Page 1 of 3

Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:34 am
by Prodigal Cat


Not crazy about this but need to insulate losing not just one but possible all the California schools.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:36 am
by Prodigal Cat

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:39 am
by Montanabob
maybe unco and psu drop football.

fingers crossed.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:40 am
by damnyoutuesday
Mediocre move for football, but it helps save Big Sky autobids in sports such as soccer and softball

Utah Tech and Northern Colorado can duke it out for worst team in the conference every year

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:42 am
by iaafan
Eww. Sounds like the BSC is preparing for something.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:53 am
by damnyoutuesday
iaafan wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:42 am
Eww. Sounds like the BSC is preparing for something.
Sac State is leaving after this next academic year, and UC Davis basically has one foot out the door to join the MWC in football (non-football MWC member starting next year)

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 11:15 am
by Prodigal Cat
damnyoutuesday wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:40 am
Mediocre move for football, but it helps save Big Sky autobids in sports such as soccer and softball

Utah Tech and Northern Colorado can duke it out for worst team in the conference every year
In the short term yes but if you told me 5 years from now Tech is the school from the Beehive State competing for conference titles I wouldn't be surprised. That area is growing as much as Bozeman is and has lots of Tech industries moving in.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 11:30 am
by damnyoutuesday
Prodigal Cat wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 11:15 am
damnyoutuesday wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:40 am
Mediocre move for football, but it helps save Big Sky autobids in sports such as soccer and softball

Utah Tech and Northern Colorado can duke it out for worst team in the conference every year
In the short term yes but if you told me 5 years from now Tech is the school from the Beehive State competing for conference titles I wouldn't be surprised. That area is growing as much as Bozeman is and has lots of Tech industries moving in.
I think Utah Tech is actually a great move for the future (Southern Utah not so much), but the Blazers are going to be a conference doormat at first

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 11:47 am
by coloradocat
If every team outside of MSU, griz and Idaho sucks does that help or hurt the unbalanced schedule problem? I guess schedules aren't unbalanced any more if all three teams play 7 guaranteed win games.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 12:24 pm
by MSU01
coloradocat wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 11:47 am
If every team outside of MSU, griz and Idaho sucks does that help or hurt the unbalanced schedule problem? I guess schedules aren't unbalanced any more if all three teams play 7 guaranteed win games.
It's easy to forget that between MSU's 2012 and 2022 co-championships, both of the Montana schools were totally shut out from winning any conference titles in football. Eastern and Weber both had 4 and even Southern Utah had 2 in that span. I think the Cats and Griz will likely continue to stay at the top given their increasingly large facility advantages over the rest of the league, but hopefully some other schools can get back closer to where they were in the 2010s to make the league as a whole a bit more competitive. I can see Utah Tech being able to build a pretty strong program but it won't happen overnight of course.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 12:46 pm
by MSUBRONCO
SUU back interesting. And still gonna call them Dixie state.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 12:58 pm
by iaafan
MSUBRONCO wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 12:46 pm
SUU back interesting. And still gonna call them Dixie state.
SUU wasn’t Dixie St that was Utah Tech.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 1:03 pm
by lutecat
Didn't utah tech beat the griz the same year we throttled Utah tech?

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 1:25 pm
by iaafan
lutecat wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 1:03 pm
Didn't utah tech beat the griz the same year we throttled Utah tech?
No. They lost to NAU the next week though, but won all the rest of their games until the championship.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 1:58 pm
by vike_king
iaafan wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 1:25 pm
lutecat wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 1:03 pm
Didn't utah tech beat the griz the same year we throttled Utah tech?
No. They lost to NAU the next week though, but won all the rest of their games until the championship.
It was the same day.

Before the game, 4 older folks climbed to the top of the new bleachers at Weber.

As they walked past me, one of the ladies explained that they were Griz fans but were there to support a Mobtana team. I wondered if they knew the fizz had lost and how the quartet would react when Bobcat fans would cheer when the score was announced.

The score was announced in the first quarter, at the end of the quarter they left in a huff. The old lady was disgusted that "every" Bobcst fan had stood and cheered. I replied ", I didn't" she didn't know whether to ******, or go blind. I think that made her angrier.

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 2:48 pm
by damnyoutuesday
Official announcements from the conference




Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 2:52 pm
by MSUBRONCO
iaafan wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 12:58 pm
MSUBRONCO wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 12:46 pm
SUU back interesting. And still gonna call them Dixie state.
SUU wasn’t Dixie St that was Utah Tech.
I know, two seperate thoughts one on each team,bad phrasing I wasn't an English major lol

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 2:58 pm
by damnyoutuesday
Some notes on scheduling:

2026 schedule has to be thrown out completely. Big Sky has been using a 2-6-3 model (2 permanent annual opponents, 6 rotating opponents every year that you play home and away in a 3 year span, and you miss 3 of those rotating opponents a year) that's honestly been a solid scheduling model.

If Big Sky stays the course on 8 conference games, then having 4 annual opponents and 4 rotating opponents every year can work perfectly

If we jump to 9 games (likely with FCS going to 12 game season), then having 6 annual opponents and 3 rotating also works perfectly

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 3:01 pm
by BornBobcat2000
damnyoutuesday wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:53 am
iaafan wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:42 am
Eww. Sounds like the BSC is preparing for something.
Sac State is leaving after this next academic year, and UC Davis basically has one foot out the door to join the MWC in football (non-football MWC member starting next year)
Sac is not leaving the Big Sky in football though, right? I thought it was all sports except football

Re: Big Sky expansion

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2025 3:03 pm
by damnyoutuesday
BornBobcat2000 wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 3:01 pm
damnyoutuesday wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:53 am
iaafan wrote:
Wed Jun 25, 2025 10:42 am
Eww. Sounds like the BSC is preparing for something.
Sac State is leaving after this next academic year, and UC Davis basically has one foot out the door to join the MWC in football (non-football MWC member starting next year)
Sac is not leaving the Big Sky in football though, right? I thought it was all sports except football
They are leaving and plan on going to FBS or FCS independent. They will not be football affiliates like Davis and Cal Poly