Big Sky Conferernce gains 2!(?)

Interesting comments by Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton in this article in the Ogden Standard-Examiner newspaper. I’m not a fan of reading between the lines, but I will read between this quote, which is in response to academic fit:

“That’s what made (Cal Poly and UC Davis) an easy sell. We were past that hurdle very quickly,” Fullerton said. “That’s the same hurdle they will look at first with looking for a full member. After that, it goes to the kind of athletic program they’ve got, to make sure they ramp up sports. Geography comes into play, ease of travel.”

There are only three candidates that I can figure: UND, USD and Southern Utah. So, in theory, the third Big Sky addition would come down to this: Are the Big Sky presidents OK with the academic standards of Southern Utah in exchange for the geographical footprint or would they prefer the academic makeup of either USD or UND and sacrifice the ease of travel benefit?

We know the Summit would not mind losing Southern Utah, for that travel reason and Summit commissioner Tom Douple has in a sense already braced the league for that possibility. USD is already in the Summit and UND is close, but those schools would be left without a football home in the Summit.

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Nemont said:

The Griz would be making a big mistake to jump to Div 1. Given how fickle the fans are already there is no way they are going to turn out in the numbers they do if the Griz finish every year 5-6 or 6-5 and to NEVER again compete for a national championship.

It will mean alot of Montana kids will end up at the other school because in order to compete on the national scene Missoula would have recruit more none Montana athletes.

Why not work to make the Big Sky a better conference rather than move to Div 1?

Nemont

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O’Day said UM’s football program costs about $6.5 million per year to operate at the Championship division level, but an elite program in the FBS uses upwards of $50 million annually.
There’s also the question of rival Montana State. It’s been suggested in the past that the Grizzlies would not be able to move up without the Bobcats.

“That’s a question that really has not been answered,” O’Day said. “Another piece that goes into this is retaining rivalries. There aren’t near enough rivalries in the country. Even in the Big Sky. The one real rivalry is Montana vs. Montana State. You’d like to get it so there are more, but there’s so much distance between the schools in our conference.

“In Montana you’re either a Griz fan or a Bobcat fan. We share the same borders. And that’s very special and it’s what makes both of us very attractive to a league like the WAC. We’d all hate to lose that rivalry.”

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