WAC to lose Cal Baptist and Utah Valley, down to 5 total members

[damnyoutuesday]

WAC might be on the verge of collapse. Brett McMurphy tweeted out that the Big West will vote on Friday to accept Cal Baptist and Utah Valley as new members starting in 2026. This would bring the WAC down to 5 total members (4 football) for 2026. Rumors are also swirling that Abilene Christian and UT-Arlington want to jump ship to ASUN (which would bring them to 7 football members), leaving Utah Tech, Southern Utah, and Tarleton as the remaining members of the WAC.

Remember when the WAC wanted to be an FBS conference? Life comes at you fast

[BelgradeBobcat]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

[damnyoutuesday]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

[Bobcat4Ever]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

Agreed.

I was at the MSU @ UTech football game in St. George on August 31st. $5 dollar GA tickets and $13 single game reserved are not going to compete in the Big Sky. The town is big enough at over 200,000 now so we’ll see if they can grow.

SUU — wow, they threw it away for what? Small school in a small town, no upside like UTech has. Might be a conference of 1.

[MSU01]

SUU completed pretty well in the Big Sky when they were a member, they won two football championships and had some very strong basketball teams under Todd Simon their last few years in the conference. If they wanted back in I wouldn't immediately say no, especially if the rumors around Sac State ever end up materializing and they leave. Utah Tech would make a highly convenient travel partner for SUU, they haven't been much good at the D-1 level to this point but I can see them building some decent programs over time. They may end up needing the Big Sky a lot more than the Big Sky needs them though.

I do like where the Big Sky is at right now in terms of the number of teams, especially as for the non-football sports they can play a full round-robin conference schedule with every team playing every other team both home and away.

[Cataholic]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

I am not so sure. One has to ask if UNC or PSU will even have FCS football in the next 5 years. I think both Utah Tech and SUU would be ideal replacements for both of them. Tarleton has quickly become a legit FCS program. Despite geography challenges, I would love to see a Tarleton type program added to the Big Sky creating a new formidable competitor in conference play that has a legit college football atmosphere.

[BelgradeBobcat]

For conferences there's safety in numbers. UC Davis will likely be out in a few more years. SAC State keeps talking about jumping too. You never who else might leave for whatever reason. It might be MSU and UM for all we know. As bad as our non-conference basketball schedules suck, getting 4 more D-1 games that includes two more home games wouldn't be all bad. I'd rather watch UT Tech than beating NW Indian College or SAGU-Arizona or whoever by 60 points.

[Bobcat4Ever]

I would enjoy having Big Sky (Bobcat!) games in St. George (38 miles) and Cedar City (94 miles). We went to Cedar City to watch WBB the last year that spectators were allowed (2020) while SUU was still in the Big Sky. Their WBB was competitive, only losing to the 19-1 team by 16 that night. They have a very nice on-campus basketball facility, had decent attendance, and they were the friendliest fans we had ever encountered for a road game. Would love to have them back in the conference for proximity, and especially replacing PSU or N Colorado. My earlier comments were thinking about football only.

[coloradocat]

For conferences there's safety in numbers. UC Davis will likely be out in a few more years. SAC State keeps talking about jumping too. You never who else might leave for whatever reason. It might be MSU and UM for all we know. As bad as our non-conference basketball schedules suck, getting 4 more D-1 games that includes two more home games wouldn't be all bad. I'd rather watch UT Tech than beating NW Indian College or SAGU-Arizona or whoever by 60 points.

The NW Indian College type games aren't going away for the same reason the Drake/San Diego/Stetson/Morehead/etc football games aren't going away. I don't see any benefit from adding two more schools that will only make the conference more bloated with bad teams. The BSC is a prestigious conference on this side of the country. If it lost enough teams to feel like it "needed" more teams I don't think there would be any trouble pulling a couple in. Until then hold steady (or ideally jettison a bottom feeder or two).

[coloradocat]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

I am not so sure. One has to ask if UNC or PSU will even have FCS football in the next 5 years. I think both Utah Tech and SUU would be ideal replacements for both of them. Tarleton has quickly become a legit FCS program. Despite geography challenges, I would love to see a Tarleton type program added to the Big Sky creating a new formidable competitor in conference play that has a legit college football atmosphere.

I think you underestimate how poor FCS football is. PSU is much more representative of this level than MSU is and while UNC always sucks, they are dedicated to having a football team. EWU is probably the most likely to drop football but even that will probably never happen. While they shouldn't be D1 teams, they unfortunately aren't going anywhere.

It would be great if we could add Tarleton, even if only for a few years before they move up. They are a team on the rise and would open up the Texas recruiting market even more.

[MSU01]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

I am not so sure. One has to ask if UNC or PSU will even have FCS football in the next 5 years. I think both Utah Tech and SUU would be ideal replacements for both of them. Tarleton has quickly become a legit FCS program. Despite geography challenges, I would love to see a Tarleton type program added to the Big Sky creating a new formidable competitor in conference play that has a legit college football atmosphere.

I think you underestimate how poor FCS football is. PSU is much more representative of this level than MSU is and while UNC always sucks, they are dedicated to having a football team. EWU is probably the most likely to drop football but even that will probably never happen. While they shouldn't be D1 teams, they unfortunately aren't going anywhere.

It would be great if we could add Tarleton, even if only for a few years before they move up. They are a team on the rise and would open up the Texas recruiting market even more.

Tarleton would be an intriguing add, although it only really makes sense for football and their current conference the UAC isn't affected by all these non-football schools bailing from the WAC. If the WAC falls apart I think there's a very low chance of them having any interest in the Big Sky and all the difficult travel it would entail for non-football sports.

[Montanabob]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

I am not so sure. One has to ask if UNC or PSU will even have FCS football in the next 5 years. I think both Utah Tech and SUU would be ideal replacements for both of them. Tarleton has quickly become a legit FCS program. Despite geography challenges, I would love to see a Tarleton type program added to the Big Sky creating a new formidable competitor in conference play that has a legit college football atmosphere.

I think you underestimate how poor FCS football is. PSU is much more representative of this level than MSU is and while UNC always sucks, they are dedicated to having a football team. EWU is probably the most likely to drop football but even that will probably never happen. While they shouldn't be D1 teams, they unfortunately aren't going anywhere.

It would be great if we could add Tarleton, even if only for a few years before they move up. They are a team on the rise and would open up the Texas recruiting market even more.

Tarleton would be an intriguing add, although it only really makes sense for football and their current conference the UAC isn't affected by all these non-football schools bailing from the WAC. If the WAC falls apart I think there's a very low chance of them having any interest in the Big Sky and all the difficult travel it would entail for non-football sports.

i don't see tarleton being a good football add as they have no plans to stay FCS. 2 or 3 years as a football member only does nothing for the BSC except have a few games in texas.

[MSU01]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

I am not so sure. One has to ask if UNC or PSU will even have FCS football in the next 5 years. I think both Utah Tech and SUU would be ideal replacements for both of them. Tarleton has quickly become a legit FCS program. Despite geography challenges, I would love to see a Tarleton type program added to the Big Sky creating a new formidable competitor in conference play that has a legit college football atmosphere.

I think you underestimate how poor FCS football is. PSU is much more representative of this level than MSU is and while UNC always sucks, they are dedicated to having a football team. EWU is probably the most likely to drop football but even that will probably never happen. While they shouldn't be D1 teams, they unfortunately aren't going anywhere.

It would be great if we could add Tarleton, even if only for a few years before they move up. They are a team on the rise and would open up the Texas recruiting market even more.

Tarleton would be an intriguing add, although it only really makes sense for football and their current conference the UAC isn't affected by all these non-football schools bailing from the WAC. If the WAC falls apart I think there's a very low chance of them having any interest in the Big Sky and all the difficult travel it would entail for non-football sports.

i don't see tarleton being a good football add as they have no plans to stay FCS. 2 or 3 years as a football member only does nothing for the BSC except have a few games in texas.

Very true, no point in adding a team that will be gone again a few years down the line.

[coloradocat]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

I am not so sure. One has to ask if UNC or PSU will even have FCS football in the next 5 years. I think both Utah Tech and SUU would be ideal replacements for both of them. Tarleton has quickly become a legit FCS program. Despite geography challenges, I would love to see a Tarleton type program added to the Big Sky creating a new formidable competitor in conference play that has a legit college football atmosphere.

I think you underestimate how poor FCS football is. PSU is much more representative of this level than MSU is and while UNC always sucks, they are dedicated to having a football team. EWU is probably the most likely to drop football but even that will probably never happen. While they shouldn't be D1 teams, they unfortunately aren't going anywhere.

It would be great if we could add Tarleton, even if only for a few years before they move up. They are a team on the rise and would open up the Texas recruiting market even more.

Tarleton would be an intriguing add, although it only really makes sense for football and their current conference the UAC isn't affected by all these non-football schools bailing from the WAC. If the WAC falls apart I think there's a very low chance of them having any interest in the Big Sky and all the difficult travel it would entail for non-football sports.

i don't see tarleton being a good football add as they have no plans to stay FCS. 2 or 3 years as a football member only does nothing for the BSC except have a few games in texas.

Very true, no point in adding a team that will be gone again a few years down the line.

Agree with both of you. Of the 3 teams they are the only remotely desirable on because it brings in Texas, even if temporarily, but doesn't make sense for either side long term.

[damnyoutuesday]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

I am not so sure. One has to ask if UNC or PSU will even have FCS football in the next 5 years. I think both Utah Tech and SUU would be ideal replacements for both of them. Tarleton has quickly become a legit FCS program. Despite geography challenges, I would love to see a Tarleton type program added to the Big Sky creating a new formidable competitor in conference play that has a legit college football atmosphere.

I think you underestimate how poor FCS football is. PSU is much more representative of this level than MSU is and while UNC always sucks, they are dedicated to having a football team. EWU is probably the most likely to drop football but even that will probably never happen. While they shouldn't be D1 teams, they unfortunately aren't going anywhere.

It would be great if we could add Tarleton, even if only for a few years before they move up. They are a team on the rise and would open up the Texas recruiting market even more.

Tarleton would be an intriguing add, although it only really makes sense for football and their current conference the UAC isn't affected by all these non-football schools bailing from the WAC. If the WAC falls apart I think there's a very low chance of them having any interest in the Big Sky and all the difficult travel it would entail for non-football sports.

i don't see tarleton being a good football add as they have no plans to stay FCS. 2 or 3 years as a football member only does nothing for the BSC except have a few games in texas.

Very true, no point in adding a team that will be gone again a few years down the line.

Agree with both of you. Of the 3 teams they are the only remotely desirable on because it brings in Texas, even if temporarily, but doesn't make sense for either side long term.

I'd argue, long term intentions aside, they are the most desirable of the 3 (probably) remaining WAC teams in almost every conceivable way. They have better facilities, better alumni support, better attendance, and have already had success since moving to FCS. If they hadn't shown every indication that they want to be in FBS asap, I'd be championing hard for Tarleton to join the Big Sky

[4KornerKat]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

I am not so sure. One has to ask if UNC or PSU will even have FCS football in the next 5 years. I think both Utah Tech and SUU would be ideal replacements for both of them. Tarleton has quickly become a legit FCS program. Despite geography challenges, I would love to see a Tarleton type program added to the Big Sky creating a new formidable competitor in conference play that has a legit college football atmosphere.

I think you underestimate how poor FCS football is. PSU is much more representative of this level than MSU is and while UNC always sucks, they are dedicated to having a football team. EWU is probably the most likely to drop football but even that will probably never happen. While they shouldn't be D1 teams, they unfortunately aren't going anywhere.

It would be great if we could add Tarleton, even if only for a few years before they move up. They are a team on the rise and would open up the Texas recruiting market even more.

Tarleton would be an intriguing add, although it only really makes sense for football and their current conference the UAC isn't affected by all these non-football schools bailing from the WAC. If the WAC falls apart I think there's a very low chance of them having any interest in the Big Sky and all the difficult travel it would entail for non-football sports.

i don't see tarleton being a good football add as they have no plans to stay FCS. 2 or 3 years as a football member only does nothing for the BSC except have a few games in texas.

Very true, no point in adding a team that will be gone again a few years down the line.

Agree with both of you. Of the 3 teams they are the only remotely desirable on because it brings in Texas, even if temporarily, but doesn't make sense for either side long term.

Since when is anyone in modern college athletics concerned about long term? Big Sky should do everything it can to keep itself relevant, if that means bringing in teams with near term FBS aspirations they should do it. The teams that don't are the ones we all get tired of playing (NoCo, ISU, PSU, etc.)

[Montanabob]

Tarleton is going to CUSA as soon as possible. I'm guessing SUU and Utah Tech will be sending Tom Wistrcill flowers and chocolates.

I just don't see what benefit adding UTU and SUU brings to the Big Sky. Neither are good at anything, neither bring the conference money, they don't have good attendance numbers, and we already have a perfect number of full time members and arguably too many football members. We don't need another Northern Colorado type school in the conference, let alone two of them (one of which left only a couple years ago)

I am not so sure. One has to ask if UNC or PSU will even have FCS football in the next 5 years. I think both Utah Tech and SUU would be ideal replacements for both of them. Tarleton has quickly become a legit FCS program. Despite geography challenges, I would love to see a Tarleton type program added to the Big Sky creating a new formidable competitor in conference play that has a legit college football atmosphere.

I think you underestimate how poor FCS football is. PSU is much more representative of this level than MSU is and while UNC always sucks, they are dedicated to having a football team. EWU is probably the most likely to drop football but even that will probably never happen. While they shouldn't be D1 teams, they unfortunately aren't going anywhere.

It would be great if we could add Tarleton, even if only for a few years before they move up. They are a team on the rise and would open up the Texas recruiting market even more.

Tarleton would be an intriguing add, although it only really makes sense for football and their current conference the UAC isn't affected by all these non-football schools bailing from the WAC. If the WAC falls apart I think there's a very low chance of them having any interest in the Big Sky and all the difficult travel it would entail for non-football sports.

i don't see tarleton being a good football add as they have no plans to stay FCS. 2 or 3 years as a football member only does nothing for the BSC except have a few games in texas.

Very true, no point in adding a team that will be gone again a few years down the line.

Agree with both of you. Of the 3 teams they are the only remotely desirable on because it brings in Texas, even if temporarily, but doesn't make sense for either side long term.

Since when is anyone in modern college athletics concerned about long term? Big Sky should do everything it can to keep itself relevant, if that means bringing in teams with near term FBS aspirations they should do it. The teams that don't are the ones we all get tired of playing (NoCo, ISU, PSU, etc.)

well that is going to leave a mark. mens bball wac championship... utah valley and grand canyon...