Cal Poly to the Big Sky?

[TexasTerror]

FYI, not sure how many of you read through to the Great West Conference forums, but something is up and we may have some sort of shifting in the Football Championship Subdivision's West region alignment...

Initial thought from many who follow the situation is that Cal Poly will be announcing a move to the Big Sky...

http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?73319-Fan-Forum-Cal-Poly-Press-Conference-Tuesday

Mods, feel free to merge these two subjects on the main board.

[TexasTerror]

A blog about the press conference, plenty of speculation... pretty tight-lipped at this point, but the writer believes football is at the base of this and conference change is what is assumed...


They do not have a university president. (Interim president Robert Glidden will be presenting TBA.) Maybe they’ll have one on Tuesday? But probably not.

The Mustangs have been rumored to be among candidates for the Western Athletic Conference. But I don’t think it would happen so quickly. Didn’t the WAC just announce a few days ago that it had formed a search committee to replace the three teams its losing over the next few years?

TBA might be about that or about the step right before joining the WAC, declaring an intent to move into the Football Bowl Subdivision from the Football Championship Sbdivision. Or it could be about the step right before that — TBAing an intention to expand the stadium to or above NCAA FBS minimums.

I’ve also heard a bunch of wild rumors about Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone reaching retirement age. I’m pretty sure she’s past the California two-lane highway speed limit. But she’s got to be having too much fun to leave now, right?

No, TBA is definitely about football. And conference alignment is the theme of the year.

http://sloblogs.thetribunenews.com/collegebeat/2010/09/05/polys-big-mystery-announcement/

[DFW HOYA]

The only way Alex Spanos Stadium grows to I-A limits is to reroute those train tracks.

[slostang]

The only way Alex Spanos Stadium grows to I-A limits is to reroute those train tracks.

Not true. They have plans to eventually take the stadium to 25,000. That would be big enough. Idaho only has a 16,000 seat stadium. However it would be on the small side for the FBS, it would be the perfect size for the Big Sky. That is where we belong.

[slostang]

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly will conduct a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 7, at 2 p.m. in the president's suite at Alex G. Spanos Stadium to make a major announcement regarding the Cal Poly football program. The press conference will be conducted by interim president Dr. Robert Glidden, director of athletics Alison Cone and head football coach Tim Walsh. The press conference will be broadcast live and free via video stream on the internet. ...

Link: http://gopoly.com/index.php?p=sports&id=29891&article_id=101662

[Polywog]

I think a football-only membership in the Big Sky makes the most sense as to what this mysterious announcement is all about.

Since it is a "major announcement regarding the Cal Poly football program", it doesn't affect the rest of the sports that compete in the Big West/Pac -10. So that rules out an all-sports conference shift to either the Big Sky or the WAC. I can't imagine the WAC would want a transitional FCS team as a football-only member since they have the conference's basketball bid to worry about. A football-only member like Cal Poly doesn't help the WAC much at all, so that's unlikely. An FBS independant announcement is ludicrous to believe, and if (God forbid) they were announcing dropping the football program altogether then I imagine they'd wait until the season ended.

So here's hoping Cal Poly (and in my opinion, hopefully Southern Utah and UC Davis as well) will soon be playing football in the Big Sky Conference.

[Chi-towngrizzly]

I don't think this is happening. Expanding the Big Sky would would require approval from all other conference members. Adding football-only members would require some serious meetings, meets that have somehow eluded the attention of the fan bases of every other conference team besides Cal Poly.

[Polywog]

I don't think this is happening. Expanding the Big Sky would would require approval from all other conference members. Adding football-only members would require some serious meetings, meets that have somehow eluded the attention of the fan bases of every other conference team besides Cal Poly.

That could be true, I know the Sky has opposed football-only membership for a long time. But the WCC invited BYU to the conference without serious meetings. I know Cal Poly is no BYU, but a lot of expansion talk could be covered on the phone.

I *hope* the Big Sky feels that it's better to add a couple of football-only members instead of letting FCS continue to die out west. CP, UCD and SUU have little choice but either move up to FBS or eventually drop football. It helps everyone's schedules to have a 12 team, two division conference with a championship game.

[slostang]

I don't think this is happening. Expanding the Big Sky would would require approval from all other conference members. Adding football-only members would require some serious meetings, meets that have somehow eluded the attention of the fan bases of every other conference team besides Cal Poly.

Back at the Big Sky media day in ealry August conference expansion was discussed as was affiliate members and was it reported in articles that covered the media days. I remember reading one from a Bozeman newspaper.

[MplsBison]

Adding SUU as a full member and Davis and Poly as football-only seems a slam dunk to me.

The only possible sticking point I could see from it is, would Sac State then demand to be allowed to have the same deal as Poly and Davis *if* they stay in the Big Sky (ie, not invited to WAC)? But it seems like Sac St has a decent shot at being paired up with San Jose St in the WAC, so maybe it won't matter.

[cpalum]

I keep thinking there will be some discusion of this on the BSC fan forums but they have been down all day? I think this (Poly and UCD as footballnly and SUU as full member) is happening. Although the bulk of folks that feel that way seem to be CP/UCD/SUU fans...

[TexasTerror]

I'd be curious - if Southern Utah does go to the Big Sky - how much they save on travel expenses. Would think that would be an area covered by SUU, if they do get the invite. Financially, it makes tons of sense and perhaps it'll improve the overall product of their sports in being a more geographically and financially pleasing league...

[Chi-towngrizzly]

That could be true, I know the Sky has opposed football-only membership for a long time. But the WCC invited BYU to the conference without serious meetings. I know Cal Poly is no BYU, but a lot of expansion talk could be covered on the phone.

I *hope* the Big Sky feels that it's better to add a couple of football-only members instead of letting FCS continue to die out west. CP, UCD and SUU have little choice but either move up to FBS or eventually drop football. It helps everyone's schedules to have a 12 team, two division conference with a championship game.

Well, it helps everyone besides Montana...

Adding those 3 teams to the Big Sky erases 3 potential OOC games from the West. UM has made a buttload of money by playing lopsided home-and-homes with the three teams in question. By joining the conference these teams instantly gain home-and-home dates with UM. This in turn hurts UM's pocketbook and makes it more difficult for Montana to schedule home OOC games.

Other FCS and D2 teams will see Montana's difficult scheduling position and will demand a larger guarantee from us because they know the Griz will have a hard time finding opponents to come to Missoula and they know we can afford it.

Frankly, I don't see how Fullerton or the potential Big Sky members are in any position to dictate conference realignment terms that could potentially hurt UM's bottom line. Why would our administration or AD want to allow potential opponents to replace our home games with games at their stadiums that they will see a financial windfall from? Unless the terms of Poly, SUU, and Davis being added are ridiculously lopsided in UM's favor (such as a revenue share from our away games) I don't see this happening. If anything, I think this move would only strengthen UM's resolve to move to a division that will maximize our potential profits.

[JBB]

I think it would help travel when you consider all sports. SUU has wanted this for a while so that might be a clue? I want what's best for them. I hate to see them leave the Summit but the BSC would be better than the current arraignment.

[Polywog]

Here's the article from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle from early August that references potential BSC expanson:

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/sports/bobcats/article_da739988-9f7d-11df-8322-001cc4c002e0.html

This was written prior to Fresno State and Nevada leaving the WAC, so clearly some variables have changed. But it is interesting to read the opinions of some of the current member schools regarding all-sports and football-only expansion, and moving to the FBS too. Important to note is that Cal Poly's big announcement tomorrow is happening long before the Big Sky presidents and athletic directors meeting scheduled for October (you may have been right, chi-towngrizzly).

While I for one would love to see a 12 team BSC including Poly, Davis, and SUU, I need to remember that several of the current schools (PSU, Sac, Montana, MSU, etc) could be gone before the Mustangs enter the league (lots and lots of "ifs", I know).

[darell1976]

We'll miss you guys. I hope we can get some OOC games against you three.xbawlingx

[Green26]

My view is that the rumored expansion would be a positive for Montana, not a negative. It would add stability to the conference, protect the conference from any future WAC expansion exits, and add good football competition. I wonder if the ncaa would allow the Big Sky to add an extra (12th) game for a conference championship, like several of the I-A conferences have. This would be potential tv money.

As for scheduling OOC games, UM would still have the 4 Dakota schools in the region, D-II teams, and I-A games. Note that the new UM coach has essentially said he would like to schedule a I-A game every other year. In addition, UM could continue to schedule home-and-home games with I-AA programs, just like it has done in recent years with CP, Davis, and, in the near future, McNeese and App St (and in the past, Maine, Hofstra and Sam Houston St). Note that all 4 (or 7) of those teams would fly to Missoula, not come by bus. Also, UM can always bring in certain I-AA teams, like the Albanys of the world, who would come to Missoula for one game. The cost for those teams is only a $100,000 or $125,000 more than bringing in regional D-II teams that can bus.

I would think that all of the Big Sky teams, or at least most of them, would support this, including the waiver for 2 football only schools. The waiver would be a positive for the conference, not a negative.

One last comment. Beware of UM posters who so desparately want to move up, that they will make posts that actually make little or no sense, to oppose anything that would stand in the way of moving up.

[chrisattsu]

western teams are welcome in San Marcos anytime

[slostang]

western teams are welcome in San Marcos anytime

Cal Poly will be rolling into San Marcos in 2 weeks. Should be a great game if it is like any of the last three games we have played against TXST.

[Musty]

As for scheduling OOC games, UM would still have the 4 Dakota schools in the region, D-II teams, and I-A games. Note that the new UM coach has essentially said he would like to schedule a I-A game every other year. In addition, UM could continue to schedule home-and-home games with I-AA programs, just like it has done in recent years with CP, Davis, and, in the near future, McNeese and App St (and in the past, Maine, Hofstra and Sam Houston St). Note that all 4 (or 7) of those teams would fly to Missoula, not come by bus. Also, UM can always bring in certain I-AA teams, like the Albanys of the world, who would come to Missoula for one game. The cost for those teams is only a $100,000 or $125,000 more than bringing in regional D-II teams that can bus.



Absolutely agree with this. I would assume that for most schools, OOC would consist of something like 1 - Paid Home game against a DII or lower-level FCS. 1 - Paid away game at an FBS, and 1 - H&H against a FCS (mainly Southland and MVFC, but possibly others too). While losing Poly/Davis/SUU may somewhat decrease schools' opponent pool for OOC, I think it's more than worth the security of keeping FCS football alive in the West and protecting the Sky against FBS poaching.

[Lamar Cardinals 2010]

I think the answer is a simple stadium expansion for future WAC membership down the road.

It's not for a WAC invite now, because only football is involved. You can't be in the BW & WAC.

It doesn't seem like it's for a Big Sky invite either. Where is UCD's announcement, SUU full membership announcement, or the Big Sky announcing new affiliate/full members? If they did add CP/UCD as fb only they'd lose Sac St. to the Big West for other sports.

[dakotadan]

The local UND writter/blogger is reporting that the Big Sky has now scheduled a press conference for today also...

http://waynenelson.areavoices.com/2010/09/07/big-sky-big-news/