(09-22-2016 02:54 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 02:09 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  I still think the best fit for DU is the WCC but we are happy to have them in the SLC for now. It will be fun to see what Billups can do in Men's BB. One thing is for sure, their style of play will be changing and they will be far more fun to watch, and to play.

Denver is thriving in the Summit in non-basketball sports, especially volleyball and men's soccer. It's a decent fit for them geographically.

The MVC is a better fit, especially if Wichita St is still around.

(09-22-2016 11:43 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Denver is one of those funky schools that I think would be a fun conference member. They have decent academics. So do the Big West members. Denver has been strong in men's soccer recently, a Big West staple. They are starting to become regulars in the NCAAs in volleyball. Another top-100 program to go with Long Beach State and Hawaii. They wouldn't be that much of a misfit. The baseball / softball angle might be too much to overcome though.

Denver will improve any conference they can join. You just have to look past basketball and see the whole picture.

Or, they could join BYU, Pepperdine (potential WCC mates) and UCLA, USC, and Stanford in the MPSF for men's volleyball.

(09-22-2016 05:22 PM)YNot Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 11:43 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Denver is one of those funky schools that I think would be a fun conference member. They have decent academics. So do the Big West members. Denver has been strong in men's soccer recently, a Big West staple. They are starting to become regulars in the NCAAs in volleyball. Another top-100 program to go with Long Beach State and Hawaii. They wouldn't be that much of a misfit. The baseball / softball angle might be too much to overcome though.

Denver will improve any conference they can join. You just have to look past basketball and see the whole picture.

Or, they could join BYU, Pepperdine (potential WCC mates) and UCLA, USC, and Stanford in the MPSF for men's volleyball.

They don't have men's volleyball but with only 4.5 scholarships to spread around, doesn't seem like too big a hurdle. Grand Canyon being in the MPSF might, though.

I could see more Cal. schools want to go D1 as well.

Azusa Pacific
Cal. Poly-Pomona
Cal. State-East Bay
Chico State
Humboldt State
Cal-State -San Bernardino
Cal. State-L. A.

Dixie State might be sniffing D1 as well. They are in southwestern Utah, and not far from the California border.

California Baptist could move up as well, but where will they go to?

(09-22-2016 07:26 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  I could see more Cal. schools want to go D1 as well.

Azusa Pacific
Cal. Poly-Pomona
Cal. State-East Bay
Chico State
Humboldt State
Cal-State -San Bernardino
Cal. State-L. A.

Dixie State might be sniffing D1 as well. They are in southwestern Utah, and not far from the California border.

California Baptist could move up as well, but where will they go to?

That is the only school on that list rumored to move to D-I and the WAC. They have to put in their 8 yrs in D-II per the new rule of 3 provisional and 5 full in D-II before moving to D-I.

(09-22-2016 02:52 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Hey Puck, Denver's current home is comprised of public schools with the exception of Oral Roberts. And the WCC is mostly a California conference as well. Just saying

The California issue isn't the problem for DU and the Big West, nor is the sports part of it. It's more that the schools in the Big West are much larger, public schools with different focii, different audiences and different priorities. The Summit Schools are also mostly publics, too but most of them are similar size to DU in terms of student size. The Summit was there for DU when the WAC was crumbling, so for now, I'm fine with the Pioneers playing there, at least for now. DU did not have many options at the time the school left the WAC.

And while its true that we not have much in common with the Summit League schools, and they aren't a great draw here, either, I will say that the league is quite competitive in many of the sports DU plays there.

Long-term though, DU would like to be in a private school league with other schools of around 5,000ish undergrads. The WCC and Big East would be great long-term destinations, were the Pioneers ever to be attractive enough to invite.

UND will be a decent draw when they visit Denver as a Summit member.

(09-22-2016 05:11 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 02:54 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 02:09 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  I still think the best fit for DU is the WCC but we are happy to have them in the SLC for now. It will be fun to see what Billups can do in Men's BB. One thing is for sure, their style of play will be changing and they will be far more fun to watch, and to play.

Denver is thriving in the Summit in non-basketball sports, especially volleyball and men's soccer. It's a decent fit for them geographically.

The MVC is a better fit, especially if Wichita St is still around.

Denver was approached and declined the MVC. We got stuck with Loyola instead. Though with Wichita doing just about everything it can to get out of the MVC, maybe Denver made the correct decision. Although travel would still be similar either way.

(09-23-2016 07:07 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 05:11 PM)NoDak Wrote:  The MVC is a better fit, especially if Wichita St is still around.

Denver was approached and declined the MVC. We got stuck with Loyola instead. Though with Wichita doing just about everything it can to get out of the MVC, maybe Denver made the correct decision. Although travel would still be similar either way.

Perhaps a WAC adding Denver, Southern Utah, and BYU-I (assuming they re-add sports) while losing UT-Rio Grande Valley, Chicago St, and UM-KC would be a good, relatively compact conference (by western standards).

(09-23-2016 09:19 AM)HawkeyeCoug Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 07:07 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 05:11 PM)NoDak Wrote:  The MVC is a better fit, especially if Wichita St is still around.

Denver was approached and declined the MVC. We got stuck with Loyola instead. Though with Wichita doing just about everything it can to get out of the MVC, maybe Denver made the correct decision. Although travel would still be similar either way.

Perhaps a WAC adding Denver, Southern Utah, and BYU-I (assuming they re-add sports) while losing UT-Rio Grande Valley, Chicago St, and UM-KC would be a good, relatively compact conference (by western standards).

Why would BYU-I add sports after BYU-H is dropping them after this school year. They were in the D-II basketball title gm a couple of years ago. I was told the reason is they wanted the focus to be on the main campus. So BYU-I would detract from the main Provo Campus.

(09-23-2016 07:07 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 05:11 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 02:54 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 02:09 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  I still think the best fit for DU is the WCC but we are happy to have them in the SLC for now. It will be fun to see what Billups can do in Men's BB. One thing is for sure, their style of play will be changing and they will be far more fun to watch, and to play.

Denver is thriving in the Summit in non-basketball sports, especially volleyball and men's soccer. It's a decent fit for them geographically.

The MVC is a better fit, especially if Wichita St is still around.

Denver was approached and declined the MVC. We got stuck with Loyola instead. Though with Wichita doing just about everything it can to get out of the MVC, maybe Denver made the correct decision. Although travel would still be similar either way.

Why would they turn down the MVC? That would be like turning down the A-10 for the Horizon.

(09-23-2016 12:02 PM)Fresno St. Alum Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 07:07 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 05:11 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 02:54 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 02:09 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  I still think the best fit for DU is the WCC but we are happy to have them in the SLC for now. It will be fun to see what Billups can do in Men's BB. One thing is for sure, their style of play will be changing and they will be far more fun to watch, and to play.

Denver is thriving in the Summit in non-basketball sports, especially volleyball and men's soccer. It's a decent fit for them geographically.

The MVC is a better fit, especially if Wichita St is still around.

Denver was approached and declined the MVC. We got stuck with Loyola instead. Though with Wichita doing just about everything it can to get out of the MVC, maybe Denver made the correct decision. Although travel would still be similar either way.

Why would they turn down the MVC? That would be like turning down the A-10 for the Horizon.

If memory serves I believe the MVC were trying to force them into adding several new sports. DU wanted to add none.

(09-23-2016 12:08 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 12:02 PM)Fresno St. Alum Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 07:07 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 05:11 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 02:54 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Denver is thriving in the Summit in non-basketball sports, especially volleyball and men's soccer. It's a decent fit for them geographically.

The MVC is a better fit, especially if Wichita St is still around.

Denver was approached and declined the MVC. We got stuck with Loyola instead. Though with Wichita doing just about everything it can to get out of the MVC, maybe Denver made the correct decision. Although travel would still be similar either way.

Why would they turn down the MVC? That would be like turning down the A-10 for the Horizon.

If memory serves I believe the MVC were trying to force them into adding several new sports. DU wanted to add none.

I believe baseball and softball were the price of admission.

Basketball and Softball were the almost certainly price of admission to get into the MVC. But at that time, DU athletics did not have an extra $3-5 million to start up those sports (nor did they likely believe they could get a donor to cover it), while the Summit League made no such sports demands. So DU went to the Summit.

I like the MVC, for the Denver proximity to Wichita State's great hoops program and the two privates at the time (Drake and Bradley, then plus Loyola now) would have been even more attractive to DU if fellow privates Creighton and Tulsa were still in the conference.

Denver is willing to pay travel subsidies - they reportedly offered some to the WCC - but they are very reluctant to start baseball or softball. Maybe they will for the WCC, who knows?

The Big West supposedly asked Denver for both the subsidies and sports, and their AD was not happy about it. I think if someone asked them about men's volleyball or women's water polo - Denver does have swimming - they would at least consider it.

(09-23-2016 12:00 PM)Fresno St. Alum Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 09:19 AM)HawkeyeCoug Wrote:  Perhaps a WAC adding Denver, Southern Utah, and BYU-I (assuming they re-add sports) while losing UT-Rio Grande Valley, Chicago St, and UM-KC would be a good, relatively compact conference (by western standards).

Why would BYU-I add sports after BYU-H is dropping them after this school year. They were in the D-II basketball title gm a couple of years ago. I was told the reason is they wanted the focus to be on the main campus. So BYU-I would detract from the main Provo Campus.

1. Changes in the revenue from sports. TV revenue has gone up, alumni donations will go up in the next few years as the 4-year graduates move up the food chain, and the number of students (and thus reliable attendance) has gone up. Meanwhile, costs would be significantly lower for BYUI since they already have facilities from the JC days, and they are much closer to other universities than BYU-H. Overall, costs are down relative to BYUH, and revenue would be up relative to ~2001 when they went 4 year.

2. Leadership changes. As the church leadership changes, "special projects" will also change. Right now, BYU-I probably wouldn't even look at adding sports, as that would be against the universities mission. In 5-10 years, people will have changed, and the university will look at what is best for it, and will probably look at adding intercollegiate sports again.

3. I don't think BYU was behind either school dropping sports, as there are frequently transfers between the schools. I think BYU prefers to have the sister universities playing sports. It is more church leadership that is reluctant to pay for sports - even at BYU, which is why we are self-supporting.

(09-23-2016 03:35 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Denver is willing to pay travel subsidies - they reportedly offered some to the WCC - but they are very reluctant to start baseball or softball. Maybe they will for the WCC, who knows?

The Big West supposedly asked Denver for both the subsidies and sports, and their AD was not happy about it. I think if someone asked them about men's volleyball or women's water polo - Denver does have swimming - they would at least consider it.

Colorado does not lend itself to having competitive baseball and softball. Certainly Denver administration people know this, which is part of the reason that they originally pioneered lacrosse in the West. No Colo is the only school I believe that has DI baseball.

Could see Denver starting men's volleyball or water polo, because at least they can offer competitive teams eventually.

But North Dakota and Minnesota do??

NDSU and Minnesota softball are both great college teams.

(09-22-2016 08:42 PM)Fresno St. Alum Wrote:  

(09-22-2016 07:26 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  I could see more Cal. schools want to go D1 as well.

Azusa Pacific
Cal. Poly-Pomona
Cal. State-East Bay
Chico State
Humboldt State
Cal-State -San Bernardino
Cal. State-L. A.

Dixie State might be sniffing D1 as well. They are in southwestern Utah, and not far from the California border.

California Baptist could move up as well, but where will they go to?

That is the only school on that list rumored to move to D-I and the WAC. They have to put in their 8 yrs in D-II per the new rule of 3 provisional and 5 full in D-II before moving to D-I.

One thing, the 3 football schools out west in D2 would be better off if they are part of the Big West/Big Sky idea. Travel and the cost would be reduced. History of the colleges and universities for sports did have Humboldt State, Cal. Poly-Pomona, Chico State, Cal. State-San Bernardino and Cal. State-L.A. was would be considered D1 as they were used to be in the same conferences with schools from the Big West, WAC, Big Sky and MWC schools. Some of them used to be in the same conferences with San Diego State, Fresno State and San Jose State. Some D3 California schools were conference mates with UCLA at one time. Those schools are the ones that highly research schools like Cal. Tech and them.

(09-23-2016 05:32 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 03:35 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Denver is willing to pay travel subsidies - they reportedly offered some to the WCC - but they are very reluctant to start baseball or softball. Maybe they will for the WCC, who knows?

The Big West supposedly asked Denver for both the subsidies and sports, and their AD was not happy about it. I think if someone asked them about men's volleyball or women's water polo - Denver does have swimming - they would at least consider it.

Colorado does not lend itself to having competitive baseball and softball. Certainly Denver administration people know this, which is part of the reason that they originally pioneered lacrosse in the West. No Colo is the only school I believe that has DI baseball.

Could see Denver starting men's volleyball or water polo, because at least they can offer competitive teams eventually.

Air Force has baseball. Not very good, but they do have it.