At this time last year, Cal Poly was beginning to raise money, to get out of their hokey Great West Conference deal by becoming eligible for the FBS and joining the WAC. At the time, it seemed like a good fit. If not the next Boise State, at least the Mustangs had Fresno-State like potential. They are the only Division I program in the region and would have made a nice travel partner for San Jose State. Things have changed in the past six months. The WAC has been decimated with the loss of Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii. While Cal-Poly has changed their conference alliance from the Great West for football to the Big Sky Conference. Has this placated Cal-Poly or will they continue to seek to make their sports to the higher division.
What has the school in San Louis Obispo gained by joining the Big Sky Conference? The full conference provides at least four benefits to Cal Poly and their fans. First, scheduling. Instead of having to schedule 7 non-conference games every season, the football team now only has to schedule 3. That is much easier to deal with. Second, travel is a little less. Basically, instead of traveling to South Dakota, they get to travel to Northern Arizona. The travel budget is a little more consistent from year to year with the same opponents. They also form stronger alliances and rivlaries with other West Cost FCS schools like Sacramento State. Finally, they are affiliated with a conference that has an automatic post-season NCAA bid. Therefore, there was some gain for the Mustangs with the move to the Big Sky.
But they did not get everything that they wanted. Cal Poly is a top-flight academic school, ranked #1 in the West Region by US News for Universities with Masters Programs. In the FCS, the athletes are underachievers academically. The University will not get the athletes that are a better mix with the rest of the student body until they move up to the FBS. True, athletes are generally academic underachievers, but not all of them. There are higher academic standards at the FBS level, and therefore fewer academic underachievers to deal with.
One thing that was lost with all of the conference moves that would have been a great benefit to Cal Poly was the chance to be in the same conference as Fresno State, which is something that fans from both schools seemed to look forward to. Even Pat Hill, Fresno State's football coach made positive comments about the prospect of being in the same conference. This would have been a natural geographical rival and of schools in a similar plight.
There are some other things that the university misses out on by remaining in the FCS. One is the exposure that being on TB provides. It is not just the football team that benefits by increased TV exposure, it is the athletic department, the university and the community as a whole. At the FCS level, a team has to get deep into the playoffs to have a game on TV. In the WAC, they would at least one game on TV per year no matter how terrible the team is. Cal Poly would also get more TV exposure with success on the field. Look at what has happened to Boise State. TV games also provide an opportunity to show the community to the nation could provide a positive impact on tourism dollars. This would not be wasted on California's central coast which is a nice place to visit year round.
Another benefit to the University and Community is the chance to host a bowl game. In December, the average high is about 66 degrees. That is warmer than many other successful bowl sites. With Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Pimo Beach and Monterrey nearby, people will come and spend money. The community will benefit.
Cal Poly does have something to gain by moving up and joining the WAC. They will gain exposure for the University and Community. They can attract a higher caliber of athlete, not just athletically but academically, and they will likely get the chance to host an annual bowl game. It is a move that the University should still consider, even in the current climate of change. But the WAC should also be willing to make concessions. Cal Poly should be allowed to join as a Football-only member and leave the rest of their sports in the Big West Conference. And the WAC should work to ensure a bowl game in San Louis Obispo.
2 comments:
Hi! I'm a Cal Poly alumnus and huge fan of Cal Poly football. I've been attending games for over 20 years and will continue to do so weather they go to an FBS conference or drop to DII status. I am a big supporter of either the Big Sky move or an FBS move provided they can make it financially feasible. I'm a little concerned with some of your rationale: 1. High academic standards? Cal Poly in particular and the entire Big Sky Conference for that matter have HIGHER academic standards than the WAC and most FBS conferences. 2. Holding a Bowl game? Check the average attendance of FBS bowl games. I doubt any Bowl Commission and/or sponsor would approve a bowl game in a stadium that seats less than 40,000. For Cal Poly to reach that level would require an investment in the neighborhood of $100,000,000!!! I'm all for that! Just show me the money!! Go MUSTANGS!
Hello Borjeta,
My experience is a little different than yours. When I was a high schools senior a couple of decades ago I could not get into Utah State but received a scholarship offer from Weber State. I had good grades and high SAT scores but came from a very academically strong senior class and was in the 26%-tile of my high school class. (Almost 1/3 of my senior class qualified for the National Honor Society.) This disqualified me from USU because I needed to be in the top 25% of my senior class. From my perspective the WAC has much higher academic standards than the Big Sky. The question then becomes who is the academic outlier in the WAC? It is Utah State or is it San Jose State?
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