Montana - Root Sports Schedule

[tnt]

They have changed and I guess more what I was getting at, is all of those things have slowed things down. The growth of the last few years IMHO has given a much better recruiting advantage to eastern. I suspect inthe next few years we will see a return to the later 80's and a three team conference. We aren't far from it.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Out of curiosity, what will Weber State fans be thinking/saying when the basketball tv schedule comes up? I am guessing, Montana, and Weber State will likely get the most tv games. It would makes sense being those teams will likely be the favorites again, and have the league's best attendance. :thumb:

Then again, after seeing the bitching about the football telecasts, they may even the basketball tv schedule out more.

 

[WILDCATFAN]

Maybe EWU has a half million folks to draw on but they also have D-1 program not too far south thaat draws pretty well too.... The biggest problem (and one of my degrees is from EWSC) is that even though they now call themselves a University they are still a 4 year community college of satellite campuses. More Eastern students attend classes across the river from Gonzaga in the course of week than are on campus. They are still essentially a non resident campus as well More students get to the "campus" on the magic bus system from Spokane than live on campus.

Good post, and a lot of what you're saying would still be accurate if we were talking about the 80's or 90's. EWU has really gone away from the model they used back then.....I.E. they are putting a lot more effort and money into the infrastructure and development of the main campus. You can see evidence of that fact in all the construction and renovation they've been doing the past several years on campus, and in current projects like the Gateway Project which will add a multi-purpose athletic facility and 8,000 additional seats to the East Side of the Stadium. The Riverpoint facility still exists, but the Spokane Center was recently approved for sale. So, more students do not attend class in Spokane than in Cheney, not by any stretch of the imagination. There are obviously a lot commuters, but I recently saw a figure which stated that over 75% of students now live either on or off campus in Cheney. The fact that they recently approved the construction of more dorms also supports this. It's been a long and painful process, but the University finally has the right leadership in place that "gets it" in terms of developing the main campus, athletic facilities, etc. Add to that the fact that it's the fastest growing University in the State with well over 12,000 students now, and there's a good trend going there. It is a much, much different place than it was even 10 years ago, for the better.

As far as the TV contract, meh....I knew it would be Montana heavy, although I didn't realize that every game would include a Montana school. But it's kind of hard to be too pissed off about it when we at least have one more game than every other school besides the Montanas. I think they could have at least included Cal Poly in one of those games, but I ain't in charge.

Going by the rest of the schedule, the only reason EWU has two games is because they play both of the Montana's :shock:

 

[WILDCATFAN]

Out of curiosity, what will Weber State fans be thinking/saying when the basketball tv schedule comes up? I am guessing, Montana, and Weber State will likely get the most tv games. It would makes sense being those teams will likely be the favorites again, and have the league's best attendance. :thumb:

Then again, after seeing the bitching about the football telecasts, they may even the basketball tv schedule out more.

I cant answer for the rest of the Weber fans, but I believe that EVERY team in the conf deserves equal amount of coverage. That's why we signed the deal. I could care less if Weber is on tv, just as long as they are getting the same amount of coverage that everyone else is.

I just dont want to see the Griz or the Bobcat fans here that are acting smug and superior to cry foul when they bring out the hoops schedule and Weber has the majority of the games. If it happens of course.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Out of curiosity, what will Weber State fans be thinking/saying when the basketball tv schedule comes up? I am guessing, Montana, and Weber State will likely get the most tv games. It would makes sense being those teams will likely be the favorites again, and have the league's best attendance. :thumb:

Then again, after seeing the bitching about the football telecasts, they may even the basketball tv schedule out more.

I cant answer for the rest of the Weber fans, but I believe that EVERY team in the conf deserves equal amount of coverage. That's why we signed the deal. I could care less if Weber is on tv, just as long as they are getting the same amount of coverage that everyone else is.

I just dont want to see the Griz or the Bobcat fans here that are acting smug and superior to cry foul when they bring out the hoops schedule and Weber has the majority of the games. If it happens of course.

Good, and fair answer in my opinion. :thumb:

 

[Ursa Major]

This kind of lopsided coverage within a conference does bring an unfair competitive advantage (akin to the days when Nortre Dame had national network games prior to cable tv while everyone else had regional telecasts).

What about the recruiting advantage that Eastern has over UM & MSU because of lowered academic standards for entrance into EWU? They (EWU) can accept transfers that both UM & MSU can't touch because of the differences in academic standards between EWU and the Montana schools. Sounds like a big recruiting advantage to me especially for Juco transfers.

BTW, this info came to light for me from a pre-game interview Coach Pflu had with Mick Holien during last years EWU game in Missoula. Perhaps others have other sources to defend my statements.

That said, I live in Washington and know how little respect EWU gets from the UW & WSU folks. That is why I was rooting for EWU last year against UW and hope you beat hell of WSU this year.

 

[EWURanger29]

This kind of lopsided coverage within a conference does bring an unfair competitive advantage (akin to the days when Nortre Dame had national network games prior to cable tv while everyone else had regional telecasts).

What about the recruiting advantage that Eastern has over UM & MSU because of lowered academic standards for entrance into EWU? They (EWU) can accept transfers that both UM & MSU can't touch because of the differences in academic standards between EWU and the Montana schools. Sounds like a big recruiting advantage to me especially for Juco transfers.

BTW, this info came to light for me from a pre-game interview Coach Pflu had with Mick Holien during last years EWU game in Missoula. Perhaps others have other sources to defend my statements.

That said, I live in Washington and know how little respect EWU gets from the UW & WSU folks. That is why I was rooting for EWU last year against UW and hope you beat hell of WSU this year.

Not sure which transfers you're talking about, because EWU hardly ever recruits the JUCO ranks. In fact, I don't think we even have any JUCO transfers on the team.

As far as 4-year transfers, EWU doesn't really bring in a lot of them, either...but Mitchell came from SMU, and we've had a couple other guys transfer in from UW prior to last season. And of course Kyle Padron (SMU) is coming in this summer to play QB. So as far as the "bringing in transfers UM/MSU can't touch" argument goes, I don't think it holds much water unless you believe that the Montanas have higher academic standards than some pretty prestigious academic schools.

I think you might be confusing the issue a little with Prop 48's - kids that can't play their Freshman season because they're academic non-qualifiers, of which EWU brings one or two in every season. Taiwan Jones would fall into that category. But it's not always about just grades, sometimes kids just didn't take the right classes in HS or whatever. I guess that could be considered an advantage if that player pans out, but the whole Paul Wulff fiasco has caused the program to shy away from recruiting a lot of Props.

As far as entrance comparisons, I don't see a massive difference.

Averages of All Incoming Freshman, 2011 data:

EWU
3.24 GPA, 979 SAT, 21 ACT
% of applicants accepted: 82%

http://www.ewu.edu/Undergrad/Life/At-a-Glance.xml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Montana
3.22 GPA, 23 ACT.....not sure how they compiled the composite SAT scores, but it's also comparable.
% of applicants accepted: 96%

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=771" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To be honest, any perceived advantage EWU may have in recruiting comes from the fact that it resides in a highly under-valued HS football state - of which it has been a benefactor of for many years. The program does a good job of recruiting kids early and getting kids that may have been holding out late for Pac-12 offers. That, and there's a great pipeline that's developed in the Bay Area of California the past several years.

 

[George Ferguson]

WHERE did Fullerton EVER say each team would be allowed no more than three games per school??? And also, I have been hearing just the oppo. I heard MTN will purchase the rights to all but the Appy game. I have heard Max Media will broadcast all Cat games except for the trip to Drake as well.

 

[putter]

Maybe EWU has a half million folks to draw on but they also have D-1 program not too far south thaat draws pretty well too.... The biggest problem (and one of my degrees is from EWSC) is that even though they now call themselves a University they are still a 4 year community college of satellite campuses. More Eastern students attend classes across the river from Gonzaga in the course of week than are on campus. They are still essentially a non resident campus as well More students get to the "campus" on the magic bus system from Spokane than live on campus.

They have done amazingly well developing a tradition and following. Heck their Alumni Association finally caught up with me after thirty years. They have a ways to go, but they will get there.

The thing WE forget is that their is an absolute loathing for all things UM in Cheney. There was a certain game a few years back to decide a conference title and a certain call made in the last game held at Dornblazer that still lives in infamy. My brother in Law was the Faculty connect with the AD at the time. I was sitting with those folks when the call came. 4 guys jumped the fence to keep Zorn from
committing a felony. To this day their isn't an Eastern team that hasn't seen the film of that call. They still reference it on TV coverage prior to the Montana Eastern game (and showed the film over several times) the year they rolled out the red carpet for us.

I'll bet you anything not one player on EWU's team has any idea what you are talking about, much less seen the film of that game at Dornblazer.

You would lose that bet ... It's hard to ever forget that kind of blatant flat out wrongness and much as you'd like to forget, they don't. And the fans don't .... And if it only happened once we might not be so bitter but it has happened too many times to be able to say that it's Big Sky officiating and it will even out.

Perhaps by the reasoning of the Grizz posters, we should simply change the name of the conference to the Treasure State conference since it appears that the only schools of consequence are from Montana! :shock:

This kind of lopsided coverage within a conference does bring an unfair competitive advantage (akin to the days when Nortre Dame had national network games prior to cable tv while everyone else had regional telecasts). The interesting thing is that, even with this type of favorable coverage, previous Grizz posters have bitched about what they don't like about it (not enough home games, have to have cable etc.). There's no mystery why other fan bases are unhappy with 0, 1, or 2 games on the schedule, and I dare say if all of you took your maroon colored glasses off for even a moment you could acknowledge the inequity. Instead all this smugness and superiority gets you little sympathy when you have internal problems such as you have recently experienced and a whole bunch of STFU!

You do realize that EWU won a national championship a couple of years ago right? Stop living in the past. EWU should not be playing that call over and over, what they should be playing and focusing on is a replay of that Eastern team hoisting the National Championship trophy..much more relevant to current Eagle players than some stupid call that happened years ago. Maybe Griz fans will stop bitching about coverage and acknowledge inequity when other conference schools stop putting the screws to Montana fans when they host the Griz. Originally saying that Montana fans having to join the booster club just to get a ticket to the game or making Griz fans purchase a multiple game package to watch the one game they will show up to to rake a little more money out of a program with an actual decent size fan base? We will take off our maroon colored glasses when you stop staring at that red rug and look in the mirror. No one is asking for pity and I don't remember anyone from EWU asking for pity when Wolff had NCAA sanctions placed against your school? People should be held accountable for their actions and the Montana program will come out a better school/program because of this. These type of responses are why Griz fans want to move up - to get away from pettiness

 

[Ursa Major]

This kind of lopsided coverage within a conference does bring an unfair competitive advantage (akin to the days when Nortre Dame had national network games prior to cable tv while everyone else had regional telecasts).

What about the recruiting advantage that Eastern has over UM & MSU because of lowered academic standards for entrance into EWU? They (EWU) can accept transfers that both UM & MSU can't touch because of the differences in academic standards between EWU and the Montana schools. Sounds like a big recruiting advantage to me especially for Juco transfers.

BTW, this info came to light for me from a pre-game interview Coach Pflu had with Mick Holien during last years EWU game in Missoula. Perhaps others have other sources to defend my statements.

That said, I live in Washington and know how little respect EWU gets from the UW & WSU folks. That is why I was rooting for EWU last year against UW and hope you beat hell of WSU this year.

Not sure which transfers you're talking about, because EWU hardly ever recruits the JUCO ranks. In fact, I don't think we even have any JUCO transfers on the team.

As far as 4-year transfers, EWU doesn't really bring in a lot of them, either...but Mitchell came from SMU, and we've had a couple other guys transfer in from UW prior to last season. And of course Kyle Padron (SMU) is coming in this summer to play QB. So as far as the "bringing in transfers UM/MSU can't touch" argument goes, I don't think it holds much water unless you believe that the Montanas have higher academic standards than some pretty prestigious academic schools.

I think you might be confusing the issue a little with Prop 48's - kids that can't play their Freshman season because they're academic non-qualifiers, of which EWU brings one or two in every season. Taiwan Jones would fall into that category. But it's not always about just grades, sometimes kids just didn't take the right classes in HS or whatever. I guess that could be considered an advantage if that player pans out, but the whole Paul Wulff fiasco has caused the program to shy away from recruiting a lot of Props.

As far as wntrance requirements:

Averages of All Incoming Freshman:

EWU
3.24 GPA, 979 SAT, 21 ACT
% of applicants accepted: 82%

Montana
3.22 GPA, 23 ACT.....not sure how they compiled the composite SAT scores, but it's alao comparable.
% of applicants accepted: 96%

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=771" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To be honest, any perceived advantage EWU may have in recruiting comes from the fact that it resides in a highly under-valued HS football state - of which it has been a benefactor of for many years. The program does a good job of recruiting kids early and getting kids that may have been holding out late for Pac-12 offers. That, and there's a great pipeline that's developed in the Bay Area of California the past several years.

Ranger,

There were very few details in the radio interview. You might be exactly right about the Prop 48 kids. Do you know if there are differences in entrance to UM as compared to EWU? Does UM not except Prop 48 kids? The GPA for all students is a non-starter here because the context is about the recruitment of athletes. But the subject of an EWU recruiting advantage was repeated by Coach Pflu twice in the interview. I'm paraphrasing from memory, 'Eastern can bring in kids that we simply can't because of educational standards'. I can see if I can find a recording or transcript of the interview. I would imagine there is some truth to the coaches statements.

 

[mtgrizrule]

This kind of lopsided coverage within a conference does bring an unfair competitive advantage (akin to the days when Nortre Dame had national network games prior to cable tv while everyone else had regional telecasts).

What about the recruiting advantage that Eastern has over UM & MSU because of lowered academic standards for entrance into EWU? They (EWU) can accept transfers that both UM & MSU can't touch because of the differences in academic standards between EWU and the Montana schools. Sounds like a big recruiting advantage to me especially for Juco transfers.

BTW, this info came to light for me from a pre-game interview Coach Pflu had with Mick Holien during last years EWU game in Missoula. Perhaps others have other sources to defend my statements.

That said, I live in Washington and know how little respect EWU gets from the UW & WSU folks. That is why I was rooting for EWU last year against UW and hope you beat hell of WSU this year.

Not sure which transfers you're talking about, because EWU hardly ever recruits the JUCO ranks. In fact, I don't think we even have any JUCO transfers on the team.

As far as 4-year transfers, EWU doesn't really bring in a lot of them, either...but Mitchell came from SMU, and we've had a couple other guys transfer in from UW prior to last season. And of course Kyle Padron (SMU) is coming in this summer to play QB. So as far as the "bringing in transfers UM/MSU can't touch" argument goes, I don't think it holds much water unless you believe that the Montanas have higher academic standards than some pretty prestigious academic schools.

I think you might be confusing the issue a little with Prop 48's - kids that can't play their Freshman season because they're academic non-qualifiers, of which EWU brings one or two in every season. Taiwan Jones would fall into that category. But it's not always about just grades, sometimes kids just didn't take the right classes in HS or whatever. I guess that could be considered an advantage if that player pans out, but the whole Paul Wulff fiasco has caused the program to shy away from recruiting a lot of Props.

As far as wntrance requirements:

Averages of All Incoming Freshman:

EWU
3.24 GPA, 979 SAT, 21 ACT
% of applicants accepted: 82%

Montana
3.22 GPA, 23 ACT.....not sure how they compiled the composite SAT scores, but it's alao comparable.
% of applicants accepted: 96%

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=771" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To be honest, any perceived advantage EWU may have in recruiting comes from the fact that it resides in a highly under-valued HS football state - of which it has been a benefactor of for many years. The program does a good job of recruiting kids early and getting kids that may have been holding out late for Pac-12 offers. That, and there's a great pipeline that's developed in the Bay Area of California the past several years.

Ranger,

There were very few details in the radio interview. You might be exactly right about the Prop 48 kids. Do you know if there are differences in entrance to UM as compared to EWU? Does UM not except Prop 48 kids? The GPA for all students is a non-starter here because the context is about the recruitment of athletes. But the subject of an EWU recruiting advantage was repeated by Coach Pflu twice in the interview. I'm paraphrasing from memory, 'Eastern can bring in kids that we simply can't because of educational standards'. I can see if I can find a recording or transcript of the interview. I would imagine there is some truth to the coaches statements.

I also recall this being brought up in the recruitment of Rodney Stuckey. That was a while back, I believe LK, and Mick talked about it, a few times. I cannot remember if it was on the coaches show, or pregame/postgame interview. I wish I could recall more, of who, said what, and when.

Maybe Mick Holien can fill in the blanks here. All I can remember is the issue was mentioned at some point, by someone regarding Stuckey.

 

[poiuyter]

I think these are Texas AM fans still bitching about Texas. Why show a game only 500 people care about. It's about showing the games that the most people will watch and that happens to be MSU/UM games.

 

[BearIt]

I cant answer for the rest of the Weber fans, but I believe that EVERY team in the conf deserves equal amount of coverage. That's why we signed the deal. I could care less if Weber is on tv, just as long as they are getting the same amount of coverage that everyone else is.

I just dont want to see the Griz or the Bobcat fans here that are acting smug and superior to cry foul when they bring out the hoops schedule and Weber has the majority of the games. If it happens of course.

It isn't necessarily fair, but it is kind of the standard. I'm sure the WAC schools felt the same way with Boise State. How often do you see Florida compared to Vanderbilt? USC compared to Washington State? Ohio State or Northwestern? Texas or Iowa State...

If I was a fan of one of the other BSC schools I'd be pissed, but it is the way it is.

On the flipside... the rest of the BSC schools will be collecting paychecks because the Montana schools will bring viewers. Pure speculation, but I would guess that an 11 team conference without UM and MSU would have no TV deal just like all the other FCS conferences. If that comes across smug or superior I apologize, that wasn't the intent.

 

[garizzalies]

As far as the TV contract, meh....I knew it would be Montana heavy, although I didn't realize that every game would include a Montana school.

Well our conferece is called the "Big Sky" conf. Not the "Big Sky--Legendary--Grand Canyon--Colorful--Golden--Potatoe--Mormon--Experience--Where we love dreamers" conference.

And are you faggy Ewe fans seriously bitchin about an added recruiting advantage? Do you realize there's like 7 people per sq mi in MT and over 100/mi2 in WA?

 

[Walkon79]

It is going to look bad for Direct TV/Root when they did not air one game of the the 2012 Big Sky Champions. I am not saying......I am just saying.

You don't play ANYBODY! Have fun winning the "B" league.

 

[Allezchat]

First off, the conference didn't get the deal so all the teams would have equal exposure, they signed the deal so they all got MONEY. That's why any pro or college team no matter the sport, signs a TV deal. The Dodgers just sold for BILLIONS of dollars because of the future tv deal. The teams only worth about 900 million.

The one EWU gal said something about if it was all about the MT teams, it would be called the Treasure State Conf...my bad, its just called the BIG SKY. I can see the confusion. :roll:

I can totally see why this is so away heavy for the MT schools. Away games are going to have the 18k and 25k? fans that are in the seats for the home games watching at home. More viewers=better ratings=better advertising revenue. And, lets face it, as far as tv not wanting to show a bunch of empty seats, I'd guess the highest attended home games by all the other BS conf. teams where the ones they played the two MT teams.

 

[HannahO]

I cant answer for the rest of the Weber fans, but I believe that EVERY team in the conf deserves equal amount of coverage. That's why we signed the deal. I could care less if Weber is on tv, just as long as they are getting the same amount of coverage that everyone else is.

I just dont want to see the Griz or the Bobcat fans here that are acting smug and superior to cry foul when they bring out the hoops schedule and Weber has the majority of the games. If it happens of course.

It isn't necessarily fair, but it is kind of the standard. I'm sure the WAC schools felt the same way with Boise State. How often do you see Florida compared to Vanderbilt? USC compared to Washington State? Ohio State or Northwestern? Texas or Iowa State...

If I was a fan of one of the other BSC schools I'd be pissed, but it is the way it is.

On the flipside... the rest of the BSC schools will be collecting paychecks because the Montana schools will bring viewers. Pure speculation, but I would guess that an 11 team conference without UM and MSU would have no TV deal just like all the other FCS conferences. If that comes across smug or superior I apologize, that wasn't the intent.

Apparently, the rest of the BSC schools won't be collecting much of a paycheck... This response from Sac State's AD was posted on another blog discussing this topic and it looks like the advantage is all yours.

SDHornet (yes this is my real name),

We just received the schedule as well and have not had a chance to visit with the league about it. The biggest change is we are moving from having to pay for the broadcasts. Root Sports is now paying the BSC for the right fees to the games. Since the Montana schools had previous been the only ones with a TV package they will receive the majority of the dollars, but each school is saving $10,000 immediately by not having to pay for the broadcasts like we did in the past. Sacramento State continues to look for opportunities to get our football team on the air, but it is a tough sell right now. We will broadcast the Causeway Classic for sure. Thanks for your continued interest.

Dr. Wanless

We are all so thankful that you let us play with you... Please, please, please trample on us some more.

 

[Ursa Major]

What about the recruiting advantage that Eastern has over UM & MSU because of lowered academic standards for entrance into EWU? They (EWU) can accept transfers that both UM & MSU can't touch because of the differences in academic standards between EWU and the Montana schools. Sounds like a big recruiting advantage to me especially for Juco transfers.

BTW, this info came to light for me from a pre-game interview Coach Pflu had with Mick Holien during last years EWU game in Missoula. Perhaps others have other sources to defend my statements.

That said, I live in Washington and know how little respect EWU gets from the UW & WSU folks. That is why I was rooting for EWU last year against UW and hope you beat hell of WSU this year.

Not sure which transfers you're talking about, because EWU hardly ever recruits the JUCO ranks. In fact, I don't think we even have any JUCO transfers on the team.

As far as 4-year transfers, EWU doesn't really bring in a lot of them, either...but Mitchell came from SMU, and we've had a couple other guys transfer in from UW prior to last season. And of course Kyle Padron (SMU) is coming in this summer to play QB. So as far as the "bringing in transfers UM/MSU can't touch" argument goes, I don't think it holds much water unless you believe that the Montanas have higher academic standards than some pretty prestigious academic schools.

I think you might be confusing the issue a little with Prop 48's - kids that can't play their Freshman season because they're academic non-qualifiers, of which EWU brings one or two in every season. Taiwan Jones would fall into that category. But it's not always about just grades, sometimes kids just didn't take the right classes in HS or whatever. I guess that could be considered an advantage if that player pans out, but the whole Paul Wulff fiasco has caused the program to shy away from recruiting a lot of Props.

As far as wntrance requirements:

Averages of All Incoming Freshman:

EWU
3.24 GPA, 979 SAT, 21 ACT
% of applicants accepted: 82%

Montana
3.22 GPA, 23 ACT.....not sure how they compiled the composite SAT scores, but it's alao comparable.
% of applicants accepted: 96%

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=771" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To be honest, any perceived advantage EWU may have in recruiting comes from the fact that it resides in a highly under-valued HS football state - of which it has been a benefactor of for many years. The program does a good job of recruiting kids early and getting kids that may have been holding out late for Pac-12 offers. That, and there's a great pipeline that's developed in the Bay Area of California the past several years.

Ranger,

There were very few details in the radio interview. You might be exactly right about the Prop 48 kids. Do you know if there are differences in entrance to UM as compared to EWU? Does UM not except Prop 48 kids? The GPA for all students is a non-starter here because the context is about the recruitment of athletes. But the subject of an EWU recruiting advantage was repeated by Coach Pflu twice in the interview. I'm paraphrasing from memory, 'Eastern can bring in kids that we simply can't because of educational standards'. I can see if I can find a recording or transcript of the interview. I would imagine there is some truth to the coaches statements.

I also recall this being brought up in the recruitment of Rodney Stuckey. That was a while back, I believe LK, and Mick talked about it, a few times. I cannot remember if it was on the coaches show, or pregame/postgame interview. I wish I could recall more, of who, said what, and when.

Maybe Mick Holien can fill in the blanks here. All I can remember is the issue was mentioned at some point, by someone regarding Stuckey.

Good call Mtgrizrule!! I contacted Mick and he confirmed that the admission standards (GPA, SAT-ACT, core curriculum) were different at the various schools in the Big Sky. He also said that UM admission standards will soon be increased further. He used the example of Rodney Stuckey and said the Griz recruited him but he was an NCAA non-qualifier and couldn't be admitted.

Ranger: It appears I was wrong on the transfer advantage for EWU but I would consider UM/MSU not being able to recruit athletes like Rodney Stuckey (NBA) and Taiwan Jones (NFL) while EWU can to be a recruiting advantage for EWU. Wouldn't you??

 

[EWURanger29]

This kind of lopsided coverage within a conference does bring an unfair competitive advantage (akin to the days when Nortre Dame had national network games prior to cable tv while everyone else had regional telecasts).

What about the recruiting advantage that Eastern has over UM & MSU because of lowered academic standards for entrance into EWU? They (EWU) can accept transfers that both UM & MSU can't touch because of the differences in academic standards between EWU and the Montana schools. Sounds like a big recruiting advantage to me especially for Juco transfers.

BTW, this info came to light for me from a pre-game interview Coach Pflu had with Mick Holien during last years EWU game in Missoula. Perhaps others have other sources to defend my statements.

That said, I live in Washington and know how little respect EWU gets from the UW & WSU folks. That is why I was rooting for EWU last year against UW and hope you beat hell of WSU this year.

Not sure which transfers you're talking about, because EWU hardly ever recruits the JUCO ranks. In fact, I don't think we even have any JUCO transfers on the team.

As far as 4-year transfers, EWU doesn't really bring in a lot of them, either...but Mitchell came from SMU, and we've had a couple other guys transfer in from UW prior to last season. And of course Kyle Padron (SMU) is coming in this summer to play QB. So as far as the "bringing in transfers UM/MSU can't touch" argument goes, I don't think it holds much water unless you believe that the Montanas have higher academic standards than some pretty prestigious academic schools.

I think you might be confusing the issue a little with Prop 48's - kids that can't play their Freshman season because they're academic non-qualifiers, of which EWU brings one or two in every season. Taiwan Jones would fall into that category. But it's not always about just grades, sometimes kids just didn't take the right classes in HS or whatever. I guess that could be considered an advantage if that player pans out, but the whole Paul Wulff fiasco has caused the program to shy away from recruiting a lot of Props.

As far as wntrance requirements:

Averages of All Incoming Freshman:

EWU
3.24 GPA, 979 SAT, 21 ACT
% of applicants accepted: 82%

Montana
3.22 GPA, 23 ACT.....not sure how they compiled the composite SAT scores, but it's alao comparable.
% of applicants accepted: 96%

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=771" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To be honest, any perceived advantage EWU may have in recruiting comes from the fact that it resides in a highly under-valued HS football state - of which it has been a benefactor of for many years. The program does a good job of recruiting kids early and getting kids that may have been holding out late for Pac-12 offers. That, and there's a great pipeline that's developed in the Bay Area of California the past several years.

Ranger,

There were very few details in the radio interview. You might be exactly right about the Prop 48 kids. Do you know if there are differences in entrance to UM as compared to EWU? Does UM not except Prop 48 kids? The GPA for all students is a non-starter here because the context is about the recruitment of athletes. But the subject of an EWU recruiting advantage was repeated by Coach Pflu twice in the interview. I'm paraphrasing from memory, 'Eastern can bring in kids that we simply can't because of educational standards'. I can see if I can find a recording or transcript of the interview. I would imagine there is some truth to the coaches statements.

I think we are on the same page here, I was just pointing out that there isn't that much of a difference in the academic profiles of incoming Freshman when comparing the schools. I don't think UM takes props, which is where the perceived recruiting "advantage" comes into play - most likely what your coaches were referencing. But that often times turns into people making claims that EWU has much lower academic entrance requirements than other schools, which isn't the case (I.E. why I posted the above stats).


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[Ursa Major]

Ranger,

Let's be intellectually honest here. It is a recruiting advantage for EWU.