The AAC is trying to add Boise, SDSU, AFA, CSU, and UAB....

[Old-Bull]

They won't get them, but it should be a gigantic hint that it's finally time for the MWC to be aggressive with expansion and fix the mess they created when BYU, TCU, and Utah left.

Step one: give SJSU and Hawaii the boot.....nicely. Give them a scheduling arrangement for the next 20 years or something to ease their departure.

Step two: invite SMU and Memphis for all sports. I know Memphis is an outlier but I think they'll get their ticket punched to the Big 12 at some point and then we can invite Tulsa.

Step three: invite Wichita and Gonzaga for all sports except football.

Step four: renegotiate the t.v. contract for more money since we would have a much more valuable product and eliminate the sweetheart deal for Boise since all of our teams would be getting 6-8 million a year in t.v. money.

The result is:

Mountain division:

AFA
CSU
Wyo
UNM
SMU
Memphis
(Wichita)

Western division:

Boise
SDSU
Fresno
Nevada
UNLV
USU
(Gonzaga)

Football is much better. Basketball is the sixth best league in America.

Someone needs to get in Burman's ear and let him know that's the most valuable and safest way forward.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Honestly, I'm kind of over the whole conference TV money thing. I wouldn't mind seeing suds and bsu hit the bricks. I'd hate to lose the Border War and playing the Flyboys, but not the end of the world.

Actually, what I hope happens is they all go. Then the B12 poaches Memphis and Boise. We tell suds, the flyboys, and csu to float a boat when they want back.

 

[McPeachy]

Honestly, I'm kind of over the whole conference TV money thing. I wouldn't mind seeing suds and bsu hit the bricks. I'd hate to lose the Border War and playing the Flyboys, but not the end of the world.

Actually, what I hope happens is they all go. Then the B12 poaches Memphis and Boise. We tell suds, the flyboys, and csu to float a boat when they want back.

Not a bad angle ragtime. Seems WYO is always on the outside looking in - so fuck it.

To say I am disappointed in the MWC leadership (HAIR) is an understatement. He as done basically nothing but collect a paycheck for 15 +/- years. I wish I could be as unproductive as that MF'er and make that kind of jang. Why he is still employed is beyond me.

 

[307bball]

Am I just missing something here?...Why does anybody think The MWC brand is so valuable? Honestly...it's the same question I would ask of the AAC at this point. The G5 schools have very little value by themselves outside of BSU at this point....and with BSU we are talking about the closest thing to a football only school the G5 has to offer...that is why they have not been invited anywhere despite being a very competitive program on the field.

Only one conference is going to be left standing in the race to be just behind the power conferences...If Wyoming is not in that conference....It is off to irrelevance for us. I don't think Burman has any bullets to shoot in this fight. The MWC as a group might have some pull, but BSU and SDSU have threatened that by being so overt in their attempts to leave.

 

[McPeachy]

Why does anybody think The MWC brand is so valuable?

I am not sure anyone is saying the MWC is "so" valuable - but there is certainly value. Geographically speaking number one...look at the footprint. There is value in that footprint, and I am not talking just about TV, I am talking about tradition, pride, rivalries, history, etc. There is very little competition in most of the footprint, why nobody sees this, I have no idea. But as I mentioned before, we have a MWC commissioner that is a major fucking dud. He has no vision, no passion, no aspiration. He is a hairdo with a paycheck - fuck that guy, he has done NOTHING for most of the MWC. Remove that women's soccer Colorado College logo - that doesn't count, lol... :lol:

 

[Poke in New England]

Honestly, I'm kind of over the whole conference TV money thing. I wouldn't mind seeing suds and bsu hit the bricks. I'd hate to lose the Border War and playing the Flyboys, but not the end of the world.

Actually, what I hope happens is they all go. Then the B12 poaches Memphis and Boise. We tell suds, the flyboys, and csu to float a boat when they want back.

The conference TV money thing pays the bills, including for our next coach and our state of the art facilities that will probably be out of date compared to peer schools in like 5 years.

While not the end of the world because nothing in college athletics is the end of the world, being left behind in a gutter Mountain West, without 2 of our longtime regional rivals, would be a devastating blow for UW athletics. It would be the loss of the little remaining relevancy we have left as a G5 school,

 

[OrediggerPoke]

Why does anybody think The MWC brand is so valuable?

I am not sure anyone is saying the MWC is "so" valuable - but there is certainly value. Geographically speaking number one...look at the footprint. There is value in that footprint, and I am not talking just about TV, I am talking about tradition, pride, rivalries, history, etc. There is very little competition in most of the footprint, why nobody sees this, I have no idea. But as I mentioned before, we have a MWC commissioner that is a major f##k[#] dud. He has no vision, no passion, no aspiration. He is a hairdo with a paycheck - [#]f##k that guy, he has done NOTHING for most of the MWC. Remove that women's soccer Colorado College logo - that doesn't count, lol... :lol:

Bingo.

This whole 4 MWC teams to the AAC makes ZERO sense. The potential increase in media revenues (if any) in basketball and football is dwarfed by the costs of sending the swimming team to East Carolina, etc...In addition to those increased travel costs, such a conference affiliation would result in MORE missed time for student athletes from class (this is a real concern for sports not named football and basketball). The ONLY way any of this can even be remotely considered is if there is a landing spot for other sports in a more regional conference (such as the WAC). This won' happen. Universities tend not to make decisions that lack all sensibilities.

Wyoming is a good fit in the MWC and hopefully the conference will largely stay intact (Boise can and should leave - - the unequal revenue sharing is a terrible model).

 

[OrediggerPoke]

Honestly, I'm kind of over the whole conference TV money thing. I wouldn't mind seeing suds and bsu hit the bricks. I'd hate to lose the Border War and playing the Flyboys, but not the end of the world.

Actually, what I hope happens is they all go. Then the B12 poaches Memphis and Boise. We tell suds, the flyboys, and csu to float a boat when they want back.

The conference TV money thing pays the bills, including for our next coach and our state of the art facilities that will probably be out of date compared to peer schools in like 5 years.

While not the end of the world because nothing in college athletics is the end of the world, being left behind in a gutter Mountain West, without 2 of our longtime regional rivals, would be a devastating blow for UW athletics. It would be the loss of the little remaining relevancy we have left as a G5 school,

It isn't happening. There may be a lot of weed in Fort Collins but they are still wiser than that.

 

[LanderPoke]

Tulsa East Carolina Tulane????? Why would any MWC team join forces with the likes of these? Nothing in common

 

[Poke in New England]

Honestly, I'm kind of over the whole conference TV money thing. I wouldn't mind seeing suds and bsu hit the bricks. I'd hate to lose the Border War and playing the Flyboys, but not the end of the world.

Actually, what I hope happens is they all go. Then the B12 poaches Memphis and Boise. We tell suds, the flyboys, and csu to float a boat when they want back.

The conference TV money thing pays the bills, including for our next coach and our state of the art facilities that will probably be out of date compared to peer schools in like 5 years.

While not the end of the world because nothing in college athletics is the end of the world, being left behind in a gutter Mountain West, without 2 of our longtime regional rivals, would be a devastating blow for UW athletics. It would be the loss of the little remaining relevancy we have left as a G5 school,

It isn't happening. There may be a lot of weed in Fort Collins but they are still wiser than that.

Oh im skeptical as well. But it does matter. The AAC commissioner is out there working the media, and just called his shot at blowing up our league. However unlikely it is the MWC still needs to respond and put out an image of strength. The one thing that could destroy the MW is if member schools start getting antsy about being left behind. Realignment is ALWAYS playing out a few steps ahead at any given time.

 

[LawPoke]

Can we trade CSU to the Big Sky. They are embarrassing.

 

[jessejames02]

It doesn't make sense for MWC teams to join a depleted AAC. Geography plays less and less of a role as the years go by, at a true coast to coast conference isn't practical at the amateur level.

 

[bladerunnr]

It doesn't make sense for MWC teams to join a depleted AAC. Geography plays less and less of a role as the years go by, at a true coast to coast conference isn't practical at the amateur level.

This is exactly right. You want empty stadiums? Have a home schedule with Tulsa, East Carolina, and Tulane. The best thing about college sports are regional rivalries. Nebraska joins the big ten and I can tell you no one gets excited when Rutgers comes to town.
This "nationalization" of college sports isn't going to work for a lot of programs. There isn't one team in the AAC that I would want in the MWC - not even Cincinnati - which is a shithole place to visit. If Boise st, Air force, and csewe are stupid enough to go this route, let em.

 

[jessejames02]

It doesn't make sense for MWC teams to join a depleted AAC. Geography plays less and less of a role as the years go by, at a true coast to coast conference isn't practical at the amateur level.

This is exactly right. You want empty stadiums? Have a home schedule with Tulsa, East Carolina, and Tulane. The best thing about college sports are regional rivalries. Nebraska joins the big ten and I can tell you no one gets excited when Rutgers comes to town.
This "nationalization" of college sports isn't going to work for a lot of programs. There isn't one team in the AAC that I would want in the MWC - not even Cincinnati - which is a sh#t[#] place to visit. If Boise st, Air force, and csewe are stupid enough to go this route, let em.

Agreed except about cincy. It’s a great city to visit with an awesome brewery scene. Over the Rhine neighborhood has great restaurants and I liked their campus and stadium better than Ohio State university’s.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Honestly, I'm kind of over the whole conference TV money thing. I wouldn't mind seeing suds and bsu hit the bricks. I'd hate to lose the Border War and playing the Flyboys, but not the end of the world.

Actually, what I hope happens is they all go. Then the B12 poaches Memphis and Boise. We tell suds, the flyboys, and csu to float a boat when they want back.

Not a bad angle ragtime. Seems WYO is always on the outside looking in - so [#]f##k it.

To say I am disappointed in the MWC leadership (HAIR) is an understatement. He as done basically nothing but collect a paycheck for 15 +/- years. I wish I could be as unproductive as that MF'er and make that kind of jang. Why he is still employed is beyond me.

Exactly on both fronts.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Honestly, I'm kind of over the whole conference TV money thing. I wouldn't mind seeing suds and bsu hit the bricks. I'd hate to lose the Border War and playing the Flyboys, but not the end of the world.

Actually, what I hope happens is they all go. Then the B12 poaches Memphis and Boise. We tell suds, the flyboys, and csu to float a boat when they want back.

The conference TV money thing pays the bills, including for our next coach and our state of the art facilities that will probably be out of date compared to peer schools in like 5 years.

While not the end of the world because nothing in college athletics is the end of the world, being left behind in a gutter Mountain West, without 2 of our longtime regional rivals, would be a devastating blow for UW athletics. It would be the loss of the little remaining relevancy we have left as a G5 school,

There is little to no relevancy in the G5 ranks anyway. The Sun Belt looks to have one of the most relevant G5 teams this year with the most buzz and they get what? $100k/year from tv?

The G5 and specifically the MWC and AAC are going to be sorely disappointed in the next TV deal regardless of shuffling of teams. The TV value of football isn't what it was in the G5 ranks. I'll have to see if I can find it again, but there was an article discussing big viewership for marquee matchups but significant declines in filler games. It touched on college but also evaluated pro. The seismic shifts in the P5 are a result of that, imo. The fact is, sans 1 or 2 games in the G5, they can run almost any lower level P5 matchup out there and get similar or better ratings to almost any G5 matchup. In other words, we're already irrelevant and the next round of tv money will reflect that.

Maybe they already have, but evaluating subscription based streaming opportunities seems like where we'll primarily end up. Hopefully we'll have enough POKE fans that it can work.

Like I said, fuck it. Nothing we can do anyways. Besides, I don't think all that value is there for suds, bsu, AF, and csu which is why they won't go. I definitely could be wrong, but I think the shift in TV is going away from quantity.

 

[Lost Poke]

Thompson makes his point here.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/aztecs/story/2021-09-17/san-diego-state-sdsu-aztecs-mountain-west-expansion-realignment-craig-thompson-air-force-colorado-state

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Thompson makes his point here.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/aztecs/story/2021-09-17/san-diego-state-sdsu-aztecs-mountain-west-expansion-realignment-craig-thompson-air-force-colorado-state

Interesting that, if true, csu and the flyboys are looking while bsu and suds aren't. Assuming that's not a smokescreen, I might get af going with navy but wth is csu thinking?

 

[Old-Bull]

Csu built a stadium to move to a new conference. I dont think the goal was CUSA though. Csu is hemorrhaging debt so they must think there's more money over that way.

Losers.