stadium.
eagle 1 is correct, it is imperative that the Gateway project moves forward. We are experiencing a great ride of success now but if the "leaders" of the University do not move the athletic program and the University as a whole forward we could quickly slip into mediocrity.
 
Definitely need the Gateway project to go through to make moving up a possibility. I think Ranger is right, there is going to be a time, in the near future, that the BCS is going to split from the lower FBS conferences. The lower FBS conferences and some of the bigger FCS teams will most likely form their own division, just my opinion. If we don't improve the facilities, we will be left behind.

With all the FCS schools jumping ship, we will be playing the likes of Central Washington and Western Oregon in years to come and wont even get a shot at an FBS "money" game. I wouldn't be surprised to see NDSU make the jump in the next year or 2 as well...
 
If the BCS conferences split, the remaining FBS teams will not determine their champion with a BCS-style bowl postseason. There is no money to be made from it. There aren't enough fans, TV channels, or advertisers to make a Florida Atlantic - Texas State bowl game worthwhile. There is also no way the remaining FBS teams will have their own playoff. They don't have enough teams (around 50) to fill out a reasonable playoff field. If they tried an 8 team playoff, for example, they'd have the same 4 to 6 teams dominate every year, and would be forced to leave out decent teams from one conference (So. Miss., SMU, Houston, or UTEP) so that all conferences were represented. Not going to happen.
What will happen is an FCS/FBS merger that includes Eastern. The Gateway project is very important to our future, but there is no way we will be left out. There will continue to be teams leaving for the BCS (Utah, Colorado, UConn, South Florida), and FBS teams trading conferences (North Texas, FIU, MTSU) meaning Eastern will be a hot commodity when a new member is needed.
 
The BCS and FBS have been split for years. And with the new money that they collect The Sun Belt looks like the right move for idaho. You guys need to build your gateway project so you can be under consideration. Money to be made and at some point the BIg 12 and the Pac 12 have to expand. That will open up some holes in the FBS to fill with schools like EWU, UM, MSU, Portland, Sac, ect...

Don't get left behind to play Southern Utah and UNC.
 
Wood0920 said:
The BCS and FBS have been split for years. And with the new money that they collect The Sun Belt looks like the right move for idaho. You guys need to build your gateway project so you can be under consideration. Money to be made and at some point the BIg 12 and the Pac 12 have to expand. That will open up some holes in the FBS to fill with schools like EWU, UM, MSU, Portland, Sac, ect...

Don't get left behind to play Southern Utah and UNC.
Click to expand...

Meh, the Big Sky is the SBC with playoffs instead of meaningless bowl games. We are more relevant than you guys right now. :nod:
 
I still think the gulf is going to continue expanding between the BCS and near-BCS (Big East new incarnation, MWC) and the remaining FBS. The huge gulf already exists between the qaulity conferences of the FCS and the FCS pretenders (the kind we never seem to schedule). I think more likely option is a mid-grade forms between the two, and the vast majority of the Big Sky moves to a level with SoCon, MVC, and Colonial, along with WAC, Sun Belt, C-USA, and MAC. This has been talked about for about a decade, but is only recently staqrting to get traction. Really, it makes sense for all involved as those FBS conferences don't really make squat from their TV contacts or bowl tie-ins.
 
Here's a very good article on the standing of FCS football that guinzone posted over on CS.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/apr/14/fcs-mess/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It would be interesting to have our beat writer cook up something similar with thoughts from Chaves and other BSC AD's and coaches.
 
Kalm;
That is an interesting article, thanks for sharing.
If 1000 fans were asked to name a team that was in a bowl game last year how many do you think would know? I doubt that most of the fans of the teams in the bowl would recall which bowl their team was in.
So where is NCAA football headed? I do not know and don't think anyone knows for sure, but I am absolutely certain that if Eastern does not improve its facilities it will miss out on whatever opportunities that may arise.
 
clawman said:
Kalm;
That is an interesting article, thanks for sharing.
If 1000 fans were asked to name a team that was in a bowl game last year how many do you think would know? I doubt that most of the fans of the teams in the bowl would recall which bowl their team was in.
So where is NCAA football headed? I do not know and don't think anyone knows for sure, but I am absolutely certain that if Eastern does not improve its facilities it will miss out on whatever opportunities that may arise.
Click to expand...

:nod:
 
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