The idea that Wyoming will ever willingly drop down to FCS on its own is so far fetched that it is not really worth discussing. No FBS team has dropped down since 1995 (Pacific) and the last big move was when what is now known as the Big West schools all moved down in 1991. There is no one to compare to since no school has moved down on its own and without joining its conference mates in over 20 years.
What is more likely to happen, and almost certain to happen in my opinion, is a more clear bifurcation between the Power 5 and the Rest of Us. The P5 already cracked that door open through the rules changes they pushed through last year. They will kick that door all the way open as soon as they are able through new television contracts and the next round of conference re-alignment.
Wyoming will never "move down." We will simply find ourselves one day playing in a classification below the SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12, Big 12 and ACC. There won't be a vote. There won't be public meetings to take comment. There will just be some guys in suits talking to some other guys in suits about how to parcel out about $2.5 billion per year in television revenue. Contracts will be signed, media releases will go out and that will be it.
We can take heart that UNLV, UNM, Air Force, Hawaii, SDSU and probably Colorado State will be right there with us. Maybe that will make it all ok. But enjoy Wyoming "competing" at the top level while it lasts. Because in 10 years it ain't going to be that way.
The FCS thing is a fun straw man to argue about, but it's not the real issue. The real issue is whether we are all-in on football or not. We've wasted the last 15 years fucking around paying lip service to winning championships but trying to do it on an also-ran budget. The true cost of those wasted years isn't just in sitting at 0-3 right now. It will be in what happens five years down the line when the lawyers and commissioners and tv executives re-order college football as we know it and Wyoming is tossed casually and without thinking into that big pile called 'Others.'
