(03-15-2024 11:35 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  They have a new leadership with Gloria. She was not the one who made those deals, but unlike the AAC leadership, she kept the MWC together, and hogtied the PAC 2 to make an agreement to not steal teams from the MWC for the next 2 years. AAC failed to grab any Big 12 schools that could have ended the Big 12 after Oklahoma and Texas said they are leaving.

Fair point. I would love to see an ascendent MWC, and there's a narrow window here where they can emerge as a top player.

Realizing that the MWC owns Vegas now. Going to be by far the biggest conf tourney out there. There's a bit of a void left by the Pac-12 collapse that may bring a lot of eyeballs to the MWC.

(03-15-2024 04:51 AM)CardinalJim Wrote:  The MWC’s real issue is eyeballs. Not enough fans in the conference footprint. It’s a population density and geographic problem.

Yes. I've always liked the Mountain West, but the population rattles around like peanuts out there.

(03-15-2024 08:16 AM)Owls9878 Wrote:  No one watches the MWC. That’s the problem. They’ll never be anything more than what they currently are, which is a very nice G5 conference with little viewership. Same for the Sunbelt.

Well, being on CBSSN doesn't help viewership ratings.

(03-14-2024 07:30 AM)ArmoredUpKnight Wrote:  

(03-14-2024 06:14 AM)otown Wrote:  

(03-14-2024 05:39 AM)ArmoredUpKnight Wrote:  If this 5+9 CFP format is the Top 5 Conference Champions, then MWC just needs to consistently be in the playoff to change their perception.

Maybe, and then when 1 or 2 of their teams develop a football pedigree of many playoff appearances with a growing fan base, their wings get clipped and they get picked up by a power league. The MWC will never become a power league. We saw that 2 decades ago and we saw that recently with the AAC. It is what it is.

In a Power 2 dynamic, I think the MWC has the same stability as Big 12 teams. No one wants them... and isn't that the mark of a true M3.

Sounds about right. The MWC won't look so far back in the pack after the P2 pluck the last items of interest from the ACC and B12. From then on, exceeding expectations is enough to change perceptions, as you say.

(03-17-2024 04:18 PM)Aztecgolfer Wrote:  

(03-15-2024 08:16 AM)Owls9878 Wrote:  No one watches the MWC. That’s the problem. They’ll never be anything more than what they currently are, which is a very nice G5 conference with little viewership. Same for the Sunbelt.

Well, being on CBSSN doesn't help viewership ratings.

The top brands in the MWC that plays on CBS and Fox does so that people do watched their games. Maybe that helped because of the cord cutting which is hurting all cable networks with ratings for declining viewership. ESPN + and all the sport channels have lost viewership. The sports bubble is here and it is popped. They are hoping to bank on streaming, but there is no signs that people are streaming sports since ESPN + lost subscribers and not gaining them.

(03-14-2024 02:13 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 06:28 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 06:23 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 05:38 PM)Garrettabc Wrote:  Pretty good conference in basketball and football and now have a partnership with OSU and WSU. They have not been raided since TCU and Utah left, they seem to be getting pretty close to M status to me.

For starters, how about having half the schools in the conference average 40,000 in the stands?

You mean 30k?

Only Air Force, Boise, Fresno and Oregon St. are regularly over 30k.
Only WSU, SDSU and CSU of the rest are frequently over 25k.

Washington State gets close to 34,000, but it is Kansas that gets normally 25,000.

Kansas has been over 40k each of the last two seasons and will be again this year.

(03-23-2024 01:53 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(03-14-2024 02:13 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 06:28 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 06:23 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 05:38 PM)Garrettabc Wrote:  Pretty good conference in basketball and football and now have a partnership with OSU and WSU. They have not been raided since TCU and Utah left, they seem to be getting pretty close to M status to me.

For starters, how about having half the schools in the conference average 40,000 in the stands?

You mean 30k?

Only Air Force, Boise, Fresno and Oregon St. are regularly over 30k.
Only WSU, SDSU and CSU of the rest are frequently over 25k.

Washington State gets close to 34,000, but it is Kansas that gets normally 25,000.

Kansas has been over 40k each of the last two seasons and will be again this year.

If you count 26,000 close to 34k, then yes, WSU gets there! They have only hit 34k 3 times since 1996. The last time was 2012.

(03-13-2024 05:38 PM)Garrettabc Wrote:  Pretty good conference in basketball and football and now have a partnership with OSU and WSU. They have not been raided since TCU and Utah left, they seem to be getting pretty close to M status to me.

Zero chance of M3 status. However, they could very well become the kings of the G5---which will provide them with almost annual CFP participation by their conference champ---and likely annual multi-bid status in the NCAA basketball tournament. Both of these functioning together will provide them with more viewership---that should at least give them a structural financial advantage over the rest of the G5. Its not M3 status---but it could potentially provide a status that is a substantial cut above life for most G5 conferences.

(03-14-2024 02:13 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 06:28 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 06:23 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 05:38 PM)Garrettabc Wrote:  Pretty good conference in basketball and football and now have a partnership with OSU and WSU. They have not been raided since TCU and Utah left, they seem to be getting pretty close to M status to me.

For starters, how about having half the schools in the conference average 40,000 in the stands?

You mean 30k?

Only Air Force, Boise, Fresno and Oregon St. are regularly over 30k.
Only WSU, SDSU and CSU of the rest are frequently over 25k.

Washington State gets close to 34,000, but it is Kansas that gets normally 25,000.

That is over a 5-year period. Kansas now has a competent HFBC, has been to two bowl games in a row, and is now averaging above 40K attendance. New stadium under construction.

(03-15-2024 11:31 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-15-2024 08:16 AM)Owls9878 Wrote:  No one watches the MWC. That’s the problem. They’ll never be anything more than what they currently are, which is a very nice G5 conference with little viewership. Same for the Sunbelt.

2022, the 4 Boise State games on CBS and Fox and not CBSSports and FS1 got over 1.5 Million viewers. That is in the middle of the Big 12.

Fresno State games that same year have the same type of numbers on CBS and Fox which the two played twice that year.

Houston on ESPN 2 in the AAC did not get the numbers.

Utah State, Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State and San Diego State also went past a million for their games. New Mexico, Hawaii, San Jose State, UNR and UNLV got less. Only the UNR versus Boise State did hit 1 million since it is a rivalry game. Boise State vs BYU also get close to 2 million on ESPN.
Boise State vs Washington last year on ABC got close to 2 million in the ratings as well. Just need to move the strong teams into the Big 12 in the ratings. The top MWC teams to have stronger ratings than some schools in the Big 10 and SEC. Plus better ratings than some schools in the Big 12. Boise State was beating Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, California, Stanford, Kansas, Duke, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Rutgers and Maryland in the ratings.

David, has Game Day ever been to Boise?