Poll: Does Big Sky Want Boise State Minus Football?

weberwildcat · Post by **weberwildcat** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:46 pm

On the Weber forum we are discussing Boise to the Big Sky without football and if we are for it or against it. What do you think?

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... n-big-east" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Negotiations are also taking place to secure conference membership for other Boise State teams. Kustra said he hopes to solidify membership plans with at least one western conference in the next several days. He declined to identify the conference, but said geography is a key ingredient in finding a home for basketball, volleyball, tennis and other sports."

http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2011/1 ... ld_broncos" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If Boise State's football team goes to the Big East, where should the Broncos' other programs go?

Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson has said Boise State will not be allowed to house its programs in the conference if the football team departs.

Here are Boise State's Western options (in alphabetical order): Big Sky, Big West, West Coast Conference, Western Athletic Conference.

Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton said Wednesday night that Boise State and Air Force have not contacted the conference about housing its non-football teams.

"We have not heard from them. We'd be happy to talk to them," Fullerton said. "Things are happening so quickly, we're going to wait and see what happens."

weberwildcat · Post by **weberwildcat** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:49 pm

MWC: MWC has already said they won't allow a school to keep its oly sports only in the conference.
WCC: Seems unlikely but who knows
Big West: added hawaii maybe they would be interested in Boise & Air Force?
Big Sky: added 2 football only partial members along with UND and SUU as full members.

Darell1976 · Post by **Darell1976** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:07 pm

I'd be great to have BSU back in the BSC. I would love to go to a BSU-UND bball game at night and a BSU football game in the daytime.

Post by **EWURanger** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 4:25 am

Adding non-football members doesn't do much for the Big Sky. However, it probably would increase the profile slightly for men's B-Ball and could potentially have a second-order effect of bringing Idaho back into the fold....so why not? Boise State is in the historical footprint of the old Big Sky Conference and has a lot of old rivalries there.

Also, if BSU and Air Force go to Big East for football, that means the MWC will have to replace them, most likely with Utah State and San Jose from the WAC. They won't try to poach any Conference-USA teams, as the the MWC and CUSA are already merging to create a super conference for football.

If the WAC folds, that leaves Idaho without a conference for ALL sports, not just football. Could be interesting.

ODUalum11 · Post by **ODUalum11** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 7:51 am

I'd like to think the MWC is a better all around conference than the Big Sky...but then again I really have nothing to back that up with....

Post by **dbackjon** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:02 am

ODUalum11 wrote:I'd like to think the MWC is a better all around conference than the Big Sky...but then again I really have nothing to back that up with....

They are. But if Boise goes to the Big East for Football only, they will be kicked out of the MWC for all other sports.

ODUalum11 · Post by **ODUalum11** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:06 am

dbackjon wrote:
ODUalum11 wrote:I'd like to think the MWC is a better all around conference than the Big Sky...but then again I really have nothing to back that up with....
They are. But if Boise goes to the Big East for Football only, they will be kicked out of the MWC for all other sports.

So, if you were to ask me again I would really say that Boise State is holding the rest of its athletic programs hostage then. But then again, does BSU have any other nationally recognized athletic programs?

Post by **SDHornet** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:22 am

BSU’s options for their Oly sports will be the Big West or Big Sky. I don’t see the WCC taking them, the MWC will kick them out, and the WAC…well it really won’t be there when USU & SJSU are invited to the MWC and LA Tech possibly even gets a CUSA invite.

I don’t see the Big West taking them unless they offer to subsidize travel. Plus the BWC is at an even number, which means they would probably want to find another member to maintain a scheduling balance.

I think it would be a great add for the BSC. It would create divisions for the Oly sports thereby reducing the travel costs that the retarded UND add created. Plus it’s another decent market to add that could only help the Roots Sports contract the BSC is soon to announce. Also it’s easy for fans and teams to travel to Boise as its located smack in the middle of the BSC footprint. Since Fullerton already shat on the all sports only tag line, there isn’t really a leg to stand on as far as complaining that BSU won’t be a full all sports member. I’d much rather see BSU in the BSC instead of Idalol. I don’t see Idalol or any FBS program left out of the conference alignments ever taking their football program to FCS.

Post by **EWURanger** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 10:31 am

SDHornet wrote:I don’t see Idalol or any FBS program left out of the conference alignments ever taking their football program to FCS.

I don't either, but if the WAC folds, which it very may well do - what are Idaho's options? They are geographically isolated from any FBS conference that is likely to take them. There's no getting around that one.

If Idaho wanted to keep their football program at the FBS level, they could do something similar to what BSU is doing, and maybe put all their olympic sports in the Big Sky or Big West to save on travel costs. Of course, that still doesn't solve the problem of where they would put their football program. MWC probably won't take them...........really, the Sun Belt might be their only option. Either that, or drop football. I don't see them surviving for long as an independent....as it is right now, the only teams that they can afford to bring in on a consistent basis are FCS schools.

If the WAC goes away, it would be FAR more cost-effective for them to go to the Big Sky in all sports. Of course, they probably won't.

Northcoast · Post by **Northcoast** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 10:45 am

We don't want their leftovers. Their other sports are barely big sky quality.

Mike Johnson · Post by **Mike Johnson** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 11:32 am

I have long said that Boise State is Weber State with a very good FBS football team (and smurf turf).

The schools are of very similar size. They have almost identical academic missions. They have very similar histories (particularly if you include in BSU's it predecessor, St. Margaret's Academy, prior to it becoming Boise Junior College). They started as church chartered academies. They became junior colleges focused on teacher training. In the 1930s, they shifted from church to state. They moved from small downtown campuses to larger suburban campuses about the same time in the 1950s. They were part of the national trend of primarily teacher's colleges becoming bachelor degree schools and regional comprehensives in the 1960s. They both began graduate programs in the 1970s. Their service areas are very similar in size and demographics. They both are building a good sized branch campus in their neighboring county, both founded almost exactly the same time.

To compete in the FBS, a school needs 16 sports. The BSU non-football sports have been dragged from the Big Sky to five years in the Big West to ten years in the WAC to the Mountain West, because of football. It will be interesting if the rest of the sports go back to the Big Sky with football moving on.

eaglesfootball · Post by **eaglesfootball** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:03 pm

hell no. The big sky needs to be planning for the future and Boise State is way to volatile.

weberwildcat · Post by **weberwildcat** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:25 pm

if we had boise and idaho in the big sky for basketball that would be fun but overall i dont like boise potentially coming as a partial member. the big sky is already getting confusing but having up to 4 partial members would be weird.

i also do NOT want to see any schools joining the big sky that do not have football such as denver.

Post by **SDHornet** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 2:43 pm

EWURanger wrote:
SDHornet wrote:I don’t see Idalol or any FBS program left out of the conference alignments ever taking their football program to FCS.
I don't either, but if the WAC folds, which it very may well do - what are Idaho's options? They are geographically isolated from any FBS conference that is likely to take them. There's no getting around that one.

If Idaho wanted to keep their football program at the FBS level, they could do something similar to what BSU is doing, and maybe put all their olympic sports in the Big Sky or Big West to save on travel costs. Of course, that still doesn't solve the problem of where they would put their football program. MWC probably won't take them...........really, the Sun Belt might be their only option. Either that, or drop football. I don't see them surviving for long as an independent....as it is right now, the only teams that they can afford to bring in on a consistent basis are FCS schools.

If the WAC goes away, it would be FAR more cost-effective for them to go to the Big Sky in all sports. Of course, they probably won't.

My guess is Idalol is too prideful to realize the FBS decision was a complete mistake. So they wither away as an independent until they eventually cut their program. So it would be whose Oly sports are better, Idalol or BSU? Given the geographic and market advantage Boise has over Moscow, I’d give BSU the nod.

weberwildcat · Post by **weberwildcat** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 2:45 pm

ya its weird all the success boise has had in football but only one conf title in bball in 15 yrs since leaving the big sky. idaho is even worse.

Post by **SDHornet** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 2:49 pm

weberwildcat wrote:ya its weird all the success boise has had in football but only one conf title in bball in 15 yrs since leaving the big sky. idaho is even worse.

Yeah but when year consistently pull down BCS berths, I doubt many people give a fuck what their hoops team has done.

Post by **EWURanger** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:01 pm

Interestingly enough, some of BSU's better men's Bball teams were back in their Big Sky days. To be honest, their Olympic sports aren't anything to write home about. I'm not sure how much of a drop, if any, the Big Sky would be for them.

weberwildcat · Post by **weberwildcat** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:14 pm

SDHornet wrote:
weberwildcat wrote:ya its weird all the success boise has had in football but only one conf title in bball in 15 yrs since leaving the big sky. idaho is even worse.
Yeah but when year consistently pull down BCS berths, I doubt many people give a **** what their hoops team has done.

ya true, i was just thinking there is no major reason for the big sky to be overly excited about having all the teams in the big sky of boise that arent good.

SuperHornet · Post by **SuperHornet** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 5:05 pm

1. Boise likely wouldn't be asked to provide travel subsidies for the BWC, which already has those for HI (or will once HI joins full-time). It's not as hard to get to Boise as, say, Grand Forks or Cedar City.

2. That said, the Big Sky makes a bit more sense (in terms of geography with EWU/UM/MSU/WSU) than the Big West (multiple trips to SoCal).

3. There are internal state politics involved with Idaho/BSU. The reason Idaho jumped when Boise did was that the legislature refused to allow Boise to move without the Vandals. They didn't bother to look at the leadership, which was clearly better at Boise in that they were prepared for the move, while Idaho wasn't and is still paying for it. They really ought to drop to FCS but won't until that issue is addressed. I know hindsight is 20/20, but Boise really should have been allowed to make the move alone.

4. All that said, I think the Sky is better off without Idaho. They'd be a drag on conference RPI (and other-sport equivalents) in almost every sport to the degree that UNC (sans hoops/VB) has been. Boise would be a good add athletically, but I'm not sure I want one more trip to that state, given that we already go there to play the crappy Bungles.

biobengal · Post by **biobengal** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 7:15 pm

Why waste the paper signing contracts?

Since 95 boise has "participated in the Big Sky, Big West, WAC, MWC, Big East.... ?

pantherrob82 · Post by **pantherrob82** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 7:41 pm

The big sky has other sports?

Post by **kalm** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:25 pm

SuperHornet wrote:1. Boise likely wouldn't be asked to provide travel subsidies for the BWC, which already has those for HI (or will once HI joins full-time). It's not as hard to get to Boise as, say, Grand Forks or Cedar City.

2. That said, the Big Sky makes a bit more sense (in terms of geography with EWU/UM/MSU/WSU) than the Big West (multiple trips to SoCal).

3. There are internal state politics involved with Idaho/BSU. The reason Idaho jumped when Boise did was that the legislature refused to allow Boise to move without the Vandals. They didn't bother to look at the leadership, which was clearly better at Boise in that they were prepared for the move, while Idaho wasn't and is still paying for it. They really ought to drop to FCS but won't until that issue is addressed. I know hindsight is 20/20, but Boise really should have been allowed to make the move alone.

4. All that said, I think the Sky is better off without Idaho. They'd be a drag on conference RPI (and other-sport equivalents) in almost every sport to the degree that UNC (sans hoops/VB) has been. Boise would be a good add athletically, but I'm not sure I want one more trip to that state, given that we already go there to play the crappy Bungles.

Idaho made an NCAA tournament appearance or two when it was in the BSC. And they have had success in both track and volleyball. If they were willing to drop back down in football they would be a huge asset.

Post by **Grizalltheway** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:26 pm

Darell1976 wrote:I'd be great to have BSU back in the BSC. I would love to go to a BSU-UND bball game at night and a BSU football game in the daytime.

BSU minus football...minus.

eaglesfootball · Post by **eaglesfootball** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:34 am

kalm wrote:
SuperHornet wrote:1. Boise likely wouldn't be asked to provide travel subsidies for the BWC, which already has those for HI (or will once HI joins full-time). It's not as hard to get to Boise as, say, Grand Forks or Cedar City.

2. That said, the Big Sky makes a bit more sense (in terms of geography with EWU/UM/MSU/WSU) than the Big West (multiple trips to SoCal).

3. There are internal state politics involved with Idaho/BSU. The reason Idaho jumped when Boise did was that the legislature refused to allow Boise to move without the Vandals. They didn't bother to look at the leadership, which was clearly better at Boise in that they were prepared for the move, while Idaho wasn't and is still paying for it. They really ought to drop to FCS but won't until that issue is addressed. I know hindsight is 20/20, but Boise really should have been allowed to make the move alone.

4. All that said, I think the Sky is better off without Idaho. They'd be a drag on conference RPI (and other-sport equivalents) in almost every sport to the degree that UNC (sans hoops/VB) has been. Boise would be a good add athletically, but I'm not sure I want one more trip to that state, given that we already go there to play the crappy Bungles.
Idaho made an NCAA tournament appearance or two when it was in the BSC. And they have had success in both track and volleyball. If they were willing to drop back down in football they would be a huge asset.

all of idaho's sports were more successful when they were in the Sky.

Post by **kalm** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 11:46 am

eaglesfootball wrote:
kalm wrote:
Idaho made an NCAA tournament appearance or two when it was in the BSC. And they have had success in both track and volleyball. If they were willing to drop back down in football they would be a huge asset.
all of idaho's sports were more successful when they were in the Sky.

Plus they're so perfect geographically. Natural rivalries with us, Montana, ISU. And their facilities and fan base would have them starting out as an FCS power.

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