Great West - All Sports

[89rabbit]

I thought since there will be all kinds of hoopla about the Great West today that we should start a new thread.

I think it is a good move for the independents that they are banding together. However, lest the hype overtake the reality, this is not a true NCAA recognized conference and any "conference" member would bolt in a second to get into a real conference if invited.


http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700241969,00.html

UVU joins new sports conference

By Scott Taylor
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, July 10, 2008 12:03 a.m. MDT

First a new name, and now a new conference.
In a noon news conference today, Utah Valley University officials will announce its athletics affiliation with the Great West Conference for the Wolverines' sports programs.

Earlier this month, Utah Valley University — formerly known as Utah Valley State College — received its new institutional name.

"New" is the buzzword for the Great West Conference as well, since it is moving from a football-only league — the Great West Football Conference — to an all-sports offering. It's also going to great lengths — literally and figuratively — to become a geographically diverse league.

Joining the Great West today is a sextet of universities — Utah Valley, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas Pan American, Houston Baptist and New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Chicago State and Seattle are expected to follow soon into the Great West Conference; Cal State Bakersfield, Longhurst and Savannah State are said to have declined their invitations in hopes of aligning themselves in other conferences. . . .

The Great West wouldn't be considered an official NCAA member conference until August 2011 at the earliest — the moratorium on creating new Division I conferences is in effect until then.

And it will likely be much longer than that, since the NCAA requires six full-status Division I member institutions — and many of the Great West newcomers have a longer wait than Utah Valley's single year. . . . (Read more)

Still, good for them. I wish them nothing but the best.


Go State!

[propar80]

Re: Great West - All Sports

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,71666

I can only imagine the "tough" questions that will be fired at Nielsen and Abbot at the Press Conference today...I'm fairly positive 75% of the media will leave the press conference today thinking USD will be vying for a spot in next year's NCAA tournament with a win in the Great West Conference Tournament.


Go Jacks!

[UTH]

Re: Great West - All Sports

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,71666

I can only imagine the "tough" questions that will be fired at Nielsen and Abbot at the Press Conference today...I'm fairly positive 75% of the media will leave the press conference today thinking USD will be vying for a spot in next year's NCAA tournament with a win in the Great West Conference Tournament.


Go Jacks!

How badly do the SD media normally kiss the Coyote's ring? Any revelant war stories?

[22jack]

Re: Great West - All Sports

I guess the Great West is a good name considering all of the teams are west of the Atlantic Ocean.

[jackmd]

Re: Great West - All Sports

I guess the Great West is a good name considering all of the teams are west of the Atlantic Ocean.

The name means very little, I know we all understand that. Neilsen and Abbott are trying to appeal to those boosters who want a conference. Call it what you want its not a conference. Does that mean its not a positive step forward? That depends. I am certain as 89 says that each and every one of these institutions has made it clear that they will bolt at the first opportunity to join a conference. That alone pretty well sums up why this isn't a conference no matter how you spin it.

[Nidaros]

Re: Great West - All Sports

I wanting to think positive here and reflect on the past five years that SDSU experienced in finding a conference. Those were tough years and yes was there a Great West conference there waiting for SDSU and NDSU when they started the transition? No I dont think so.

Just from reading AGS on this topic, UTPA seems to be the most thrilled member for this conference being form. This is understandable when you consider UTPA has been an independant D1 member since 1998. Its tough and they are located in Edinburg, Texas so no matter what direction they travel, they have costs. Unfortunately there are no D1 institutions in Mexico, as that's about the only way they can make geography work for them in terms of travel costs.

Also UTPA has had probblems joining the Southland Conference which would be a real natural.

I dont think any of these opponents will fill the Dakota Dome for either BB or Football but who knows.

[Nidaros]

Re: Great West - All Sports

How badly to the SD media normally kiss the Coyote's ring? Any revelant war stories?

Depends on who from the Argus is there asking the questions, if its Mick Garry or Stu Whitney, they french kiss that Coyote Ring, but if Terry V was assigned that task in their absence, some very tough questions would be asked. Thanks Fargo Forum for sending us Terry V. He is the real deal.

[SUPERBUNNY]

Re: Great West - All Sports

It's the best option for USD right now just as it was the right thing for us to do at the time. They will hype it up and sell it as hard as they can as a great fit. What else are they supposed to do?

Is it a great conference? Heck no! But at least it fills the schedules. I didn't realize they were going to an all-sports conference. Remember how hard it for was for SDSU to get basketball games during the normal conference seasons for other schools. That will be an asset for USD. It doesn't lead to any marquis matchups but they will at least have home games on the weekends.

As mentioned in the posts above, every school in that league is trying to find greener pastures. USD and UND have a bullseye on the Summitt League for a lot of reasons but mainly because SDSU and NDSU are there.

Thankfully, things worked out very well for SDSU. We are past transition and are eligible for post-season tournament and NCAA tournaments.

Man, am I gald we aren't just starting to go down the road where USD is at!

Go Jacks!

SUPERBUNNY

[EQguy]

Re: Great West - All Sports

How badly do the SD media normally kiss the Coyote's ring? Any revelant war stories?

Here's one for ya. This is from the #1 news organization in South Dakota
oops just noticed it is the same article that propar referenced.
http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,71666

Here is the opening line.

After watching South Dakota State University spend a majority of its transition to Division One as an independent, the University of South Dakota placed a heavy priority on locking up a conference in the early stages of their move to D-1. Apparently, their diligence has been rewarded...

I don't begrudge USD anything but what blows me away is the media's inability to see through the propaganda they are putting out there. This reads like it was written right out of the SID's office and nobody took the time to check it over to see what was really being said.

In the end they are re-forming an alliance that was created previously in order to have something to play for. Nothing wrong with that at all.

I truly hope their fan base isn't this easily fooled or they have bigger fish to fry.

[Rabbit74]

Re: Great West - All Sports

The press release is now out on the Great West Conference site.

http://greatwestconference.cstv.com/...071008aab.html

With the current conference makeup, the conference would begin getting autobids to the post season in 2022 for all sports except mens basketball. If Seattle and/or Chicago State join, the autobids would be in 2020. Men's basketball requires 7 team conferences so autobids would start in 2020 if Seattle and or Chicago State join but not at all if the conference stays at 6. These secnario's assume no other changes in conference membership.

[rabidrabbit]

Re: Great West - All Sports

The press release is now out on the Great West Conference site.

http://greatwestconference.cstv.com/...071008aab.html

With the current conference makeup, the conference would begin getting autobids to the post season in 2022 for all sports except mens basketball. If Seattle and/or Chicago State join, the autobids would be in 2020. Men's basketball requires 7 team conferences so autobids would start in 2020 if Seattle and or Chicago State join but not at all if the conference stays at 6. These secnario's assume no other changes in conference membership.

If we had succeeded in bringing the NCC into D-I as a conference, we would have had that 13 year wait. So happy that conferences have worked out well for the Jacks. I hope that the Great West is a GREAT place for our ex-NCC brethren.

[filbert]

Re: Great West - All Sports

Here's one for ya. This is from the #1 news organization in South Dakota
oops just noticed it is the same article that propar referenced.
http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,71666

Here is the opening line.


I don't begrudge USD anything but what blows me away is the media's inability to see through the propaganda they are putting out there. This reads like it was written right out of the SID's office and nobody took the time to check it over to see what was really being said.

In the end they are re-forming an alliance that was created previously in order to have something to play for. Nothing wrong with that at all.

I truly hope their fan base isn't this easily fooled or they have bigger fish to fry.

The Kelo-land report is IMHO an interesting mix of lazy and biased. If it wasn't for SDSU and NDSU, there would be no Great West Football Conference to expand into an all-sports Great West Conference. The least they could do is give credit where it is due.

SDSU caught a few lucky breaks during our transition, with the departure of Chicago State and Valparaiso from the old Mid-Con. And with the very existence of the GWFC to be there to morph into a GWC, USD catches a lucky break, too.

I'm curious to see if both entities will be managed out of the Summit League offices, or if they will separate at some point. Right now the Summit League and the GWC have different phone numbers but the same office address and same fax #.

[JackJD]

Re: Great West - All Sports

The Kelo-land report is IMHO an interesting mix of lazy and biased. If it wasn't for SDSU and NDSU, there would be no Great West Football Conference to expand into an all-sports Great West Conference. The least they could do is give credit where it is due.

That's worth repeating.

The Kelo-land report is IMHO an interesting mix of lazy and biased. If it wasn't for SDSU and NDSU, there would be no Great West Football Conference to expand into an all-sports Great West Conference. The least they could do is give credit where it is due.

People will from time-to-time forget those important points.

[filbert]

Re: Great West - All Sports

Professional Journalist smack, from nj.com (via siouxsports.com):

NJIT is joining a conference.


The Great West Conference.


Go ahead. Try to come up with something more ridiculous. The University of Siberia joining Conference USA? The Benedict Arnold Academy signing up for the Patriot League?



The closest rival for NJIT in its new league is currently South Dakota, which is 1,334 miles away in Vermillion, S.D. You can almost hear school officials giving directions to fans next season.


Okay, take I-280 to 80 West, then take that about 1,170 miles to Davenport, Iowa, and make a right ..."

The jokes are too easy, which is exactly the problem. NJIT already was a punch line too often last season in men's basketball, when the team finished with the worst season in NCAA history at 0-29.

(No, this is not an invitation to make this a smack thread, but it is a legitimate slice of how the new GWC is likely to be viewed by much of the nation. Not everybody is as rapturously breathless as KELO-TV. Of course, you can say that about a lot of the reporting (cough*weather*cough) of KELO.)

[jackmd]

Re: Great West - All Sports

KELO tv has somehow become even less than laughable. How did that happen? They cover the storm (football or weatherwise), the doggies, and the canaries to the point that they are less interesting than the results of my 6 year olds softball games. KELO is in a sad state to say the least.