Official: UND & SUU in, USD "on the verge"

[JayJ79]

If you need an OOC game, just schedule someone from the other BSC division...

I don't think it works that way.

[JBB]

Its going to cause some scheduling problems with the summit because everybody needs more OOC games now. I dont think the Summit on shaky ground though. I suppose we will do our normal thing and give some of the lower division schools in North Dakota a shot and play the Horizon and MAC teams like always. The UxDs can always go to the MVFC for games and the Montana schools are already scheduling NDSU/SDSU but the rest of the BSC is pretty far away.

[ArmyOfDarkness]

First off, welcome to the Big F***ing Sky UND, SUU, and presumably USD.

For the longest time, I was really hoping the Griz would jump to the WAC. With the BSC recently pretending to be a black hole in the West, I am excited to see what happens and glad we are sticking around (at least for now).

As for the money thing, I really don't see how this will drain bank accounts. The increased revenue that could come from this supergiant of a conference could actually increase the schools draw. Not to mention, once the conference is split it could actually lessen some travel costs I would imagine.

With so many possibilities, It is an exciting time for the BSC right now. I personally can't wait to see what happens (hopefully all good things).

Cheers all !!!

[Big McLargehuge]

If you need an OOC game, just schedule someone from the other BSC division...

I don't think it works that way.

Indeed it does. You can schedule conference members that aren't a part of the conference schedule as an OOC game...it just won't count in the conference record. I expect to see that a lot in the Big Sky going forward. It makes more sense for a Montana or Montana State to schedule an unscheduled Southern Utah or Northern Arizona than it does flying in a DII school from Colorado.



Welcome to the Big Sky UND and SUU.

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

I don't think it works that way.

Indeed it does. You can schedule conference members that aren't a part of the conference schedule as an OOC game...it just won't count in the conference record. I expect to see that a lot in the Big Sky going forward. It makes more sense for a Montana or Montana State to schedule an unscheduled Southern Utah or Northern Arizona than it does flying in a DII school from Colorado.



Welcome to the Big Sky UND and SUU.

As I've said before in 1986 I think we needed to fill an OOC game that UNI backed out of and Idaho St. came in and we played them here in Missoula in game three and then we played them there later in the year. I don't know if some rule against that have been put in place but it has happened and will happen in the future I'm sure.

[SuperHornet]

I don't think it works that way.

Indeed it does. You can schedule conference members that aren't a part of the conference schedule as an OOC game...it just won't count in the conference record. I expect to see that a lot in the Big Sky going forward. It makes more sense for a Montana or Montana State to schedule an unscheduled Southern Utah or Northern Arizona than it does flying in a DII school from Colorado.



Welcome to the Big Sky UND and SUU.

Teams in smaller conferences have done this cheesy trash for years. In that case, it usually involves a home-and-home.

[cats2506]

I don't think it works that way.

Indeed it does. You can schedule conference members that aren't a part of the conference schedule as an OOC game...it just won't count in the conference record. I expect to see that a lot in the Big Sky going forward. It makes more sense for a Montana or Montana State to schedule an unscheduled Southern Utah or Northern Arizona than it does flying in a DII school from Colorado.



Welcome to the Big Sky UND and SUU.

you guys fly Western State in, we make them spend a day on the bus, and your AD says there isnt any where to cut expenses

[Grizalltheway]

The Bigger Fluffy works, too.

Sure thing, Big South fan.

[SuperHornet]

I just charted out the effect of adding these three for Sac. It seems that the effect would be somewhat similar for the other west coast schools. These figures, understandably, are approximate.

As the whole world knows, Davis is the easiest trip of the bunch, about a 17 minute bus ride.

Technically, Sac could fly to Cow Poly, but the best trip involves a layover at SFO and a humungous $360-$470/person cost. Much easier on the pocketbook to bus 5 hrs to SLO.

We already understand the NW trips: SMF to PDX (1.5 hr) on Southwest, PSU game, PDX to GEG (1hr) on Southwest, EWU game, GEG to SMF (3.5 hr) on Southwest, or vice versa.

Similarly, the MT trips: SMF to MSO (4hr) on Delta, UM game, bus to Bozeman (3 hr), MSU game, BZN to SMF (4hr) on Delta, or vice versa.

Again, the mountain trip: SMF to SLC (4hr) on Southwest plus 30 min bus to WSU, WSU game, bus to Pocatello (2 hr), ISU game, IDA to SMF (3.5 hr) on Delta, or vice versa.

Turns out adding SUU is bad, but not as bad as I thought. I wanted to pair NAU and SUU because they're closer, but that leaves both CP and UNC out in the cold. We're only supposed to have one odd-ball, and that seems to be CP in our scenario. So that means CP-NAU and SUU-UNC. I'm thinking: SMF to CDC on Delta (4hr), SUU game, CDC to DEN (3 hr), UNC game, DEN to SMF on Delta (4hr), or vice versa. Definitely not the worst trip of the bunch.

The worst has GOT to be the trip to the Dakotas. Assuming USD ultimately joins, it'll likely look like this: SMF to GFK (6hr) on Delta, UND game, bus to Vermillion, USD game, bus to Sioux City, IA (1hr), SUX to SMF (7 hr) on Delta, or vice versa. That's a lot of travel time.

But I could be missing quite a bit here. I'd appreciate it if folk know of closer airports, particularly for the Dakota trip. I do know that these additions will be a bit easier for the schools east of EWU. I'm hearing rumblings from Sac fans who want to bolt over this, though it kinda seems that we're stuck now given that the Sky won't let us be associate members and the opportunity to play in cr@ppy bowls has dried up. I'd like to know how fans of the other west coast schools see the travel issue. How the eastern schools see the addition of CP would be interesting, too. (Davis shouldn't be much of an issue for them since they already fly into SMF.)

[GrizFan5]

This does make me wonder why USD is "on the verge"

Is it something that USD has to do to get in, or is the Big Sky waiting on USD to pick between the BSC and MVFC?

The letter agreement between the conference and USD has been agreed to, and signed by the Big Sky. USD merely has to go through its approval process, i.e. its board of regents.

[GrizFan5]

I just charted out the effect of adding these three for Sac. It seems that the effect would be somewhat similar for the other west coast schools. These figures, understandably, are approximate.

As the whole world knows, Davis is the easiest trip of the bunch, about a 17 minute bus ride.

Technically, Sac could fly to Cow Poly, but the best trip involves a layover at SFO and a humungous $360-$470/person cost. Much easier on the pocketbook to bus 5 hrs to SLO.

We already understand the NW trips: SMF to PDX (1.5 hr) on Southwest, PSU game, PDX to GEG (1hr) on Southwest, EWU game, GEG to SMF (3.5 hr) on Southwest, or vice versa.

Similarly, the MT trips: SMF to MSO (4hr) on Delta, UM game, bus to Bozeman (3 hr), MSU game, BZN to SMF (4hr) on Delta, or vice versa.

Again, the mountain trip: SMF to SLC (4hr) on Southwest plus 30 min bus to WSU, WSU game, bus to Pocatello (2 hr), ISU game, IDA to SMF (3.5 hr) on Delta, or vice versa.

Turns out adding SUU is bad, but not as bad as I thought. I wanted to pair NAU and SUU because they're closer, but that leaves both CP and UNC out in the cold. We're only supposed to have one odd-ball, and that seems to be CP in our scenario. So that means CP-NAU and SUU-UNC. I'm thinking: SMF to CDC on Delta (4hr), SUU game, CDC to DEN (3 hr), UNC game, DEN to SMF on Delta (4hr), or vice versa. Definitely not the worst trip of the bunch.

The worst has GOT to be the trip to the Dakotas. Assuming USD ultimately joins, it'll likely look like this: SMF to GFK (6hr) on Delta, UND game, bus to Vermillion, USD game, bus to Sioux City, IA (1hr), SUX to SMF (7 hr) on Delta, or vice versa. That's a lot of travel time.

But I could be missing quite a bit here. I'd appreciate it if folk know of closer airports, particularly for the Dakota trip. I do know that these additions will be a bit easier for the schools east of EWU. I'm hearing rumblings from Sac fans who want to bolt over this, though it kinda seems that we're stuck now given that the Sky won't let us be associate members and the opportunity to play in cr@ppy bowls has dried up. I'd like to know how fans of the other west coast schools see the travel issue. How the eastern schools see the addition of CP would be interesting, too. (Davis shouldn't be much of an issue for them since they already fly into SMF.)

However, with the two divisions, the long trips will likely occur only occur once a year. This will probably result in travel cost savings for your school, at least for football.

[Gil Dobie]

Congrats to the new Big Sky schools.

[SuperHornet]

GF5: For football, that's understandable. But I wonder how that'll affect hoops/VB. Given the longer schedules, even if we "lose" the Dakotas some of the time, we'll likely see them once or twice every three years. That won't be good. Even given my objections to SUU, they're a whole lot easier on the pocketbook (not to mention athete rest time) than the Dakotas. For football, it'll be a one-and-done (and we'd have them split like the Montanas), so it's not as big a deal. I'd recommend leaving an extra day ahead, though.