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Sun Belt gives the boot to Idaho, NMSU

Football is in flux. The P5 hold all the cards, and tell the NCAA what they will do, or they will take their toys and go home. Hang on for the next couple of years while all this settles. I see, over some time, the best of the Big Sky(UM, MSU, EWU, and now UI) coupling up with the best of other conferences and getting the hell out of Foolertons Folly, in one form or another. I don't see ISU as a mover, witness the decay since '81. The dome will collapse first.
 
Otis:

The problem is though for any thought of a new conference is that the way the NCAA rules are written you CAN NOT just go out and form a conference.

The rules specifically state that to move up from FCS to FBS you must be given an invitation from an established conference.

I just don't see the Mountain West, the Pac-12 or the West Coast Conference say extending invitations to a bunch of the Big Sky schools to join them.

The only way this could happen would be for the at large body of the NCAA voting to change the rules...for that to happen those Big Sky schools would have to convince the majority of the other schools across the country to vote in their favor. Just can't see that happening.

I'm frankly surprised that Doug Fullerton (a football guy) wouldn't know this when he publicly talked about splitting the conference in two. Maybe he knows something I don't though.

PBP
 
bertram said:
A conference of at least 6 teams can make the jump.
Click to expand...

Bert:

Then that's something not mentioned in the rules which state to make the jump invitations must be made by an established conference. Again there may be something that I don't know about, I'm certainly not a lawyer but that how the rule reads. And just in case it isn't clear in our discussion, the rule just talks about a school wanting to make the jump from FCS to FBS. Fullerton has mentioned in the past one of his scenarios would be to have an FBS Big Sky and an FCS Big Sky.

PBP
 
The Idaho folks have discussed this at length on their board in light of the recent Sun Belt decision. One of their posters cited two specific NCAA rules: one states an FCS team cannot submit an application to move up to FBS status unless invited by an established FBS conference. The second rule defines an established FBS conference as a group of eight or more schools that already meet the FBS requirements. So basically the only way a Big Sky school is going to reach FBS status is to get an invitation from an established FBS conference. At least that's the way the rules cited on the Idaho board read. Like Mark, I am no expert on this but I'm thinking the Idaho people are keenly aware of what they are up against.
 
It would be nice to seem some clarification on the rule. Fullerton has talked about splitting into two conferences, FBS and FCS, for over a year now.

http://missoulian.com/college/griz/speltz-big-sky-s-commish-eyes-change/article_921c10a0-1ab4-11e4-8876-001a4bcf887a.html

Ever consider a coaches show with half devoted to Fullerton or another member of the conference? Not a halftime show, but a coaches show.
 
JJB said:
It would be nice to seem some clarification on the rule. Fullerton has talked about splitting into two conferences, FBS and FCS, for over a year now.

http://missoulian.com/college/griz/speltz-big-sky-s-commish-eyes-change/article_921c10a0-1ab4-11e4-8876-001a4bcf887a.html

Ever consider a coaches show with half devoted to Fullerton or another member of the conference? Not a halftime show, but a coaches show.
Click to expand...

I think the second rule, which defines an established FBS conference, is a relatively new rule that may have come in after Fullerton started his discussions of two conferences. It would be a good topic to explore, I'll pass it on to Jerry. I don't know if we have any more coaches shows this season but if we do it would make an interesting segment.
 
Being Idaho could crash the BSC in a couple years, does anyone have GOOD INFORMATION about attendance at their dome. Pictures provided on BobcatNation do NOT correlate with stated attendance.
 
In very few venues does stated attendance correlate with actual attendance. NCAA rules allow you to count tickets sold vs butts in the seat. They also allow you to count game staff, cheerleaders, etc. bottom line: unless you're at a place like Nebraska where every seat is full, most attendance numbers are inflated. If you want a true picture of who is actually PAYING to see a game, go to the State Board web site and look up the meeting materials for the February board meeting. Each school reports income from ticket sales. I don't know off the top of my head how much income Idaho generated in ticket sales, but you can find it there.
 
So I looked it up. I'll also give BSU and ISU numbers for comparison: in FY16 Boise State football generated $6.3 million in tickets sales; Idaho produced $450 K in football ticket sales; and ISU had $177 K in football ticket sales. Idaho's biggest year for ticket sales revenue was, not surprisingly, their last winning season, FY11, when they generated just short of $1 million in ticket sales for football.
 
Thanks, Skippy. We all know no two seats cost the same, with discounts for seniors, kids, etc. I compared ticket revenue to official attendance, and got a chuckle. Six games for BSU & UI, five for ISU:

Boise State--$6,300,000 in sales, attendance of 201,669, for $31.23 per seat.
Idaho----------------450,000 in sales, attendance of 71,080, for $ 6.33 per seat.
Idaho State-------177,000 in sales, attendance of 36,329, for $ 4.87 per seat.
 
There is a good interview with Idaho AD Rob Spear on the Vandal message board that covers a lot of aspects of the Idaho situation. He has a different take on whether the Big Sky could form separate FBS and FCS divisions. His view is more in line with Fullerton's vision. It would be good if a reporter who covers these things for a living did an in depth piece on just what the rules say and what the options are. Or maybe Mark or Jerry could get a Big Sky official on at halftime at the tourney next week. There certainly is a lot of confusion out there right now.
 
The whole issue with attendance relates to the FBS requirement. FCS schools may fudge their numbers, but who cares, really? You can make the argument that the FBS requirement isn't needed/fair, but it's there, and that's why Idaho has a rather inventive history in the way of reporting attendance. When they first joined the Big West, the requirement was either 17,000 in attendance or a 30,000 seat stadium. Unless it's changed again, now it's 15,000. That's why the attendance issue comes into play with Idaho.

Not exactly scientific, but the Spokane newspaper ran a poll a few days back.

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/hbo/2016/mar/03/poll-return-ui-football-big-sky/

Wednesday Poll: A plurality of Hucks Nation says the University of Idaho should return its football team to the FCS Big Sky Conference after the decision by the Sun Belt Conference to drop the team from conference play after the 2017 season. 93 of 199 respondents (46.73%) support the return to the Big Sky Conference. 32 of 199 respondents (16.08%) said UI should drop football altogether. 13 (6.53%) said Idaho should lobby Big Sky teams, like Montana and Eastern Washington, to form a league qualified to play in the more prestigious FBS. 4 (2.01%) said Idaho should continue in the FBS as an independent. And 57 (28.64%) said they didn't care one way or the other.
Click to expand...
 
blackfootbengal said:
Did not sugar coat the truth in that article.
Click to expand...
That's why I didn't even post any comment with it. I thought it was pretty funny how they just got right after it... even in the title. Although, I do wish all the kids most likely being left without scholarships the best path possible.
 
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