BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

I think the only rational reason for a school to jump from FCS is to collect a lot of television money in the new conference.

 

Why isn't there some Alaska-Hawai'i rivalry? Seems fun. Maybe they could start playing Canadian rules and play colleges in British Columbia in some international, collegiate league.

 

You'd take Montana before you'd take either of those, but the Grizzlies are a package deal with Montana State and that kills the whole thing.

 

If I'm Montana, I'm not returning calls from anybody from less than the Pac-2, and I'd have to think hard about the Pac-2 before I returned that call.

 

Montana really has an excellent situation for football and would be crazy to mess with it.

They have a nice stadium that fits their fan base (with overflow seating on the hill!), a perfect conference to make regular appearances in the FCS playoffs, regional rivals in Montana State, Eastern Washington and now Idaho.

Assuming the Griz aren’t in huge financial debt, there’s no reason to become a small fish in the FBS pond.

 

San Jose State has invested a lot in over the past few years, including an on-campus golf practice area and beach volleyball courts, and getting some games on NS California (A's and Sharks channel) on top of full coverage on the MW website, but even this Spartan fanboi doesn't think they're ready for the Pac-(number goes here). In the back of my mind, I also think the conference doesn't want anything in the way should Cal and Stanford decide to return to the mother ship. The Research Triangle can handle three ACC teams, but I don't think the Bay area can.

 

If I were Montana I would not take that call until I see the television contract. Universities who change conferences based on hope are frequently disappointed.

 

If San Jose State isn't ready, Sac State definitely has no business being in any Pac State conference conversation. UC Davis has nicer facilities and a much higher academic reputation, and they shouldn't be in FBS, either. Sorry, that's a nice trial balloon floated by a TV station for clicks but I'd fall down dead if Oregon State and Washington State want to move that far down the list of potential partners.

 

It just wouldn't make any sense to do that. If those plans were on the table, why not just join the MW, which clearly isn't the first option. I usually feel there is some sort of a plan with these things, which doesn't often work out, but they know the other two to four schools they want right now and they are working getting them signed on. They are schools that at least somewhat those involved can help rebrand the conference and make it a best of the rest and maybe grow to more. However successful they are, who knows, but if they fall down to California FCS schools something went pretty wrong.

 

The Pac Six has eight hole cards, the MW schools who were not already invited. With the possible exception of Air Force, every other MW school would jump to the Pac Six instantaneously. I would guess that there are a couple of AAC schools that the conference is pursing. If they hit, fine , and if they miss they fill up the conference with MW schools.

 

Memphis has already gotten burned once before jumping to what it thought was a name conference. In that case it literally even got the name stripped out from underneath it, from Big East to American.

I bet you couldn’t find 100 people combined in Memphis who give a damn about either Oregon State or Wazzu, and they’re supposed to be the tentpole schools for this deal. Boise State would generate mild interest as a non-conference one-off, but the novelty will fade fast if they become an every year thing. So they’d be in the same dead end they’re in now, but with much worse travel.

Memphis desperately wants in the Big 12 but will probably settle for what remains of the ACC after the next wave of defections. I don’t see any way they’re interested in the 6-PAC.

 

I'm trying to count off the number of D-1AA and D-II schools under the old designation that have the smaller hangar-dome type stadiums, as well as Notthern Michigan, with its one of a kind Yooperdome: why isn't there anything in Alaska like that??