Official: Montana staying in BSC

[wvanness]

According to KPAX in Missoula

http://www.kpax.com/news/um-staying-in-big-sky-conference/

[msusig]

They are probably waiting for an offer from the Mountain West.

[darell1976]

Second, he wanted UM to compete with more mission-similar institutions. He said the recent addition of the University of North Dakota strengthened the Big Sky Conference in that regard.

I second that comment!!! Thank you Montana for staying in the Big Sky!!!!!!!!!!xsmileyclapxxsmileyclapx

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Great!!!! xsmileyclapx

[aust42]

Excellent news as a 1AA fan. I would have personally been very sad to see Montana a perinial 1AA power leave for the WAC. The new WAC is not attractive at all IMO.

[Dane96]

Definitely official:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5792014

[unigriff]

Definitely official:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5792014

he wanted to maintain the cross-state football rivalry with Montana State; he wanted the Grizzlies to compete against institutions with similar academic missions; and he wanted to maintain the prestige and integrity the program has demonstrated.

They could have still kept their MSU rivalry many FCS schools do with FBS schools...such as here with UNI-ISU (or UNI vs. Iowa). That is a dumb reason.

Academic missions is bunk reason as well. Everyone has a strong suit in their academic institutions...but the overall mission is to graduate professionals for the world at hand. "Similar" to me just means a teacher college vs. a teacher college.

And you can maintain prestige and integrity at a different level of sports. Boise State is the poster child for it probably.

I think it is great that Montana is staying because we all know them as a football power in FCS, but the reasons given are not strongly supported. JMO

[Squealofthepig]

I think it is great that Montana is staying because we all know them as a football power in FCS, but the reasons given are not strongly supported. JMO

Could he really have said what we all had surmised was the best reasons not to go? "I did not want to join a conference that is self-destructing while simultaneously pledging millions of dollars to fund it. Also, it's generally a good idea not to join any conference when one of the teams in it is using congressional power to get out of it." To me, the wording indicates that he wanted to not burn any future bridges and help the WAC save some face by quoting the internal reasons for Montana, vs. the external reasons in the WAC.

I agree the reasoning given is a bit specious, for the reasons you cite, but also think he had to play nice.

Regardless, I'm a happy camper in Missoula today.

[WMTribe90]

he wanted to maintain the cross-state football rivalry with Montana State; he wanted the Grizzlies to compete against institutions with similar academic missions; and he wanted to maintain the prestige and integrity the program has demonstrated.

They could have still kept their MSU rivalry many FCS schools do with FBS schools...such as here with UNI-ISU (or UNI vs. Iowa). That is a dumb reason.

Academic missions is bunk reason as well. Everyone has a strong suit in their academic institutions...but the overall mission is to graduate professionals for the world at hand. "Similar" to me just means a teacher college vs. a teacher college.

And you can maintain prestige and integrity at a different level of sports. Boise State is the poster child for it probably.

I think it is great that Montana is staying because we all know them as a football power in FCS, but the reasons given are not strongly supported. JMO

Sure, MSU and Montana could have still played every year, but with 22 extra scholaships for Montana it would be hard to maintain a true rivalry. Montana already has the upperhand in this series, add the extra scholarships and it become less competitive and the game loses its luster IMO.

[IaaScribe]

Not to mention that I believe there is a rule in place preventing FBS schools from visiting FCS schools, so every game would be in Missoula.

I could be wrong on that though. I thought I heard it somewhere...

[NHwildEcat]

I just saw this on ESPN and headed over here...very happy with this news. Montana is a very big part of FCS and we would all be missing out if they were to move up.

[biggie]

Bravo, like it.

[LehighFan11]

Congrats to Montana for not taking the payday. Go FCS!

[Uncle Rico's Clan]

As a Montana fan I am happy about this decision. I think we have program with a huge number of positive characteristics that could have been lost with a move. I will remain a Grizzly fan, no matter what the future holds, but for the time being I think we made the best decision. To answer a previous question, the WAC was willing to change its bylaws to allow Montana to play games in Bozeman in order to keep the Griz-cat rivalry alive.

[glsjunior]

Its still weird having a flagship institution not be an FBS school. I guess its the Southerner in me.

[FargoBison]

Its still weird having a flagship institution not be an FBS school. I guess its the Southerner in me.

If MT, ND and SD all had just one flagship in each state they probably would all be in the FBS but we are small states and two flagships really split up the resources.

[glsjunior]

If MT, ND and SD all had just one flagship in each state they probably would all be in the FBS but we are small states and two flagships really split up the resources.

So Montana isn't considered the flagship institution of the state?

[FargoBison]

So Montana isn't considered the flagship institution of the state?

Nope both Montana and Montana State are flagships. Kind of like Michigan and Michigan State or Arizona and Arizona State.

Some states put the law school, med school and land grant all into one(like Minnesota or Nebraska). In states like ND and MT one school has the law/med(the liberal arts) and another is the land grant(mechanical arts).

[glsjunior]

Nope both Montana and Montana State are flagships. Kind of like Michigan and Michigan State or Arizona and Arizona State.

Some states put the law school, med school and land grant all into one(like Minnesota or Nebraska). In states like ND and MT one school has the law/med(the liberal arts) and another is the land grant(mechanical arts).

Cool thanks for the info.

[darell1976]

Nope both Montana and Montana State are flagships. Kind of like Michigan and Michigan State or Arizona and Arizona State.

Some states put the law school, med school and land grant all into one(like Minnesota or Nebraska). In states like ND and MT one school has the law/med(the liberal arts) and another is the land grant(mechanical arts).

We have 2 out of the 3. But when the UND-NDSU merger happens and becomes the University of North Dakota State Fighting Bison we will all be only one flagship school.xlolx

[FargoBison]

We have 2 out of the 3. But when the UND-NDSU merger happens and becomes the University of North Dakota State Fighting Bison we will all be only one flagship school.xlolx

Oh great, don't even mention that. I'm sure Bill is out there lurking ready to tell everyone about his bullet train he is going to build from Fargo to GF and his huge football stadium in Hillsboro. xrotatehxxsmiley_wixxrotatehx

[darell1976]

Oh great, don't even mention that. I'm sure Bill is out there lurking ready to tell everyone about his bullet train he is going to build from Fargo to GF and his huge football stadium in Hillsboro. xrotatehxxsmiley_wixxrotatehx

Yeah I wonder how that is going? The guy is totally nuts. He was a huge joke on ss and I am sure Bville laughed at him too.

[glsjunior]

It could be worse. It could be the MAC.

[srgrizizen]

Congrats to Montana for not taking the payday. Go FCS!

I think it was the right decision, at least for now, but I'm not sure it involved resisting the big bucks. Rather than a "payday," moving up might well have been a financial disaster. More (mostly out of state) scholarships, higher travel costs (more people travelling, if not farther), etc. Disappointed Griz fans who have been asking "who cares about the FCS?" should take a look at the props to UM on this board. I'd bet there are more FCS fans following the playoffs, even if their team is not in it, than FBS fans following an obscure bowl game between two 6-6 teams.

[Keeper]

thank goodness, common sense prevails for once.

xsmileyclapx

looking forward to the Humongous Sky in 2012.
any word of an improved tv net?

[MTGrizzFan]

I'm happy with the news.

[dakotadan]

xthumbsupx

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I agree with this. Montana made the right decision. Hawaii is going to announce their departure from the WAC within the year, and when San Jose State becomes the most senior member of that conference, you know you've got problems. The Sun Belt Conference is becoming far more attractive as an FBS league than the WAC.

If Hawai'i does indeed depart the WAC, aren't they basically still at square one again?

[darell1976]

If Hawai'i does indeed depart the WAC, aren't they basically still at square one again?

Whats the chances teams like Idaho, San Jose State and Fresno State move down to the FCS if the WAC is so bad.

[dbackjon]

Not to mention that I believe there is a rule in place preventing FBS schools from visiting FCS schools, so every game would be in Missoula.

I could be wrong on that though. I thought I heard it somewhere...

Not an NCAA rule, but some conferences have that rule. The WAC does. The WAC was willing to waive it for Montana to play AT Montana State only.

[Tim James]

Whats the chances teams like Idaho, San Jose State and Fresno State move down to the FCS if the WAC is so bad.

I think San Jose would drop football rather than move down. Fresno, Im pretty sure has invested the most money in football of those 3. Idaho shouldnt even be at FBS level anyways.

[Big Al]

Whats the chances teams like Idaho, San Jose State and Fresno State move down to the FCS if the WAC is so bad.

Fresno State was invited to the Mountain West, along with Nevada when the Mountain West was playing chicken with BYU.

BYU still left the conference but I still say they lost by going to the WCC and not having a viable WAC to use as a scheduling partner.

[Big Al]

Idaho shouldnt even be at FBS level anyways.

Yeah, Idaho would make a great 14th member of the Big Sky again.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Whats the chances teams like Idaho, San Jose State and Fresno State move down to the FCS if the WAC is so bad.

The 2012 WAC, if Hawai'i leaves the conference:

Louisiana Tech
Idaho
Utah State
New Mexico State
San Jose State
Texas State
UTSA

UTSA hasn't played a down of football recently, but every single team in this new conference 1) currently has a losing record in 2010 and 2) with the possible exception of Utah State, will easily be below the 30,000 average attendance threshold.

Louisiana Tech and Utah State would never go to FCS, but Texas State has known nothing but FCS-level football, UTSA has never hosted an FBS program, and the three others look a lot more like FCS programs than FBS programs. IMVHO the NCAA could make a great case for reclassifying this league as FCS, though Utah State and Louisiana Tech would probably bolt first.

[MplsBison]

The 2012 WAC, if Hawai'i leaves the conference:

Louisiana Tech
Idaho
Utah State
New Mexico State
San Jose State
Texas State
UTSA

UTSA hasn't played a down of football recently, but every single team in this new conference 1) currently has a losing record in 2010 and 2) with the possible exception of Utah State, will easily be below the 30,000 average attendance threshold.

Louisiana Tech and Utah State would never go to FCS, but Texas State has known nothing but FCS-level football, UTSA has never hosted an FBS program, and the three others look a lot more like FCS programs than FBS programs. IMVHO the NCAA could make a great case for reclassifying this league as FCS, though Utah State and Louisiana Tech would probably bolt first.

The NCAA is never going to stop a school from giving 76.5 to 85 scholarships in football, so long as that's the FBS scholarship level.

You'd have better luck making an argument that the FBS maximum should be brought down to 63, like the FCS maximum.

[NoCoDanny]

I guess I'm the only one but I thought they should have gone up. It seems to me they have nothing left to prove at this level, what, are they going to win the Big Sky another 13 years in a row? At some point it's a bit of a joke and discounts their success. I have respect for that but eventually it's just a matter of having better resources against inferior competition.

[Squealofthepig]

NoCoDanny - I agree the Griz should move up when it's feasible. However, moving up to the WAC just doesn't seem to be the right move. If Chatty was looking at moving up, but to the Sun Belt, or UNI was looking to move FBS, but to the MAC... well, that might not make sense, either. Add in that the WAC is basically self-destructing, and I have to agree with the decision.

[Walkon79]

I guess I'm the only one but I thought they should have gone up. It seems to me they have nothing left to prove at this level, what, are they going to win the Big Sky another 13 years in a row? At some point it's a bit of a joke and discounts their success. I have respect for that but eventually it's just a matter of having better resources against inferior competition.

What, you don't think you can compete? Ask EWU. Weber, MSU and NAU. I think we compete just fine in this league and with FCS in general.

[MplsBison]

NoCoDanny - I agree the Griz should move up when it's feasible. However, moving up to the WAC just doesn't seem to be the right move. If Chatty was looking at moving up, but to the Sun Belt, or UNI was looking to move FBS, but to the MAC... well, that might not make sense, either. Add in that the WAC is basically self-destructing, and I have to agree with the decision.

There's never going to be a right time. Not now that the NCAA says any new FBS team has to be invited by an existing conference.

There are only three FBS conferences in the west. Montana will never be directly invited to the Pac 10, so the only possibility is the WAC or the MWC. So if they think they should wait for the MWC before moving up...like I said, there's never going to be a right time.


They probably should've moved up at the same time as Boise St - but hindsight is 20-20. NDSU should've moved up to FCS when UNI did.

[NoCoDanny]

I agree Mpls, you can spend the rest of your life waiting for the perfect time to do anything, FCS is obviously less than competetive, a team wins a conference what, 10 years in a row, that's indication right there they should move up. The WAC is the option so go up and make it into something.

Heck, I think they could win the WAC in 2012, Utah State, San Jose State, Idaho, NM State, Hawaii, the Texas schools... I'd take Montana over them all... they'll be in a bowl game, get way more push than the FCS playoffs...

I just think it was very small minded to stay back, at least try and reach your full potential instead of being that 16 year old 8th grader beating kids up for their lunch money, not so impressive.

[srgrizizen]

I agree Mpls, you can spend the rest of your life waiting for the perfect time to do anything, FCS is obviously less than competetive, a team wins a conference what, 10 years in a row, that's indication right there they should move up. The WAC is the option so go up and make it into something.

Heck, I think they could win the WAC in 2012, Utah State, San Jose State, Idaho, NM State, Hawaii, the Texas schools... I'd take Montana over them all... they'll be in a bowl game, get way more push than the FCS playoffs...

I just think it was very small minded to stay back, at least try and reach your full potential instead of being that 16 year old 8th grader beating kids up for their lunch money, not so impressive.

There may be historical evidence that UM outgrew the Big Sky, but not this year. Virtually every conference opponent has been competitive this year, and MSU is probably going to have to play their worst game of the year to avoid kicking UMs butt. (Yes, I'd be happy to be wrong.) If you count future BSC member Cal Poly, that would make losses to 4 conference opponents. I'm not moaning about it. It might be good for the conference and for Griz humility. Maybe 10 conference titles in a row are evidence everyone else in the conference should step up, and they have. Nothing is stopping UNC either.

[BlueHenSinfonian]

I think Montana knows what they are doing. Could it be possible that Montana is positioning itself in a concerted effort with all members of the Big Sky Conference to push the whole league to the Football Bowl Subdivision in one move? There have been talks of this before especially when the concept of the 16-team superconferences in Division 1 were being explored. Really, they still are. The Bowl Championship Series is eventually going to go away. Once college football's highest division incorporates a true and better way of declaring a national champion (as with a playoff), that is when we may see Montana and the Big Sky move out from the FCS level to the current D-1 Bowl Subdivision as a whole league.

I don't see the Big Sky moving up to FBS as a conference - too many of the teams just wouldn't be competitive on a regular basis. There is a lot of money tied up in the bowls, and they aren't going to go away overnight. Some system that uses the current bowls and fits it into a playoff system might have a possibility. At the end of the day, the Div I football situation should be reorganized. I don't know if it should mean adding more scholarship slots to FCS teams, or removing some from FBS teams, or even meeting in the middle, but there should be a way to remove the subdivisions. If the NCAA changes the rule and allows schools to play football at a different division than other sports a lot of current FCS teams could move down to Div II or Div III where they would be more comfortable, and the top 30 or 40 could merge with the current FBS programs to just create an all encompassing Div I football system.



The Big Sky would be only the fourth Division 1 FBS conference west of the Central Great Plains. Compare that to the the number of conferences east of the Mississippi. You have seven in the eastern U.S. There will be a growing need for more western Division 1 FBS level schools.

Outside of the west coast, the population west of the Mississippi is very spread out, so there isn't the need for as many conferences. The west is already trying to find a way to make things work with just the WAC, MWC, and Pac-10, adding a fourth FBS conference under the current system wouldn't help matters any.

[NoCoDanny]

The Big Sky isn't moving up, nothing they have indicated suggested that, the message from Fullerton has all been about FCS as a great cost contain option, not a potential breading ground for an FBS move up.