Mountain West Conference meeting

[catatac]

Big Sky/FCS: Mostly unexciting regular season, fun and compelling postseason
Mountain West/FBS: Fun and compelling regular season, mostly unexciting postseason

Why would I care any more about playing New Mexico State than NAU?

Having core regional rivalry games against Montana, NDSU, Wyoming, and Nevada every year sounds kind of cool. The out of conference games we could get would also be interesting. When was the last time we played Boise State at home? What about WSU? I think we could schedule a home and away with teams of that caliber. A Boise State Gold Rush would go so unbelievably crazy compared to... Butler? McNeese? Maine? SDSU was a rare case where we had a good home opener.

I know we play Montana and NDSU (almost) every year anyways, but what if NDSU moves up and leaves us here? We would likely be the new king of the FCS, and perhaps be labeled as the "New NDSU" who everyone hates and tells to move up. I like the idea of that too. To win 8 titles in 10 years sounds like a lot of fun, but most of the time that means there is nothing left to prove, and it's time to move on to a new challenge to push the program even further.

My perfect scenario is we win at least 2 of the next 3 titles, then time it perfectly to join the MWC when the realignment happens around 2030. We would leave our FCS era while sitting on the top of the mountain, and enter a new, healthier FBS landscape where there are separate Power 4 and Group of 5 playoffs, transfer regulations etc... Think of the G5 as the "New FCS", and I do believe us getting to the G5 playoffs would be a lot easier to achieve than the current CFP...

Does that scenario change anything for you guys? I'm fine either way, but this moving up thing looks to be more inevitable with each passing day. Mythical "Big Gift", stadium expansions, athletic facility upgrades, the growth of Bozeman, student enrollment records broken every year... It all seems to be pointing to one thing. Our goal is to compete at the highest level possible. I trust in Costello to do what's best for the program.

My biggest fear with a move up is if it ended up messing up the greatest football rivalry in the history of football. That would be absolutely tragic.

[PHAT CAT]

The Vikings will still play the Packers. Don't worry.

[technoCat]

Big Sky/FCS: Mostly unexciting regular season, fun and compelling postseason
Mountain West/FBS: Fun and compelling regular season, mostly unexciting postseason

Why would I care any more about playing New Mexico State than NAU?

New Mexico State is not in the Mountain West. University of New Mexico is and they were probably on par with the Cats last season. Would have been a fun matchup. If the Cats joined the MWC they would have several more competitive games on the schedule than the 2-3 they will have next season prior to the playoffs. 9 to 10 of the Cat games next year the winning team will not be in doubt… at all. 3/4 of the Big Sky is not good to just flat out bad right now.

Probably got UNM and Utah State twisted into that. Kind of proves my point though, I watch a lot of college football and had no idea that NMSU was in conference USA. All I'm saying is that people could say the exact same think about the bottom of the G5 conferences as the do about the bottom of the BSC. Boise State fans don't really care when they play Hawaii or San Jose State because those games are rarely competitive.

At the end of the day, I think we need to move up to make sure we don't get left behind in what becomes the "3rd" level of college football and I hope at that point a playoff is instituted. I just find it kind of funny that people think that average fans will find regular season games significantly more entertaining because we are playing Nevada-Reno instead of Idaho State.

[CalgaryCat]

Big Sky/FCS: Mostly unexciting regular season, fun and compelling postseason
Mountain West/FBS: Fun and compelling regular season, mostly unexciting postseason

Why would I care any more about playing New Mexico State than NAU?

New Mexico State is not in the Mountain West. University of New Mexico is and they were probably on par with the Cats last season. Would have been a fun matchup. If the Cats joined the MWC they would have several more competitive games on the schedule than the 2-3 they will have next season prior to the playoffs. 9 to 10 of the Cat games next year the winning team will not be in doubt… at all. 3/4 of the Big Sky is not good to just flat out bad right now.

Probably got UNM and Utah State twisted into that. Kind of proves my point though, I watch a lot of college football and had no idea that NMSU was in conference USA. All I'm saying is that people could say the exact same think about the bottom of the G5 conferences as the do about the bottom of the BSC. Boise State fans don't really care when they play Hawaii or San Jose State because those games are rarely competitive.

At the end of the day, I think we need to move up to make sure we don't get left behind in what becomes the "3rd" level of college football and I hope at that point a playoff is instituted. I just find it kind of funny that people think that average fans will find regular season games significantly more entertaining because we are playing Nevada-Reno instead of Idaho State.

The average regular season game as a MWC member would be much better than the average regular season game as a BSC member. That doesn’t mean that every game in the MWC would be decent or that every BSC regular season game is a glorified scrimmage.

If simply winning a championship of any kind is so important to some of you, why not just drop down to Division II and absolutely dominate? I for one think it’s important for MSU auto excel at its best possible level, and if a G6 conference appears, I think that would count.

[Cataholic]

Big Sky/FCS: Mostly unexciting regular season, fun and compelling postseason
Mountain West/FBS: Fun and compelling regular season, mostly unexciting postseason

Why would I care any more about playing New Mexico State than NAU?

New Mexico State is not in the Mountain West. University of New Mexico is and they were probably on par with the Cats last season. Would have been a fun matchup. If the Cats joined the MWC they would have several more competitive games on the schedule than the 2-3 they will have next season prior to the playoffs. 9 to 10 of the Cat games next year the winning team will not be in doubt… at all. 3/4 of the Big Sky is not good to just flat out bad right now.

Probably got UNM and Utah State twisted into that. Kind of proves my point though, I watch a lot of college football and had no idea that NMSU was in conference USA. All I'm saying is that people could say the exact same think about the bottom of the G5 conferences as the do about the bottom of the BSC. Boise State fans don't really care when they play Hawaii or San Jose State because those games are rarely competitive.

At the end of the day, I think we need to move up to make sure we don't get left behind in what becomes the "3rd" level of college football and I hope at that point a playoff is instituted. I just find it kind of funny that people think that average fans will find regular season games significantly more entertaining because we are playing Nevada-Reno instead of Idaho State.

Unfortunately, we are already at a third level of football.

[CalgaryCat]

Big Sky/FCS: Mostly unexciting regular season, fun and compelling postseason
Mountain West/FBS: Fun and compelling regular season, mostly unexciting postseason

Why would I care any more about playing New Mexico State than NAU?

New Mexico State is not in the Mountain West. University of New Mexico is and they were probably on par with the Cats last season. Would have been a fun matchup. If the Cats joined the MWC they would have several more competitive games on the schedule than the 2-3 they will have next season prior to the playoffs. 9 to 10 of the Cat games next year the winning team will not be in doubt… at all. 3/4 of the Big Sky is not good to just flat out bad right now.

Probably got UNM and Utah State twisted into that. Kind of proves my point though, I watch a lot of college football and had no idea that NMSU was in conference USA. All I'm saying is that people could say the exact same think about the bottom of the G5 conferences as the do about the bottom of the BSC. Boise State fans don't really care when they play Hawaii or San Jose State because those games are rarely competitive.

At the end of the day, I think we need to move up to make sure we don't get left behind in what becomes the "3rd" level of college football and I hope at that point a playoff is instituted. I just find it kind of funny that people think that average fans will find regular season games significantly more entertaining because we are playing Nevada-Reno instead of Idaho State.

Unfortunately, we are already at a third level of football.

True, it’s just that the first and second levels haven’t officially separated yet.

[grizzh8r]

Big Sky/FCS: Mostly unexciting regular season, fun and compelling postseason
Mountain West/FBS: Fun and compelling regular season, mostly unexciting postseason

Why would I care any more about playing New Mexico State than NAU?

New Mexico State is not in the Mountain West. University of New Mexico is and they were probably on par with the Cats last season. Would have been a fun matchup. If the Cats joined the MWC they would have several more competitive games on the schedule than the 2-3 they will have next season prior to the playoffs. 9 to 10 of the Cat games next year the winning team will not be in doubt… at all. 3/4 of the Big Sky is not good to just flat out bad right now.

Probably got UNM and Utah State twisted into that. Kind of proves my point though, I watch a lot of college football and had no idea that NMSU was in conference USA. All I'm saying is that people could say the exact same think about the bottom of the G5 conferences as the do about the bottom of the BSC. Boise State fans don't really care when they play Hawaii or San Jose State because those games are rarely competitive.

At the end of the day, I think we need to move up to make sure we don't get left behind in what becomes the "3rd" level of college football and I hope at that point a playoff is instituted. I just find it kind of funny that people think that average fans will find regular season games significantly more entertaining because we are playing Nevada-Reno instead of Idaho State.

You must not have been paying much attention the last few years. BSU of this decade has not been nearly as successful as the 15 years prior. If anything, th 2024 team was the outlier. My BIL lives in Boise and has season tickets, so I follow them a bit, as my only nephew is obsessed with the Broncos

[aucat]

Attendance at Bobcat Stadium would drop significantly as there as no way that Montana State would be a consistent championship contender in the FBS. What is entertaining about watching a football team that cannot compete?
Compare the experience of going to Nashville for the NC game where the entire town was covered in blue and gold, the stadium was close to capacity and the game garned a large TV audience to attending the Weedeater Bowl somewhere in front of 10,000 people and where no one in the hosting city even knows there is a game. Ask Idaho how it worked out, or for that matter most of the teams that have made the move. If anything I expect to see more teams move back to the FCS division like Idaho did.