(04-17-2016 12:56 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  Another direction NMSU could go if it dropped down to FCS would be to lobby the Big West to sponsor FCS football and add NMSU, Portland State, Sac State and Northern Arizona. Those four along with Cal Poly and UC Davis would give the Big West the requisite six football members for an FCS playoff auto bid. UCSD could also join to give the conference a 14th member for non-football sports. I can't see the Big West going for it, but that would be a fun conference.

If two of Portland State, NAU and Sac State were football-only members, I can see the Big West going for that. The FB affiliates can put their other sports into the WAC.

UCSD, NMSU and one of those three as the 12th full member.

(04-17-2016 07:40 PM)MJG Wrote:  

(04-17-2016 05:12 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(04-17-2016 12:56 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  Another direction NMSU could go if it dropped down to FCS would be to lobby the Big West to sponsor FCS football and add NMSU, Portland State, Sac State and Northern Arizona. Those four along with Cal Poly and UC Davis would give the Big West the requisite six football members for an FCS playoff auto bid. UCSD could also join to give the conference a 14th member for non-football sports. I can't see the Big West going for it, but that would be a fun conference.

Instead of the West adding another football conference I see the opposite happening based on experience. When I was a kid there were 4 western conferences. Starting from Texas we had the SWC, the WAC, the Big West and the PAC 10. Over a 20 year period 3 out of those 4 are gone. I don't see anything other than the PAC and the MWC in the west going forward based on this trend. Some even see the MWC eventually crumbling....
Cheers!

The PAC isn't going to promote any of the P5 wannabe MWC teams.
The AAC could take four leaving Eight no chance the MWC goes away.
Maybe become irrelevant like current FCS conferences.
Have a bunch of one bid years like this year.
I can see the G5 slipping as a whole as the P5 pull away.
The Access Bowl becoming less significant and not rotating.
Peach every year and most fans won't care.

You missed the point completely. The whole NCAA is in a lot of hurt which includes the P5 schools with all the lawsuits, cover up of rapes, FCOAs, CTE and so forth. The P5 needs the G5, FCS and several D2 schools to make sure they survive now, and then look into the future once everything is settled down. Why do you think several D2 school reps were at the D1 meetings last fall? It had to do with what I am talking about. After that, there have been reports that FCS conferences want to move up as a whole, and several D2 schools sent out that they are interested in joining D1.

(04-17-2016 12:38 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I strongly doubt NMSU will drop down to FCS. It's more likely to go the independence route.

If NMSU did drop down, joining the Big Sky as its 15th member for football and 13th member for other sports doesn't strike me as a good option. Better to lead an effort by the WAC to sponsor FCS football. I think the WAC would have a shot at adding Portland State, Sac State and Northern Arizona as full members and Cal Poly and UC Davis as football-only members IF the deal included parting ways with its Central Time Zone members (Chicago State, UMKC and UTRGV). The result would be a true western conference with a presence in multiple large markets -- Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Phoenix -- and easy travel. In the longer run Cal Baptist and/or Azusa Pacific could be considered as additions to give the WAC a SoCal foothold.

Please leave NAU out of these dreams. We are quite happy in the Big Sky.

Could the other unnamed conference be the MWC? The MWC only has 11 teams for basketball and the Olympic sports. It can complement Hawaii's football only membership with NMSU's basketball while staying as a football independent. NMSU is bad in football with minimal fan support but they have a well supported basketball program and baseball is decent as well. El Paso Intl is 45 mins away so it's easy to get to from most MWC cities. They could have a schedule agreement with the MWC with 4 games plus UNM and UTEP, that's 6 guaranteed games per season. The rest can be 2-3 money games and 1-1s with G5 schools.

(04-18-2016 03:33 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Could the other unnamed conference be the MWC? The MWC only has 11 teams for basketball and the Olympic sports. It can complement Hawaii's football only membership with NMSU's basketball while staying as a football independent. NMSU is bad in football with minimal fan support but they have a well supported basketball program and baseball is decent as well. El Paso Intl is 45 mins away so it's easy to get to from most MWC cities. They could have a schedule agreement with the MWC with 4 games plus UNM and UTEP, that's 6 guaranteed games per season. The rest can be 2-3 money games and 1-1s with G5 schools.

I would be surprised if the MW was the un-named conference. They may have contacted the MW (as they should try), but I don't think they'll take NMSU for oly sports only when BYU would be a stronger option. My thought is, it is the Missouri Valley Conference.

(04-18-2016 03:33 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Could the other unnamed conference be the MWC? The MWC only has 11 teams for basketball and the Olympic sports. It can complement Hawaii's football only membership with NMSU's basketball while staying as a football independent. NMSU is bad in football with minimal fan support but they have a well supported basketball program and baseball is decent as well. El Paso Intl is 45 mins away so it's easy to get to from most MWC cities. They could have a schedule agreement with the MWC with 4 games plus UNM and UTEP, that's 6 guaranteed games per season. The rest can be 2-3 money games and 1-1s with G5 schools.

NMSU Olympic sports would be a decent option for the MWC to offset Hawaii. Especially if the MWC picks up a couple other all sports members in Texas.

For Olympic sports:
EAST: Wyoming, Colorado St., Air Force, New Mexico, NMSU, Tex1, Tex2
WEST: SDSU, SJSU, Fresno, Nevada, UNLV, Boise St., Utah St.

For football, slide Utah St. over to the East and Hawaii into the West.

(04-18-2016 03:39 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(04-18-2016 03:33 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Could the other unnamed conference be the MWC? The MWC only has 11 teams for basketball and the Olympic sports. It can complement Hawaii's football only membership with NMSU's basketball while staying as a football independent. NMSU is bad in football with minimal fan support but they have a well supported basketball program and baseball is decent as well. El Paso Intl is 45 mins away so it's easy to get to from most MWC cities. They could have a schedule agreement with the MWC with 4 games plus UNM and UTEP, that's 6 guaranteed games per season. The rest can be 2-3 money games and 1-1s with G5 schools.

I would be surprised if the MW was the un-named conference. They may have contacted the MW (as they should try), but I don't think they'll take NMSU for oly sports only when BYU would be a stronger option. My thought is, it is the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Valley isn't forward thinking enough to be the unnamed conference as much as I'd like to see it.

The Summit might be taking UMKC and NMSU possibly adding UTRG for twelve .

There was an article out that WCC really do not want to see the WAC fall apart. Why would the other conferences not want the WAC to go away? Maybe a conference like the A-Sun as a conference for D2 candidates to move up, and get groomed for a better conference. Need to keep WAC an option just in case for schools that do move up could. Some of them could be football members which could help get the WAC into football.

(04-18-2016 03:39 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  They may have contacted the MW (as they should try), but I don't think they'll take NMSU for oly sports only when BYU would be a stronger option.

BYU isn't going to pop on an Olympic sports invite from a 1-bid MWC. Especially now that the UNLV MBB program is in shambles.

(04-19-2016 06:02 AM)BigEastHomer Wrote:  

(04-18-2016 03:39 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  They may have contacted the MW (as they should try), but I don't think they'll take NMSU for oly sports only when BYU would be a stronger option.

BYU isn't going to pop on an Olympic sports invite from a 1-bid MWC. Especially now that the UNLV MBB program is in shambles.

BYU would like to be in the MW for Olympic sports but they aren't getting in unless they bring their football with them. Both the WCC and MW are 1 or 2 bid conferences. It just the BYU would like to play in bigger arenas that the MW has vs the small gym of most of the WCC.

(04-19-2016 05:50 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  There was an article out that WCC really do not want to see the WAC fall apart. Why would the other conferences not want the WAC to go away? Maybe a conference like the A-Sun as a conference for D2 candidates to move up, and get groomed for a better conference. Need to keep WAC an option just in case for schools that do move up could. Some of them could be football members which could help get the WAC into football.

WCC would be a bottom tier western conference without the WAC. It be like if you raise the minimum wage to $15. Suddenly $20 is not very attractive

(04-23-2016 07:23 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(04-19-2016 05:50 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  There was an article out that WCC really do not want to see the WAC fall apart. Why would the other conferences not want the WAC to go away? Maybe a conference like the A-Sun as a conference for D2 candidates to move up, and get groomed for a better conference. Need to keep WAC an option just in case for schools that do move up could. Some of them could be football members which could help get the WAC into football.

WCC would be a bottom tier western conference without the WAC. It be like if you raise the minimum wage to $15. Suddenly $20 is not very attractive

Are you serious? WCC is head and shoulders above the Big West and Big Sky, with or without the WAC.

(04-23-2016 09:52 AM)DoubleRSU Wrote:  

(04-23-2016 07:23 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(04-19-2016 05:50 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  There was an article out that WCC really do not want to see the WAC fall apart. Why would the other conferences not want the WAC to go away? Maybe a conference like the A-Sun as a conference for D2 candidates to move up, and get groomed for a better conference. Need to keep WAC an option just in case for schools that do move up could. Some of them could be football members which could help get the WAC into football.

WCC would be a bottom tier western conference without the WAC. It be like if you raise the minimum wage to $15. Suddenly $20 is not very attractive

Are you serious? WCC is head and shoulders above the Big West and Big Sky, with or without the WAC.

They are talking about conferences with no football. As it is for the stand point of football wish? They are behind both Big West and The Bog Sky because they both have football playing members, and that several Big West schools are thinking of starting up a team.

(04-17-2016 08:49 AM)Rich52c Wrote:  

(04-16-2016 09:53 PM)MJG Wrote:  I think adding the Dakota schools and splitting north and South makes sense.
The Southern Big Sky schools joining the WAC
UMKC and possibly UTRG to the Summit.
Unless UTRG makes sense for a travel partner for NMSU.

If Big 12 adds 2 AAC schools the AAC will likely go to CUSA for replenishment.
Thus there will be a potential opening in CUSA for New Mexico State.

Doubt it. If CUSA loses 2, we will stay at 12.

The only way I see NMSU to C-USA is if the American takes UMass and 1 C-USA school. The C-USA defector probably has to be from the East (I'll use Marshall in this example), so that UAB can move from the West Division:

West - NMSU, UTEP, Rice, North Texas, UTSA, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss
East - UAB, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, Charlotte, FAU, FIU

This would presume C-USA passes on James Madison, Missouri State, South Alabama, Arkansas State, and Texas State. Dependingo n the timing of the vacancy, UTRGV may be in the discussion because of the UTEP and UTSA connections, but they would face the same objections the eastern FCS schools. To me Arkansas State will be the toughest one to pass on, but I'm not sure how interested they are in moving to C-USA. An independent NMSU would have no exit fee due the Sun Belt, and would only need to reschedule seven games annually, as UTEP would now be a conference game. NMSU may be able to get out of independence fairly cheaply if it can simply move all of the games to dates in the future.