I think the Kibbie Dome is just old, but workable. Little facelift, and it wouldn't be a bad place to play.

Though I gotta wonder what it would be like for Idaho if they played in an open air stadium... It might suck for fans, but be one helluva home field advantage.

(07-15-2015 11:57 AM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  I think the Kibbie Dome is just old, but workable. Little facelift, and it wouldn't be a bad place to play.

Though I gotta wonder what it would be like for Idaho if they played in an open air stadium... It might suck for fans, but be one helluva home field advantage.

over in green bay they manage to fill lambeau. but your right, those last few games of the season could be brutal..

No offense, but in the next wave of conference realignment, the Sun Belt might be forced to go down to FCS or disband due to losing too many teams too soon (Appalachian State, Troy, Coastal Carolina, both Louisiana schools, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State, and South Alabama may find homes in C-USA or the MAC but the others are screwed.)

(10-23-2015 08:52 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  No offense, but in the next wave of conference realignment, the Sun Belt might be forced to go down to FCS or disband due to losing too many teams too soon (Appalachian State, Troy, Coastal Carolina, both Louisiana schools, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State, and South Alabama may find homes in C-USA or the MAC but the others are screwed.)

No way any of this happens. But if it did, there's no way Texas State would go down while ULM stays up. Either way though, there's only one or two teams in the conference that would even consider dropping down.

Idaho has three FBS games scheduled for every year until 2022 .

I could be wrong but I think NMSU and Idaho get at least one extension .
The reason being The addition of Coastal.
Coastal was approached by the Sun Belt according to local papers.
So if a big list of desired candidates is out there why contact Coastal.
The conference will probably wait to Coastal is fully transitioned 2019 to add any schools.

Unless NMSU can find a school close by for a travel partner they will join Idaho.
So the conference is probably looking for two schools that can work as travel partners.

Lamar and SHSU are much more likely than the schools that always get mentioned on here.Their in the West and don't have to leave the Valley which is a minus in the plus vs minuses debate. Add scholarships and costs while hurting the basketball program .U Mass wasn't willing to do that with FBS on the line. Its a much easier decision to stay put than what U Mass had to make.

(10-24-2015 07:47 AM)MJG Wrote:  Idaho has three FBS games scheduled for every year until 2022 .

I could be wrong but I think NMSU and Idaho get at least one extension .
The reason being The addition of Coastal.
Coastal was approached by the Sun Belt according to local papers.
So if a big list of desired candidates is out there why contact Coastal.
The conference will probably wait to Coastal is fully transitioned 2019 to add any schools.

Unless NMSU can find a school close by for a travel partner they will join Idaho.
So the conference is probably looking for two schools that can work as travel partners.

Lamar and SHSU are much more likely than the schools that always get mentioned on here.Their in the West and don't have to leave the Valley which is a minus in the plus vs minuses debate. Add scholarships and costs while hurting the basketball program .U Mass wasn't willing to do that with FBS on the line. Its a much easier decision to stay put than what U Mass had to make.

Did you mean that Missouri State is in the Valley, not Lamar or SHSU? I got confused am am just trying to clarify. I could see the comparison between Mo. State and UMass because leaving the MVC, or the A-10, would be a step down in basketball, but not leaving the Southland.

Anyway, I see no need to expand further. The league can stay at 12 for all sports and either go forward with 12 for football, with Idaho and NMSU still in the fold, or go to 10 if NMSU and Idaho aren't extended. Adding more teams isn't going to increase a TV contract or make the league better, IMO.

Maybe UNT will want back in

I am pretty confident that Idaho and NMSU will be given every opportunity to prove they can compete before we give them the boot. My guess is we extend them until 2019 this year, especially given that Idaho has a decent to strong chance at pulling out a 4 win season this year.

I have yet to see a good reason not to extend Idaho.

The program is clearly back on the upswing from the rock-bottom conference turmoil years of 2011-2013 and will likely help the conference football strength going forward. There are no obvious App and Georgia Southern-like FCS candidates available, and we're about to absorb another FCS call-up -- do you want to keep doing that with lesser and lesser schools and cement the conference's reputation as the constant-turnover FCS startup league? Going to 10 teams leaves you vulnerable to raids. Plus, it's football so who cares about one long road trip every 2-4 years?

Giving Idaho at least another 4 years in the conference makes abundant good sense for all parties. At some point you may have another more regional school that's clearly a better fit. This is not that point, so why have turnover just for the sake of turnover? Stability is a good thing.

(10-24-2015 11:52 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  I have yet to see a good reason not to extend Idaho.

The program is clearly back on the upswing from the rock-bottom conference turmoil years of 2011-2013 and will likely help the conference football strength going forward. There are no obvious App and Georgia Southern-like FCS candidates available, and we're about to absorb another FCS call-up -- do you want to keep doing that with lesser and lesser schools and cement the conference's reputation as the constant-turnover FCS startup league? Going to 10 teams leaves you vulnerable to raids. Plus, it's football so who cares about one long road trip every 2-4 years?

Giving Idaho at least another 4 years in the conference makes abundant good sense for all parties. At some point you may have another more regional school that's clearly a better fit. This is not that point, so why have turnover just for the sake of turnover? Stability is a good thing.

You make good points. If Idaho and NMSU are extended Idaho should be placed in the east, to give the west both far reaching schools would not be best.

(10-24-2015 01:10 PM)gumbobrown Wrote:  

(10-24-2015 11:52 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  I have yet to see a good reason not to extend Idaho.

The program is clearly back on the upswing from the rock-bottom conference turmoil years of 2011-2013 and will likely help the conference football strength going forward. There are no obvious App and Georgia Southern-like FCS candidates available, and we're about to absorb another FCS call-up -- do you want to keep doing that with lesser and lesser schools and cement the conference's reputation as the constant-turnover FCS startup league? Going to 10 teams leaves you vulnerable to raids. Plus, it's football so who cares about one long road trip every 2-4 years?

Giving Idaho at least another 4 years in the conference makes abundant good sense for all parties. At some point you may have another more regional school that's clearly a better fit. This is not that point, so why have turnover just for the sake of turnover? Stability is a good thing.

You make good points. If Idaho and NMSU are extended Idaho should be placed in the east, to give the west both far reaching schools would not be best.

Fine with me, although I have a mild preference for playing the western schools since we have at least some history with almost all of them.

This is another thread that needs to die. Personally, I hate seeing these threads pop up all the time. Way to support a conference mate when they're down instead of trying to advocate for them as they rebuild.

Sure, they may, in fact, not be here after 2017 but, come on.

(10-24-2015 09:15 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(10-24-2015 07:47 AM)MJG Wrote:  Idaho has three FBS games scheduled for every year until 2022 .

I could be wrong but I think NMSU and Idaho get at least one extension .
The reason being The addition of Coastal.
Coastal was approached by the Sun Belt according to local papers.
So if a big list of desired candidates is out there why contact Coastal.
The conference will probably wait to Coastal is fully transitioned 2019 to add any schools.

Unless NMSU can find a school close by for a travel partner they will join Idaho.
So the conference is probably looking for two schools that can work as travel partners.

Lamar and SHSU are much more likely than the schools that always get mentioned on here.Their in the West and don't have to leave the Valley which is a minus in the plus vs minuses debate. Add scholarships and costs while hurting the basketball program .U Mass wasn't willing to do that with FBS on the line. Its a much easier decision to stay put than what U Mass had to make.

Did you mean that Missouri State is in the Valley, not Lamar or SHSU? I got confused am am just trying to clarify. I could see the comparison between Mo. State and UMass because leaving the MVC, or the A-10, would be a step down in basketball, but not leaving the Southland.

Anyway, I see no need to expand further. The league can stay at 12 for all sports and either go forward with 12 for football, with Idaho and NMSU still in the fold, or go to 10 if NMSU and Idaho aren't extended. Adding more teams isn't going to increase a TV contract or make the league better, IMO.

Yeah Missouri ST and JMU always get mentioned and their good candidates just not interested.