Simon Fraser Being Booted Out Of Lone Star Conference For Football

Wonder where they go now?

Makes sense. They’ll have 8 full members plus 2 affiliates. Everyone makes 1 road trip to the PNW. No one has to go to Canada.

Simon Fraser should consider a return to USports

Back home:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Wes...ssociation

(02-02-2023 07:06 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Makes sense. They’ll have 8 full members plus 2 affiliates. Everyone makes 1 road trip to the PNW. No one has to go to Canada.

Simon Fraser should consider a return to USports

The Great Northwest sponsors other sports.

Maybe they could play FCS DI football (Big Sky or WAC) or affiliate with the GLIAC for football. They would likely be more accustomed to crossing the border. If they continue to play Central Washington and Western Oregon that would give them most of a schedule. Perhaps an OOC against a Northern Sun team.

(02-02-2023 08:13 PM)jimrtex Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 07:06 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Makes sense. They’ll have 8 full members plus 2 affiliates. Everyone makes 1 road trip to the PNW. No one has to go to Canada.

Simon Fraser should consider a return to USports

The Great Northwest sponsors other sports.

Maybe they could play FCS DI football (Big Sky or WAC) or affiliate with the GLIAC for football. They would likely be more accustomed to crossing the border. If they continue to play Central Washington and Western Oregon that would give them most of a schedule. Perhaps an OOC against a Northern Sun team.

SFU is the only Canadian member of the NCAA.

The GLIAC teams don't cross the border to play regular season games against schools in Canada. They're as likely to want to travel from Michigan to BC as the LSC schools are willing to travel to BC from Texas.

It's still feasible for SFU to be in the GNAC for other sports. Football is the issue. Home and home against Central Washington and Western Oregon gives them four games...if CWU and WOU have room after playing a Lone Star schedule.

SFU must see some sort of benefit to being in the NCAA vis-a-vis U-Sports.

Simin Fraser wants to able to offer full scholarships.

They won’t move to U Canada in all sports just because of a lack of American football opponents. They have been playing NAIA or NCAA for well over 50 years.

(02-02-2023 10:05 PM)johnintx Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 08:13 PM)jimrtex Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 07:06 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Makes sense. They’ll have 8 full members plus 2 affiliates. Everyone makes 1 road trip to the PNW. No one has to go to Canada.

Simon Fraser should consider a return to USports

The Great Northwest sponsors other sports.

Maybe they could play FCS DI football (Big Sky or WAC) or affiliate with the GLIAC for football. They would likely be more accustomed to crossing the border. If they continue to play Central Washington and Western Oregon that would give them most of a schedule. Perhaps an OOC against a Northern Sun team.

SFU is the only Canadian member of the NCAA.

The GLIAC teams don't cross the border to play regular season games against schools in Canada. They're as likely to want to travel from Michigan to BC as the LSC schools are willing to travel to BC from Texas.

It's still feasible for SFU to be in the GNAC for other sports. Football is the issue. Home and home against Central Washington and Western Oregon gives them four games...if CWU and WOU have room after playing a Lone Star schedule.

SFU must see some sort of benefit to being in the NCAA vis-a-vis U-Sports.

I'm surprised that the Lone Star even invited Western Oregon & Central Washington as Texas-centric as most Texas' schools are, IMO (Texas school administrator: if it isn't in Texas, it doesn't exist!! Harumph!! The SWC should have never broken up!! Harumph!!).

(02-02-2023 10:05 PM)johnintx Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 08:13 PM)jimrtex Wrote:  

(02-02-2023 07:06 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Makes sense. They’ll have 8 full members plus 2 affiliates. Everyone makes 1 road trip to the PNW. No one has to go to Canada.

Simon Fraser should consider a return to USports

The Great Northwest sponsors other sports.

Maybe they could play FCS DI football (Big Sky or WAC) or affiliate with the GLIAC for football. They would likely be more accustomed to crossing the border. If they continue to play Central Washington and Western Oregon that would give them most of a schedule. Perhaps an OOC against a Northern Sun team.

SFU is the only Canadian member of the NCAA.

The GLIAC teams don't cross the border to play regular season games against schools in Canada. They're as likely to want to travel from Michigan to BC as the LSC schools are willing to travel to BC from Texas.

It's still feasible for SFU to be in the GNAC for other sports. Football is the issue. Home and home against Central Washington and Western Oregon gives them four games...if CWU and WOU have room after playing a Lone Star schedule.

SFU must see some sort of benefit to being in the NCAA vis-a-vis U-Sports.

Muskie had suggested that Simon Fraser return to USports. That assumes that they would return the whole program, or USports would permit them to play with DII scholarship players - or play with 4-downs and the shorter field.

Central Washington played Ferris State for its out of conference game the last two years.

With three GNW schools, the LSC were facing two trips to the NW half of the years. With the addition of Sul Ross they have one more Texas game.

If the RMAC or Northern Sun had any room for other schools they would probably be playing them.

The GLIAC is the closest conference that appears to have room for Simon Fraser.

Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan at least know where Canada is and it would be a long trip every two years.

GLIAC is not an option. That league is 3 time zones and thousands of miles away.

There’s some options:

D3 Northwest Conference only has 8 football members—they could establish a scheduling agreement with them but remain in D2

NAIA’s Frontier Conference has 4 full members w/ football and 4 football affiliates. Would the NAIA be ok with a football only member?

(02-03-2023 07:24 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  GLIAC is not an option. That league is 3 time zones and thousands of miles away.

There’s some options:

D3 Northwest Conference only has 8 football members—they could establish a scheduling agreement with them but remain in D2

NAIA’s Frontier Conference has 4 full members w/ football and 4 football affiliates. Would the NAIA be ok with a football only member?

Northern Michigan is just as close as Texas. Playing in September in Michigan is easier than Abilene.

Is Vancouver-Grand Rapids any different than Los Angeles-East Lansing?

(02-03-2023 07:24 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  GLIAC is not an option. That league is 3 time zones and thousands of miles away.

There’s some options:

D3 Northwest Conference only has 8 football members—they could establish a scheduling agreement with them but remain in D2

NAIA’s Frontier Conference has 4 full members w/ football and 4 football affiliates. Would the NAIA be ok with a football only member?

Or, SFU can create an independent schedule with some of these schools. They can already schedule CWU and WOU. They also have a end-of-season rivalry game with the University of British Columbia.

The rest of their sports are safe in Division II and the GNAC.

Boy, that's a rough situation for Simon Frasier.

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference or the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference are probably geographically closest. But, honestly, Simon Fraiser becomes an island here, and it just comes down to whether any conference wants an additional member badly enough that it is willing to fly there for conference games.

It could be worse. Vancouver is said to be a wonderful place to visit.

(02-03-2023 11:49 AM)johnintx Wrote:  

(02-03-2023 07:24 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  GLIAC is not an option. That league is 3 time zones and thousands of miles away.

There’s some options:

D3 Northwest Conference only has 8 football members—they could establish a scheduling agreement with them but remain in D2

NAIA’s Frontier Conference has 4 full members w/ football and 4 football affiliates. Would the NAIA be ok with a football only member?

Or, SFU can create an independent schedule with some of these schools. They can already schedule CWU and WOU. They also have a end-of-season rivalry game with the University of British Columbia.

The rest of their sports are safe in Division II and the GNAC.

I wonder whether Central Washington and Western Oregon will pull out of the Lone Star Conference.

Alternatively, have the LSC play two games against GNW teams, one home and one away. If a couple of LSC could be guaranteed a home game if they played all three, that is 18 games to be divided up among the 3 NW schools, so 6 games for each. Play a double round robin in the PNW that is four more games.

One other game, possibly a buy game against a Big Sky team away.

(02-03-2023 11:41 AM)jimrtex Wrote:  

(02-03-2023 07:24 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  GLIAC is not an option. That league is 3 time zones and thousands of miles away.

There’s some options:

D3 Northwest Conference only has 8 football members—they could establish a scheduling agreement with them but remain in D2

NAIA’s Frontier Conference has 4 full members w/ football and 4 football affiliates. Would the NAIA be ok with a football only member?

Northern Michigan is just as close as Texas. Playing in September in Michigan is easier than Abilene.

Is Vancouver-Grand Rapids any different than Los Angeles-East Lansing?

You realize Northern Michigan is in the UP and nowhere near Grand Rapids.

Some of the suggestions on here are absolutely ludicrous. The only way the Frontier would take Simon Fraser for football is if SFU either paid for other schools travel or plays all road games, and even then the chances are so remote that they defy logic.

Rocky Mountain already has to travel over 1,000 miles for a conference football game. They are unlikely to want to add another similar trip to help out a non NAIA school in Canada with a $600-700 million dollar budget and over 30 times as many students so that school can keep feeling more distinct from their neighboring Canadian schools.

Billings is roughly the same distance to Vancouver as it is to Albuquerque or Las Vegas. Look at a map people. How does that make any sense. Even MSU-Billings struggles and it’s a much larger and better funded school than Rocky.

I’m sure Simon Fraser has some resourceful and creative people to help solve their own problems without pestering NAIA schools with under 1,000 students to help them out. Sheesh.

Not to go all David St here, but would the Big Sky entertain them?

(02-03-2023 08:52 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  Not to go all David St here, but would the Big Sky entertain them?

They’re D2, Big Sky is D1/FCS. Big difference.

Legacy Big Sky schools want to play each other more, so they were ecstatic when the likes of UND and SUU left. They'd welcome another non-legacy member leaving and won't add anyone.

(02-03-2023 09:38 PM)DoubleRSU Wrote:  

(02-03-2023 08:52 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  Not to go all David St here, but would the Big Sky entertain them?

They’re D2, Big Sky is D1/FCS. Big difference.

I know. Big Sky expansion candidates at the D1 level are far and few between.

(02-03-2023 09:49 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  

(02-03-2023 09:38 PM)DoubleRSU Wrote:  

(02-03-2023 08:52 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  Not to go all David St here, but would the Big Sky entertain them?

They’re D2, Big Sky is D1/FCS. Big difference.

I know. Big Sky expansion candidates at the D1 level are far and few between.

That’s irrelevant as Simon Fraser would have to have the want to and money to even think about asking the Big Sky for membership. Which would include moving up all of their other sports to D1.