NIU TO MWC

[Bullmastiff 1]

NIU has had an offer on the table now for a few days. I saw some Twitter chatter that a decision is imminent and NIU seems to be on the way to the MWC. Obviously nothing confirmed yet and haven't seen it from any national media yet.

If this happens I think it's a very good addition for the MWC.

It opens the doors for some other Easter or Central time zone schools to jump on board.

After looking at all the possible realistic options out there I think these could all be in play.

1- NDSU Football only. Would be an excellent addition. They actually do solid TV numbers for an FCS schools.
2- Toledo Football only. Pretty solid MAC program and gives NIU at least one travel partner. (Although for FB only not nearly as important.
3- The two Montana schools and South Dakota State would basically corner those markets. Small markets to be sure but you would have them locked down.

I do think MWC would be wise to have enough teams to play 9 conference games and 3 OOC games and have a conference title game. Committee spokesperson said the 'valued conference champions'.

UNLV
SJSU
WYO
UNM
RENO
AFA
HAWAII
UTEP
NIU -FB only
NDSU- FB only

Gives you 10.

Adding Montana schools an even 12 and a conference title game. CFP spokesperson came out last week saying they valued conference championships in their seedlings.

Thoughts, Stay at 9? 10? go to 12? I think 12 would be max..

 

[dcut03]

A couple of things.

You don't need a conference championship game for a conference champion.

You don't need a minimum amount of teams for a conference championship anymore.

Here is a article talking about the PAC considering a Championship game regardless of the amount of teams they have

Jon Wilner: New Pac-12 considering a conference title game for 2026, beyond

San Diego State’s new league will consider hosting a title game at home, neutral sites — or could opt against having one at all

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

Adding ndsu as a football only is a little weird, usually it is the other way around like the whole UCD addition. Elevating a football school has that 5 mil price tag and other requirements. Not sure if they are ready to go right now or not.

NIU adds the Midwest and the central time zones and they would need a partner, but I dont think adding them and a partner increases media share money it may keep us the same, but an addition like NDSU would probably drop value. Not a ton of eyeballs there. I mean look at those schools media value currently.

Staying put reduces conference games which would be a good thing considering that any team hopeful of the playoff would likely need better competition than the conference games alone. 1 fewer conference game could help boost the overall SOS.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

They will probably have to make two announcements. One for football to the MW and the other for all other sports going to another conference. If they aren't coming then it's just one simple announcement.

I hope Gloria made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

 

[rebelzzz]

I would say no to the Montana schools. NIU is a good add. I would say 10 max teams. Not sure NDSU is the right team to add.

 

[hrz702]

The Montana and North Dakota state stuff is so irritating.

 

[RedCannon]

... and then the reverse merger with the PAC happens to create a monster 🤣

 

[Meister_Rebel]

... and then the reverse merger with the PAC happens to create a monster 🤣

There isn't any reason not to have a merged conference if you think a little out of the box. A Pac division and a Mountain division. Each division can have their own separate media contracts. Their home games covered under their contract and our home games covered under ours. They get the money they want and we don't have to be adding a butt load of teams. You don't have to have a championship game although it would narrow things down for the CFP otherwise the champion is selected by their record and SOS and such. I might be missing something but I'll let our "experts" weigh in.

 

[RebelScrub]

We stayed in this shit conference to not pay exit fees???

 

[Meister_Rebel]

We stayed in this shit conference to not pay exit fees???

No. We stayed in this shit conference because the MWC promised us a shit load of money.

 

[rebswin2]

There isn't any reason not to have a merged conference if you think a little out of the box. A Pac division and a Mountain division. Each division can have their own separate media contracts. Their home games covered under their contract and our home games covered under ours. They get the money they want and we don't have to be adding a butt load of teams. You don't have to have a championship game although it would narrow things down for the CFP otherwise the champion is selected by their record and SOS and such. I might be missing something but I'll let our "experts" weigh in.

Yep instead you get what we are left with a really bad MWC, and a PAC which is definitely better than the MWC but could have been better than what it is.

 

[dcut03]

No. We stayed in this shit conference because the MWC promised us a shit load of money.

meehhhh....

I think we stayed in this shit conference more for the free pass than the promised money.

Going to the PAC would be better for the long term financially. Havning more money "up front" meaning in the next year or so is helpful knowing we needed to extend Odom or get another big name, so that helps vs having to pay exit fees.
But the annual payout will likely be the similar. Paying off exit fees in 3 years over time after being negotiated down would be near the same net per year as what we will likely get annually after our bonus. After that, then it would be like an extra 3 mil per year.

Again all of this to be seen, But I have seen that after Octagon the PAC is expecting 14 mil? Maybe they were able to get another media partner on board. Who knows, I don't believe it until I see it, but I would not be surprised that the base media contract for the PAC could be nearly double than the MW, especially after these recent additions that likely drag the per school payouts down.

 

[Rosegreen1]

Prefer NIU and Texas State. Add Wichita State for basketball.

It really depends on what the TV executives want, they are driving the bus on this not Gloria.

If the NPAC loses out on Texas State AND Memphis, they will struggle to be relevant with the payouts and crap tv deal since it’s heavily regional.

 

[dcut03]

Wichita is AAC, I'm not sure if we can afford more to pay them more over an above to make up for the extra travel.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

NIU has had an offer on the table now for a few days. I saw some Twitter chatter that a decision is imminent and NIU seems to be on the way to the MWC. Obviously nothing confirmed yet and haven't seen it from any national media yet.


After looking at all the possible realistic options out there I think these could all be in play.

1- NDSU Football only. Would be an excellent addition. They actually do solid TV numbers for an FCS schools.
2- Toledo Football only. Pretty solid MAC program and gives NIU at least one travel partner. (Although for FB only not nearly as important.
3- The two Montana schools and South Dakota State would basically corner those markets. Small markets to be sure but you would have them locked down.


Adding Montana schools an even 12 and a conference title game. CFP spokesperson came out last week saying they valued conference championships in their seedlings.

Thoughts, Stay at 9? 10? go to 12? I think 12 would be max..

A couple of things.

You don't need a conference championship game for a conference champion.

You don't need a minimum amount of teams for a conference championship anymore.

Here is a article talking about the PAC considering a Championship game regardless of the amount of teams they have

Jon Wilner: New Pac-12 considering a conference title game for 2026, beyond

San Diego State’s new league will consider hosting a title game at home, neutral sites — or could opt against having one at all

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

Multitasking this morning.

Bull, my friend - Toledo is a "pretty solid MAC program". The turd in my toilet this morning was pretty solid too, but I didn't invite it to stay for dinner. And I think the Montana and Dakota schools already have their markets cornered right where they are. I see SDSU, NDSU, South Dakota and Montana State are playing Saturday, both games on ABC.

dcut - I love articles that quote our stupid Pac Commissioner. “Our Mountain West members haven’t had an event of the caliber we put on,” Gould said. “The experience for the student-athletes is important.”

Yeah that recent MW title game was definitely low caliber Teresa. Shit, I've seen Pac-12 title games that had 30,000 or less in attendance.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Multitasking this morning.

Bull, my friend - Toledo is a "pretty solid MAC program". The turd in my toilet this morning was pretty solid too, but I didn't invite it to stay for dinner. And I think the Montana and Dakota schools already have their markets cornered right where they are. I see SDSU, NDSU, South Dakota and Montana State are playing Saturday, both games on ABC.

dcut - I love articles that quote our stupid Pac Commissioner. “Our Mountain West members haven’t had an event of the caliber we put on,” Gould said. “The experience for the student-athletes is important.”

Yeah that recent MW title game was definitely low caliber Teresa. Shit, I've seen Pac-12 title games that had 30,000 or less in attendance.

MWC isn't currently filled with many quality much less solid programs. We added UTEP. (Sorry UTEP fans) one of CUSA's worst programs.

As for NDSU. They've done everything possible at the FCS level.

Yes NDSU has that market cornered. There aren't any other real options for MWC to explore. NMSU would be redundant after already getting UTEP. The Montana schools and South Dakota State while small markets would be new markets for the MWC. NDSU actually does solid TV numbers all things considered.

Do I love the idea of Toledo..Hardly..But beggars can't be choosers and we are most certainly closer to beggar status than chooser status.

 

[InZoneU]

Yep instead you get what we are left with a really bad MWC, and a PAC which is definitely better than the MWC but could have been better than what it is.

Yeah. But we're both fighting for the same playoff spot. For now anyways. That's all that really matters for the next few years. It will all change.