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WCC

putter

putter

Well-known member
DONOR
I was looking at the standings for Gonzaga and started thinking. Would the WCC be open to adding UM and MSU? They have 10 teams in their conference and Bozo and Missoula are not difficult trips for Gonzaga, BYU or Portland. Montana has played home and home with San Francisco and Pepperdine. We could stay in the Big Sty for other sports but move basketball to the WCC which would be an instant upgrade, at least playing Gonzaga and St. Mary's. Poly and other schools split conferences, why couldn't the Montana schools?
 
putter said:
I was looking at the standings for Gonzaga and started thinking. Would the WCC be open to adding UM and MSU? They have 10 teams in their conference and Bozo and Missoula are not difficult trips for Gonzaga, BYU or Portland. Montana has played home and home with San Francisco and Pepperdine. We could stay in the Big Sty for other sports but move basketball to the WCC which would be an instant upgrade, at least playing Gonzaga and St. Mary's. Poly and other schools split conferences, why couldn't the Montana schools?
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Personally I would love to see something like this (adding Weber to the conversation simply because I love the rivalry) but I don't see it happening soon. Until further notice that conference belongs to Gonzaga and I can't imagine them being in favor of that move until the Griz and Cats both have more consistent success and at least the Griz start winning some NCAA tournament games. Gonzaga is ranked 1 in the nation and undefeated, yet they are the fourth overall seed in the early NCAA bracket. Why? Their conference isn't strong. They test themselves in the nonconference, and this year they passed that test unscathed, but the bottom line is the conference isn't that strong. Now like I said, I would love to see that move, I just don't see it happening for a couple of teams flirting with .500 records this season. And finally not to be a complete downer, I do believe that those better days are much closer than they used to be. I believe TD has the team on the right track and this year will go down as an anomaly. The jury is still out in Fish and MSU.
 
Agree with 'I do love the griz'. The WCC is hoping to increase the level of play of more of the current members, not further dilute the strength of the league with middling (at this point) BSC teams. Would be nice to see down the road for the Griz if we can reliably increase our level of play.
 
The WCC is also made up entirely of private schools. I believe all schools are also faith based. So UM and MSU do not fit the mold.
 
No chance. A. MSU/UM doesn't fit the profile of the conference (private schools) and B. WCC isn't looking to expand.

If the WCC were to expand, I'd expect to see Seattle U, Denver U., or another western private school.


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Yeah, this is not a fit, for all the reasons mentioned. Plus those schools operate in major markets and we are not a major market.

But I like the thinking. Truth is, what's been good for Montana in football (inferior competition leading to gaudy win-loss records, an energized fan base and the quest for a "national championship") has been a disaster for basketball. We're stuck in a second-rate, one-bid, one-and-done conference which in turn has eliminated TV exposure, hurt recruiting and devastated attendance. In the way-back era you could see a Utah, Brigham Young or New Mexico, and even after we dropped down to the Big Sky, you could see Nevada, Boise State or Idaho when they were a national power. Now, except for the Bobcats, who've been a constant in any era, you have only one really attractive opponent, Weber State. If we'd joined the WAC when Boise and Nevada did, it would have been a bonanza for both our men's and women's basketball programs, but would have deprived the football team of its annual quest for a "national championship."
Football won.
Basketball lost.
It's that simple.
 
It didn't work out too well in football either when we now lose to bottom feeders like Northern Colorado and Montana State.
 
If we were to relocate to another conference, I think we should go to the Mountain west. We're a good geographical fit, and we beat Boise State last year and Colorado state and San Jose state this year, and had two super competive games with Wyoming.
 
Until UM becomes a private school, it will never fit in the WCC. Besides, where would the Griz play football?
 
'68griz said:
Until UM becomes a private school, it will never fit in the WCC. Besides, where would the Griz play football?
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Well we'd stay in the big sky for football and we're going to for bball. I was just making a suggestion for the bball team to move to the mtn west.
 
Griz til I die said:
'68griz said:
Until UM becomes a private school, it will never fit in the WCC. Besides, where would the Griz play football?
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Well we'd stay in the big sky for football and we're going to for bball. I was just making a suggestion for the bball team to move to the mtn west.
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I'm not sure that can happen.
 
Under the current rules it cannot. Of course, exceptions were made to accommodate Foolerton's Follies. But that was a decision benefiting the have-nots in the conference so it was fully expected. Do not expect the same kind of exception to be given to the league's cash cow, because those are the kind of things REAL conferences do.
 
The real chance to make a move came several years ago, when Boise and Nevada went to the WAC (which then led them to the MWC.) At the time, there was extensive discussion on the football board about "moving up." Two big reasons against it: We could only go if Montana State did (per the Board of Regents) and they did not have the facilities; plus there was great fear on the football board that our home-grown Montana kids couldn't compete in the WCC, and even if they could, we'd wind up in a Toilet Bowl somewhere, as opposed to a "national championship."

As I said earlier, football one. Basketball was not in the discussion.
 
So my thought is if you build it and there is continued winning, it will turn into something special. The WCC has had who in basketball...Loyola Marymount with Hank Gathers, and Bo Kimble and then Gonzaga. Why couldn't that happen in the Big Sky? I don't really see a difference in that aspect. If things go well next year and TD stays for a bit longer, there's a win or 2 in the NCAA's, that can propel the team to great heights. Doesn't matter if it's the Big Sky, WCC, or Mountain West. Now, I understand for RPI, continued sustained excellence, and so on that a "better" conference is needed, but I still think great things can happen in the Big Sky.
 
putter said:
I was looking at the standings for Gonzaga and started thinking. Would the WCC be open to adding UM and MSU? They have 10 teams in their conference and Bozo and Missoula are not difficult trips for Gonzaga, BYU or Portland. Montana has played home and home with San Francisco and Pepperdine. We could stay in the Big Sty for other sports but move basketball to the WCC which would be an instant upgrade, at least playing Gonzaga and St. Mary's. Poly and other schools split conferences, why couldn't the Montana schools?
Click to expand...

No way in hell this happens.
 
I wonder if Gonzaga would have stayed in the BSC if they would have elevated the play of the rest of the conference? We used to see home games back in the 70's with PAC10 teams and the Bulldogs were always good back then (not like they are now). BB tickets back then were hard to come by and the field house capacity was 2k more.
 
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