I look at what is happening to the Dakota schools and I think they may all be comfortable in a stable situation by the time the storm hits.

NDSU and SDSU are in the Summit, and paid a fair chunk of change (for them, anyway) to gain admitance to the MVFC.
South Dakota has accepted an invitation to the Summit, and North Dakota has applied, and may be up for consideration as soon as next month.
MVFC Commissioner Patty Viverito has made some comments to the effect that the MVFC may study expansion, so they are not necessarily averse to the thought of it right now....

The MVFC is now at 9 members. That's a nice number, but 12 works well for the CAA, in terms of getting 4-5 teams into the FCS Playoffs, so the MVFC may not be averse to adding North Dakota and South Dakota (and one other for 12). I'm trying to survey the landscape of who could be #12 and all I come up with is Southern Utah or Duquesne. Maybe Youngstown State (the only member of the MVFC not in the MVC or Summit) leaves for the MAC, at some point and the MVFC winds up at 10.

ANYWAY.... If the MVFC were to lose NDSU and SDSU to the Big Sky (as part of a move on their part to take in all 4 Dakota Schools), the MVFC is down to 7 with few candidates... bad situation...
which makes me think that they may want to be accommodating and invite North and South Dakota in the next year or two.

If all 4 Dakota schools have a snug home in the Summit / MVFC, what is their incentive to move to the Big Sky ? Especially if it means breaking up the group, which is going to add to everyone's travel costs (which IS A BIG DEAL at the D-1 (FCS) level....

I think it is ideal for all 4 Dakota schools to be together, so the summit makes sense. And if the MVFC doesn't add UND and USD, then I think it's still an option for the Summit to add football at some point. The problem is membership numbers. If the Big Sky lost a school, they take SUU which the Summit would need to have enough football members to have a league. That's why it seems the only options for all 4 to be together would be summit (non football sports) and MVFC for football.

The Big Sky comes into play for the Dakota schools as such: desperate times call for desperate measures. If they Big Sky lost members to the WAC and NEEDED more members to survive, they would have few options: SUU, the Dakotas, Cal Ploy and UC Davis. And if you're the Big Sky or those schools, SUU followed by the Dakotas make the most sense (lover Cal Poly and UC Davis).

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Fighting Sioux MB thread discussing above posted linked article out of Great Falls regarding possible future Big Sky realignment.Link at http://forum.siouxsports.com/index.php?showtopic=13992

Article out of Greeley with comments from Big Sky Commish and others regarding possible future conference realignment at http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/2 ... ofile=1010

Article out of Bozeman(previously posted in another thread) with comments from Big Sky Commish regarding possible future Big Sky realignment at http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/sp ... 002e0.html

Article out of Fighting Sioux country with speculation regarding possible Big Sky expansion at http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/ ... oup/Sports

Article out of Missoula with comments from Montana AD who believes that there will be more conference movement within the next 4-6 months.Link at http://missoulian.com/college/griz/arti ... 002e0.html

If BYU stays put in the Mountain West, I'd expect the Big Sky to send at least one replacement to the WAC:

WAC (9) - Hawaii, San Jose State, Idaho, Utah State, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Texas State, Texas-San Antonio, Sacramento State

Big Sky (9) - Portland State, Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Weber State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Colorado, Northern Arizona, Southern Utah

If the WAC dips further into the Big Sky, I'd expect Seattle, Denver, and Utah Valley to backfill the vacancies.

article out of North Dakota stating that the Big Sky is having a press conference today, as is Cal Poly

http://waynenelson.areavoices.com/2010/ ... -big-news/

ACC Seahawk,thanks for the posting the article regarding possible Big Sky expansion.
Here is another article out of Missoula also confirming news conferences this afternoon at 1:00 pm (local) and at 3:30 PM MT.Link(scroll down)at http://missoulian.com/sports/college/mo ... 002e0.html

Couple of FCS MB threads discussing possibility of Cal Poly joining the Big Sky at http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthr ... he-Big-Sky
and at http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthr ... nouncement

Another FCS MB thread discussing possible Big Sky expansion at http://www.championshipsubdivision.com/ ... =4&t=18102

thank you freaked...you're contributions are greatly appreciated as well!

To me this looks as if Cal Poly is withdrawing its name from WAC consideration by affirming their position in FCS. I believe this will be an announcement that Cal Poly is moving all sports into the Big Sky. This leads me to believe that that the Big Sky is planning on losing Sacramento St to the WAC and wants to keep a California presence because why else would you add them now? Cal Davis is now a wild card as is the Big Sky's interest in their program. With Summit League looking to start football with the Dakota schools as the foundation, Cal Davis will need to move up to the WAC or find a new FCS home.

Not sure the Summit is ACTUALLY pursuing football hot & heavy.

They may have thrown that out there, as a shot across the bow of the MVFC.

Even since the GWFC was formed, it was unstable and never gained critical mass (6) to earn an FCS playoff AQ. So NDSU and SDSU bought their way into the MVFC, which after losing Western Kentucky was down to a rather scant 7 teams. Southern Utah needs a better home (maybe we'll hear something about that today from the Big Sky). North Dakota and South Dakota will both be members of the Summit in need of a football home.

I think the Summit would be fine if North Dakota and South Dakota got invitations from the MVFC and Southern Utah leaves entirely or stays and gets a football invitation from the Big Sky or the MVFC.

By throwing out this "Maybe we'll start a football conference" they made a minor threat to the MVFC, that Western Illinois, NDSU, and SDSU could withdraw, leaving the MVFC at only 6. So I believe they are trying to force the MVFC's hand into extending invitations to the remaining Summit FB schools.

Another thought.... I'm full of htem after a holiday weekend....

The WAC is a competitor in several ways to both the Big Sky and Sun-Belt. If the Big Sky and Sun-Belt both aggressively move to create comfy homes for schools that have issues, they can kill the WAC.

At this point, the WAC's hopes for continued existence are to hold onto LaTech, and bring in FCS move-ups from Cal & Big Sky & Southland.
UC Davis & Cal Poly may not have the financial resources to move to FBS, but they need a home for football that is more stable than the GWFC. Enter the Big Sky....
Southern Utah... same story.

LaTech and New Mexico State must be desperate for a stable FBS home... if the Sun-belt moves aggressively, the WAC is dead and buried.

Just as BYU had to abort plans to join a depleted WAC, if the WAC is even further depleted, an FCS school would likely have second- and third-thoughts about embarking on an expensive upgrade to join a conference that is disappearing before their eyes. So by pre-empting movement of certain FCS schools to the WAC (by inviting at least their FB teams to the Big Sky), the WAC is further destabilized, and Big Sky schools like Montana, Sacto St. and Portland State might be scared off and become more likely to stay put.