WestWYOPoke wrote:I appreciate your points, however having been around D1 athletics and around Wyoming football in particular, I am not as optimistic to the loyalty of some 18-23 years olds as you may be.
1. Wyoming is the only game in Wyoming. I wouldn't support it (like I do now) any longer, but the next generation would. When you are the only movie theatre, people are going to go watch, like what is showing or not.
A valid point, but you can forget about people driving across the state and up from Fort Collins/Denver for games. The Laramie, Cheyenne, and maybe Casper crowd is about it.
2. We have more money to spend than most (if not all) of the current FCS programs have. Our current AD is good at just floating by - so naturally it would fit. Maintain the budget, and UW would be golden. I am sure they (the AD) has thought about how much less effort they would have to give (and how they wouldn't have to work "as hard").
We have money now, but if we dropped to FCS, our budget would be shredded. We would lose a lot of sponsor $$$, we would lose ticket revenues, we would lose TV money (not a ton, but still). Not to mention the massive loss of money from the Wildcatter suites, we would have to drop prices or it would not be used nearly as much IMO.
3. To say that 52 to 53 players would bail out is an overstatement of epic proportions IMO. Would some transfer out? Certainly. But also...some would transfer in as well. Any player from the FBS ranks could drop down and immediately play at FCS Wyoming (**See previous posts on how FCS programs attract FBS talent**). The pool is deeper there, than the reverse!
This is the big one for me. I am certain that we would lose a large percentage of athletes due to transfer. Seniors might stick around, but junior, sophs, etc...I bet 50%+ of each class would leave. Also, keep in mind that FCS programs only are allowed 63 scholarships as opposed to the 85 of FBS, so that would severely limit recruiting for the first year or two.
4. The level of competition. I don't even want to get into that...but the gap is HUGE. You think the gap is big between the SEC and MWC, you should consider the gaps that exist in the FCS. To be top 20 FCS really isn't anything special.
I agree that the gap between FBS and FCS is huge, HOWEVER, the gap between Wyoming and Alabama is far greater than the gap between Wyoming and North Dakota State. I'm not saying that our current roster couldn't dominate the FCS, my point is that we would not have our current roster, it would be a shell of what it is now.
The biggest reason I feel that this would hurt UW is because a lot of the recruits we bring in are because we are FBS. If we were suddenly FCS, we would lose recruits to No. Colorado, Montana, Montana St., the Dakotas, etc. We wouldn't be anything special. Sure we would get local kids, but that's about it. IMHO, within 3 years, we would be a good, but not great FCS program, and that's where we would stay.
I agree with the basic concept that Wyoming will never go FCS and that it would be a losing proposition to do so. However, I don't think using Alabama and NDSU are very good examples. NDSU dominated the FCS division for the last 3 years. The better question would be (although it is only for amusement as it will never happen) where Wyoming would fit in structurally after the drop to FCS. Obviously the fanbase would decline and with it the resultant revenues, but IMO, UW would still structurally be near the top of the division. Even with a significant reduction in fanbase, UW would have the best facilities in the Big Sky (hypothetical landing spot) and fan support second only to Montana (Pokes are behind Montana in that department now anyway).
The reality is that Wyoming doesn't belong in the Big Sky. Structurally, we are a MWC team. Of course, Montana doesn't belong in the Big Sky either. If they would have grown a pair years ago, they would have been in the MWC by now. I have some sympathy for NDSU because by the time they built a powerhouse FCS program there was no credible path to FBS membership. However, Montana was positioned to make the move years ago when the WAC needed teams (they took Idaho for god-sakes). Instead, they chose to stay in a lower level and compete against directional 3rd tier schools. That's their choice, but it's certainly not going to engender any respect from me.
