Staying the course was the wrong thought

[wsucatfan]

Think about it this way, would you agree that if you are not improving and chose to stay the same you are really regressing? It's no wonder that WSU if failing to win instate games, we're treading in mud while everyone around us has improved their situation.

Utah moves to the PAC-12, improves conference affiliation = better recruits, even if they are chicken....
BYU leaving the MW (which was a strong BB conference at the time) for the WCC, recruiting stays about the same
USU leaves the WAC for the MW (WAC 2.0) improves conference affiliation, will lead to improved recruits
SUU leaves the Great West joins the Big Sky, improves conference affiliation, will lead to improved recruits
UVU leaves the Great West joins the WAC 3.0 improves conference affiliation, will lead to improved recruits

Weber, UM, any other top BSC teams missed the boat. Adding all these outlier Great West teams to bolster(or bloat) the Big Sky Conference was all fine and dandy, but the impact to recruiting or national recognition will be negligible by adding any of these teams. The WAC sucks now with their current teams, but it is WSU/UM/MSU/Idaho/NMSU/Seatle U, fault. The WAC had better National Recognition than the Big Sky does (and to the normal person probably still incorrectly thinks so…) So for “stability” they chose to stay in their cozy bungalow. I am not suggesting that WSU, UM, or MSU are ready for FBS, but the WAC could have been a split conference FBS and FCS members, with at least the opportunity to explore moving up to the FBS league in the next 5-10 years.

I have mentioned this before, WSU needs to be ready for change. The top sports programs (decidedly football and men’s basketball) in the BSC need to move on. The Big Sky is too big:
New Conference (with long term commitment 5+ years)
Eastern Washington
Idaho (FBS)
Montana
Montana State
New Mexico State (FBS)
Seattle (BB only)
Weber State
Cherry pick from the rest (based on competitiveness and to some extent location for TV revenue):
Cal Poly, ISU, N. Dakota, NAU, UNC, PSU, Sac St, SUU, UC Davis

The remaining BSC teams can reload from the remaining WAC 3.0 conference

Advantages:
*The worst current BSC men's Basketball teams would not drag down the new conference RPI.
*WSU/UM/MSU/Idaho/NMSU/Seatle have a better conference and that = improved recruiting.
*WSU moves to a conference rated higher than instate SUU and UVU = improved recruiting
*You would have 2 FBS conferences in the west, so you could have a conference to conference scheduling agreement for football home and home games.
*You can also have conference to conference scheduling (guaranteeing home for home games) for basketball to maintain old/new rivaries (ISU, NAU, SUU)

I fail to see any disadvantages.

 

[WILDCAT]

And the Big Sky can say "No basketball, No football conference" and Weber has always had trouble keeping up with our bigger brothers, ALWAYS. Whether people can believe it or not, Weber will never be a Duke or UCLA. Being in a conference with Seattle, New Mexico State and Idaho will not improve our situation.

 

[Midmajor??]

Very well thought out plan. Agree, there are no disadvantages. Almost makes to much sense.

 

[wsucatfan]

And the Big Sky can say "No basketball, No football conference" and Weber has always had trouble keeping up with our bigger brothers, ALWAYS. Whether people can believe it or not, Weber will never be a Duke or UCLA. Being in a conference with Seattle, New Mexico State and Idaho will not improve our situation.

If we left the BSC why would we care if they said no basketball no football, we would be in our own superior conference for basketball and football.

The problem is not just keeping up with the aggies, utes, and cougars but staying in front of the wolverines and thunderbirds.

It's about improving the BB product as a whole so we are talking about a 9-12 seed instead of a 13-15/play-in game getting back to the teens in the conference rankings instead of the twenties.

 

[cjets2]

I agree on us moving on the problem is did Weber actually have any offers to move on? It's not like Weber could just get up and say we are moving to this conference and that's that. I'm not sure moving to the WAC would have been the right move, in sense of football BSC if one of the strongest in the FCS. Where else would Weber have gone that offers more? Today the WAC consists of these teams:
TEAM CONF OVERALL
New Mexico State 0-0 11-5
Seattle 0-0 8-5
Cal State Bakersfield 0-0 7-7
Utah Valley 0-0 6-7
Idaho 0-0 6-8
Chicago State 0-0 5-8
Grand Canyon 0-0 5-8
Texas-Pan American 0-0 4-10
UMKC

Is that a conference that we should move into? MWC wouldn't take us.

 

[wsucatfan]

I agree on us moving on the problem is did Weber actually have any offers to move on? It's not like Weber could just get up and say we are moving to this conference and that's that. I'm not sure moving to the WAC would have been the right move, in sense of football BSC if one of the strongest in the FCS. Where else would Weber have gone that offers more? Today the WAC consists of these teams:
TEAM CONF OVERALL
New Mexico State 0-0 11-5
Seattle 0-0 8-5
Cal State Bakersfield 0-0 7-7
Utah Valley 0-0 6-7
Idaho 0-0 6-8
Chicago State 0-0 5-8
Grand Canyon 0-0 5-8
Texas-Pan American 0-0 4-10
UMKC

Is that a conference that we should move into? MWC wouldn't take us.

The only reason why the teams listed above (except Idaho, Seattle, and NMSU) are in the WAC are because UM/MSU/WSU and other's said no thanks, we're good where we are at. Obviously the WAC intern commissioner did a lousy job selling the WAC to the top BSC teams. Sure now the WAC sucks, but it should have been a step up.

 

[n.ogdencat]

Succinct and accurate argument. I agree with you for the most part, but where was Weber going to go when the shakeups started to happen? Cause of our football, nobody was trying to knock down our door. Worst case would have been that Weber got left behind in a watered down league and the top programs all took off. That, to me, was the most likely scenario if teams would have left the Sky. The biggest issue For the Sky, and especially for Weber is $$$. We can't afford to pay teams to come to our place, and frankly no one wants to play a home and home with one of the top basketball programs because there is a great chance of losing, and finally, due to geography and distance nobody really wants to travel to our stadiums. Yikes, I've become an apologist!! Hahaha

Yet, This is where I agree with you, by not moving, it hurts us the most because now it is even more difficult to get DI programs to agree to come to the Dee (maybe it is time for 2-1's or even the hated 3-1) only WAC (and they dont want to because they want a payday) and some Big West (top programs wont...look what happened to LBSU and UCSB when they visited the Dee) schools will travel to Big Sky stadiums. Thanks to our current success WCC teams and MW teams won't even play with the idea of coming to Ogden. A tournament would be around 200K. This season, Weber getting two MW schools to come to our place was a serious coup for the Big Sky. Only reason Weber got to see any decent DI teams the past few seasons was because of the CIT, BracketBuster, and in-state deals. Being in a bigger, more exclusive, and public conference would really help Weber make more $$$, get better recruits, measure success more significantly, and play better competition. The Sky with its 20 league games is killing the conference.

I think it is necessary to point out one serious issue with the WAC, Idaho is joining the Big Sky and NMSU and Seattle are both doing everything in their power to get the hell out. Unless a miracle happens, this should be the WACs last auto bid year.