Montana passes on the WAC

[MrTitleist]

A big WTF decision here.... apparently maintaining a rivalry with Montana State was more important than national branding, increased revenue, establishing a relationship w/ peer institutions, etc.
http://www.kpax.com/news/um-staying-in-big-sky-conference/

 

[evilpoke]

That's really really really good news for Wyoming. Montana would jump in and be a competitor for Wyo recruits right away.

 

[MrTitleist]

WY and MT don't really compete for the same recruits. Montana recruits the Pacific NW, while UW goes south to Colorado, Texas, California. I'm sure paths would cross as some points though.

 

[wellpoke]

Maybe they see the writing on the wall for the soon-to-be-irrelevant WAC and are waiting for a better offer? At this point just about anything would be better than the WAC....

GO POKES!

 

[J-Rod]

Kind of a shocker to be honest, but I don't think this completely shuts the door on UM moving up to an FBS conference one day. The WAC is beyond unstable right now, don't blame them for staying still......for now.

 

[MrTitleist]

I heard someone say that one of the reasons for not moving up (internal reason) was that they didn't have other offers.. which I assume to mean, no MWC offer.

 

[J-Rod]

Sometime in the future, I can see Montana joining the MWC as the travelling partner to Wyoming. Will it happen tomorrow? No. But somewhere down the line......

JMHO

 

[fromolwyoming]

Sometime in the future, I can see Montana joining the MWC as the travelling partner to Wyoming. Will it happen tomorrow? No. But somewhere down the line......

JMHO

A travel partner for Wyoming? That would have to be a freakin' big conference. Laramie is in the South East part of Wyoming. You would have to go all the way through the entire state just to get to Montana. If anything, our travel partner will pretty much always be CSU, unless LCCC or WyoTech develop a Div. 1 football team somewhere down the road. Though, LCCC has been increasing in attendance at a ridiculous pace (like UW and WyoTech as well).

 

[gopokes1399]

great move by UM for so many reasons they will continue to win and keep tradition, they will keep their rivalry, they will make more money probably where they are at if i had time id write more

 

[MrTitleist]

The study showed that Montana would make more money in the WAC, but the initial move-up cost plus adding scholarships would lose money. However, the big fish, small pond thing is kind of old..

 

[whyoh]

Sometime in the future, I can see Montana joining the MWC as the travelling partner to Wyoming. Will it happen tomorrow? No. But somewhere down the line......

JMHO

A travel partner for Wyoming? That would have to be a freakin' big conference. Laramie is in the South East part of Wyoming. You would have to go all the way through the entire state just to get to Montana. If anything, our travel partner will pretty much always be CSU, unless LCCC or WyoTech develop a Div. 1 football team somewhere down the road. Though, LCCC has been increasing in attendance at a ridiculous pace (like UW and WyoTech as well).

actually, for the record, so has CC

 

[fromolwyoming]

Sometime in the future, I can see Montana joining the MWC as the travelling partner to Wyoming. Will it happen tomorrow? No. But somewhere down the line......

JMHO

A travel partner for Wyoming? That would have to be a freakin' big conference. Laramie is in the South East part of Wyoming. You would have to go all the way through the entire state just to get to Montana. If anything, our travel partner will pretty much always be CSU, unless LCCC or WyoTech develop a Div. 1 football team somewhere down the road. Though, LCCC has been increasing in attendance at a ridiculous pace (like UW and WyoTech as well).

actually, for the record, so has CC

Didn't know that, as they don't have a branch school here in Laramie.

 

[pokerupfront]

I look at it like this;

UM averages about 25,000 buns in seats and 6 home games a year not counting playoffs.

Speaking of playoffs, UM qualifies for playoffs for a National Championship almost every year and has won two National titles.

UM has a strong following not only in Montana, but across the country, they travel exceptionally strong.

UM's roster is laden with players that played high school football in Montana.

UM does not seem to be having any serious funding issues for their athletic programs in the BSC.


Now consider this;

Other than shared money through the conference, UM stands to lose out on every mentioned point above by moving to the WAC.