Thursday, August 19, 2010

More Changes On The Way

It appears that there are going to be more changes out west in the college game. It has been reported that Fresno State and Nevada have joined the Blue Field Boys and will be taking their act to the MWC. That certainly leaves the WAC in a precarious position, at least with their football programs. Strangely, BYU is apparently going to bolt for the WAC in all sports but football and play the gridiron game as an independent. Are they prima donnas like Notre Dame? It appears so. There has also been speculation that UTEP will move to the WAC and that Louisiana Tech will leave the WAC for CUSA. The Louisiana Tech move would make sense from a geographical standpoint. It would probably be better for them to join the Sun Belt and perhaps even apply for membership into the Big Twelve. Probably those that manage the Tech program may believe that they are somewhat a cut above the Sun Belt, and it is honestly doubtful that the Big Twelve would show much interest. With Colorado and Nebraska leaving the Big Twelve I would look for an invite to be given to TCU and perhaps the University of Houston. Both are quality programs with TCU being a legitimate BCS Bowl contender and UH aspiring to be. UTEP moving to the WAC? Not sure if that is a good idea. It is hard to win in El Paso to be sure and the Miners would probably find they would be more competitive in the Western Athletic. But will the WAC even exists in couple of years? Most likely the WAC will find some way to survive as a Division I football conference as kind of a western version of the Sun Belt. They may look to bring a school or two up from IAA. Northern Arizona, Idaho State and perhaps one of the Cal State schools may be a good fit. I would not discount Montana being interested. It is a quality IAA program and quite often fields a team that might find itself in the top 25 (or pretty darn close) if they were in Division I.
I will wager that in three years that there will be a vast amount of shifting in the conference ranks. Wonder where all that will lead?
You might notice that I do not use the terms BCS and FCS to designate the two major divisions of the NCAA football ranks. I much prefer to use the old Division I and Division IAA.

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