WAC planning jump to FBS

[Chex]

Saw the ESPN news that the ASUN WAC is trying to make a jump to FBS. It would be weird to see SUU and Utah Tech in FBS and in theory jump the recruiting ladder above Weber State.

I honestly wouldn’t want to see Weber State jump to FBS. I like the FCS playoffs and would not want to play for mediocre seasons with the ultimate goal of a potato bowl.

I just worry the WAC might try to peel off some Big Sky schools and could weaken the conference. Interesting times: basketball program in disarray, football program at a critical decision point that will determine future success, and now watching other in state teams potentially jumping to FBS. I say potentially because I’m not sure it can get off the ground.

It will be interesting to see how things play out.

 

[wsucatfan]

WSU is the king of status quo in the state. I disagree 100% that we shouldn't be actively looking at the options to improve our conference. Every university in the state has improved their conference affiliation, many 2-3 times yet WSU and fans are content to stay in the BSC. Football is a top power FCS team, but basketball is a flaming pile. If you are not moving forward you are moving backward. Look at James Madison, you think they aren't happy with their choice to move up to FBS. A rising tide lifts all boats, that includes improving your conference affiliation. Basketball would be in a much better state if the football team was FBS. Attendance would be better if we were FBS as well, fans would show up for WSU vs Utah State at home.

BYU: WAC to Mtn West to Independence to Big 12
SUU: Summit to BSC to WAC FCS to WAC FBS
Utah: Wac to Mtn West to Pac 12
Utah State: Big West/Sun Belt to WAC to Mtn West
Utah Tech: DII to WAC FCS to WAC FBS

 

[Chex]

WSU is the king of status quo in the state. I disagree 100% that we shouldn't be actively looking at the options to improve our conference. Every university in the state has improved their conference affiliation, many 2-3 times yet WSU and fans are content to stay in the BSC. Football is a top power FCS team, but basketball is a flaming pile. If you are not moving forward you are moving backward. Look at James Madison, you think they aren't happy with their choice to move up to FBS. A rising tide lifts all boats, that includes improving your conference affiliation. Basketball would be in a much better state if the football team was FBS. Attendance would be better if we were FBS as well, fans would show up for WSU vs Utah State at home.

BYU: WAC to Mtn West to Independence to Big 12
SUU: Summit to BSC to WAC FCS to WAC FBS
Utah: Wac to Mtn West to Pac 12
Utah State: Big West/Sun Belt to WAC to Mtn West
Utah Tech: DII to WAC FCS to WAC FBS

You bring up a good point. I guess I still prefer the FCS and its playoff format compared to the FBS lower conference wasteland.

One thing is “FBS conference games” of UTU, SUU, Rio Grande Valley won’t draw any more interest and put butts in the seats. I don’t see any in state teams coming to Ogden even if we are FBS.

Maybe Big Sky should look at jumping to FBS. They are a lot more legitimate than the ASUN WAC. Again, I don’t think FBS is what it’s made out to be. Look at Idaho’s FBS run. I think the Big Sky and FCS still makes the most sense, but I see your point that stagnation may be costly in the long run.

The landscape may force everyone to realign.

 

[the dan]

I think we’ll eventually move up to FBS, but the FBS won’t look anything like it does now. The top 60ish schools will break away. FCS is getting gutted right now, I don’t think we’ll want to be standing around holding the bag when the dust settles. Things are changing rapidly and Weber needs to be proactive.

 

[Waldo2]

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I foresee a major shake up on the horizon for college athletics. I think we will see three tiers emerge:
1. The super rich of about 80 universities. This will include the current FBS P5 level and several programs are hoping to stay in this boat (e.g. Utah and BYU). Weber will not be in this boat.

2. The middle class . This will include about 80 colleges and universities. This will include Weber, Utah State, the Montanas, etc. Most of the Big Sky and Mt West programs will be in this same level and possibly in the same conferences. I think some of the WAC schools end up here. My guess is that they will have their own championship playoffs for football . There will be some cross over with the super rich for padding schedules and money games, but the distinctions will become very clear (more clear than now). Bowl games will be replaced with playoffs.

3. The poor. This will include teams that are currently DII and DIII and several of the current FCS schools will go here. Budgets will tighten and athletics will be cut as revenues dry up. They will offer few scholarships (if any) and will not sponsor many sports.

Weber must be strategic and position itself to get into the middle tier. Other programs will be “forced “ to accept the middle tier (most of the current G5 programs and the top of the FCS).

Clearly a time of disruption, but also opportunity.

 

[CrazyJ]

I thought there was a 30,000 stadium minimum to be FBS… but didn’t matter for Idaho.

Two FBS schools in Southern Utah? I mean St George is exploding but have you been to Southern Utah area? I moved here 2.5 years ago. It’s rural. SUU plays in a high school sized stadium.

Local talent, in Southern Utah, is thin. Plus the hierarchy in Utah vis a vis BYU/Utah/USU/Weber is generational and probably impossible to crack.

There’s a reason why Idaho returned to FCS level. Moscow is in the middle of nowhere.

Will it hurt Weber recruiting? I think our choice of coaches makes a bigger difference.

 

[oldrunner]

I thought there was a 30,000 stadium minimum to be FBS… but didn’t matter for Idaho.

Two FBS schools in Southern Utah? I mean St George is exploding but have you been to Southern Utah area? I moved here 2.5 years ago. It’s rural. SUU plays in a high school sized stadium.

Local talent, in Southern Utah, is thin. Plus the hierarchy in Utah vis a vis BYU/Utah/USU/Weber is generational and probably impossible to crack.

There’s a reason why Idaho returned to FCS level. Moscow is in the middle of nowhere.

Will it hurt Weber recruiting? I think our choice of coaches makes a bigger difference.

I think you have to look at the timing of that release. The majority of those schools are nowhere near jumping to FBS. They would have to drop out of the WAC or do something else with their football programs. I would venture an educated guess that one or two of the WAC schools were complaining that they were having a hard time recruiting quality players and they needed to be able to tell that far flung story to potential recruits. We all know that what they are saying will not happen any time soon and may not happen ever. They just wanted it to become an official lie. We have all seen official lies before and that one is definately a wopper.

The football landscape is changing, sometimes too slowly, and that new and better deffinitions surrounding level of play will be hitting over the next few years. Not sure what it might look like, but we all know that the P5s want to break off and do their own thing. I could see it remaining quite similar to what it is now or a general combining of the rest of D1 football. I could also see the bottom feeders of the FCS being forced into D11 and everybody else being combined as a larger FCS D1. Some of the G5s probably would not like that, but it may be the most workable solution. In that scenario the majority of that list would be D11. That is probably what is scaring recruits away from the WAC right now and why such an outrageous announcement was made.