I am seeing many tweets that say that Montana and Montana State may be warming up to the idea about joining the WAC, I am not certain that this is in play. If this happens, it is going to have to happen soon. The WAC is really on the verge of being a non-football conference and will need quick action if it is going to remain a football conference. Here is a summary of what has changed since Montana said no to the WAC about a year ago.
-The Big Sky Conference has hyper expanded and added North Dakota and Southern Utah as full-time members and has also added Cal Poly and UC Davis as football only members. This has broken the rivalry that Montana and Montana State have had with two other original BSC members, Weber State and Idaho State.
The only original Big Sky Conference football team that Montana will play every season is Montana State. The other 2 original Big Sky Conference members have moved on. Gonzaga has dropped football and become a member of the West Coast Conference. Idaho has moved on to the WAC. If Montana and Montana State join the WAC, they will be re-united with old long-time rival Idaho and perhaps, it's a long shot at best, take Weber State with them.
With the Big Sky Conference now stretching from Eastern North Dakota to the Central Coast of California, there really is no travel advantage the Big Sky has over the WAC.
-Montana got a taste of Big Time College Football this year by going to Tennessee. In the WAC, the pay day for these type of games can double.
-The WAC no longer has Hawaii, a very expensive place to travel to, and may even lose Louisiana Tech. The WAC is becoming a more travel friendly place to play.
-The WAC has added Texas San Antonio and Texas State and the entire state of Texas is laden with football recruits.
-If the WAC holds on the Utah State, they could become a two-bid NCAA conference again. The Big Sky Conference will likely never have an at-large NCAA bid.
-The WAC is getting Boise State back for Basketball and other non-football sports. Boise State is another former Big Sky Conference Rival. Boise State was in the Big Sky Conference from 1970 to 1996.
-From the looks of things, BYU will still need a scheduling agreement with the WAC unless they join the Big 12. Montana and Montana State are both former BYU rivals before both Treasure State schools were dropped to the small college division of college football.
Montana and Montana State have until June to make up their minds if they want to transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision by 2013. But the WAC has until it loses two more schools to get them. If it is going to happen, it needs to happen soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment