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S.Dakota Stiffs Sky, No Divisions?

S

Skippy

Active member
South Dakota choose to go with the Missouri Valley rather than the Big Sky, leaving the BSC with 11 teams in basketball and 13 in football -- and probably abandoning its plans for divisions.

http://missoulian.com/sports/college/montana/football/article_8da06c90-e7cf-11df-988e-001cc4c03286.html
 
What a mess the BSC has become.

It could have been this: NDSU, SDSU, UND, USD, MSU, UM, ISU, WSU, EWU, UNC, SAC and NAU.
Instead, we will settle for this: SUU, UNC, NAU, MSU (for now), ISU, WSU, EWU and PSU.

IMO, Montana is gone.
 
Wil Holden of the Bozeman paper is off to see if there is any truth to the rumor that North Dakota is also reconsidering....

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/app/msu-bobcats/?p=6953
 
What about Utah Valley? I read somewhere that they would add football by 2013 if invited to the BSC. Now that would be a GREAT ADD, no?
 
bengalcub said:
What about Utah Valley? I read somewhere that they would add football by 2013 if invited to the BSC. Now that would be a GREAT ADD, no?
Click to expand...

Sarcastic Cub? I've wrote often about D2 creeping up on us... but Utah Valley, they were not even offering associate degrees when the Big Sky Conference was formed.
 
Not meant to be sarcastic. I am not really versed at who is a good academic institution or not--just trying to figure out a BSC that makes geographical sense. When I think of good members, I think of football and basketball---not real smart on my part.
 
A lot of things would have to happen for Utah Valley to be in the mix, but I certainly would not put them out of the realm of discussion. They have 26,000 students and they sit right in the middle of the Big Sky footprint. As the Big Sky has shown with this new cadre of presidents, the academic issue is no longer as big a hurdle as it used to be. (Particularly when Dennison was at Montana). That's why Southern Utah is in now, but was not considered before.

IF the two Montanas leave; if N. Dakota changes its mind, a lot of ifs, but I would not be surprised if we're having the Utah Valley conversation again in a couple of years. PS remember both Boise St and Weber were junior colleges when the Big Sky started too.
 
Maybe BYUI might reconsider their athletic program if they were offered a spot in Big Sky. Great geographic fit, good facilities and about the same number of students as typical Big Sky schools.
 
My brother in law played football in Rexburg. They are never going to have college athletics there again. They didn't get rid of sports because they had no conference, they got rid of sports because they changed the whole mission of the school.
 
BengalHarley is right. The LDS church sees BYU's athletics program as one of their primary missionary tools. It gives them good exposure, and the more successful it is, the more publicity BYU (and the church) receive. Starting athletics at BYU-I would cannibalize the Provo school's athletics. It's too close geographically, and BYU-Hawaii already participates in D-II in the west. They'd compete with each other for athletes, not to mention donations. Talk to some of the individuals who were within the athletic department, and they'll tell you the same thing. One told me they looked at every division, including NAIA, but decided to go the route they did (apparently building a rivalry with Montana-Western wasn't something they wanted to do). It sounds good to say that they choose to focus on education instead of spending millions on athletics, but the truth is, if they felt it was a viable option to have two very successful programs, so close to one another, then they would do it.
 
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