Mountain west/NDSU

[MSU01]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

[RockyBearCat]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

[Marana CAT]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

+100

[Hi-Line Bobcat]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

I agree. If they could guarantee that MSU still got games on Saturday, every week, then it would be a no brainer because the gameday atmosphere would still be there. If they can’t guarantee that, then I think it’s a bad idea. I don’t care how many people watch on TV, that stat is pointless to me, I care about the gameday experience in Bozeman. That game last night between app state and coastal was a joke. The stands were bare and no matter how many people watch on TV, the gameday atmosphere at those two schools has been considerably hurt by the move up, no question. The TV stats are for the east coast and west coast blowhards that probably don’t give two ****** about gameday experience or program prosperity, they just want to squeeze the turnip as much as they can, until eventually one day schools like coastal and app state, who were once great gameday atmosphere, go off into oblivion.

[MSU01]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

I think they'd still sell out the stadium just like they have in the past for Thursday Gold Rush games, although it's certainly true that some out-of-town fans may not be able to make it to Bozeman on a Wednesday night in mid-October. There'd be enough demand for tickets in the secondary market to still fill the stadium or come very close to it. The C-USA and MAC teams are still playing most of their schedules on Saturdays and it's also incredibly unlikely that either of those will be where MSU ends up if it does move to FBS. I agree that it's ideal for most of us as fans to have all the home games on Saturdays, but I don't think adding one or two mid-week home games to the schedule would be the program killer some are making it out to be.

[RockyBearCat]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

I think they'd still sell out the stadium just like they have in the past for Thursday Gold Rush games, although it's certainly true that some out-of-town fans may not be able to make it to Bozeman on a Wednesday night in mid-October. There'd be enough demand for tickets in the secondary market to still fill the stadium or come very close to it. The C-USA and MAC teams are still playing most of their schedules on Saturdays and it's also incredibly unlikely that either of those will be where MSU ends up if it does move to FBS.

A once a year Thursday night game to start the season is far different than playing San Jose State on a Wednesday in October. I would wager that the sell out streak would end in year 1 or especially year 2.

[MSU01]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

I think they'd still sell out the stadium just like they have in the past for Thursday Gold Rush games, although it's certainly true that some out-of-town fans may not be able to make it to Bozeman on a Wednesday night in mid-October. There'd be enough demand for tickets in the secondary market to still fill the stadium or come very close to it. The C-USA and MAC teams are still playing most of their schedules on Saturdays and it's also incredibly unlikely that either of those will be where MSU ends up if it does move to FBS.

A once a year Thursday night game to start the season is far different than playing San Jose State on a Wednesday in October. I would wager that the sell out streak would end in year 1 or especially year 2.

I disagree. Remember that selling all the tickets is a very different thing than having all of the seats filled, which never happens except for Cat/Griz. There's significant excess demand for MSU football tickets right now, as evidenced by season tickets selling out year after year and the remaining single game tickets being gone in a matter of a few days after going on sale.

[rivercat]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

Game day atmosphere is really half the fun of college football. Games should be on Saturday afternoons with a few Saturday night games thrown in. Weekday games wouldn't be nearly as fun or as well attended. The more I see what chasing the money entails, the less I like it.

I'd love to see WY, UT St, UNR, etc on the schedule instead of UNC, PSU, Cal Poly, but not at that cost

[MSU01]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

Game day atmosphere is really half the fun of college football. Games should be on Saturday afternoons with a few Saturday night games thrown in. Weekday games wouldn't be nearly as fun or as well attended. The more I see what chasing the money entails, the less I like it.

I'd love to see WY, UT St, UNR, etc on the schedule instead of UNC, PSU, Cal Poly, but not at that cost

What if it's one home game played during the week and the rest played on Saturdays like they always have been? Is the increase in quality of opponents worth the slightly more inconvenient schedule? MSU didn't have a remotely compelling home game this year until their fourth game of the year against Idaho. People here are talking like MSU would be playing every home game on Tuesday or Wednesday night and that simply wouldn't be the case.

[RockyBearCat]

If it was only 1 weekday game, I would be more on board, I just don't see it with the watered down MW.

[rivercat]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

Game day atmosphere is really half the fun of college football. Games should be on Saturday afternoons with a few Saturday night games thrown in. Weekday games wouldn't be nearly as fun or as well attended. The more I see what chasing the money entails, the less I like it.

I'd love to see WY, UT St, UNR, etc on the schedule instead of UNC, PSU, Cal Poly, but not at that cost

What if it's one home game played during the week and the rest played on Saturdays like they always have been? Is the increase in quality of opponents worth the slightly more inconvenient schedule? MSU didn't have a remotely compelling home game this year until their fourth game of the year against Idaho. People here are talking like MSU would be playing every home game on Tuesday or Wednesday night and that simply wouldn't be the case.

You're right. I looked at the MWC schedule this year. They generally only have one Friday night game a week and the rest are on Saturday.

[coloradocat]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

Game day atmosphere is really half the fun of college football. Games should be on Saturday afternoons with a few Saturday night games thrown in. Weekday games wouldn't be nearly as fun or as well attended. The more I see what chasing the money entails, the less I like it.

I'd love to see WY, UT St, UNR, etc on the schedule instead of UNC, PSU, Cal Poly, but not at that cost

What if it's one home game played during the week and the rest played on Saturdays like they always have been? Is the increase in quality of opponents worth the slightly more inconvenient schedule? MSU didn't have a remotely compelling home game this year until their fourth game of the year against Idaho. People here are talking like MSU would be playing every home game on Tuesday or Wednesday night and that simply wouldn't be the case.

You're right. I looked at the MWC schedule this year. They generally only have one Friday night game a week and the rest are on Saturday.

And Friday night games aren't that big of a problem, it's the Tue/Wed/Thu night games that would cause people to stay home. As long as it's just Friday 95% of people would be fine and the other 5% would sell their ticket to someone else.

[tdub]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Welcome back from your hiatus! Your knowledge was missed around here.

[Prodigal Cat]

The mid week games are MAC or C-USA and occasionally the Sun Belt, not the Mountain West. I would not be thrilled to move to those first 2 conferences as they are not better than the Big Sky. MWC has a good enough brand to play on Friday nights or Saturdays and even the P5 has Friday games. Iowa is playing UCLA tonight.

This would really be the best case scenario for NDSU and also SDSU, MSU, UM. Lower costs but still competing a an appropriate level for football. Too bad its just the Bison. A football only conference with UNM, Wyoming, UNLV, Nevada, Air Force, SJSU, Hawaii, SDSU, MSU, NDSU, UM would almost certainly be a top G5 conference.

[Long Time Cat]

Let’s not forget the PAC has not got this figured out yet either. They are still at only six teams so the shuffling is not over.
I like being the big fish in the small pond, at least until we actually win the national championship, maybe a couple times, to prove we are the big fish in the pond. I think we’re getting ahead of our skis here. Also there’s no way I wanna be in a conference that plays mid week games. The PAC is the new Mountain West, so I don’t think that whats left of the old mountain west conference won’t take midweek games to boost TV revenue.

[technoCat]

Let’s not forget the PAC has not got this figured out yet either. They are still at only six teams so the shuffling is not over.
I like being the big fish in the small pond, at least until we actually win the national championship, maybe a couple times, to prove we are the big fish in the pond. I think we’re getting ahead of our skis here. Also there’s no way I wanna be in a conference that plays mid week games. The PAC is the new Mountain West, so I don’t think that whats left of the old mountain west conference won’t take midweek games to boost TV revenue.

Yeah let's actually win a couple before getting all holier than thou!

I think the MWC is going to take a big step back as far as their TV contract and the juice might not be worth the squeeze there anymore.

[utucats]

Stay where we are at....let them go. There is no benefit to moving up, it will literally kill this program. Maybe a good year every so often and the best you get is to go to some no name bowl with zero views and no real pageantry(and less money because you won't draw as much for mid week games).

For MSU it would better and more beneficial to be a big fish in a small pond vs a very small fish in an ocean....

Literally kill the program? Dozens of schools have made the FCS to FBS jump in the last 20 years and none have been "killed". Being a big fish in a small pond is fine if that's the best option available but if you think moving up would kill the program or diminish the fan interest that currently exists, I think you're very wrong in that take. The no-name FBS bowl games still draw a lot more viewers than the FCS playoff games do, and moving to a stronger conference could benefit the athletic department as a whole and not just football if MSU can figure out the financial aspects of how to fund the extra scholarships and sports they'll need to offer to move to FBS.

What kind of crowd can MSU get when Cats have to play on Tues, Wed, Thurs because that is what the conference and TV wants. I watch some of those games that are in big cities and they don't get crowds. With Cats drawing from hundreds of miles away, that will kill gameday and kill attendance.

I think they'd still sell out the stadium just like they have in the past for Thursday Gold Rush games, although it's certainly true that some out-of-town fans may not be able to make it to Bozeman on a Wednesday night in mid-October. There'd be enough demand for tickets in the secondary market to still fill the stadium or come very close to it. The C-USA and MAC teams are still playing most of their schedules on Saturdays and it's also incredibly unlikely that either of those will be where MSU ends up if it does move to FBS.

A once a year Thursday night game to start the season is far different than playing San Jose State on a Wednesday in October. I would wager that the sell out streak would end in year 1 or especially year 2.

I disagree. Remember that selling all the tickets is a very different thing than having all of the seats filled, which never happens except for Cat/Griz. There's significant excess demand for MSU football tickets right now, as evidenced by season tickets selling out year after year and the remaining single game tickets being gone in a matter of a few days after going on sale.

There is demand for tickets because we have a winning program. People seem to forget how dead the stadium was back in the days of the streak. Now people are lobbying to a return to meaningless football in Bozeman. Attendance will suffer if they get their way.

[Section101]

Wednesday games with no reentry would be delightful.

[MSU01]

There is demand for tickets because we have a winning program. People seem to forget how dead the stadium was back in the days of the streak. Now people are lobbying to a return to meaningless football in Bozeman. Attendance will suffer if they get their way.

The '90s aren't coming back and the list of programs that have been able to maintain or increase their level of fan interest and attendance after moving up to FBS is growing longer by the year. It's crazy to me how pessimistic everyone seems to be about MSU being able to compete against a higher level of competition, when they showed in the first game of this season that they absolutely can do it even with the scholarship limitations of being in the FCS right now. And football doesn't all of a sudden become meaningless because there's no national championship to play for. Is the MSU basketball program meaningless because they'll never be able to win the NCAA Tournament? Of course, it seems to be a moot point right now since no invitation appears to be forthcoming any time soon for MSU to move up to the FBS level.

[Bobcat4Ever]

I think the answer is a hard NO, but just for sake of discussion: Would there be a possibility of the MWC adding Montana and Montana State for just football with the rest of our sports joining the Summit League...assuming the Big Sky would boot us without football?

The Big Sky could just combine our non-football sports with Cal Poly or UC Davis and make a full member.