Join The Posse - Sellout vs. Montana

[kansasCowboy]

I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure they'll have fans, but even Nebraska wasn't 50/50. I'll say, if we sellout then there will be about 5-7k Grizzly fans.

[McPeachy]

I wouldn't be surprised if half the stadium was grizzly fans.

Well, this is their Super Bowl, so you never know. I would guess 5,000 from Montana will be in attendance. And if the counter thing is accurate (which I doubt, until UW read this thread) - you know they bank on roughly 2 - 3K in walk ups. Wonder if walk ups were included or not.

[J-Rod]

Either way, I'm expecting big numbers on opening day. There will be a lot of WTF's from fans if the announced attendance is anything under 21K.

[McPeachy]

Either way, I'm expecting big numbers on opening day. There will be a lot of WTF's from fans if the announced attendance is anything under 21K.

I think there is going to be a lot of WTF's from fans regardless.

[Dutchnation]

They will also be saying. "SNAP THE BALL!!!! SNAP THE BALL!!!!" and...."what!?!?!? another running play!?!?!" and "Throw the ball down field!!!!" But I am excited for a group of well-coached, disciplined, young men that believe in a team-first philosophy to take Jonah Field this fall representing our Pokes. It's going to take time, but hey...it's been how long since we have been relevant on the conference stage??? And we are all still here bleeding Brown and Gold hoping for the best. So we can wait a little longer and let Bohl get us back to where we all want to be.

How many fans does the WAR hold? 32k??? Hard to believe we already have sold 27k. But who knows....Bohl has already been all over our state campaigning to get our fans back in the seats. There is one thing for sure....Bohl comes off as a Wyoming guy and I can our state really getting behind him.

[MrTitleist]

I wouldn't be surprised if half the stadium was grizzly fans.

Well, this is their Super Bowl, so you never know. I would guess 5,000 from Montana will be in attendance. And if the counter thing is accurate (which I doubt, until UW read this thread) - you know they bank on roughly 2 - 3K in walk ups. Wonder if walk ups were included or not.

Montana's Super Bowl will be a few weeks later at Eastern Washington.. playoff seeding at stake in that game. Play-up games are cash grabs. Imagine about 5000 Montana fans in a stadium that holds 8600+. They call it "Washington's Grizzly Stadium."

[McPeachy]

Montana's Super Bowl will be a few weeks later at Eastern Washington.. playoff seeding at stake in that game. Play-up games are cash grabs. Imagine about 5000 Montana fans in a stadium that holds 8600+. They call it "Washington's Grizzly Stadium."

Hmmm. So the Eastern Washington game has seeding implications - and that is certainly important to their program(s). But the Montana vs. Wyoming game is the marquee game for Montana - meaning it is the game that most of the Griz fans balls tingle from (including your fat hairy women's balls).

Remember not to be that 1/2 and 1/2 guy on 8/30 or we are fighting.

[MTcowpoke]

I wouldn't be surprised if half the stadium was grizzly fans.

Well, this is their Super Bowl, so you never know. I would guess 5,000 from Montana will be in attendance. And if the counter thing is accurate (which I doubt, until UW read this thread) - you know they bank on roughly 2 - 3K in walk ups. Wonder if walk ups were included or not.

Wyo has a larger stadium than Montana. Montana's stadium is sold out for most home games. Montana consistently averages more fans for home games than Wyo. Montana is a FCS team with an FBS fan base.

This game is not Montana's Super Bowl. Montana fans travel well. Provided tickets are available, there are usually thousands of Montana fans at away games supporting the Griz. This crowd will most likely be the largest in Wyo stadium this year. Wyo has its friends and neighbors from Montana to thank for that.

Wyo can offer about 20 more football scholarships than Montana. Therefore, one could assume that Wyo, at the very least, should win this game. There will be thousands of Griz faithful in Wyo stadium that will believe otherwise by raising their voices to encourage their Griz. Wyo fans had better raise theirs or the Montana faithful will be louder. I hope we all enjoy a close, exciting game. May the best team win.

[McPeachy]

Wyo has a larger stadium than Montana. Montana's stadium is sold out for most home games. Montana consistently averages more fans for home games than Wyo. Montana is a FCS team with an FBS fan base.

This game is not Montana's Super Bowl. Montana fans travel well. Provided tickets are available, there are usually thousands of Montana fans at away games supporting the Griz. This crowd will most likely be the largest in Wyo stadium this year. Wyo has its friends and neighbors from Montana to thank for that.

Wyo can offer about 20 more football scholarships than Montana. Therefore, one could assume that Wyo, at the very least, should win this game. There will be thousands of Griz faithful in Wyo stadium that will believe otherwise by raising their voices to encourage their Griz. Wyo fans had better raise theirs or the Montana faithful will be louder. I hope we all enjoy a close, exciting game. May the best team win.

There are certainly other factors as well - but that has been discussed so many times it makes me crazy. Fact of the matter is Montana is a FCS school - and as such competes at a lower level than Wyoming, in all but one week of their 2014 season, and that happens to be 8/30/14...against Wyoming. If I was a Montana fan, that would be the primary game of interest. But that is because of my culture & upbringing of being a FBS fan. I am not a FCS fan, never have been, never will be, and I don't know what it is like. But that is what Montana is...an FCS team, and the only thing Montana has (FCS football teams) - so I get it - you root for what you know, and what matters to you.

[kansasCowboy]

Well, if we continue to sit at 23,587, I'll say, no. I don't think it will be our largest. If we beat Montana, the way most say we will then I believe AFA has this one beat. AFA win or lose always travels to Laramie well, I could see 24-28k at that one if we beat Montana handily. If we win close or lose then I will say, yes. Because then AFA will only be 20-22k. And unless we have a killer season going into the Boise St. game, then I'd say these two games will be our best. We'll be lucky to draw 18k for FAU, unless we beat Oregon. But pretty much the only way to get the WYO hunters out of the mountains and into the War for FAU, they will need to show that we compete nationally, otherwise most will be content with Dave And Kevin up in the Wilderness.

[MTcowpoke]

Wyo has a larger stadium than Montana. Montana's stadium is sold out for most home games. Montana consistently averages more fans for home games than Wyo. Montana is a FCS team with an FBS fan base.

This game is not Montana's Super Bowl. Montana fans travel well. Provided tickets are available, there are usually thousands of Montana fans at away games supporting the Griz. This crowd will most likely be the largest in Wyo stadium this year. Wyo has its friends and neighbors from Montana to thank for that.

Wyo can offer about 20 more football scholarships than Montana. Therefore, one could assume that Wyo, at the very least, should win this game. There will be thousands of Griz faithful in Wyo stadium that will believe otherwise by raising their voices to encourage their Griz. Wyo fans had better raise theirs or the Montana faithful will be louder. I hope we all enjoy a close, exciting game. May the best team win.

There are certainly other factors as well - but that has been discussed so many times it makes me crazy. Fact of the matter is Montana is a FCS school - and as such competes at a lower level than Wyoming, in all but one week of their 2014 season, and that happens to be 8/30/14...against Wyoming. If I was a Montana fan, that would be the primary game of interest. But that is because of my culture & upbringing of being a FBS fan. I am not a FCS fan, never have been, never will be, and I don't know what it is like. But that is what Montana is...an FCS team, and the only thing Montana has (FCS football teams) - so I get it - you root for what you know, and what matters to you.

I realize you are not a Montana fan, but if you were the primary games of interest would be Montana State (114th meeting this year), Eastern Washington, North Dakota State (three time defending FCS Champion) and Wyo ( a distant fourth) in that order.

If Montana were playing a top tier FBS team this year (U of Washington for example) that would bump NDSU to fourth. Primary games of interest for the best FCS teams are the playoffs with the opportunity to play for a FCS national championship. Unfortunately, Wyo fans will never have the opportunity to enjoy a national championship in football until the big 5 push Wyo and all of the other second tier schools out of FBS, provided those schools establish a national championship format.

[McPeachy]

I realize you are not a Montana fan, but if you were the primary games of interest would be Montana State (114th meeting this year), Eastern Washington, North Dakota State (three time defending FCS Champion) and Wyo ( a distant fourth) in that order.

If Montana were playing a top tier FBS team this year (U of Washington for example) that would bump NDSU to fourth. Primary games of interest for the best FCS teams are the playoffs with the opportunity to play for a FCS national championship. Unfortunately, Wyo fans will never have the opportunity to enjoy a national championship in football until the big 5 push Wyo and all of the other second tier schools out of FBS, provided those schools establish a national championship format.

Nothing against Montana - I am sure if I was a born & raised Missoulan, I would bleed copper & gold (or maroon & silver these days). I care about Montana as much as I do any FCS program really. Meh.

As I tried to explain, it is a culture thing. I am an FBS fan, as a Wyoming fan. I could give 2 poop about any FCS teams, their games, their playoffs, their champions, their rivals, etc. I would take a win over a Tennessee, UCLA, Ole Miss, Virginia, MWC Rivals, etc., before I would remotely care about beating BlahBlah Tech in the FCS championship game in BFE Georgia. That would certainly change if Wyoming were an FCS school, but that isn't the case. And further, our fanbase would be devastated to drop a level of competition, even though everyone knows, we would dominate for 4 years, and ride that domination to probably many more years of being a perennial top 10 FCS team. I wouldn't be a fan though - that would be up to the next generation.

[WestWYOPoke]

As I tried to explain, it is a culture thing. I am an FBS fan, as a Wyoming fan. I could give 2 poop about any FCS teams, their games, their playoffs, their champions, their rivals, etc. I would take a win over a Tennessee, UCLA, Ole Miss, Virginia, MWC Rivals, etc., before I would remotely care about beating BlahBlah Tech in the FCS championship game in BFE Georgia. That would certainly change if Wyoming were an FCS school, but that isn't the case. And further, our fanbase would be devastated to drop a level of competition, even though everyone knows, we would dominate for 4 years, and ride that domination to probably many more years of being a perennial top 10 FCS team. I wouldn't be a fan though - that would be up to the next generation.

Really doubt it. The day we dropped from FBS, about half of our football team would transfer out. And since we would be dropping they can transfer without needing a release and without sitting out a year. After that, who is to say we would get good enough recruits to compete at FCS? I honestly think if we were FCS we would not be annual contenders as many on here think, I think we would be upper half with the occasional contender, but not Top 3 every year.

[BeaverPoke]

Last night at 11:42 pm the website said 5634 tickets let. Now at 12:50 pm today it says 5499.

[McPeachy]

Really doubt it. The day we dropped from FBS, about half of our football team would transfer out. And since we would be dropping they can transfer without needing a release and without sitting out a year. After that, who is to say we would get good enough recruits to compete at FCS? I honestly think if we were FCS we would not be annual contenders as many on here think, I think we would be upper half with the occasional contender, but not Top 3 every year.

Consider...

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.

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").

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!

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 could go on and on and on.

[WestWYOPoke]

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.

[VisorHair]

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.

GREAT points, West. Spot on my friend.

[OrediggerPoke]

I agree with WestWyoPoke. And arguing over what guys stay should we move to FCS is stupid, because in four years the quality of recurit we land will drop dramatically.

I can honestly say that if Wyoming were to move to FCS, I would drop my season tickets (and I am a huge football fan!). I believe the attendance drop would be dramatic. I would go to maybe one or two games a year. I would just as assume to spend the day in Golden watching a D2 football game as spending the day in Laramie watching an FCS game. At least I can buy $2 beers at the game in Golden and the weather is better than Laramie.

[McPeachy]

I guess...agree or disagree...none of us can look into the future so we never will really know what, and how, things would happen & transpire. Further, I don't think it has ever been done, in modern times (last 40 years) - a team dropping from FBS to FCS? I know the opposite has happened (Boise State comes to mind).

And hopefully, most importantly, we never have to find out. It would kill me. At that point, I would just go join Ore in Golden for $2 beer, a room at Table Mountain, and watch Mines play Western New Mexico.

[kansasCowboy]

OH COME ON!!!
Where the hell is Sdpokefan when everyone says exactly what I did in an earlier thread?

What? Is there too many to argue with now Sdpokefan?