So in 1996, when the Big West brought in full members Idaho, Boise St, and UNT, why did ULL, LA Tech, and Ark St all leave?

Was it a mutual split or were the affiliates kicked to the curb?

With 9 schools, they could have an 8 game conference schedule.

It seems like, if someone had the forethought, they should have worked to achieve two divisions of 6 and a title game between schools from the Western US and the TX/LA/AR region.

West: Nevada, Boise, Idaho, Utah St, NMSU, TBD
East: UNT, ULL, LA Tech, Ark St, TBD, TBD

Granted, I don’t think this would have saved Big West football in the long run but it could ah e made the final years a little easier.

When the additions were first announced in October 1994, the Big West commissioner admitted he was looking at UCF as a fb-only member. At the time Pacific was still playing. Cal Poly was also added as a full member, but they kept football in the 1-AA / FCS ranks.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-...story.html

Northern Illinois was also a fb-only affiliate back then. I don't think any of them were kicked to the curb. It was mutual (certainly for NIU, as they hoped/expected their Big West stint would result in a Big Eight invite). Consider that Arkansas State returned for a two year stint in 1999.

Oops, double post.

Even when the Big West was a 10-team football conference in the 1993-1995 era, everyone was still only playing 6 conference games apiece (except for 1995, when Nevada & Utah State played 7).

Everyone was in a "conference", but it was quite far from round-robin.

The southeastern schools (ULL, Ark St, LA Tech): their schedules at the time, they were invariably playing themselves and NIU annually within conference, then making 1 or 2 trips out west per year. They were also playing 2-3 or so buy games a year against mainly SEC folk. Then to fill things out, home games versus a D-1AA or 1-1s and 2-1s with the other southern independents at the time (quite a few options here, as this was pre-CUSA and pre-16 team WAC).

I'd imagine that schedule set-up was more favorable for them financially versus playing more conference games against their western conference mates.

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Even with your proposed idea, it's an open question who the TBDs would have been (I've moved North Texas to the west because there were no western options):

West: Nevada, Boise, Idaho, Utah St, NMSU, N Texas
East: ULL, LA Tech, Ark St, TBD, TBD, TBD

Northern Illinois --- leaving for the MAC, of course.

UCF --- absolutely a possibility.

Navy --- an independent at the time, but this wasn't anything up their alley.

UAB --- an independent at the time, but they had a space in C-USA waiting for them.

Northeastern Louisiana --- LA Tech likely didn't want that.

MTSU, Troy --- they would eventually join FBS, but they weren't ready quite yet.

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So, I think it was just a mutual parting of the ways. If there were 3 decent options to fill in those TBDs in 1996, we probably do get a 12-team conference. But those 3 decent options simply didn't exist just yet.

ULL, Ark St and LA Tech went back to independence. It wasn't easy times for them in putting together a schedule. But they could at least play each other, play a bunch of buy games, and see what happened going forward. And things did change in their favor over time, leading to the Sun Belt formation in 2001.

Even if those spots were filled, Big West football was likely still a goner in 2001. The WAC took Nevada and Louisiana Tech, and the Sun Belt took everyone else but Utah State.

Even the best case where those 3 spots were filled by Big Sky or other Big West schools, it would have been a 6:4 split as the Sun Belt took NMSU as a full member. Had they been filled by members further east, it's likely they would have just started out as members of the Sun Belt, or joined the Sun Belt as a full member in the early 2000s.

(09-28-2020 12:48 AM)Nittany_Bearcat Wrote:  Even when the Big West was a 10-team football conference in the 1993-1995 era, everyone was still only playing 6 conference games apiece (except for 1995, when Nevada & Utah State played 7).

Everyone was in a "conference", but it was quite far from round-robin.

The southeastern schools (ULL, Ark St, LA Tech): their schedules at the time, they were invariably playing themselves and NIU annually within conference, then making 1 or 2 trips out west per year. They were also playing 2-3 or so buy games a year against mainly SEC folk. Then to fill things out, home games versus a D-1AA or 1-1s and 2-1s with the other southern independents at the time (quite a few options here, as this was pre-CUSA and pre-16 team WAC).

I'd imagine that schedule set-up was more favorable for them financially versus playing more conference games against their western conference mates.

------------------

Even with your proposed idea, it's an open question who the TBDs would have been (I've moved North Texas to the west because there were no western options):

West: Nevada, Boise, Idaho, Utah St, NMSU, N Texas
East: ULL, LA Tech, Ark St, TBD, TBD, TBD

Northern Illinois --- leaving for the MAC, of course.

UCF --- absolutely a possibility.

Navy --- an independent at the time, but this wasn't anything up their alley.

UAB --- an independent at the time, but they had a space in C-USA waiting for them.

Northeastern Louisiana --- LA Tech likely didn't want that.

MTSU, Troy --- they would eventually join FBS, but they weren't ready quite yet.

---------------

So, I think it was just a mutual parting of the ways. If there were 3 decent options to fill in those TBDs in 1996, we probably do get a 12-team conference. But those 3 decent options simply didn't exist just yet.

ULL, Ark St and LA Tech went back to independence. It wasn't easy times for them in putting together a schedule. But they could at least play each other, play a bunch of buy games, and see what happened going forward. And things did change in their favor over time, leading to the Sun Belt formation in 2001.

UCF moved up around that time, giving them another Southern Indy team to play.