I like the Dakotas in the Mid Con too. It keeps the GWFC alive and forms an efficient conference alignment.

The BSC may be too politically divided to make a move but no harm done. They dont have to right now.

Personally I think the best for BSC would be to add Southern Utah as an all-sports member with Cal Poly and Cal Davis as football only. It wont happen bc of SUU's academic rep.

I think what you will hear from Cal-Davis or Cal Poly people is that they don't want to give up the Big West for their other sports for the Big Sky. They would rather stay independent than have to commit to another all-sports conference other than the Big West. They would prefer having the Great West Football Conference stay together, but if not, independence I believe is what they prefer to all-sports to the Big Sky, sacrifice the Big West thing.

I think a forum site where the Cal Poly's and Cal-Davis' fans hang out is www.anygivensaturday.com IIRC where I think they reflect on this perspective.

Cal Poly made it into the I-AA playoffs last year from the GWFC, and yet did so without the GWFC being an automatic qualifier to the playoffs IIRC. Cal Poly was an at-large pick. If they can maintain scheduling with SUU and amongst themselves as well as Big Sky members and Big South members and the Dakota schools, and keep their schedule strength up, they may not need to be in a conference for football.

I'm not saying they should or shouldn't be. I don't have a horse in this race so I don't care either way. What I'm saying however, is that I don't think they will make a move until forced. Conferences generally don't add teams just because fans of some school complain loudly on the internet, it's typically in response to some sort of pressure or threat which at this point isn't critical. No Big Sky team has made direct overtures about leaving and some that are rumored to be candidates to leave don't have the facilities, budget, or support to make that move for many years. So why should the Big Sky panic and bring in a bunch of schools from Outer Mongolia now?

Davis and Poly are staying in the Big West. I don't see any way they wouldn't.

They'll be I-AA independants.

And, they'll probably be scheduling a lot of Big Sky and Southland teams.


OR perhaps the Big Sky would let them be football only members?


There's also the possibility that Davis and Poly could move up to I-A.

Let the Big Sky Conference merge with the Great West Football Conference (for football). That way Cal-Davis, Cal Poly, Southern Utah, North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Northern Colorado could play football and the conference could sponsor a championship game now if they have 2 divisions. Also those 6 GWFC teams should leave their recent conferences and/or Independent statuses as "all-sports" institutions to join the Big Sky in order to have the BSC and the GWFC to merge.

John

_________________
Florida State Seminole fan for life (mostly on football, basketball and baseball)!

Northern Colorado is already in the Big Sky. 14 is an awful number for conferences, especially football.

Is there really something wrong with 14 institutions in a conference for any sport? I've seen some conferences with them, like the RMAC (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) for example.

_________________
Florida State Seminole fan for life (mostly on football, basketball and baseball)!

The bsc should stay the way it is for football with nine, and add denver for every other sport to make scheduling easier.

I think UC Davis and Sac State will both move up to the WAC within seven years, and I also think the great west will adopt south dakota and north dakota and will build up ties with the mid-con