Starting off...nobody knows what college football will look like in a few years as it relates to conferences and revenue structures so let's avoid that rabbit hole.
My sense is that the state of Wyoming has invested heavily in the University's athletic program relative to it's population base and market size. There have been successful (at least they were called successful) donation campaigns and large donors have stepped up over the last 25 or so years. The legislature and students have provided tax dollars and fees that have also went to the program. People who follow this closer than I do will know the breakdown of all of that a lot better than me but suffice to say, the sentiment seems to be that our athletic program is at least underperforming it's investment when you measure it by athletic success. After this latest conference shakeup, some discussion has strayed into observations related to a perceived inevitability of ending up at FCS. Again...I don't know if FBS/FCS is even going to be a thing in a few years but I'll use the distinction as a stand-in for programs that, at least on paper, are recruiting and competing at a nearly national level and programs that are more regional in their appeal.
It's hard not to make the observation that, if the goal was to be in that higher grouping, then the dollars that went the way of the athletic program probably should have gone elsewhere. This argument sort of says:
Look, I love me some Wyoming sports but let's face it, we've always know that Wyoming doesn't fit from a culture or market standpoint with the big guys but as time goes by gaps are even starting to appear with programs that previously were on par with or even below Wyoming (like CSU). The magnitude of the difference in market appeal and what has happened with a diminished NCAA unable to keep amateurism important (and other factors i'm sure) have conspired to leave our beloved program in the dustbin. Assigning fault to University leadership for this or that police is like blaming the little dutch boy for not having enough fingers to plug the dike against the inevitable flood. No matter which problem you solve, there are more problems than you have resources for. Given all of that, it is reasonable to consider diminishing investment that goes into a black hole with no real chance of pushing back that inexorable tide. The University can fulfill it's mission even if the athletics are competing on a level that is below the FBS.
To me the main argument against this is that the money going into the athletic program doesn't just get redirected if UW drops down a level...it actually shuts off. If this is true then the college sports model is truly mostly about marketing and driving donor/alumni engagement and not about "winning championships" since all of that investment has risen during an extended period of very little success to show for it. One of the unfortunate side effects of this discussion is that it arouses passions on both sides....insults of "loser mentality" and "defender of mediocrity" get thrown around. Is merely noticing this and pondering the wisdom of chasing big time athletic success at Wyoming with more and more money an insult?
One other confounding variable is the people factor...by that I mean if you believe that Burman, or Bohl, or Sawvell are individually complacent and primarily responsible for the malaise...than all of this talk of money and changing times is a red herring. We simply have the wrong people guiding the ship. Of all of the discussions around this topic, this is the one that smells the fishiest to me. I am perplexed by people who think UW administrators could do something to stop the corrosive effects of conference realignment, NIL, transfer rules, media rights bidding, etc, etc. This viewpoint comes with it the assumption that there is a "savior" out there...It might be Sternberg, or Jerry Kill, or the next AD....those may be able to fix certain problems ... but other larger problems are brewing.
To put your finger in the dike is a quick fix.
It holds off impending floods only for a little while.
Eventually the structure won’t hold.
Waves of radical transformation will prevail
changing tides
My sense is that the state of Wyoming has invested heavily in the University's athletic program relative to it's population base and market size. There have been successful (at least they were called successful) donation campaigns and large donors have stepped up over the last 25 or so years. The legislature and students have provided tax dollars and fees that have also went to the program. People who follow this closer than I do will know the breakdown of all of that a lot better than me but suffice to say, the sentiment seems to be that our athletic program is at least underperforming it's investment when you measure it by athletic success. After this latest conference shakeup, some discussion has strayed into observations related to a perceived inevitability of ending up at FCS. Again...I don't know if FBS/FCS is even going to be a thing in a few years but I'll use the distinction as a stand-in for programs that, at least on paper, are recruiting and competing at a nearly national level and programs that are more regional in their appeal.
It's hard not to make the observation that, if the goal was to be in that higher grouping, then the dollars that went the way of the athletic program probably should have gone elsewhere. This argument sort of says:
Look, I love me some Wyoming sports but let's face it, we've always know that Wyoming doesn't fit from a culture or market standpoint with the big guys but as time goes by gaps are even starting to appear with programs that previously were on par with or even below Wyoming (like CSU). The magnitude of the difference in market appeal and what has happened with a diminished NCAA unable to keep amateurism important (and other factors i'm sure) have conspired to leave our beloved program in the dustbin. Assigning fault to University leadership for this or that police is like blaming the little dutch boy for not having enough fingers to plug the dike against the inevitable flood. No matter which problem you solve, there are more problems than you have resources for. Given all of that, it is reasonable to consider diminishing investment that goes into a black hole with no real chance of pushing back that inexorable tide. The University can fulfill it's mission even if the athletics are competing on a level that is below the FBS.
To me the main argument against this is that the money going into the athletic program doesn't just get redirected if UW drops down a level...it actually shuts off. If this is true then the college sports model is truly mostly about marketing and driving donor/alumni engagement and not about "winning championships" since all of that investment has risen during an extended period of very little success to show for it. One of the unfortunate side effects of this discussion is that it arouses passions on both sides....insults of "loser mentality" and "defender of mediocrity" get thrown around. Is merely noticing this and pondering the wisdom of chasing big time athletic success at Wyoming with more and more money an insult?
One other confounding variable is the people factor...by that I mean if you believe that Burman, or Bohl, or Sawvell are individually complacent and primarily responsible for the malaise...than all of this talk of money and changing times is a red herring. We simply have the wrong people guiding the ship. Of all of the discussions around this topic, this is the one that smells the fishiest to me. I am perplexed by people who think UW administrators could do something to stop the corrosive effects of conference realignment, NIL, transfer rules, media rights bidding, etc, etc. This viewpoint comes with it the assumption that there is a "savior" out there...It might be Sternberg, or Jerry Kill, or the next AD....those may be able to fix certain problems ... but other larger problems are brewing.
To put your finger in the dike is a quick fix.
It holds off impending floods only for a little while.
Eventually the structure won’t hold.
Waves of radical transformation will prevail
changing tides
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