Big Sky Conference Schedules for 2012-2015

[kalm]

CWU's not moving up, nor would I want them in the conference.
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Agree about them not moving up but why wouldn't you want it? They were a great rival going back to the Evergreen Conference days and would be another bus trip for us, PSU, and UM.

[SUUTbird]

I agree that the best shot of aquiring a 14th team would be for a D2 program to move up to the Big Sky, howver as a few people have pointed out there are not many (or any at all) that have the means to do so but I figured might as well make a list of potential canidates who really I can only see coming from the GNAC at this point:

-Central Washington Wildcats: Know how to win, have beaten a Big Sky team recently (Idaho State) nearly beaten a few others (Montana 2008, EWU 2010). Also would fit in perfectly with the conference geography as kalm pointed out. The only thing really holding them back as far as I can tell are the needed upgrades of their facilities.

-Humboldt State Lumberjacks: Program that has gone 26-26 since 2006 (3rd year coach seems to be turning it around) which includes a close fought games against future/current Big Sky member Cal Poly in 2010 and the Jacks were able to defeat GNAC conference powerhouse Central Washington once last season 25-24 as well. In terms of facilities they probably have one of the best in terms of capacity (7,000) however as a few people already pointed out a few facility upgrades would not hurt.

-Dixie State Red Storm: Definitely not an ideal school in terms of comptetiveness but I feel with an upgrade to the FCS the recruiting and coaching the team would get better. Actually they are a team to be considered in terms of location and facilities (Burns Arena, Basketball: 5,000. Hansen Stadium, Football:10,00). Bus games to NAU, SUU, Weber State and ISU and could fly in and out of St. George.

[SJHornet]

Here is a picture of the 7000-seat, 60-year-old Redwood Bowl (Stadium for Humboldt State):



Having followed GNAC football for 4 years now, none of them are close to be ready to move up to I-FCS. However, the one that is by far the closest is CWO, but they would need to significantly upgrade their stadium, increase scholarships, and increase their fan base.

I think Humboldt could easily throw a few thousand more seats at the end of the stadium (endzone side) upping capacity to 9,000. Is there anything other than size that makes it not suitable for FCS? I've never been there.

I would love it if the Jacks joined the Big Sky. Poly and Davis' membership helps us out very minimally. Its great for football, but for all of our other sports we are still an outlier. Humboldt would be a great travel partner and a bus ride away for our other sports. I also think it will help keep football alive as DII football on the west coast is starting to disappear.

[CPAlum]

I agree that the best shot of aquiring a 14th team would be for a D2 program to move up to the Big Sky, howver as a few people have pointed out there are not many (or any at all) that have the means to do so but I figured might as well make a list of potential canidates who really I can only see coming from the GNAC at this point:

-Central Washington Wildcats: Know how to win, have beaten a Big Sky team recently (Idaho State) nearly beaten a few others (Montana 2008, EWU 2010). Also would fit in perfectly with the conference geography as kalm pointed out. The only thing really holding them back as far as I can tell are the needed upgrades of their facilities.

-Humboldt State Lumberjacks: Program that has gone 26-26 since 2006 (3rd year coach seems to be turning it around) which includes a close fought games against future/current Big Sky member Cal Poly in 2010 and the Jacks were able to defeat GNAC conference powerhouse Central Washington once last season 25-24 as well. In terms of facilities they probably have one of the best in terms of capacity (7,000) however as a few people already pointed out a few facility upgrades would not hurt.

-Dixie State Red Storm: Definitely not an ideal school in terms of comptetiveness but I feel with an upgrade to the FCS the recruiting and coaching the team would get better. Actually they are a team to be considered in terms of location and facilities (Burns Arena, Basketball: 5,000. Hansen Stadium, Football:10,00). Bus games to NAU, SUU, Weber State and ISU and could fly in and out of Cedar City.

Good rundown....anybody care to elaborate on why....or are we saying they "could use some facilities upgrades" the way that almost any school could? I briefly attended Humboldt in the late 80s before transferring to Cal Poly. I can say without hesitation; their facilities are far better than Cal Poly's were when they jumped to D1/FCS. The Redwood Bowl is not bad at all. Maybe a little small? but a nice place to see a game. Their basketball facility is maybe better than Cal Poly Mott Gym even now.....which means better than a few others in the Big Sky for sure (Sac comes to mind...sorry to my Hornet friends)


I think scheduling for HSU is a problem in the same way it has been for Davis and Poly. They could very well be motivated to make this jump. I'm not sure but if they were willing/able I think they would be great for the Big Sky

[Mike Johnson]

Actually they are a team to be considered in terms of location and facilities (Burns Arena, Basketball: 5,000. Hansen Stadium, Football:10,00). Bus games to NAU, SUU, Weber State and ISU and could fly in and out of Cedar City.

Why would they fly out of Cedar City, when they have a larger airport with more traffic at the St. George airport, that recently replaced to the one on the Mesa?

[EWURanger]

CWU's not moving up, nor would I want them in the conference.
.

Agree about them not moving up but why wouldn't you want it? They were a great rival going back to the Evergreen Conference days and would be another bus trip for us, PSU, and UM.

Agree on the proximity and the fact that they are old rivals, but I just don't think that Washington could sustain 4 Division I (football) schools, even with a population that is rapidly approaching 7 million. Maybe it would have been possible if there were another sizable school on the western side of the state that wanted to move up (I.E. WWU), but Ellensburg just isn't a big enough place to support even an FCS level team.

Plus, one of the main reasons EWU is successful is due to the number of quality recruits we are able to draw from within the state. Central moving up and adding scholarships would just dilute this number and add more local competition into an area where we already compete with WSU, UI, Montana, etc. I would have much rather seen Western keep their program and move to Division I than Central, although neither scenario is very plausible.

I'd like to see another California or Utah school to round things out, either HSU or perhaps Utah Valley.

[AZGrizFan]

Agree about them not moving up but why wouldn't you want it? They were a great rival going back to the Evergreen Conference days and would be another bus trip for us, PSU, and UM.

Agree on the proximity and the fact that they are old rivals, but I just don't think that Washington could sustain 4 Division I (football) schools, even with a population that is rapidly approaching 7 million. Maybe it would have been possible if there were another sizable school on the western side of the state that wanted to move up (I.E. WWU), but Ellensburg just isn't a big enough place to support even an FCS level team.

Plus, one of the main reasons EWU is successful is due to the number of quality recruits we are able to draw from within the state. Central moving up and adding scholarships would just dilute this number and add more local competition into an area where we already compete with WSU, UI, Montana, etc. I would have much rather seen Western keep their program and move to Division I than Central, although neither scenario is very plausible.

I'd like to see another California or Utah school to round things out, either HSU or perhaps Utah Valley.

Division II schools don't have scholarships?

[clenz]

Agree on the proximity and the fact that they are old rivals, but I just don't think that Washington could sustain 4 Division I (football) schools, even with a population that is rapidly approaching 7 million. Maybe it would have been possible if there were another sizable school on the western side of the state that wanted to move up (I.E. WWU), but Ellensburg just isn't a big enough place to support even an FCS level team.

Plus, one of the main reasons EWU is successful is due to the number of quality recruits we are able to draw from within the state. Central moving up and adding scholarships would just dilute this number and add more local competition into an area where we already compete with WSU, UI, Montana, etc. I would have much rather seen Western keep their program and move to Division I than Central, although neither scenario is very plausible.

I'd like to see another California or Utah school to round things out, either HSU or perhaps Utah Valley.

Division II schools don't have scholarships?

I believe they have 36 schollys to use

[EWURanger]

Agree on the proximity and the fact that they are old rivals, but I just don't think that Washington could sustain 4 Division I (football) schools, even with a population that is rapidly approaching 7 million. Maybe it would have been possible if there were another sizable school on the western side of the state that wanted to move up (I.E. WWU), but Ellensburg just isn't a big enough place to support even an FCS level team.

Plus, one of the main reasons EWU is successful is due to the number of quality recruits we are able to draw from within the state. Central moving up and adding scholarships would just dilute this number and add more local competition into an area where we already compete with WSU, UI, Montana, etc. I would have much rather seen Western keep their program and move to Division I than Central, although neither scenario is very plausible.

I'd like to see another California or Utah school to round things out, either HSU or perhaps Utah Valley.

Division II schools don't have scholarships?

No, they do. I guess I should have said adding scholarships on top of what they already do, or something to that effect.

[SUUTbird]

Actually they are a team to be considered in terms of location and facilities (Burns Arena, Basketball: 5,000. Hansen Stadium, Football:10,00). Bus games to NAU, SUU, Weber State and ISU and could fly in and out of Cedar City.

Why would they fly out of Cedar City, when they have a larger airport with more traffic at the St. George airport, that recently replaced to the one on the Mesa?

Meant St. George...dont know why I put cedar, its fixed though

[SuperHornet]

Why would they fly out of Cedar City, when they have a larger airport with more traffic at the St. George airport, that recently replaced to the one on the Mesa?

Meant St. George...dont know why I put cedar, its fixed though

That probably depends on which sport one is talking about. For football, St. George would probably be best. But for sports like hoops or volleyball, SUU and Dixie would likely be combined into one road trip, so one would either fly into Cedar City and out of St. George or vice versa.

[kalm]

Agree about them not moving up but why wouldn't you want it? They were a great rival going back to the Evergreen Conference days and would be another bus trip for us, PSU, and UM.

Agree on the proximity and the fact that they are old rivals, but I just don't think that Washington could sustain 4 Division I (football) schools, even with a population that is rapidly approaching 7 million. Maybe it would have been possible if there were another sizable school on the western side of the state that wanted to move up (I.E. WWU), but Ellensburg just isn't a big enough place to support even an FCS level team.

Plus, one of the main reasons EWU is successful is due to the number of quality recruits we are able to draw from within the state. Central moving up and adding scholarships would just dilute this number and add more local competition into an area where we already compete with WSU, UI, Montana, etc. I would have much rather seen Western keep their program and move to Division I than Central, although neither scenario is very plausible.

I'd like to see another California or Utah school to round things out, either HSU or perhaps Utah Valley.

Excellent points.

[Mike Johnson]

I believe they have 36 schollys to use

36 is the limit in NCAA Division II. However, the GNAC has a conference limit of 24.