Colter_Nuanez wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 11:23 pm
utucats wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 10:46 pm
Colter_Nuanez wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 3:53 pm
GoCats18 wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 12:50 pm
We can’t even win a National Championship at this level. Why would people want to watch us play for a the chance at a bowl game? This would be a huge mistake. The fan base would drop to below 10,000 fans per game. It would destroy our program. Just look at Idaho. There is a reason they came back to the Big Sky.
Totally disagree. Bobcat Stadium is packed on Saturdays because it's the place to be. It's a premier and one of a kind event that people don't want to miss. It's the same thing in Missoula. Like an old athletic director used to always say: "It's not about winning. It's about the hope of winning. If you win consistently for awhile, then people will have the hope of winning forever."
Montana State would have to be absolutely terrible for 10+ years in a row AND have a style that was unappealing to watch AND have a terrible coach for people to completely stop coming to games. And that wouldn't happen. If MSU was FBS, they could out-recruit at least half the league simply based on Bozeman being a way more desirable destination than Laramie or Reno or San Jose or wherever.
Sorry Colter but I could not disagree with you more. Back when Kramer was coaching and Lulay came in we started to see the winning increasing and since then the game day experience has steadily grown. During that time and especially the years leading up to it, there were only a few thousand people attending non Cat griz games. One season we bought end zone season tickets because Cat griz was in Missoula so every game all one needed to do was get in and seating was pretty much whatever you wanted. We were drinking then so your statement that the booze is bringing Montanans is not correct.
Winning is important. Competing at a high level is important. I like Montana the way it has been. We are a rural state and our colleges are smaller schools. I hope we stay FCS forever. I have no desire to try and pretend to be a bigger deal than we are.
You are right that we have an amazing game day experience. If it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it.
This is what I’ve been trying to say on my show tho…it IS broken. Montana State generates the second most football revenue of any program in the Big Sky and one of the top 5 in the country. Yet when the final numbers come down for athletic department budget, the Cats make next to nothing.
Meanwhile, UC Davis has about 8,000 total people who care about football yet are about to build a new stadium. NAU just built a $44 million facility almost exclusively with state and student money, no real fundraising. All the fans in the Big Sky outside of Montana would have a hard time filling the two Montana stadiums. Yet the playing field is equal because the business model is broken.
The Cats and the Griz have the least amount of money to reinvest because each gets less than 50 percent of its athletic budget subsidized. This issue is compounded by the fact that at least half the league receives 70 percent subsidization and a few schools get more than 80 percent.
That’s not an equal playing field. That’s legislating to the lowest common denominator.
You want to know why most of you think Big Sky officiating sucks? Because it does. You want to know why you think the league’s administration is bush league?? Because it is.
You are who you hang out with. Northern Colorado’s
Locker room is like a mile from its D2 stadium. More people go to Bozeman Gallatin football games than NAU games. Portland State plays at a high school field, and it’s not even the nicest high school field in the area. Given the state of affairs in college sports, Idaho State might never field a winner ever again. Weber State just had its greatest coach in school history, tripled its number of all time playoff appearances and went on its first few playoff runs….how much did attendance increase? Not one bit. Still drawing a crowd that would turn out in Butte to watch the Bulldogs against Bozeman…
When you talk about the olden days, I get where you’re coming from. But that ain’t it anymore. Montana State is big league athletics and the football experience is one of the best in the West. From the rodeo team entrance to the spirit of the West to the engagement of the fans to the tailgates to the radio broadcasts to the media coverage to the scenery, I can’t really think of a scenario short of a full on catastrophic event that would deter people from coming to Bobcat Stadium in droves. You’d get at the very least three home teams better than you could ever get now from in the conference. And then you can get real home and homes, not just McNeese State or Bryant.
Let’s say MSU had a league to land in and BOR approval. And Cruzado is still president, Leon still AD and Vigen still head coach. And they get 22 more scholarships. That team is really competitive in the Mountain West right away. You’d add a $4-8 million revenue stream from TV. Waded would fully jolt
Fundraising and raise eight figures. You’d get more state money.
This is all a business. Doesn’t matter if you don’t like the thought it’s all about money. It’s all about money! Danny Sprinkle and the Big Sky All stars are all in Logan because of money. RaeQuan Battle is at West Virginia because of money.
And think of the publicity if MSU made a move. Nevada Reno and Wyoming coming on Bobcat Stadium for the first time in years….or better yet the second or third time after already being there….those coaches gushing in fear over Bobcat Stadium…I’ve been to most the stadiums in the Mountain West. The Montana schools are more raucous and wild for sure.
The Cats and the Griz just can’t get caught with their pants down playing in a division where the rivalry game is the conference AND national championship game. To me,
That makes it a fully diluted product. And this is coming from someone who has dedicated more than half my life to covering the Big Sky Conference…