Moving up

[Colter_Nuanez]

I still think the Power 5 are going to make a 64 team division and leave all the lesser BCS teams in the wind
(New Div 1)

That's when UM and msu will fit perfect with what is left
Keep a playoff system and I'm all for it.
Having the likes of Utah State, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico etc as Division foes is a HUGE upgrade
(New Div 2)

And letting PSU, Northern Colorado, ISU, other lower FCS teams etc compete with the upper end of what is now Div 2 & 3 makes a lot more sense.
(New Div 3)

Here's my prediction: the Power 5 will realign into a Power 3 or a Power 4, however many network TV deals there are to be had. The SEC will be the kings, then the Big Ten will try to keep pace by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will end up in the Big XII. Stanford & Cal will realign with schools with similar academics, maybe a new IVY+ league or a league with elite academic institutions from coast to coast who don't necessarily want to chase the almighty dollar (although, at this point, I think everyone will chase it...)

Washington State and Oregon State and the rest of the "relevant" schools out West will be left to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. Only a few of the Power 5 schools haven't gotten crazy rich off the current state of affairs and those two are a few of them.

I think then the schools left standing will have to form a "Best of the West" conference, get their own TV deal and figure out what division and what postseason they play in. My dream would be that Montana State and Montana somehow end up in a conference with Oregon State, Washington State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, and the Dakota schools. And that the champions of that conference would play in some form of a playoff.

That's the dream scenario. Dreams rarely come true when it comes to small school college athletics anymore...

[AFCAT]

I still think the Power 5 are going to make a 64 team division and leave all the lesser BCS teams in the wind
(New Div 1)

That's when UM and msu will fit perfect with what is left
Keep a playoff system and I'm all for it.
Having the likes of Utah State, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico etc as Division foes is a HUGE upgrade
(New Div 2)

And letting PSU, Northern Colorado, ISU, other lower FCS teams etc compete with the upper end of what is now Div 2 & 3 makes a lot more sense.
(New Div 3)

Here's my prediction: the Power 5 will realign into a Power 3 or a Power 4, however many network TV deals there are to be had. The SEC will be the kings, then the Big Ten will try to keep pace by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will end up in the Big XII. Stanford & Cal will realign with schools with similar academics, maybe a new IVY+ league or a league with elite academic institutions from coast to coast who don't necessarily want to chase the almighty dollar (although, at this point, I think everyone will chase it...)

Washington State and Oregon State and the rest of the "relevant" schools out West will be left to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. Only a few of the Power 5 schools haven't gotten crazy rich off the current state of affairs and those two are a few of them.

I think then the schools left standing will have to form a "Best of the West" conference, get their own TV deal and figure out what division and what postseason they play in. My dream would be that Montana State and Montana somehow end up in a conference with Oregon State, Washington State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, and the Dakota schools. And that the champions of that conference would play in some form of a playoff.

That's the dream scenario. Dreams rarely come true when it comes to small school college athletics anymore...

That will make the Oregon-Oregon State and the Washington State-University of Washington rivalries more interesting to schedule, if anyone really cares about those any more. I still have my doubts how we are going to pay for all this but we can worry about that later.

[allcat]

I still think the Power 5 are going to make a 64 team division and leave all the lesser BCS teams in the wind
(New Div 1)

That's when UM and msu will fit perfect with what is left
Keep a playoff system and I'm all for it.
Having the likes of Utah State, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico etc as Division foes is a HUGE upgrade
(New Div 2)

And letting PSU, Northern Colorado, ISU, other lower FCS teams etc compete with the upper end of what is now Div 2 & 3 makes a lot more sense.
(New Div 3)

Here's my prediction: the Power 5 will realign into a Power 3 or a Power 4, however many network TV deals there are to be had. The SEC will be the kings, then the Big Ten will try to keep pace by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will end up in the Big XII. Stanford & Cal will realign with schools with similar academics, maybe a new IVY+ league or a league with elite academic institutions from coast to coast who don't necessarily want to chase the almighty dollar (although, at this point, I think everyone will chase it...)

Washington State and Oregon State and the rest of the "relevant" schools out West will be left to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. Only a few of the Power 5 schools haven't gotten crazy rich off the current state of affairs and those two are a few of them.

I think then the schools left standing will have to form a "Best of the West" conference, get their own TV deal and figure out what division and what postseason they play in. My dream would be that Montana State and Montana somehow end up in a conference with Oregon State, Washington State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, and the Dakota schools. And that the champions of that conference would play in some form of a playoff.

That's the dream scenario. Dreams rarely come true when it comes to small school college athletics anymore...

The Dakotas have less population than us. They don't bring anything to the television table. Of course the same can really be said for us and Wyoming. It's going to be really hard. I see the Root type of coverage, probably some type of subscription. I wonder if we will have to pay the Bobcat Club dues to be given the right to get the subscription.

[Montanabob]

I still think the Power 5 are going to make a 64 team division and leave all the lesser BCS teams in the wind
(New Div 1)

That's when UM and msu will fit perfect with what is left
Keep a playoff system and I'm all for it.
Having the likes of Utah State, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico etc as Division foes is a HUGE upgrade
(New Div 2)

And letting PSU, Northern Colorado, ISU, other lower FCS teams etc compete with the upper end of what is now Div 2 & 3 makes a lot more sense.
(New Div 3)

Here's my prediction: the Power 5 will realign into a Power 3 or a Power 4, however many network TV deals there are to be had. The SEC will be the kings, then the Big Ten will try to keep pace by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will end up in the Big XII. Stanford & Cal will realign with schools with similar academics, maybe a new IVY+ league or a league with elite academic institutions from coast to coast who don't necessarily want to chase the almighty dollar (although, at this point, I think everyone will chase it...)

Washington State and Oregon State and the rest of the "relevant" schools out West will be left to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. Only a few of the Power 5 schools haven't gotten crazy rich off the current state of affairs and those two are a few of them.

I think then the schools left standing will have to form a "Best of the West" conference, get their own TV deal and figure out what division and what postseason they play in. My dream would be that Montana State and Montana somehow end up in a conference with Oregon State, Washington State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, and the Dakota schools. And that the champions of that conference would play in some form of a playoff.

That's the dream scenario. Dreams rarely come true when it comes to small school college athletics anymore...

The Dakotas have less population than us. They don't bring anything to the television table. Of course the same can really be said for us and Wyoming. It's going to be really hard. I see the Root type of coverage, probably some type of subscription. I wonder if we will have to pay the Bobcat Club dues to be given the right to get the subscription.

When you bring up the population questions, you kill your argument to keep Wyoming in a conference. Wyoming population is 540,000.

[onceacat]

For those who still think what is going to be left of the pac stealing MWC teams:

https://www.wyomingnewsnow.tv/2023/05/3 ... 23-season/

The reality is that what is left of the pac when six teams head for the Big 10 & 12 the MWC would be making a huge mistake picking up the ones left behind. What conference in the midwest wants Uncle Phil's school or UDUB? New conference?

It makes me chuckle when people use “Uncle Phil” as an insult for UO. Isn’t that what every university wants? A mega-donor who wants the best for his alma mater? He does the same at Stanford, where he went to grad school. They just don’t care as much about athletics so his donations have mainly been for academics. It’s not as if he puts every cent of donations into the AD in Eugene. He’s donated tens of millions to the university general fund as well as specific colleges, too.

As it is, my younger daughter chose Oregon State for College of Animal Science this Fall so my allegiance is split, at best.

My rich uncle graduated from MSU and Stanford and he doesn’t give money to either school. Drives me nuts.

Stanford definitely cares about academics but I wouldn’t agree that they don’t care much about athletics. They may not be great in football right now but they have probably the most successful athletic department in America having won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 47 consecutive years.

I guess I meant football. They don’t really yield on the academic side in admissions so it takes a special group which is why they’re good for 4 years every decade or so and not consistently. Plus they need elite coaching and had it with Harbaigh but not as much with Shaw. They do excel at the rich kid sports, true.

Its not so much that they dont "yield"...all the money sports players have to meet the minimum admissions requirements for freshmen & mostly always have.

Its more that the admissions requirements are higher for transfers & grad students and so its tough (impossible) for football to play the portal game.

I e read this three times and still don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Standoffs has higher admissions standards for student-athletes than, say, Oregon and Montana State. It severely limits their recruiting pool. There are also no easy degrees at Stanford to steer some athletes toward, unlike at most perennial football and basketball powers. North Carolina made up classes for basketball players and somehow didn’t get any NCAA punishment for it.

This is an indisputable fact.

Yeah, all thats true. But there are plenty of P5 football players that can make the cut at Stanford. Stanford admits tons of athletes in every sport, not just the revenue sports, that would NEVER get admitted on academic merit alone. Its in the transfer pool that Stanford suffers because its far more difficult to transfer than it is to gain admission as a freshman...Like every school, Stanford reserves 30-40 spots solely for football players who are only competing against other football players for admission. In the general pool, Stanford has something like a 3% acceptance rate...among football players its more like 50%.

But when it comes to transfers & grad students, Stanford puts football players in the admissions pool against all other applicants, so a football players chances of being accepted are far lower.

Its really a function of the fact that 95%+ of students who meet the minimum academic requirements at Stanford get rejected, but only 50% (or fewer) of football players who meet the academic standard get rejected.

But in the transfer classes, that rejection rate goes back up to 95%+.

[allcat]

I still think the Power 5 are going to make a 64 team division and leave all the lesser BCS teams in the wind
(New Div 1)

That's when UM and msu will fit perfect with what is left
Keep a playoff system and I'm all for it.
Having the likes of Utah State, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico etc as Division foes is a HUGE upgrade
(New Div 2)

And letting PSU, Northern Colorado, ISU, other lower FCS teams etc compete with the upper end of what is now Div 2 & 3 makes a lot more sense.
(New Div 3)

Here's my prediction: the Power 5 will realign into a Power 3 or a Power 4, however many network TV deals there are to be had. The SEC will be the kings, then the Big Ten will try to keep pace by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will end up in the Big XII. Stanford & Cal will realign with schools with similar academics, maybe a new IVY+ league or a league with elite academic institutions from coast to coast who don't necessarily want to chase the almighty dollar (although, at this point, I think everyone will chase it...)

Washington State and Oregon State and the rest of the "relevant" schools out West will be left to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. Only a few of the Power 5 schools haven't gotten crazy rich off the current state of affairs and those two are a few of them.

I think then the schools left standing will have to form a "Best of the West" conference, get their own TV deal and figure out what division and what postseason they play in. My dream would be that Montana State and Montana somehow end up in a conference with Oregon State, Washington State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, and the Dakota schools. And that the champions of that conference would play in some form of a playoff.

That's the dream scenario. Dreams rarely come true when it comes to small school college athletics anymore...

The Dakotas have less population than us. They don't bring anything to the television table. Of course the same can really be said for us and Wyoming. It's going to be really hard. I see the Root type of coverage, probably some type of subscription. I wonder if we will have to pay the Bobcat Club dues to be given the right to get the subscription.

When you bring up the population questions, you kill your argument to keep Wyoming in a conference. Wyoming population is 540,000.

I think I mentioned them.

[PHAT CAT]

San Diego State University gave a informal letter that they plan on moving out of the Mountain West. They don't have a invite to another conference. But they will. The chips are starting to fall. I don't think Boise State will be far behind.

[wapiti]

I still think the Power 5 are going to make a 64 team division and leave all the lesser BCS teams in the wind
(New Div 1)

That's when UM and msu will fit perfect with what is left
Keep a playoff system and I'm all for it.
Having the likes of Utah State, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico etc as Division foes is a HUGE upgrade
(New Div 2)

And letting PSU, Northern Colorado, ISU, other lower FCS teams etc compete with the upper end of what is now Div 2 & 3 makes a lot more sense.
(New Div 3)

Here's my prediction: the Power 5 will realign into a Power 3 or a Power 4, however many network TV deals there are to be had. The SEC will be the kings, then the Big Ten will try to keep pace by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will end up in the Big XII. Stanford & Cal will realign with schools with similar academics, maybe a new IVY+ league or a league with elite academic institutions from coast to coast who don't necessarily want to chase the almighty dollar (although, at this point, I think everyone will chase it...)

Washington State and Oregon State and the rest of the "relevant" schools out West will be left to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. Only a few of the Power 5 schools haven't gotten crazy rich off the current state of affairs and those two are a few of them.

I think then the schools left standing will have to form a "Best of the West" conference, get their own TV deal and figure out what division and what postseason they play in. My dream would be that Montana State and Montana somehow end up in a conference with Oregon State, Washington State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, and the Dakota schools. And that the champions of that conference would play in some form of a playoff.

That's the dream scenario. Dreams rarely come true when it comes to small school college athletics anymore...

The Dakotas have less population than us. They don't bring anything to the television table. Of course the same can really be said for us and Wyoming. It's going to be really hard. I see the Root type of coverage, probably some type of subscription. I wonder if we will have to pay the Bobcat Club dues to be given the right to get the subscription.

When you bring up the population questions, you kill your argument to keep Wyoming in a conference. Wyoming population is 540,000.

Laramie is not that far from the Denver metro area. To use just Wyoming's population is not the full picture for the Cowboys.

[PapaG]

I still think the Power 5 are going to make a 64 team division and leave all the lesser BCS teams in the wind
(New Div 1)

That's when UM and msu will fit perfect with what is left
Keep a playoff system and I'm all for it.
Having the likes of Utah State, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico etc as Division foes is a HUGE upgrade
(New Div 2)

And letting PSU, Northern Colorado, ISU, other lower FCS teams etc compete with the upper end of what is now Div 2 & 3 makes a lot more sense.
(New Div 3)

Here's my prediction: the Power 5 will realign into a Power 3 or a Power 4, however many network TV deals there are to be had. The SEC will be the kings, then the Big Ten will try to keep pace by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will end up in the Big XII. Stanford & Cal will realign with schools with similar academics, maybe a new IVY+ league or a league with elite academic institutions from coast to coast who don't necessarily want to chase the almighty dollar (although, at this point, I think everyone will chase it...)

Washington State and Oregon State and the rest of the "relevant" schools out West will be left to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. Only a few of the Power 5 schools haven't gotten crazy rich off the current state of affairs and those two are a few of them.

I think then the schools left standing will have to form a "Best of the West" conference, get their own TV deal and figure out what division and what postseason they play in. My dream would be that Montana State and Montana somehow end up in a conference with Oregon State, Washington State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, and the Dakota schools. And that the champions of that conference would play in some form of a playoff.

That's the dream scenario. Dreams rarely come true when it comes to small school college athletics anymore...

The Dakotas have less population than us. They don't bring anything to the television table. Of course the same can really be said for us and Wyoming. It's going to be really hard. I see the Root type of coverage, probably some type of subscription. I wonder if we will have to pay the Bobcat Club dues to be given the right to get the subscription.

When you bring up the population questions, you kill your argument to keep Wyoming in a conference. Wyoming population is 540,000.

Laramie is not that far from the Denver metro area. To use just Wyoming's population is not the full picture for the Cowboys.

Wyoming is also the only university in the state and has a lot of graduates in Denver. It’s a false argument to bring up their population when Montana has two major public universities and four smaller 4-year public schools.

[CPACAT]

1

[PHAT CAT]

1

.....

[The Butcher]

I still think the Power 5 are going to make a 64 team division and leave all the lesser BCS teams in the wind
(New Div 1)

That's when UM and msu will fit perfect with what is left
Keep a playoff system and I'm all for it.
Having the likes of Utah State, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico etc as Division foes is a HUGE upgrade
(New Div 2)

And letting PSU, Northern Colorado, ISU, other lower FCS teams etc compete with the upper end of what is now Div 2 & 3 makes a lot more sense.
(New Div 3)

Here's my prediction: the Power 5 will realign into a Power 3 or a Power 4, however many network TV deals there are to be had. The SEC will be the kings, then the Big Ten will try to keep pace by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will end up in the Big XII. Stanford & Cal will realign with schools with similar academics, maybe a new IVY+ league or a league with elite academic institutions from coast to coast who don't necessarily want to chase the almighty dollar (although, at this point, I think everyone will chase it...)

Washington State and Oregon State and the rest of the "relevant" schools out West will be left to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. Only a few of the Power 5 schools haven't gotten crazy rich off the current state of affairs and those two are a few of them.

I think then the schools left standing will have to form a "Best of the West" conference, get their own TV deal and figure out what division and what postseason they play in. My dream would be that Montana State and Montana somehow end up in a conference with Oregon State, Washington State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, and the Dakota schools. And that the champions of that conference would play in some form of a playoff.

That's the dream scenario. Dreams rarely come true when it comes to small school college athletics anymore...

The Dakotas have less population than us. They don't bring anything to the television table. Of course the same can really be said for us and Wyoming. It's going to be really hard. I see the Root type of coverage, probably some type of subscription. I wonder if we will have to pay the Bobcat Club dues to be given the right to get the subscription.

When you bring up the population questions, you kill your argument to keep Wyoming in a conference. Wyoming population is 540,000.

Laramie is not that far from the Denver metro area. To use just Wyoming's population is not the full picture for the Cowboys.

NDSU and SDSU have the Minneapolis market too. SDSU is playing Drake at Target Field (home of the MN Twins) this upcoming season and NDSU is playing Eastern Washington at US Bank (home of the MN Vikings). NDSU drew 34,544 fans to the 2019 season opener against Butler at Target Field. The Dakotas can draw from the MN market which is a huge advantage.

[cats2506]

I still think the Power 5 are going to make a 64 team division and leave all the lesser BCS teams in the wind
(New Div 1)

That's when UM and msu will fit perfect with what is left
Keep a playoff system and I'm all for it.
Having the likes of Utah State, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico etc as Division foes is a HUGE upgrade
(New Div 2)

And letting PSU, Northern Colorado, ISU, other lower FCS teams etc compete with the upper end of what is now Div 2 & 3 makes a lot more sense.
(New Div 3)

Here's my prediction: the Power 5 will realign into a Power 3 or a Power 4, however many network TV deals there are to be had. The SEC will be the kings, then the Big Ten will try to keep pace by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State will end up in the Big XII. Stanford & Cal will realign with schools with similar academics, maybe a new IVY+ league or a league with elite academic institutions from coast to coast who don't necessarily want to chase the almighty dollar (although, at this point, I think everyone will chase it...)

Washington State and Oregon State and the rest of the "relevant" schools out West will be left to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. Only a few of the Power 5 schools haven't gotten crazy rich off the current state of affairs and those two are a few of them.

I think then the schools left standing will have to form a "Best of the West" conference, get their own TV deal and figure out what division and what postseason they play in. My dream would be that Montana State and Montana somehow end up in a conference with Oregon State, Washington State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, and the Dakota schools. And that the champions of that conference would play in some form of a playoff.

That's the dream scenario. Dreams rarely come true when it comes to small school college athletics anymore...

The Dakotas have less population than us. They don't bring anything to the television table. Of course the same can really be said for us and Wyoming. It's going to be really hard. I see the Root type of coverage, probably some type of subscription. I wonder if we will have to pay the Bobcat Club dues to be given the right to get the subscription.

When you bring up the population questions, you kill your argument to keep Wyoming in a conference. Wyoming population is 540,000.

Laramie is not that far from the Denver metro area. To use just Wyoming's population is not the full picture for the Cowboys.

NDSU and SDSU have the Minneapolis market too. SDSU is playing Drake at Target Field (home of the MN Twins) this upcoming season and NDSU is playing Eastern Washington at US Bank (home of the MN Vikings). NDSU drew 34,544 fans to the 2019 season opener against Butler at Target Field. The Dakotas can draw from the MN market which is a huge advantage.

SDSU is struggling to draw fans to their home games, it is even tough to get fans to come from Sioux Falls. They are relatively close to both Nebraska and Iowa. With how their program has been going it seems a bit of a head scratcher to me, but I have talked with SDSU fans about it in the recent past.

[ringthebells]

SDSU draws just fine, until it gets miserably cold out.

[cats2506]

SDSU draws just fine, until it gets miserably cold out.

I am not saying that they are bad, 15,000 average last year (80% capacity) but you would think with the quality of team they are putting on the field and the population within 250 miles it would be better.

I know from talking with some of their fans that they know of alumni that live 60 miles away in Sioux Falls that will go to an Iowa game before going to a Jacks game. Maybe that would change if they were classified as FBS, I don't know.

[ringthebells]

There are a lot of excuses to be made for that last regular season game being 8,000. You are right though. Sioux Falls is 45 minutes away and there are a lot of people who would rather travel 3 to 4 hours to watch Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa Sate or Nebraska. SDSU football was mediocre at best for most of my lifetime. Their semi-recent success is improving attendance, but there is still a major shift that needs to occur that makes SDSU football the place to be versus something to do when the big boys are out of town. I am not sure if moving to FBS will change that. Something to consider is that if SDSU went FBS, there wouldn't be any late in the calendar year playoff games. The last game would be middle to late November and then maybe a bowl game somewhere else.

I would predict attendance this year will be a bit inflated. The excitement is as an all time high and we have a great slate of home football games. I would expect at least 4 sell outs. W. Oregon (first game of the year), Montana State (best OOC opponent we've ever had at home), UNI (Hobo Day), NDSU (****** NDSU). Pretty sure that hasn't happened in Brookings before. The other two home games are UND and Missouri State. I have no clue how those two will draw. I would expect UND to be full, but below capacity. There is also a game at Target field which should draw a nice crowd.

Since this thread is about moving up, I am not opposed to SDSU going FBS, but honestly, I don't think South Dakota has the cash to support it. NDSU has a legion of loyal fans and the state has oil money. Interest in Jackrabbit football is growing, but it doesn't have the following that NDSU and the Montana schools have.

[Steve D]

Opinion peace on who mountain west conference should invite to replace San Diego State.

https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/report ... nt-schools

[coloradocat]

Opinion peace on who mountain west conference should invite to replace San Diego State.

https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/report ... nt-schools

From the article:

I would line up the list of top replacements for SDSU as follows:

1. Gonzaga (almost certainly not happening; I don't see why Gonzaga would do this)

2. North Dakota State (this would add to the MW's football prestige while hurting its basketball strength)

3. Montana/Montana State (it's odd adding two teams to replace one, but the Montana schools aren't splitting up)

4. UTEP (it would get the MW into Texas and is the only reasonable add from Conference USA)

5. Sac State (or UC Davis; they're equally listless options)

6. New Mexico State (don't do this, Commish Nevarez)

Gonzaga has no reason to leave their conference. NDSU seems like a no based on their distance to not only the furthest MWC member but even the closest. MSU/missoula: we're on page 14 of this thread. He's got Sac State and UC Davis covered. Ditto on NMSU.

I think UTEP would make sense. They extend the footprint a little further south while also pulling in the West Texas market.

The next best option is probably UC Davis as they would bring academic relevance (what that has to do with athletic associations I'll never understand but that's a different discussion), unless they are holding out for admittance into the future rubble of the PAC. Another knock against Sac/Davis is that they don't add much to a conference that already has the San Jose and Fresno markets.

[CelticCat]

UC Davis has the highest revenue in the conference ($44.2 million) which is above Utah State ($43.1m) and SJSU ($39m) in the MWC. The second is Cal Poly at $37.1 million, and then Sac at $35.9.

UC Davis has $25.5 million in student fee revenue, which is pretty much the same as NAU's entire revenue, and greater than entire revenue for Idaho, UNC, PSU, Weber, EWU and ISU.

[Cataholic]

UC Davis has the highest revenue in the conference ($44.2 million) which is above Utah State ($43.1m) and SJSU ($39m) in the MWC. The second is Cal Poly at $37.1 million, and then Sac at $35.9.

UC Davis has $25.5 million in student fee revenue, which is pretty much the same as NAU's entire revenue, and greater than entire revenue for Idaho, UNC, PSU, Weber, EWU and ISU.

The high revenue amount is a product of the size of their enrollment and the student fee buried in Californias high cost of tuition. Tuition at Cal Davis is $40,000 per year for in-state. The student fee revenue of $25.5 million for Cal Davis divided by 40,000 students amounts to a fee of $637.50 per student. The individual tuition fee is high but manageable at 1.5% of tuition cost. Davis also doesn’t need to sell game tickets when the student’s tuition is basically subsidizing the whole athletics program.

Does MSU’s tuition fees include a portion that funds athletics? How much is it? Could it be raised for additional revenue to go up to FBS while not affecting enrollment?