(08-16-2020 09:39 AM)TexanFan Wrote:  

(08-15-2020 10:16 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(08-15-2020 07:48 PM)Hilldog Wrote:  

(08-15-2020 03:01 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(08-14-2020 10:18 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I have to wonder if it’s inevitable that that Dixie St moves to the Big Sky to balance them out at 14 football schools and 12 for basketball.

With it being rough getting non-conference games out West they could play a 10 game conference schedule in football and a full double round robin in basketball for 22 games.

I think the Big Sky doesn’t want the stigma of taking a D2 call up so they are making them do their transition in the WAC.

Big Sky coaches already complain about the size of the conference. With 13 teams, the BSC is the largest FCS conference in college football. It makes more sense to add another Western FCS conference. That could be done with Dixie State, Tarleton State, UC-Davis, Cal Poly and San Diego.

The BSC gets one auto-bid and plays an uneven schedule. In a 13 team league playing eight conference games, it is possible to win the conference without playing the top teams in the conference. At least 11 teams would help lessen that possibility somewhat. A 10 team league might even be better.

A WAC football conference, even if is a “football only conference” like the MVFC, would get an additional auto-bid for western schools. Adding more teams to BSC football would be a bad idea that would not be supported by the BSC schools.

San Diego loves being in the Pioneer. They would have to fund 63 scholarships at about $35K per. They are a non starter for FCS football.

The idea of D1 non scholarship football ever got off the ground. The Pioneer League- was suppose to be the "pioneers" of the non scholarship division0 1AAA! I still wonder if a non scholarship division ever got off the ground, how many FCS schools would go non scholarships.

Well, they are happy to be in a D1 conference. They have 37 straight conference wins in the PFL. That probably makes them happy. But the travel is brutal and expensive. To be in the same conference with UC-Davis and Cal Poly would probably make them very happy. They don't have to be a scholarship football team to play in the WAC football league. I just think if given the opportunity, they might take it.

WAC football would need more than San Diego. They would need UTRGV. They would need to steal a couple of Southland schools, probably ACU and UAW. They might need another D2 move-up. What is not going to happen is more football teams in the Big Sky. At 13, they have too many.

So what about the possibility of some Big Sky schools coming to the WAC? Weber State, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona fit the WAC footprint.

Sam Houston and SFA might be better fits from the Southland.

Long term, if the WAC was to go FBS, BYU might be a possibility.