Non P12/MWC discussion

[ragtimejoe1]

Going forward, we are in a group that, under the old model, looks like we fit into from a market size standpoint. It's a completely new world out there and I worry that, with frictionless transfer rules and NIL shenanigans, small differences in market size will result in big competitive differences.

Disagree with this part. Unm isn't going to become a juggernaut in football because Albuquerque has the population of WYO. NIU isn't going to run away from the conference because they're 60 miles from Chicago.

Every school in the new MWC will have their own disadvantage. CFB conferences can't get much more parity than the new MWC. #2 is dead.

 

[307bball]

Disagree with this part. Unm isn't going to become a juggernaut in football because Albuquerque has the population of WYO. NIU isn't going to run away from the conference because they're 60 miles from Chicago.

Every school in the new MWC will have their own disadvantage. CFB conferences can't get much more parity than the new MWC. #2 is dead.

You can keep saying that these differences won't matter and there will be no meaningful differences in the watered down MWC..... I admire your confidence in that opinion. I think it will matter. Not sure the effect.

My prediction is that there will be some sort of pecking order of teams no matter what echelon you end up in. UNM being a juggernaut or not doesn't matter and isn't the point. If one school is perceived to be a slightly better place for players futures than the rest of the conference, that school will dominate the talent at that level and have better outcomes. That is Wyoming's task. Be seen, somehow, to be the best place for athletes to be among the new conference makeup. If you can't do that, talent you would need to beat the better programs will leave and be replaced by talent that isn't as good as the better programs. People have observed that one way to do it is to just buy that talent. I think that is the EZ button...unfortunately (or not depending on how you view amateur athletics), that's not going to happen in Laramie.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

You can keep saying that these differences won't matter and there will be no meaningful differences in the watered down MWC..... I admire your confidence in that opinion. I think it will matter. Not sure the effect.

My prediction is that there will be some sort of pecking order of teams no matter what echelon you end up in. UNM being a juggernaut or not doesn't matter and isn't the point. If one school is perceived to be a slightly better place for players futures than the rest of the conference, that school will dominate the talent at that level and have better outcomes. That is Wyoming's task. Be seen, somehow, to be the best place for athletes to be among the new conference makeup. If you can't do that, talent you would need to beat the better programs will leave and be replaced by talent that isn't as good as the better programs. People have observed that one way to do it is to just buy that talent. I think that is the EZ button...unfortunately (or not depending on how you view amateur athletics), that's not going to happen in Laramie.

Meh, we'll see. Another reality is something like cusa. What, 7 different conference champs in the past 10 years?

Buying athletes isn't happening at unm, niu, utep, etc. Either.

The only reason for failing in the new MWC will be failure of the people in charge. The competitive disadvantage argument is dead.

 

[307bball]

The only reason for failing in the new MWC will be failure of the people in charge. The competitive disadvantage argument is dead.

There is no competitive disadvantage argument. Every basketball game and football game is played with the same rules applying to both teams. Stop wriggling back to that. The frame I was trying to describe earlier is something like "what is our athletic director responsible for?". I offered two things that are often blamed on him....one...the lack of competitive success is, in my opinion, his fault. The other issue, much harder to describe but no less real phenomenon relating to changes in how college athletics is ran, is not something that is fair to criticize him for. There are no savvy moves for Wyoming to make in relation to that second problem. Even going forward, there is very little that UW can do that other MWC schools won't also be doing.

The thing that UW AD must do now is nakedly clear. We have to have the best coach in the conference and we have to be seen as the best destination for players in the conference. The #2 program in those categories will feel miles behind the #1 program because players will shuffle every year and the rich will get richer. Maybe some group of schools will figure out how to price transfers appropriately .... but until then, watch as the effect I describe comes to pass.