Conference Mountain USA West looks to finally have legs and the two conferences should be completely merged into one 16 team super conference soon. We've written on this subject in the past many times: speculated on what the conference should look like, who will dominate this new conference and how it will affect the Rams. 2013 is the anticipated merger and hopefully we will have answers to these questions then. The most likely outcome, I doubt this will have any impact on whether or not the d-bags that run the BCS will even let an AQ emerge from this super conference championship. So, this still leaves Colorado State on the outside but leaves time to improve their chances in getting that BCS bowl bid.
The execution of building a new on-campus stadium will bring CSU on step closer. I can't believe that there is an opposition to this. Why wouldn't it be a benefit to the school? I get that there is some sentimental factors in destroying a piece of crap like Hughes Stadium, and trust me, I've had some of the best times of my life in there, but, that place sucks. Jack Graham couldn't build it fast enough as far as I'm concerned and you should feel the same way if you're a Ram fan.
By the time our stadium is built, the new super conference will be in full swing. We will know then whether to jump ship to a bigger conference, or ride it out. My guess is, CSU will be shopping for a new athletic home. With all the new marketing going towards new out of state tuition, Colorado State will be bursting at the seams with new student population and Northern Colorado, especially Fort Collins, will have grown to a new attractive market making the region and new hot bed for bigger money to play in. Everyone wants to move west and Colorado is NOT California.
Another thought is, will the BCS even still exist? I hope not. I'm not going to bore you with similar rants you've read in the past on this subject. You know where we stand on the BCS.
In a concluding thought, yeah, go ahead with the merger. Give it a couple years. Graham will get this school out of this conference mess and solidify Colorado State in a stable, more prominent home for our athletes to compete in.
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This is truely horrible, on-going news and makes me cringe. Nothing will keep a stadium, any stadium, empty like a CUSA/Mtn West merger for CSU. This equals absolute community college boredom and mediocrity. Who will change their Saturday plans to go to a game against Tulsa or Marshall? The student section was 2/3 full against Boise St. under perfect, windless, pink evening sky weather in October. (Anyone catch that sunset that night? It was surreal despite getting an total ass-kick.)
ReplyDeletePresident Dr. Frank, Mr. Graham & Coach McElwain, don't go this route. Go big, plead for Big-12 Big.
you are delusional. CSU is not ready for the big 12 yet. It brings nothing to the table for the Big 12 until fans/tv sets start picking up. It's all about money right now and the merger is the best thing financially for the school. Big footprint across the country and more games to select from week in and week out. All of the conference realignments have come from one thing, MONEY.
ReplyDeleteIs it the 1-6 football doormat in the Mountain West that is too good for the conference? Is it the tied for 4th-6th place basketball team that is too good?
ReplyDeleteRight now CSU sports are on a par with Utah State, not Nebraska. Thinking a better conference is going to pick up CSU any time soon is delusional.
I'll bet Missouri fans are glad they didn't take that back seat mentality when switching to the best conference in the US, the SEC. Missou is going to get their asses handed to them every Saturday for awile, but damn, it would be great to see some of the best play. Yes, Missou does have far more of a FB tradition and a bigger head start compared to CSU, understood.
ReplyDeleteConferences look for regional share, according to Drew Goodman. The Big 12 lost out on the 18th biggest US market when CU left for the PAC-12. Why not CSU to fill that void? A new staduim and an attempt to make a program better through larger funding can certainly help. I'm only going off of what Drew (104.3FM) spoke of after the McElwain interview last week. "Smart money knows where to find smart money. It's possible".
Does a recruiter want to tell a new kid to "get ready to play some tough games against Tulsa"...or do want to tell him "you're going to play at the next level agains Texas, it's not going to be easy, but I believe in you".
BTW, If you received a $500K/per year job offer to do something you were 50% comfortable in doing, would you pass it up by saying, no, I'm only worth 125K doing what's in my comfort zone. That's about what CSU is compared to the schools in the Big 12...about 25% as talented.
Using your analysis, Why not the University of Northern Colorado? Same market.
DeleteYou hit this one on the head, The rammies will need to win their way into the Big 12. The first major step is banging on the low lives of the MWC and C-USA. This will garner noticed of Big 12 officials who desperately want the Denver TV market.
ReplyDeleteYou do realize Mizzou averaged 63k per game, which is also the big 12 average. CSU averages 22k, well below conference usa and Mountain west averages. Mizzou will not get their asses handed to them, they will be middle of the pack. Big 12 actually had a stronger strength than the SEC this year even though the championship was a SEC battle. The conferences are at least semi comparable.
ReplyDeleteCSU averaged 22k last season due to a 3-9 x3 record. Not surprising nobody wanted to watch that sh*tshow. The Fairchild era was a nightmare.
DeleteHowever from 1994 to 2008 CSU had a nice stretch of 30k+ attendance averages. Also, during those years CSU didn't have the advantage of having large Big12 traveling fan bases coming to Hughes to boost attendance up to 40k+. By playing marque opponents from an AQ conference and the return of a winning program, I think CSU could fill up a new on-campus stadium.
Let me give you a roadmap.
DeleteCSU needs to stop recruiting criminals and cast-offs from other programs as their star recruits.
CSU needs to finish in the top 1/2 of whatever league they are in for four of five years so they can get a base of interested fans that is larger than a high school team.
Then CSU builds a new stadium on campus that seats 45K.
Then it gets to the conference championship conversation.
Then CSU would not be a joke in going to a larger conference.
Right now you have a new AD and a new football coach. The last few years records have been very bad and this coach has not yet proven he can improve on things. This year's recruiting class is poor at best. The rivals number ranking of 103 includes a star recruit who did not qualify academically and went the JC route.
If everything goes well it is an 8-10 year process, not an 8-10 week one.
Exactly. Even at 30k, that's half of the average at the big 12. Iowa State which I think has the lowest attendance averages over 50k and don't tell me 10k fans travel to Ames to watch those games...I have been to plenty of them, even Nebraska didn't bring 10k for the 3 hour drive.
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