San Diego...

[blur2005]

You know, San Diego is in the Pioneer League...does anyone else think this is odd? Especially when the Great West would like another conference member, and San Diego is sitting in a conference with teams that are VERY far away from it. While it's not very large, San Diego is playing competetive football, beating Yale this past weekend. Not that Yale is any good, but still, the Toreros might be better than Southern Utah, yes?

[TheValleyRaider]

San Diego is, I believe, one of those mid-major programs that's really trying to step up their commitment to being competitive. The PFL loses Austin Peay after this year, and Drake has been pushing upwards as well. Same with schools like Monmouth, CCSU, Albany and Duquesne in the East. If the remaining members of the GWFC want to stick it out together (and I really hope they do), USD would probably be a decent choice to replace UNC. If they really are committed to improving, joining a potential playoff conference is a good way for San Diego to keep moving up.

[henfan]

How many equivalancies does San Diego offer? 15? 20? I'd hestitate to put them in the same competitive category as schools who award many more equivalancies.

They'd get pummeled regularly by Cal-Poly, Cal-Davis and NDSU. Unless San Diego ramped up big time, it's unlikely they'd be very over the long term. One win over an Ivy team does not make a great program, nice though it is.

[TheValleyRaider]

I'm not suggesting that San Diego is ready to compete right now, or even for a few years. But, if they are trying to upgrade their program (and I could be wrong about that), adding them to the GWFC seems reasonable.

[henfan]

True enough, ValleyRaider, though I recall reading last year that San Diego is not interested in investing more resources in football. I think the subject came up in conjunction with the Harbaugh's hiring.

They'd be a real credit to full equity I-AA football, if they could make that leap. If I'm not mistaken, Villanova has a future game set up against them on the Left Coast.

[faxjusfax]

How many equivalancies does San Diego offer? 15? 20? I'd hestitate to put them in the same competitive category as schools who award many more equivalancies.

They'd get pummeled regularly by Cal-Poly, Cal-Davis and NDSU. Unless San Diego ramped up big time, it's unlikely they'd be very over the long term. One win over an Ivy team does not make a great program, nice though it is.

Being part of the "Pioneer League", I don't think they have any equivalancies.

[ucdtim17]

There's no way they could compete now and they don't want to add scholarships, which is the same reason St. Mary's dropped football. It's a shame

[Torero Tradition]

USD does not offer football scholarships. Play in the Pioneer Football League (non-scholarship league.) The school administration would like to drop the program and do not want to put much money in it at all. While the team is competitive this season, the schedule has NAIA, Division III, and other non scholly programs on it besides the two Ivy league teams. (Princeton and Yale).

Jim Harbaugh is the coach and has done well to revive the program a little, but he will be looking to move up before long... maybe after this season.

In an interesting note...

http://www.i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=72052
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"the PFL Championship will be discontinued after the 2005 championship game hosted by the PFL North champion, Nov. 19. Without a league championship game, the establishment of a NCAA-sponsored post-season opportunity for one or more PFL teams becomes a high priority.

“We are hopeful that the strength of our league will be emphasized through the round-robin format,” said Dave Blank, director of athletics at Drake and current chair of the PFL. “We feel strongly that the NCAA should be interested in investigating ways to provide our student-athletes with some form of post-season opportunity.”
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It would be great if the school would ante up and put some money into the program and scholarships. Joining a western conference would be great. Unfortunately, I think it might be a pipe dream... we are lucky we still have a team.

[Tod]

And I-AA is lucky you still have a team. GO TORERO!

Torero - A matador or one of the supporting team. OLE!!

Good luck and let the I-AA community at large know if there's anything we can do to support the program. I can't speak for every I-AA fan here, but dammit I'm going to...we'll do whatever we can to support your team.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

[Torero Tradition]

San Diego lost a hard fought battle with Princeton today. Driving in for a late 4th quarter score to take the lead, the Tigers picked it off and returned it for a 99 yard TD. Tigers win 20-17. Toreros should make a run for the Pioneer League Championship.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/recap?gid=200509240133

[JALMOND]

If the administration does not want to put money in the football program, how can they fund away games against the Ivy (twice) as well as road games within the Pioneer? My guess is that it is not cheap flying to Des Moines or Chicago, let alone New Jersey, from San Diego.

[laparka316]

The schools in the PFL make a good deal of money off of football, simply because of the tuition players are playing. PFL rules state that no athletic grants in aid can be awarded, so the only financial aid the players can get is that of any common student. Each school in the league makes over a million from having football just from tuition football players are paying.