Championship Subdivision Football | FCS Football | Stadiums | Blogs | Forums

http://thefcswedge.com/big-sky-conferen ... s-week-10/

This article brought up a great point about a possible new WAC conference. Would something like this be possible?

• Eastern Washington
  Montana
  Montana State
  Idaho Vandals
  San Jose State
  Utah State
  New Mexico State
  Possibly Portland State
  Possibly Weber State

Why would San Jose and USU leave the Mountain West?

Ryan asks a VERY good question.

It would also be VERY weird for UM/MSU to leave the conference that's essentially named for them. I could see a significant chunk of the western Big Sky teams seceding to revive the PCAA, but I just can't see UM/MSU joining them.

That said, such a split could be very beneficial in terms of getting some good D-I OOC scheduling going on. These extra league games that don't count as league games just because the only other nearby schools that are likely to come to one's home stadium would kill RPI because they're D-II or worse are crazy, but they would go away under this scenario.

You guys are joking, right?

89Hen wrote:You guys are joking, right?

Not really.

It's all about getting enough D-I games to be considered for an at-large berth in the playoffs. You guys back East don't have that problem, because there are many leagues all packed closely together, so you have a smorgasbord of options to fill out your schedule. We don't have that luxury, so we either have to take an extra game in league that counts as OOC or take an extra bodybag game or extra D-II/D-III/NAIA game and risk either not having enough D-I games to be a serious contender or be forced to run the table. That's extremely difficult. The 7 D-I wins may not be a firm "requirement" anymore, but it IS something of a guarantee in the expando-playoff era, and 6 D-I wins IS still a requirement. Us western teams are in a bind, and SOMETHING has to be done to relieve the pressure. A conference split could be the key, though it would likely require a mix of FBS dropdowns (something that hasn't happened lately), D-II callups, and I-AAA schools adding football (which is rare in our neck of the woods, as the most recent school out here to revive a dormant football program was Pacific University of Forest Grove, OR, which is somewhere BELOW D-I).

SuperHornet wrote:

89Hen wrote:You guys are joking, right?

Not really.

It's all about getting enough D-I games to be considered for an at-large berth in the playoffs...

I'm talking about it actually happening, not your desire for it to happen. I want a Ferrari, but am still driving a POS VW.

89Hen wrote:

SuperHornet wrote:
Not really.

It's all about getting enough D-I games to be considered for an at-large berth in the playoffs...

I'm talking about it actually happening, not your desire for it to happen. I want a Ferrari, but am still driving a POS VW.

...that retailed for <$30K.

Ivytalk wrote:

89Hen wrote: I'm talking about it actually happening, not your desire for it to happen. I want a Ferrari, but am still driving a POS VW.

...that retailed for <$30K.

SuperHornet wrote:Ryan asks a VERY good question.

It would also be VERY weird for UM/MSU to leave the conference that's essentially named for them. I could see a significant chunk of the western Big Sky teams seceding to revive the PCAA, but I just can't see UM/MSU joining them.

That said, such a split could be very beneficial in terms of getting some good D-I OOC scheduling going on. These extra league games that don't count as league games just because the only other nearby schools that are likely to come to one's home stadium would kill RPI because they're D-II or worse are crazy, but they would go away under this scenario.

Yeah, that's what will keep them from moving up. The name of the conference.

SuperHornet wrote:

89Hen wrote:You guys are joking, right?

the most recent school out here to revive a dormant football program was Pacific University of Forest Grove, OR, which is somewhere BELOW D-I).

Pacific is in DIII. Actually I think George Fox revived their program after Pacific.

And of course one could argue that Idaho is trying to revive their dormant football team by returning to the Big Sky.

SuperHornet wrote:Ryan asks a VERY good question.

It would also be VERY weird for UM/MSU to leave the conference that's essentially named for them. I could see a significant chunk of the western Big Sky teams seceding to revive the PCAA, but I just can't see UM/MSU joining them.

That said, such a split could be very beneficial in terms of getting some good D-I OOC scheduling going on. These extra league games that don't count as league games just because the only other nearby schools that are likely to come to one's home stadium would kill RPI because they're D-II or worse are crazy, but they would go away under this scenario.

Why would the PCAA be revived when the WAC is already a conference, and still has FBS status?

MrTitleist wrote:

SuperHornet wrote:Ryan asks a VERY good question.

It would also be VERY weird for UM/MSU to leave the conference that's essentially named for them. I could see a significant chunk of the western Big Sky teams seceding to revive the PCAA, but I just can't see UM/MSU joining them.

That said, such a split could be very beneficial in terms of getting some good D-I OOC scheduling going on. These extra league games that don't count as league games just because the only other nearby schools that are likely to come to one's home stadium would kill RPI because they're D-II or worse are crazy, but they would go away under this scenario.

Why would the PCAA be revived when the WAC is already a conference, and still has FBS status?

The PCAA still exists as a I-AAA conference, under the Big West name. Two members still have football teams, currently parked in the Big Sky Conference. There are other Big West schools (and a former one currently in the WCC) that have football history and a fan base that would love to see those programs restored.

But strictly in terms of the teams proposed, well, one could accept Idalol as a drop-down, drop UND, and add one or two D-IIs within the Big Sky footprint, move AS A CONFERENCE to FBS, and get a bowl tie-in following a championship game. OR we could do that, STAY IN FCS, and split into two conferences and relieve ourselves of the OOC scheduling problem. I actually vote for the second option. I'm still of the opinion that FCS across the board (not so sure about the Pioneer Conference, but that's beside the point) is better than FBS because we actually have a legit playoff. But that's getting beyond the scope of this thread....