You thought the conference shuffle was done after BYU declared independence? Not so fast, my friend! One week after the season started, there is word of yet another shift. Are you ready for this?
Cal-Poly and UC-Davis have announced they are moving their football programs from the Great West to the Big Sky conference.
What? You were expecting Notre Dame joining the Big Ten? Texas A&M to the SEC? The Pac-10 replacing Washington State with Boise State? Sorry, but we are out of the big time and into the minor leagues now.
Actually, it does touch a little bit on round two of conference expansion, as both schools were thought to be potential candidates for WAC survival given their success in the Division 1-AA ranks and their geographic locations.
Both schools’ other sports will remain in the Big West, which is a California only non-football league.
The inaccurately named Great West conference may be the most geographically spread-out conference in the entire country, even worse than the bizarre membership of Louisiana Tech in the WAC. Full member schools in the Great West come from Utah, Texas, the Dakotas, Illinois and, illogically, New Jersey. Affiliate members add to the list California, Washington, Colorado, South Carolina, Washington D.C., New York, and Delaware. Seriously, just check out the map. It’s absurd.
The Big Sky conference boasts a number of famous former members including basketball power Gonzaga and current Div 1-A football schools Idaho, Nevada, and some school named Boise State that you’ve probably never heard of.