Collapse of the PAC-12: Oregon State & Washington State left in the dust

[BKarchitect]

I don’t see NDSU doing it.

Who then? Certainly not any of the Missouri Valley schools.

Idaho and their weird little wooden stadium and Boise State right down the road and a history of already not enjoying life in the FBS? I don't think they'd do it.

The only one I could see is Montana and only if they could convince the PAC to take them. They have a pretty large stadium and being in the Western part of the state, the geography for all sports with Boise State, Wazzu and Gonzaga wouldn't be terrible.

But then again - consider that the Grizzlies reportedly have the least subsidized FCS program in the country. Why would they jeopardize that kind of athletic department healthiness on a bet?

 

[GKJ]

Who then? Certainly not any of the Missouri Valley schools.

Idaho and their weird little wooden stadium and Boise State right down the road and a history of already not enjoying life in the FBS? I don't think they'd do it.

The only one I could see is Montana and only if they could convince the PAC to take them. They have a pretty large stadium and being in the Western part of the state, the geography for all sports with Boise State, Wazzu and Gonzaga wouldn't be terrible.

But then again - consider that the Grizzlies reportedly have the least subsidized FCS program in the country. Why would they jeopardize that kind of athletic department healthiness on a bet?

They'd be in a decent position to get more money out of it, the thing I'm not sure of is whether or not they can add the Title IX scholarships. However, our resident Grizz @BigMcLargehuge seems pretty convinced that they can and should be ready to jump to FCS if they want, so if he believes it, then I do too. If I were either of these conferences, that's who I'd want.

 

[The Marquis]

Who then? Certainly not any of the Missouri Valley schools.

Idaho and their weird little wooden stadium and Boise State right down the road and a history of already not enjoying life in the FBS? I don't think they'd do it.

The only one I could see is Montana and only if they could convince the PAC to take them. They have a pretty large stadium and being in the Western part of the state, the geography for all sports with Boise State, Wazzu and Gonzaga wouldn't be terrible.

But then again - consider that the Grizzlies reportedly have the least subsidized FCS program in the country. Why would they jeopardize that kind of athletic department healthiness on a bet?

Where did you find the info that U of Montana has the least subsidized FCS program? I don't doubt it, but that seems like a recipe for success at a higher level, not an inherent risk. They have a very loyal alumni base and a pretty sizeable endowment for an FCS school, outpacing more than half of the Group of 5 conference schools. It's a small school, but has a large loyal following and draws big crowds for FCS, ranking 2nd in the entire FCS in attendance (Montana State was 3rd last year as well). Both Montana schools appear to be in the realm of being ready to go for something bigger as a package deal.

If Montana were a MWC school right now, they'd have the 3rd best attendance (After Fresno and Boise), Montana State would have the 8th best in the conference (out of 13, if they were in it). So they are right there and have nothing to lose except a bunch of money to make it happen. They are in a WAY better position to make that move than Idaho was when they did. WAY better.

That said, Texas State is still probably the best overall bet for the Pac. UNT, UTSA could be good as well, really locking down 3 very large Texas schools, creating a 10 team conference for Football. That said, if none of those work out, if FCS schools are wanting to come up, the Montana Schools are easily the best equipped to do so for the Pac and the cost to the conference, if they were to help make it happen, isn't really all that much compared to the MWC fees.

 

[BKarchitect]

Where did you find the info that U of Montana has the least subsidized FCS program? I don't doubt it, but that seems like a recipe for success at a higher level, not an inherent risk. They have a very loyal alumni base and a pretty sizeable endowment for an FCS school, outpacing more than half of the Group of 5 conference schools. It's a small school, but has a large loyal following and draws big crowds for FCS, ranking 2nd in the entire FCS in attendance (Montana State was 3rd last year as well). Both Montana schools appear to be in the realm of being ready to go for something bigger as a package deal.

If Montana were a MWC school right now, they'd have the 3rd best attendance (After Fresno and Boise), Montana State would have the 8th best in the conference (out of 13, if they were in it). So they are right there and have nothing to lose except a bunch of money to make it happen. They are in a WAY better position to make that move than Idaho was when they did. WAY better.

That said, Texas State is still probably the best overall bet for the Pac. UNT, UTSA could be good as well, really locking down 3 very large Texas schools, creating a 10 team conference for Football. That said, if none of those work out, if FCS schools are wanting to come up, the Montana Schools are easily the best equipped to do so for the Pac and the cost to the conference, if they were to help make it happen, isn't really all that much compared to the MWC fees.

The more I become educated on Montana, the more I'm willing to think they are a different animal than the other Big Sky schools as it relates to potentially moving up. Pretty impressive athletic department for FCS.

 

[The Marquis]

I saw that in 2023 it was $24m. $24m is VERY shy of the expectation of the Pac-12 though. I'm sure they reduced it from the required $60m before the other 10 schools left, but I can't imagine it's as low as $30m now considering I think all the schools they've let in for football have annual athletic budgets over $40m, possibly even $45m. For an FCS program, $24m is a big number but falls shy of nearly every current FBS athletic budget, except a couple of MAC and CUSA schools. It's still a better starting point than almost anybody else in the Big Sky.

For a little dose of reality... of the Schools we've been talking about on here... here are their 2023 athletic budgets (the average for FCS is 19m):

Sacramento State - 45m
Texas State - 40m
UTSA - 44m
UNT - 49m
Montana - 24m
Montana State - 28m
Weber State - 17m

A couple of others with sizeable numbers:

UC Davis - 48m
North Dakota - 33m
North Dakota State - 32m
Cal Poly - 40m


For a comparison here's the new look Pac-7

Oregon State - 98m
Washington State - 90m
San Diego State - 96m
Fresno State - 51m
Boise State - 58m
Utah State - 51m
Colorado State - 64m

I'd imagine with the additional revenue the Montana Schools could get to $40m pretty easily, and Sac State could VERY easily with a stadium renovation and the additional revenue. I wonder what the new minimum budget requirement is for the Pac. I think it was $60 prior to this year, but don't quote me on that.