30 MVC games to be aired on ESPN networks

[unipanther99]

I've stayed out of this for a while, I have a hard time deciding what I think about the situation with UNI and the MAC. I don't think it's a great fit for either party, but I also think the days of UNI playing scholarship FCS football are numbered. The days of scholarship FCS football might be numbered NCAA-wide.

In a perfect world, I'd like to see some sort of merger with the WAC that allows several MVFC schools to move up at the same time and take advantage of the WAC's status as a FBS league. Finding a way to make this work from both a football and basketball perspective is always the challenge.

Add Denver, New Mexico State, and Idaho from the WAC. Try to grab Western Kentucky, Tulsa and Northern Illinois. That's 16 teams, we could use the WAC's football tie-ins but call it Missouri Valley. Yes, Idaho and Northern Illinois basketball aren't good, but we could leverage football to get better TV contracts for basketball.

[unipanther99]

In the above option, football teams would be WKU, Northern Illinois, Tulsa, Idaho, New Mexico St., and UNI, Illinois St, and Missouri St. moving up to join them (making 8).

Indiana St. and SIU could move up if they wanted to --- otherwise there are multiple FCS options for them.

[MVCfans]

Also, you may think I'm bonkers, and I probably am, but with rumors that the WAC is about to add CSU-Bakersfield and Utah Valley for non-football, the WAC may try to survive, and that may be a more desirable avenue to FBS. Instead of dealing with the MAC traffic jam, there's plenty of room over there.

This was confirmed by Bret McMurphy just now. The WAC lives.

[unipanther99]

It's not unthinkable that the WAC could offer "start up cash" for a school like UNI, IlSU, or MSU to make the jump to FBS.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Also, you may think I'm bonkers, and I probably am, but with rumors that the WAC is about to add CSU-Bakersfield and Utah Valley for non-football, the WAC may try to survive, and that may be a more desirable avenue to FBS. Instead of dealing with the MAC traffic jam, there's plenty of room over there.

This was confirmed by Bret McMurphy just now. The WAC lives.

That would be the non-football WAC though, right? Is the football part of the WAC still dead though or did I miss something...

[unipanther99]

Also, you may think I'm bonkers, and I probably am, but with rumors that the WAC is about to add CSU-Bakersfield and Utah Valley for non-football, the WAC may try to survive, and that may be a more desirable avenue to FBS. Instead of dealing with the MAC traffic jam, there's plenty of room over there.

This was confirmed by Bret McMurphy just now. The WAC lives.

That would be the non-football WAC though, right? Is the football part of the WAC is still dead though or did I miss something...

I think you are right. I've been trying to read up on it this afternoon, and it sounds like WAC football will be completely dead after this year.

[TheAsianSensation]

Also, you may think I'm bonkers, and I probably am, but with rumors that the WAC is about to add CSU-Bakersfield and Utah Valley for non-football, the WAC may try to survive, and that may be a more desirable avenue to FBS. Instead of dealing with the MAC traffic jam, there's plenty of room over there.

This was confirmed by Bret McMurphy just now. The WAC lives.

That would be the non-football WAC though, right? Is the football part of the WAC still dead though or did I miss something...

Both correct and incorrect. Those teams are being added and don't have football.

Idaho and NMSU needed homes for all their sports, including football. If the WAC can live on and on in all the other sports, then they can be independent for a couple years in football without hanging their other sports out to dry, and it allows them enough time to find new FBS teams to join them.

If the WAC didn't add those 2 teams today, the WAC would've completely dissolved and Idaho, for example, would've moved all sports to the Big Sky instead of being independent in football.

Essentially, WAC football can be dead for a couple years but can be restarted when new members come in.

[TheAsianSensation]

I've stayed out of this for a while, I have a hard time deciding what I think about the situation with UNI and the MAC. I don't think it's a great fit for either party, but I also think the days of UNI playing scholarship FCS football are numbered. The days of scholarship FCS football might be numbered NCAA-wide.

In a perfect world, I'd like to see some sort of merger with the WAC that allows several MVFC schools to move up at the same time and take advantage of the WAC's status as a FBS league. Finding a way to make this work from both a football and basketball perspective is always the challenge.

Add Denver, New Mexico State, and Idaho from the WAC. Try to grab Western Kentucky, Tulsa and Northern Illinois. That's 16 teams, we could use the WAC's football tie-ins but call it Missouri Valley. Yes, Idaho and Northern Illinois basketball aren't good, but we could leverage football to get better TV contracts for basketball.

I think this proposal overcomplicates things. Just have a few schools join the WAC for football only. UNI. XDSUs. Grand Canyon. UC-Davis. That's the 7 you need right there.

THe problem is that WKU, Tulsa, N. Illinois, et al are never leaving their conferences for WAC 2.0. Never.

[DoubleJayAlum]

That would be the non-football WAC though, right? Is the football part of the WAC still dead though or did I miss something...

Both correct and incorrect. Those teams are being added and don't have football.

Idaho and NMSU needed homes for all their sports, including football. If the WAC can live on and on in all the other sports, then they can be independent for a couple years in football without hanging their other sports out to dry, and it allows them enough time to find new FBS teams to join them.

If the WAC didn't add those 2 teams today, the WAC would've completely dissolved and Idaho, for example, would've moved all sports to the Big Sky instead of being independent in football.

Essentially, WAC football can be dead for a couple years but can be restarted when new members come in.

AsianSensation, you seem especially informed on these issues.

Do you know ---

Are there any rules stating that if a conference is without FBS football for x amount of years, that the conference has to start all over again in qualifying as an FBS league? Or is it simply a rule of "once an FBS league, always an FBS league"?

[TheAsianSensation]

That would be the non-football WAC though, right? Is the football part of the WAC still dead though or did I miss something...

Both correct and incorrect. Those teams are being added and don't have football.

Idaho and NMSU needed homes for all their sports, including football. If the WAC can live on and on in all the other sports, then they can be independent for a couple years in football without hanging their other sports out to dry, and it allows them enough time to find new FBS teams to join them.

If the WAC didn't add those 2 teams today, the WAC would've completely dissolved and Idaho, for example, would've moved all sports to the Big Sky instead of being independent in football.

Essentially, WAC football can be dead for a couple years but can be restarted when new members come in.

AsianSensation, you seem especially informed on these issues.

Do you know ---

Are there any rules stating that if a conference is without FBS football for x amount of years, that the conference has to start all over again in qualifying as an FBS league? Or is it simply a rule of "once an FBS league, always an FBS league"?

I'll try to find it, but I do believe there's a rule that would allow the WAC to retain the right to sponsor footbal in the future.

Plus, I would bet money that the NCAA would step in with a waiver or two to help them.

They don't want to see a conference perish over this. Also, with all the bloated conferences everywhere and the rule that you have to have a conference invite to jump from FCS to FBS, they need the WAC to survive as a bridge conference or else the conference setup across all of FBS will start to collapse onto itself.