I can't believe no one brought this up yet. Due to the presence of Hawaii, the WAC doesn't need an even number of teams. Why can't everyone have a travel partner except Hawaii? That is a long trip and teams, especially basketball, could probably benefit more from the extra day off.

I understand the desire of Louisiana Tech fans to have a nearby school in the WAC but, like others have pointed out, what happens if the Bulldogs decide to leave the league? The WAC would be screwed again. LTU and NMSU aren't ideal travel partners, but such a set-up would work.

I think the WAC, due to the aforementioned Hawaii travel issues, can function fine with 9 or 11 schools. I think, down the line, UC Davis and Sacramento State offer the best expansion package for the WAC. The WAC should stay in touch with and assist these two schools whenever needed.

I may take some heat from this from my WAC brethren but I would not mind seeing NDSU join the WAC if they met the requirements to be a 1-a football school and wanted to join. NDSU is a little further east than the ideal but there a precious few 1-a teams in the west and it may come down to we need them, it would be better if there were another school in thier vicinity to join with them for travel purposes.

If North Dakota State has the will, ambition, and ability, to move up and we need a member, why not. Montana won't ever be coming according their assistaint AD, so neither will Montana State. I think if North Dakota State were in the WAC they would be very similar to Wyoming in the Mountain West. The whole state (even if it is a small population state) would be behind them and they would be the biggest show in North Dakota.

They have a good football tradition at the small college level, and who knows maybe they could be like Boise State and turn that into sucess at the 1-a level.

NDSU has the highest attendance numbers of any D1AA team that's been discussed (football: ~12K over the past five years, and >14K so far this year......basketball: ~2500 over the past 6 years). Fargo would add some additional travel issues, but facilities/attendance are the biggest considerations, so I'd say it's an option worth considering. Heck, sign me up! :)

Weren't NDSU and SDSU (no, not that one) just up for membership in the Big Sky? Anyone know why the Sky gave them a pass? This, in spite of the facts that these two schools fit in the Sky very well geographically, academically and athletically. If the Big Sky came to the conclusion that these programs were not a good fit, how is it that they are a better fit in the WAC (where they are not a terribly good fit geographically or athletically)?

What happened with the Big Sky, FargoBison?

NavyBlueUSU Wrote:Wolf Pack 1, UC-Davis is joining the Big West, they are NOT joining the Big Sky for anything. Where that rumor started I do not know. But you can check with the Montana fans at egriz.com or the Big Sky Conference site http://www.bigskyconf.com.

UC-Davis will be playing all sports, but football which will stay in the Great West, in the Big West starting in 2007.

According the UC-Davis AD they are joining Big Sky for football only in 2007 the same year that Northern Colorado will be joining Big Sky also.

CalAggie Wrote:Weren't NDSU and SDSU (no, not that one) just up for membership in the Big Sky? Anyone know why the Sky gave them a pass? This, in spite of the facts that these two schools fit in the Sky very well geographically, academically and athletically. If the Big Sky came to the conclusion that these programs were not a good fit, how is it that they are a better fit in the WAC (where they are not a terribly good fit geographically or athletically)?

What happened with the Big Sky, FargoBison?

NDSU and SDSU are not eligible for DI post-season competition until 2008-2009. The Big Sky would consider adding one transitional DI school, but not two. Look for both of these schools to be added for the 2008-9 season, as well as the University of North Dakota. The Big Sky will then have 12 schools with a high plains (N Colo, Mont, MSU, NDSU, UND, SDSU) division and a pacific (Idaho St, Weber, Port St., E Wash, Sac St, and NAU). The division format will placate the western-most schools' travel concerns.

wolf pack 1 Wrote:According the UC-Davis AD they are joining Big Sky for football only in 2007 the same year that Northern Colorado will be joining Big Sky also.

Kindly post a link. The Big Sky has no such public plans to add a football-only affiliate (it would consider however a 10th non-football school - i.e. Denver). UC-Davis was approached by the Big Sky as an all-sports addition and kindly indicated no interest. Davis is shooting for the WAC, as is Sac St, but both are a number of years away from having their facilities ready.

CalAggie Wrote:Weren't NDSU and SDSU (no, not that one) just up for membership in the Big Sky? Anyone know why the Sky gave them a pass? This, in spite of the facts that these two schools fit in the Sky very well geographically, academically and athletically. If the Big Sky came to the conclusion that these programs were not a good fit, how is it that they are a better fit in the WAC (where they are not a terribly good fit geographically or athletically)?

What happened with the Big Sky, FargoBison?

NDSU and SDSU are not in the Big Sky because Sac St and PSU can't afford to travel this far west. Both the Montana schools seem to really want NDSU and SDSU but for some reason they just can't convince PSU, Sac St, and maybe NAU to follow their veiws. NDSU even had a majority of votes(6-2 I think) last time expansion talks came up but since it wasn't a consensus they didn't get put in. This has seemed to upset the Montana St President who really wants to add some flagship type schools into the Big Sky. Even Fulerton their league comish said that "NDSU is everything the big sky needs". I just don't understand the Big Sky and why they continue to tease NDSU. I think the NDSU adminstration is now starting to look elsewhere for conference membership and if that is IA and the WAC they would do it in an instant.

NoDak Wrote:[NDSU and SDSU are not eligible for DI post-season competition until 2008-2009.  The Big Sky would consider adding one transitional DI school, but not two.  Look for both of these schools to be added for the 2008-9 season, as well as the University of North Dakota.  The Big Sky will then have 12 schools with a high plains (N Colo, Mont, MSU, NDSU, UND, SDSU) division and a pacific (Idaho St, Weber, Port St., E Wash, Sac St, and NAU).  The division format will placate the western-most schools' travel concerns.

I wouldn't be to sure of this because the Big Sky just talked about forming a twelve team two division format conference and they said there was no interest. The main problem with this is that Sac St, PSU, NAU, and Weber don't want to lose any of the few games they get to play against the Montana schools and if you put them in a different division they would lose some of their most highly attended and most profitable games. I am not saying this couldn't happen down the road if a few teams were to leave or if the Montana schools were suddenly able to convince NAU, Sac St, and PSU otherwise.

NoDak Wrote:

wolf pack 1 Wrote:According the UC-Davis AD they are joining Big Sky for football only in 2007 the same year that Northern Colorado will be joining Big Sky also.

Kindly post a link. The Big Sky has no such public plans to add a football-only affiliate (it would consider however a 10th non-football school - i.e. Denver). UC-Davis was approached by the Big Sky as an all-sports addition and kindly indicated no interest. Davis is shooting for the WAC, as is Sac St, but both are a number of years away from having their facilities ready.

It was during an interview either during the Portland St game or Sac St game that was tv at halftime where he said they were looking forward to moving to the Big Sky in 2007 along with Northern Colorado.

johnnylightnin Wrote:Tech desperately needs a travel partner...travel costs are killing us. The departure of the e-WAC is really draining our funds. If we are going to add teams, add several and make it possible to have an eastern component to the WAC. My votes would go to:

UNT
ULL
A-State
Troy

So you want to be in the Sun Belt but you don't want to move :rolleyes: :bang: :laugh:

FargoBison Wrote:

CalAggie Wrote:Weren't NDSU and SDSU (no, not that one) just up for membership in the Big Sky?  Anyone know why the Sky gave them a pass?  This, in spite of the facts that these two schools fit in the Sky very well geographically, academically and athletically.  If the Big Sky came to the conclusion that these programs were not a good fit, how is it that they are a better fit in the WAC (where they are not a terribly good fit geographically or athletically)?

What happened with the Big Sky, FargoBison?

NDSU and SDSU are not in the Big Sky because Sac St and PSU can't afford to travel this far west. Both the Montana schools seem to really want NDSU and SDSU but for some reason they just can't convince PSU, Sac St, and maybe NAU to follow their veiws. NDSU even had a majority of votes(6-2 I think) last time expansion talks came up but since it wasn't a consensus they didn't get put in. This has seemed to upset the Montana St President who really wants to add some flagship type schools into the Big Sky. Even Fulerton their league comish said that "NDSU is everything the big sky needs". I just don't understand the Big Sky and why they continue to tease NDSU. I think the NDSU adminstration is now starting to look elsewhere for conference membership and if that is IA and the WAC they would do it in an instant.

The Big Sky isn't in the business of teasing NDSU. There is real interest, but it just doesn't make sense to add two teams to a conference that are still not full DI members. One provisional DI member is the limit, and N Colorado was chosen for the time being. (NColo will join the Big Sky in 2006-7 and will be a full DI member in 2007-8.)

wolf pack 1 Wrote:

NoDak Wrote:

wolf pack 1 Wrote:According the UC-Davis AD they are joining Big Sky for football only in 2007 the same year that Northern Colorado will be joining Big Sky also.

Kindly post a link. The Big Sky has no such public plans to add a football-only affiliate (it would consider however a 10th non-football school - i.e. Denver). UC-Davis was approached by the Big Sky as an all-sports addition and kindly indicated no interest. Davis is shooting for the WAC, as is Sac St, but both are a number of years away from having their facilities ready.

It was during an interview either during the Portland St game or Sac St game that was tv at halftime where he said they were looking forward to moving to the Big Sky in 2007 along with Northern Colorado.

Davis will be a fully eligible DI member and a full member of the Big West in 2007. UNColo will be the same with the Big Sky. Since both are current members of the Great West, that may have caused confusion in the interpretation of his remarks.

FargoBison Wrote:

NoDak Wrote:[NDSU and SDSU are not eligible for DI post-season competition until 2008-2009.  The Big Sky would consider adding one transitional DI school, but not two.  Look for both of these schools to be added for the 2008-9 season, as well as the University of North Dakota.  The Big Sky will then have 12 schools with a high plains (N Colo, Mont, MSU, NDSU, UND, SDSU) division and a pacific (Idaho St, Weber, Port St., E Wash, Sac St, and NAU).  The division format will placate the western-most schools' travel concerns.

I wouldn't be to sure of this because the Big Sky just talked about forming a twelve team two division format conference and they said there was no interest. The main problem with this is that Sac St, PSU, NAU, and Weber don't want to lose any of the few games they get to play against the Montana schools and if you put them in a different division they would lose some of their most highly attended and most profitable games. I am not saying this couldn't happen down the road if a few teams were to leave or if the Montana schools were suddenly able to convince NAU, Sac St, and PSU otherwise.

Just today, the NDSU AD stated they wouldn't add women's equestrian because they wanted to wait to determine if they need to add tennis as a sport. Since the Big Sky requires its members to have men's and women's tennis, that seems like a rather clear sign that NDSU is still expecting more interest from the Big Sky, presumably within 18-24 months of NDSU and SDSU being full DI members. Expect the Big Sky to begin to get serious next fall.

FargoBison Wrote:I know probably few posters on this board even know about North Dakota State but I was just wondering if the WAC would ever be willing to add NDSU. NDSU has some nice facilities, it is a state flagship school, and and is very well supported by it's fans, alumni, and students. NDSU has an enrollment of around 12,000 students and the school is located in the city of Fargo(200,000).

In addition to NDSU having great football facilities, SDSU's and UND's are not too shabby either. Maybe more than one Dakota schools could end up in the WAC long-term. Here's SDSU's basketball arena:



and UND's Hockey (or basketball), Volleyball (basketball practice), and Football facilties:

FargoBison Wrote:

CalAggie Wrote:Weren't NDSU and SDSU (no, not that one) just up for membership in the Big Sky?  Anyone know why the Sky gave them a pass?  This, in spite of the facts that these two schools fit in the Sky very well geographically, academically and athletically.  If the Big Sky came to the conclusion that these programs were not a good fit, how is it that they are a better fit in the WAC (where they are not a terribly good fit geographically or athletically)?

What happened with the Big Sky, FargoBison?

NDSU and SDSU are not in the Big Sky because Sac St and PSU can't afford to travel this far west. Both the Montana schools seem to really want NDSU and SDSU but for some reason they just can't convince PSU, Sac St, and maybe NAU to follow their veiws. NDSU even had a majority of votes(6-2 I think) last time expansion talks came up but since it wasn't a consensus they didn't get put in. This has seemed to upset the Montana St President who really wants to add some flagship type schools into the Big Sky. Even Fulerton their league comish said that "NDSU is everything the big sky needs". I just don't understand the Big Sky and why they continue to tease NDSU. I think the NDSU adminstration is now starting to look elsewhere for conference membership and if that is IA and the WAC they would do it in an instant.

The rest of the Big Sky is afraid of losing to the Dakota schools....
Both of them have more fans than the University of Idaho.....

This was news to me...Sacramento St is building a new basketball arena that's part of a $73M <a href='http://www.csus.edu/union/rwec/index.htm' target='_blank'>Recreation, Wellness, Events Center</a>. Alex Spanos has contributed $10M, and students have approved a $110 fee toward the project. They're also renovating Hornet Stadium, and yesterday <a href='http://www.statehornet.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/21/43597900cf1da' target='_blank'>announced</a> $3.3M in contributions for various projects, including $1.3M toward construction of a field house and indoor tennis courts. Maybe there's more hope for Sac St than most of us thought.

clpack Wrote:This was news to me...Sacramento St is building a new basketball arena that's part of a $73M <a href='http://www.csus.edu/union/rwec/index.htm' target='_blank'>Recreation, Wellness, Events Center</a>. Alex Spanos has contributed $10M, and students have approved a $110 fee toward the project. They're also renovating Hornet Stadium, and yesterday <a href='http://www.statehornet.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/21/43597900cf1da' target='_blank'>announced</a> $3.3M in contributions for various projects, including $1.3M toward construction of a field house and indoor tennis courts. Maybe there's more hope for Sac St than most of us thought.

Sac State and UCDavis are in a facilities arms race to increase their attractiveness to the WAC. DIAA or DII football has never been an attractive proposition to any California schools. Both SAC and Davis want to be DIA early next decade. The WAC is their only option. When La Tech inevitably leaves, both may be added - as rivals against each other and for easy fan commutes to/from Fresno, San Jose, and Reno. Their addition would also make a WAC bowl in central California or the Bay Area much more viable which is a vital issue for the WAC.

But will they be able to compete in sports and not turn into another Idaho or someone like that in sports. I think that should be taken into consideration because across the country right now with the teams that left this year, the WAC is an extremely weak football and other sports conference.

Sac St is in the WAC for baseball this year so it will be interesting to see what they do. I think UC-Davis could compete in football but other sports I don't know. That would be the red flags that I would bring up.

wolf pack 1 Wrote:But will they be able to compete in sports and not turn into another Idaho or someone like that in sports. I think that should be taken into consideration because across the country right now with the teams that left this year, the WAC is an extremely weak football and other sports conference.

Sac St is in the WAC for baseball this year so it will be interesting to see what they do. I think UC-Davis could compete in football but other sports I don't know. That would be the red flags that I would bring up.

UC-Davis, with 30,000 enrollment and some wealthy and otherwise extensive network of loyal alumni, will be competitive in any sport they choose. Davis is a sleeping athletic giant that was satisfied in DII too long. The Stanford win has galvanized their alumni even more. More than any other school in the WAC or Mountain West, Davis has the academic credentials for the PAC-10. (not that that would happen until at least 2025).

SAC is a bigger challenge, but if they continue to raise money and then can actually win, the Sacramento market would support it very well. (Not like San Jose.)