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Report: UCSD Finally Gets Big West Invite
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SactoHornetAlum Offline
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Post: #57
RE: Report: UCSD Finally Gets Big West Invite
(02-15-2018 02:39 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  
(02-15-2018 02:32 PM)SactoHornetAlum Wrote:  
(02-15-2018 02:24 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  
(02-15-2018 12:26 PM)GiveEmTheAxe Wrote:  
(02-14-2018 01:54 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  UCSD isn't the problem. It's Bakersfield. I know I'm not the only one disgusted with how this went down 03-puke

I can see a certain appeal to how the Big West is shaping up. UCSD gives them a fourth AAU member UC campus. If UCR can ever get its **** together the Big West will have half the AAU members in the state of CA (the others being the four Pac-12 schools plus Caltech.) And in Fullerton, Northridge, and Long Beach they have the three highest-enrollment CSU campuses. Cal Poly SLO doesn't fit in with its high-enrollment siblings, but it probably has the best reputation for college town living. They all seem to bring something to the table, either prestige or size or a cool college vibe.

And then there's Bakersfield.

At least if Sacramento State had been the expansion choice it would have fit in with the high-enrollment CSUs. They have the fourth-largest student body if you don't count the FBS-playing MWC schools. They're three times as big as CSU Bakersfield! But I guess Sacramento State has its reasons for staying in the Big Sky.

Here's the problem - no additional representation outside CA. No motivation to invest in basketball or other sports. No differentiation. There's still the bus league stigma. you miss out by staying in a bubble. Academics? Boise bought their brief membership in 2012 and theirs don't compare.

Politics was the reason Bakersfield got in. Not their NIT run in 2017, not their academics. They used UCSD's desperation against them. They were shunned for over a decade, nothing else has made them appealing. It's a victory for Bakersfield only, they bring nothing useful to the table and get all the travel savings benefits.

The Big West of 1990 with UNLV, NMSU and Utah State was the perfect setup. Still primarily CA based, but a presence in multiple states. And capable of producing at-large bids.

The Big West of 2020 is anything but ideal. 10 of 11 members in one state means there is no growth, no regional exposure outside said state. It's sad, really.

If the split the state idea of like 5-6 different states that was proposed a few years back were in effect, would you have the same thoughts? Because really, a conference like the OVC is a bus-only league. If you overlay California over Missouri and Tennessee, you'll see that it's the same distances for the OVC as the SoCal Big West schools.

Just my $0.02. YMMV

Yes I would have the same thoughts. La Jolla, Irvine, Fullerton, Long Beach, Riverside and Northridge are all less than 150 miles apart from each other. La Jolla to Santa Barbara is less than 250 miles. California splitting into multiple states won't change that.

Ok so if you're ok with other leagues like that (being a bus-league, help control costs, etc.) then why not for the Big West?

I tell ya if SB and Fullerton would add FCS football since you both have the stadiums to do so, we'd be there in a heartbeat. But almost 25 years we made the decision to protect football. That's why we joined the Big Sky. Simple as that. Especially since many of the schools around California dropped the sport. Us, Poly and davis have provided blueprint to have football and meet Title IX. A shame too because a FCS football league with SB and Fullerton would be awesome. And I think Northridge wouldn't have dropped the sport either.
02-15-2018 02:51 PM
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RE: Report: UCSD Finally Gets Big West Invite - SactoHornetAlum - 02-15-2018 02:51 PM



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