At what point...

[McPeachy]

...does the athletic department set the goals / objectives, and instill the vision across the state (and region), to strive to be a top tier athletic program, looking (and working hard) to move to a better conference? Has that ship sailed, since we haven't already taken those steps? Is it just "too late" now, and we are what we are? Is the whole idea just a dream, and has UW sunken to a point of no return?

[ragtimejoe1]

A new conference might happen but it won't be a better conference without federal legislation. To be fair, I don't assign blame to the athletic department on that one. As soon as TV viewership took over, we were screwed. We could go to NY6 bowl every year for 5 years straight and go to 5 sweet 16s during that time and we would still never even get a sniff regarding the P5. It is not performance based.

Our philosophy at WYO is try to hire a coach that can do more with less--lightning in a bottle. Shyatt is doing fantastic and I think Bohl will too. I can only imagine what they would do with resources. In this regard, I actually think we will improve DESPITE our minimal support structure. Our success will last as long as they do.

[NowherePoke]

...does the athletic department set the goals / objectives, and instill the vision across the state (and region), to strive to be a top tier athletic program, looking (and working hard) to move to a better conference? Has that ship sailed, since we haven't already taken those steps? Is it just "too late" now, and we are what we are? Is the whole idea just a dream, and has UW sunken to a point of no return?

I don't think we ever even had that dream, we are so far away from it.

I have a lot of thoughts, and obviously I am a frequent complainer regarding low expectations/vision in our Athletic Department and at the institutional level regarding intercollegiate athletics. However, to me, the reality is clear. We were never going to be in a "power conference". The #1 factor in conference realignment is the size of media market that can be packaged with the conference to sell as a combined property to media outlets. The schools that bring the largest numbers will be part of the group. Those that don't will be left out. There have been a couple of quirks along the way (nobody wants BYU), but that is the reality and it will continue.

That "media market" is not as simple as the location alone. TV executives are not morons. They know that televising SJSU athletics does not drive viewership despite the large local market. However, you have to have some kind of market to sell and we simply do not. The only market in close proximity to ours of any value at that level is the Front Range of Colorado. So, who gives you a larger share of the market? CSU or WYO? Obviously CSU (even though you wouldn't know it from the empty seats in Moby, but I digress).

That doesn't mean CSU is going to the Big 12 right now (they aren't), but there is a reason they are on the media lists regarding candidates and it isn't because of all of their empty seats, non-existent season ticket holders, or one fluke successful season. It's because they are located in a large market that is growing rapidly. We are not and never will be.