UND to MVFC

[The YO Show]

So from the news out of North Dakota, this looks to be official. UND will be an official member of the MVFC in 2020. Associate member status in 2018 and 2019 with 2020 being first official in conference year.

http://thesouthern.com/sports/report-north-dakota-to-join-mvfc-in/article_a12eddf3-add5-5494-bf97-809c2b41c680.html

[ytownchief22]

Makes sense

[guinpen]

So how will this affect the schedule?

[Penguin Nation]

I'm not sure what took them so long.  Did UND wait for Idaho to return to the BSC so they stay at stable numbers? It reminds me of YSU and the MAC in a way.  UND's biggest rivals are NDSU and USD, and yet they are in a conference where they fly over their rivals on takeoff and land far away..for them in CA and AZ.  It was nonsensical. They are a MVFC caliber team.  They beat USD in 2016 and made the playoffs.

UND, like UNI, USD, SDSU and NDSU, offer FCOA.  They were the only BSC school to do so. 

It makes the MVFC a stronger conference, which helps YSU, and makes the BSC weaker. It'll add even more separation between the MVFC and the rest of the FCS.  Assuming continued 8 conference games and 4 away conference games, it'll add a little more travel, but not much.  Their indoor stadium is smaller (12k) than the FargoDome and UNIdome, but bigger than the DakotaDome FWIW.

For YSU and the MVFC, almost all upsides to adding UND.....really no downsides that I see.

[go guins]

Not sure I agree with Nation in that there are no real downsides.  As I look at the evolution of YSU athletics, I am struck by the number of championships being won in all areas of athletic endeavors.  We’ve had league champions and great teams in men’s and women’s track, cross country, golf, softball, WBB and of course football.  But, except for football, recognition for their accomplishments are lost on the dung heap of  playing in a variety of conferences preventing any real rivalries or recognition.  This is exacerbated by the tremendous distances we are forced to travel for football and the following lack of rivalries and certainly no natural rivalries.   If you give me a free hand, I’d fix everything by breaking up the MAC and organizing a new all sports league around YSU, Akron, KSU, Buffalo, Dayton, Duquesne and a couple others.   Great natural rivalries, driving distances so more visiting fans and easier travel to visit etc.  OBVIOUSLY this isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but the MAC mess isn’t going away, so this isn’t totally impossible in the future.   Much rather play Kent and Akron every year that SD, SDSU, NSDU and now ND.

[Penguin Nation]

Not sure I agree with Nation in that there are no real downsides.  As I look at the evolution of YSU athletics, I am struck by the number of championships being won in all areas of athletic endeavors.  We’ve had league champions and great teams in men’s and women’s track, cross country, golf, softball, WBB and of course football.  But, except for football, recognition for their accomplishments are lost on the dung heap of  playing in a variety of conferences preventing any real rivalries or recognition.  This is exacerbated by the tremendous distances we are forced to travel for football and the following lack of rivalries and certainly no natural rivalries.   If you give me a free hand, I’d fix everything by breaking up the MAC and organizing a new all sports league around YSU, Akron, KSU, Buffalo, Dayton, Duquesne and a couple others.   Great natural rivalries, driving distances so more visiting fans and easier travel to visit etc.  OBVIOUSLY this isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but the MAC mess isn’t going away, so this isn’t totally impossible in the future.   Much rather play Kent and Akron every year that SD, SDSU, NSDU and now ND.

I agree with most of what you said.  We can have our cake and eat it too, by staying in the MVFC and playing the MAC (like UND does) OOC.  Leaving the MVFC for any other conference (including the MAC) would be a huge downgrade.  IMO, we need more than one $$ game to get (at least partial) FCOA and be competitive long term when recruiting against MVFC and MAC teams. 

[Wick250]

Eleven is an unworkable number.  This must mean that by 2020, either one more team will be added or the conference officials know that one team is leaving.  For us, the addition of yet another far flung opponent does not matter, since we must fly to every current opponent anyway except for Indiana State.

[go guins]

"I agree with most of what you said.  We can have our cake and eat it too, by staying in the MVFC and playing the MAC (like UND does) OOC.  Leaving the MVFC for any other conference (including the MAC) would be a huge downgrade.  IMO, we need more than one $$ game to get (at least partial) FCOA and be competitive long term when recruiting against MVFC and MAC teams."

Joining the MAC is a huge UPgrade.  Unfortunately it would come with far too high a price and I am opposed to it for that reason.  I believe we can compete successfully at the highest level of FCS football without a second money game.  YSU is doing VERY well with fundraising and profit margins (I'm sure that is political incorrect terminology, but so am I) What I see is YSU going from an accumulated 8 million dollar debt when JT was hired to 3 M now.  That is equivalent to a 5 million profit, and giving the same performance, 2 million accumulated reserve in another couple years IF not more.   Plus the run to the NC game will sell more sponsorships, loges, tickets, and support higher prices for football.  Much more revenue coming in already.
I do like the concept of club seating as a benefit for fans and revenue for YSU. 

[go guins]

Eleven is an unworkable number.  This must mean that by 2020, either one more team will be added or the conference officials know that one team is leaving.  For us, the addition of yet another far flung opponent does not matter, since we must fly to every current opponent anyway except for Indiana State.

Eleven is unworkable, agreed. I'll help everybody out.  The OVC has 9 and we'd make it an even 10.  Better logistics for us and all sports.  Better weather too. 

[YSUGO]

My guess is somebody is leaving

[Guinfan1990]

Eleven is an unworkable number.  This must mean that by 2020, either one more team will be added or the conference officials know that one team is leaving.  For us, the addition of yet another far flung opponent does not matter, since we must fly to every current opponent anyway except for Indiana State.

Minus that it worked in the Big Ten for almost 20 years, along with other FCS conferences, sure.

Gotta use facts to post here

[Wick250]

Eleven is unworkable, unless you want to play ten league games or nine, with half the league playing more home games than their rivals.  Eleven with four home games, four road games, no league games in early September, and not more than one bye is unworkable.  Take out pencil and paper and work it out.

[go guins]

Eleven is an unworkable number.  This must mean that by 2020, either one more team will be added or the conference officials know that one team is leaving.  For us, the addition of yet another far flung opponent does not matter, since we must fly to every current opponent anyway except for Indiana State.

Minus that it worked in the Big Ten for almost 20 years, along with other FCS conferences, sure.

Gotta use facts to post here

I would say "it existed in the Big10 for a number of years, but they were trying to fix it for a long time."  There are a ton of conferences with uneven rosters and I'll bet every single one would like an even number. 
"Gotta use facts" doesn't seem to be applicable here as what is “workable” seems to be an opinion vs a "fact."

[IAA Fan]

My guess is somebody is leaving

Good thinking. They way to tell is watch the basketball programs. Conferences are built on basketball ...seldom football. I think the MVFC clearly is making a move to split. However, if you are right, my guess would be WIU or YSU would be leaving. There are many advantages to splitting. The best is diminishing travel times. However, for YSU that is not a major factor, every conference team is a travel for us.

So who wants to take a stab at MVFC division names and teams in each? East & West division ...maybe Gateway and Great West divisions?

[guinpen]

My guess is somebody is leaving

Good thinking. They way to tell is watch the basketball programs. Conferences are built on basketball ...seldom football. I think the MVFC clearly is making a move to split. However, if you are right, my guess would be WIU or YSU would be leaving. There are many advantages to splitting. The best is diminishing travel times. However, for YSU that is not a major factor, every conference team is a travel for us.

So who wants to take a stab at MVFC division names and teams in each? East & West division ...maybe Gateway and Great West divisions?

So if we split into two divisions do we have a conference champ? Do we have crossover games to fill out the schedule. I'll go with Prairie and Gateway for the names.