Conference Shuffle

[UNIpanther99]

Football would basically have to become a club sport for any college that didn't pick the right conference 120 years ago.

And you would have to ask, can you safely have club sport tackle football? I don't think that would work.

[BCPanther]

Football would basically have to become a club sport for any college that didn't pick the right conference 120 years ago.

And you would have to ask, can you safely have club sport tackle football? I don't think that would work.

Agreed. There is no way that any university is accepting the liability that would come with that and club teams are not going to find an insurer that would be on board if they went outside the university.

We all knew they were going to kill college sports, I just don't think we thought it would happen this fast.

[BCPanther]

We're about to set off another round of realignment that is going to affect us.

Here's a scenario-----

Grand Canyon is going to the Mountain West as a basketball only rather than taking the invite from the WCC they already accepted. The WAC has already lost Seattle as well to the WCC. Leaving the WAC at 7 with no real options to expand. It's (finally) dead.

Tarleton and Abilene Christian are natural fits for the Southland. Arlington has options since they don't have football (most likely Southland but the ASun or OVC could work as well). Cal Baptist goes to the WCC to replace Grand Canyon.

That leaves a Utah sized elephant in the room. Southern Utah, Utah Tech and Utah Valley need a home. The Big Sky does not want them, they've passed on them repeatedly. The only real option is The Summit League. That gets The Summit to 12 and gives them two really tidy divisions:

North Division- North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Omaha, St Thomas.
South Division- Kansas City, Oral Roberts, Denver, Utah Tech, Utah Valley, Southern Utah

The big deal for us is that it gives them 7 football members and makes them eligible for an autobid plus they've always complained about the Valley caring too much about basketball. They split.

The Valley takes football under the MVC banner. UNI, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Murray State, Youngstown State is enough for an autobid. I believe the MVC adds Robert Morris as a football affiliate to get to 7.

The two leagues also enter a scheduling agreement to help cover the loss of 2 league games.

On the basketball/all sports side, I still believe that Toledo is the replacement for Missouri State as soon as Toledo gets their football agreement with the Mountain West worked out.

[havok58]

Under that scenario, UNI benefits because they will once again be the top dogs in football, albeit in a weak conference. But who cares, because wins will come as will the playoffs. And all will good again.

[UNIpanther99]

I'll be the first to admit I was dead wrong about Missouri State and CUSA. 4-1 in the conference, 6-3 overall, and petitioning for Bowl Eligibility in their first FBS season.

Could this have been us? Could it still be us?

Sure, the basketball is a step down, but we've been a mostly one-bid league for years now anyway. Travel is definitely brutal.

[BCPanther]

I'll be the first to admit I was dead wrong about Missouri State and CUSA. 4-1 in the conference, 6-3 overall, and petitioning for Bowl Eligibility in their first FBS season.

Could this have been us? Could it still be us?

Sure, the basketball is a step down, but we've been a mostly one-bid league for years now anyway. Travel is definitely brutal.

They both invested in football and moved to a worse league. I'm not terribly surprised they're having success.

I have zero interest in torpedoing basketball and volleyball to play mid week football and playing a league basketball tournament in Huntsville with a gimmick bracket.

[Mudrafan]

I'll be the first to admit I was dead wrong about Missouri State and CUSA. 4-1 in the conference, 6-3 overall, and petitioning for Bowl Eligibility in their first FBS season.

Could this have been us? Could it still be us?

Sure, the basketball is a step down, but we've been a mostly one-bid league for years now anyway. Travel is definitely brutal.

The iowa board of regents runs the athletic program & has led to the downturn in UNI athletics from its apex years ago. I’m quite sure both iowa & isu made it clear they didn’t like sharing with a smaller university. When hartzell was ran off, that’s when it first started. Harris was a total disaster. And just when you think it couldn’t drop further, the board hired a grandmother to lead us into what will be a non scholarship program. It’s so unbelievably sad. But this has been our fate for some time

[QCPanther05]

The iowa board of regents runs the athletic program & has led to the downturn in UNI athletics from its apex years ago. I’m quite sure both iowa & isu made it clear they didn’t like sharing with a smaller university. When hartzell was ran off, that’s when it first started. Harris was a total disaster. And just when you think it couldn’t drop further, the board hired a grandmother to lead us into what will be a non scholarship program. It’s so unbelievably sad. But this has been our fate for some time

What’s so bad about being non-scholarship in football? For better or worse, UNI has no future in football. They aren’t going to compete in FCS (which is largely irrelevant anymore anyway) and they aren’t going to go to FBS. So what exactly are we doing here? We have some great sports in which we are nationally competitive. Why don’t we put the limited resources we have into basketball and wrestling? Be outstanding in those.

Many schools do just fine with this approach. Do you think Gonzaga is hurting because they don’t have football? I don’t have a problem with having football as long as we don’t spend much money on it to the detriment of sports that might raise the profile of the university. If it’s all about alums needing somewhere to tailgate during the fall, we can do that in the pioneer league so just as easily but cheaper. I have been talking about getting rid of football for years and have mostly been poo-pooed on here for that view. But it’s starting to become inevitable.

[Schack]

What’s so bad about being non-scholarship in football? For better or worse, UNI has no future in football. They aren’t going to compete in FCS (which is largely irrelevant anymore anyway) and they aren’t going to go to FBS. So what exactly are we doing here? We have some great sports in which we are nationally competitive. Why don’t we put the limited resources we have into basketball and wrestling? Be outstanding in those.

Many schools do just fine with this approach. Do you think Gonzaga is hurting because they don’t have football? I don’t have a problem with having football as long as we don’t spend much money on it to the detriment of sports that might raise the profile of the university. If it’s all about alums needing somewhere to tailgate during the fall, we can do that in the pioneer league so just as easily but cheaper. I have been talking about getting rid of football for years and have mostly been poo-pooed on here for that view. But it’s starting to become inevitable.

Thank you for stating the obvious. It’s time.

[Mudrafan]

Thank you for stating the obvious. It’s time.

It’s not time & it’s not obvious. And it’s pathetic you think this for even a second. And the fact you only think about your sport that is only “competing” in your own mind adds to the nonsense

[MVCBeat]

I’m sure I am the extreme minority, but I would never have gone to UNI if we didn’t have football. Football is part of the college experience IMO.

I think UNI could compete in the FCS. The FCS is supposed to be a division where you can compete without spending boatloads of cash. Unfortunately there are a handful of programs making that impossible.

I don’t think a move to Pioneer League is necessary. We aren’t going to compete with NDSU and SDSU but we can still have a winning program. There are several schools at the FBS level that face this same reality and they don’t just quit. In fact, every other team at UNI faces this reality, too. We aren’t ever going to win a National Championship in basketball either. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a winning team.

[BCPanther]

The iowa board of regents runs the athletic program & has led to the downturn in UNI athletics from its apex years ago. I’m quite sure both iowa & isu made it clear they didn’t like sharing with a smaller university. When hartzell was ran off, that’s when it first started. Harris was a total disaster. And just when you think it couldn’t drop further, the board hired a grandmother to lead us into what will be a non scholarship program. It’s so unbelievably sad. But this has been our fate for some time

Dr Franklin has done an incredible job in her first 18 months and it's so insulting to refer to her in that way.

Revenue is WAY up. Tickets are moving again. Facilities are being built.

To other points, you don't save any real money in the Pioneer, you lose scholarship costs but travel cost explodes. Scholarship football isn't going anywhere nor should it.

[Wxcpanther]

Dr Franklin has done an incredible job in her first 18 months and it's so insulting to refer to her in that way.

Revenue is WAY up. Tickets are moving again. Facilities are being built.

To other points, you don't save any real money in the Pioneer, you lose scholarship costs but travel cost explodes. Scholarship football isn't going anywhere nor should it.

That's a really good point. I had not considered the increased travel costs.

[7YrsOfCollegeDownTheDrain]

I second the comments on Dr. Franklin. She's breathed life into the department and active in the community. It's out of line to take personal jabs at her.

[UNIAlum95]

When I was hit from from the AD staff for donations, I challenged them on the perception that they were moving us toward non-scholarship. I was stopped before I even finished the sentence was told non-scholarship football was an absolute non-starter for Dr Franklin. The only reason I bring it up is they know this is the perception and I told them they needed to get out in front of this with better messaging because donors believe this is where it is heading. Walking away from the meeting I was convinced the statement was sincere and they are committed to FCS football and getting us back where we belong contending for the title and in the playoffs every year.