Pick the record- if the Griz were in the WAC

[polsongrizz]

you underestamate the college football nations. most real fans know the FCS and the BCS. I talk to alot of BCS fans and they all know we played in the NC this year....and got pounded. LETS SEEE FRIDAY NIGHT ESPN>>>>>>>>>>or some tuesday/wed/thurs. on ESPNU or ALTITUDE......hmmm i wonder which gets more attention.

That is only your opinion; check out the TV ratings and game attendance comparisons.

And I suggest you check out how many people think mcdonalds is great food. I suggest you check out how many people think soap operas and reality TV are great. Sorry to see you fall into the "everybody else is doing it crowd".

 

[kemajic]

That is only your opinion; check out the TV ratings and game attendance comparisons.

And I suggest you check out how many people think mcdonalds is great food. I suggest you check out how many people think soap operas and reality TV are great. Sorry to see you fall into the "everybody else is doing it crowd".

I think the debate is which gets more attemtion among college FB fans across the country, the FBS bowls or the FCS NC game, not what I fall into. Facts from data vs. opinion in this case (as many debates on eGriz are). But when you don't like the facts, go after the messenger....

 

[UofMGrizFan]

kemajic,
Lets see some links to your official data.

 

[IdaGriz01]

And I suggest you check out how many people think mcdonalds is great food. I suggest you check out how many people think soap operas and reality TV are great. Sorry to see you fall into the "everybody else is doing it crowd".

I think the debate is which gets more attemtion among college FB fans across the country, the FBS bowls or the FCS NC game, not what I fall into. Facts from data vs. opinion in this case (as many debates on eGriz are). But when you don't like the facts, go after the messenger....

kemajic,
Lets see some links to your official data.

Average attendance for the last five FCS NC games was about 20,000 (high of 23,000, low of 16,800). Source: Wikipedia, with partial confirmation on the NCAA FCS page.

The ten smallest 2008 bowls games (things like the Pionsettia, New Orleans, Humanitarian, Motor City, etc ... bowls) averaged a bit over 38,000 attendance. That's only a couple thousand short of double the FCS NC. Hell, there were 67,000 at the Gator Bowl -- which hasn't been a prestige site for a long, long time. The four biggie-bowls averaged over 78,000 -- that's over double the attendance of the ten weak sisters and nearly four times the NC. Source: The Sports Network bowl summary.

These numbers show that the FCS NC games can't even muster the attendance of a Nothing-Bowl. Does that translate into people watching games on TV? Maybe not directly, but I'd say it was a pretty good indicator. (TV viewing numbers are much harder to find, by the way.)

 

[Spanky]

Is that enough data? Truth is, most fans of college football have never heard of the 1AA division or whatever it is called. Those that have heard of it, refer to it as small college football.

 

[IdaGriz01]

Is that enough data? Truth is, most fans of college football have never heard of the 1AA division or whatever it is called. Those that have heard of it, refer to it as small college football.

And while the link between attendance and the TV audience may be a little fuzzy, the $$$ track is pretty clear -- even a no-name bowl pays off better, financially, than the NC game.

Unlike Football Bowl Subdivision teams involved in postseason games, there is no payout for inclusion in the FCS playoffs. Contrary to popular belief, Walsh said, winning the FCS title "is no big money-maker." Walsh said he continues to analyze the finances of Richmond's four-game playoffs run and could not provide figures.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/college/college_football/article/URFBGAT12_20090112-202617/176153/

Walsh is the Richmond Spiders' assistant AD. They figure they lost money on their 2007 run to the semi-finals.

 

[NVGRIZFan]

I believe the Griz would compete well in the WAC. I watch a lot of WAC football and almost all the Nevada games as I live in the Reno area. Nevada Football is nothing to be proud of. The average game has 10,000 to 15,000 fans. The only time they have a full house is when UNLV, Boise State, Fresno or some other big non conference game comes. Idaho draws around 10,000 fans. Nevada has been in trouble many times for low attendence. After watching Nevada football, I get to go to two or three Griz games. Montana would be okay in the WAC and compete well. It would be cool to watch the Thursday Night WAC game on ESPN watching the Griz v. Nevada. It would be like to old school BIG Sky Conf.

 

[GtFllsFan]

I think I would get just as excited to watch the Griz play in a bowl game as the NC. Seeing them play in the best post season game possible at either level is what it is about. Some years a playoff game is their last and biggest game. I am always jacked to watch it. Of course it is nice to win the big trophy but losing the game does not diminish the excitement of playing in the game. Having 38000 fans watching the Griz play anybody with 20000 of my closest Griz fans would be exciting no matter what. And playing in Vegas would bring even more Griz fans.

For me it is the season games that I think would be much more exciting. Of course I love driving to Missoula to even watch them play Central Wash. but that is nothing like the rush it would be to know that WSU was playing at our house. Will we lose some of the games.....of course. But that will not take away from the rush I feel at the next potential win when Fresno is in town. I'm sorry guys, the thought of playing those teams is very exciting. And walking around Vegas with thousands of other Griz fans at a meaningless bowl game would be just as much fun as Chatty.

My prediction is at least .500 in the WAC. Within a few years we would be a contender consistently.

 

[kemajic]

kemajic,
Lets see some links to your official data.

IdaGriz01 beat me to it. This was discussed in length on eGriz in Dec/Jan with the same conclusion. The FCS NC game is small college and off the radar screen for all but the FCS fans. The weak bowls are still major college football and have significantly more exposure. The paid attendance for our NC game with Richmond was 17,823, with far fewer than that actually in the stadium. Even the weak bowls get twice that.

ESPN televises the FCS NC as a means of plugging their upcoming bowl games. In case you haven't noticed, this frequently takes priority to their attention to the FCS game they are broadcasting.

It's fun to win a NC when that's the best you can do, but no one really notices and there is no money.

 

[General Disarray]

I think the biggest mistake regarding the FCS championship attendance is its timing and location. Airfare is pricy when it's only bought 6 days in advance and it's to a small market. Combine that with Christmas 2 weeks later and the fact that Chattanooga isn't an attractive travel destination, and the probability of good attendance is low.

Moving the game to Early January might be the right step, giving people more time to plan trips and be out of school, but even then the game will be lost in a sea of bowl game and has the potential to get less exposure even if the attendance is slightly higher.

 

[IdaGriz01]

kemajic,
Lets see some links to your official data.

IdaGriz01 beat me to it. This was discussed in length on eGriz in Dec/Jan with the same conclusion. The FCS NC game is small college and off the radar screen for all but the FCS fans. The weak bowls are still major college football and have significantly more exposure. The paid attendance for our NC game with Richmond was 17,823, with far fewer than that actually in the stadium. Even the weak bowls get twice that.

ESPN televises the FCS NC as a means of plugging their upcoming bowl games. In case you haven't noticed, this frequently takes priority to their attention to the FCS game they are broadcasting.

It's fun to win a NC when that's the best you can do, but no one really notices and there is no money.

Not only do the announcers spend a lot of time plugging their real money-makers -- the bowl games -- some of them know little or nothing about FCS football. It's glaringly apparent that ESPN assigns their second- or third-string broadcast teams to the NC game.

 

[mtgrizfankb]

nooooo really??? lol The griz dont stand a chance at the next level. We are a tiny state in terms of pop. and a tiny state when it comes to attractions. We arent really a school dedicated to anything amazing. WE are just another school in another town. I just dont want to see the griz play and get beatin too a pulp 6 times a year. See attendance drop cause we are not winning and we cant recruit well cause we are in the middle of nowhere. If we could really step up and win 70% of games at that level i would be down. but we cant its that easy. We always over hype our team we would beat hawii???? really cause last time we lost 30 to 12 right?? and we thought we could atleast be around oregon ha ha NOPE well iowa i know we can atleast be around in the first few NOPE. WE have not been beating up on app.st or JMU or Richmond....we have no right to say we could do this. Right now we are top 10 programs in the FCS MAYBE top 5 in terms of skill year in and out. you think all those teams could win at FBS??? because they all have a better location, recuiting, HS football skill and bigger population around them. Quite frankly when we become back to back to back champs. lets then think about moving up. Until then why not be the best at OUR LEVEL!! because FBS is not OUR LEVEL.

 

[NavyBlue]

So much confidence, there mtgrizfankb. I hope you are not a motivational speaker. I am glad that I never listened to all the people that said I couldn't do something.

We have shown that by objective measures (Sagarin being one) that the Griz should hold thier own in the Western Athlietic Conference, but you seem to think they would turn into the "bad news bears" overnight. Why that mindset is cemented in the minds of the status quo crowd is beyond me. I think there is much that is remarkable about Missoula and Western Montana and that many good athletes would jump at a chance to play football for the Griz at the WAC level.

 

[kemajic]

So much confidence, there mtgrizfankb. I hope you are not a motivational speaker. I am glad that I never listened to all the people that said I couldn't do something.

We have shown that by objective measures (Sagarin being one) that the Griz should hold thier own in the Western Athlietic Conference, but you seem to think they would turn into the "bad news bears" overnight. Why that mindset is cemented in the minds of the status quo crowd is beyond me. I think there is much that is remarkable about Missoula and Western Montana and that many good athletes would jump at a chance to play football for the Griz at the WAC level.

Another good post NavyBlue. mtgrizfankb displays literacy equivalent to his logic. He underestimates the state of Montana as much as he does the Griz.

Hopefully, one day we can tailgate at a USU/UM game and we can work on that 8-26 record we have against you. The two schools are way too close to not have played in over 40 years.

 

[NavyBlue]

Sounds fun Kem, the Griz do have some catching up to do there. As bad as our team has been, especially the last ten years, the Griz could have made up some major ground in the all time series. Wyoming recently made up some against us, but we still lead that series. BYU passed us about 15 years ago.

I think that economic realities will eventually force UM's hand. There just aren't enough FCS teams outside of the Big Sky, west of the Mississippi to play OOC. I also think some of the current western D2s and FCS team will drop football further pressuring UM to join their traditional rivals and academic peers.
Hopefully, Dennison retires soon and the new guy moves UM to the FBS and the WAC.

 

[mtfbchamps]

While I agree that playing in even a lower-tier bowl game means more $ and more exposure than a FCS championship game (IMO it shouldn't), I think that a lot of you are forgetting that some years, UM may only go 5-7 and not be bowl eligible. I mean every year you know that the Griz pretty much are in the playoffs and you probably can go to a home playoff game, see a good game or two, and every so often go to Tennessee. Boise is a great program, and one that UM should emulate if they move up, but it even took them 4-5 years to get bowl eligible. How would you feel about your team being done playing football by Thanksgiving? I feel that the experiencing at least 1 guaranteed home playoff game every year coupled with the National Championship game every 4 years or so >>>> sometimes playing in a 1/2 full Qualcomm stadium or in Albequerque against another 7-5 team.

 

[FCS Go!]

I'm with you mtfbchamps. Being in the WAC would mean playing a good team at home every other year and playing only one or two good teams each regular season (Boise St & an annual money game against a BCS school). A bowl game against the 8th place ACC team or any CUSA, MAC or Sun Belt team doesn't seem more exciting than playing in a playoff. As appealing as the WAC may be to the chest-thumping crowd right now, once the Griz got there I have a feeling the realization would hit that the WAC is a mediocre (one-team), regional conference with little national respect and limited prospects for improving its standing in the FBS. If you guys can figure out a way to get UM into the Big 12 or PAC 10 I'd feel differently .

 

[NavyBlue]

Wait a minute FCS. Fresno State and Hawaii are teams that have had some pretty good teams in the past and who is to say they, or someone else in the WAC won't step up to challenge Boise State. Maybe the Griz would be that team, if they were in the WAC. Plus as a WAC member the Griz could get better non-conference opponents to visit Wa-Griz. Regardless, the fans would get to see better quality COMPETITION then they do now.

A bowl game against a team that you had heard of before the season began, isn't more appealing than a playoff game against a school much of the fan base had never heard of before the season started..... Are you serious?

 

[kemajic]

While I agree that playing in even a lower-tier bowl game means more $ and more exposure than a FCS championship game (IMO it shouldn't), I think that a lot of you are forgetting that some years, UM may only go 5-7 and not be bowl eligible. I mean every year you know that the Griz pretty much are in the playoffs and you probably can go to a home playoff game, see a good game or two, and every so often go to Tennessee. Boise is a great program, and one that UM should emulate if they move up, but it even took them 4-5 years to get bowl eligible. How would you feel about your team being done playing football by Thanksgiving? I feel that the experiencing at least 1 guaranteed home playoff game every year coupled with the National Championship game every 4 years or so >>>> sometimes playing in a 1/2 full Qualcomm stadium or in Albequerque against another 7-5 team.

You're, of course, failing to mention the steady stream of the Ft. Lewis's, Western Sts, SUUs, UNCs, SacSts, ISUs that you get to watch during the season vs. Boise St., Fresno, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah St., San Jose, Idaho, etc. No comparison. And even the worst bowls are almost always somewhere more interesting than Chatanooga or Huntington. And the guys have a chance to lick their wounds after a long season and rest beforehand instead of play a playoff game every week until they drop.

 

[Paytonlives]

While I agree that playing in even a lower-tier bowl game means more $ and more exposure than a FCS championship game (IMO it shouldn't), I think that a lot of you are forgetting that some years, UM may only go 5-7 and not be bowl eligible. I mean every year you know that the Griz pretty much are in the playoffs and you probably can go to a home playoff game, see a good game or two, and every so often go to Tennessee. Boise is a great program, and one that UM should emulate if they move up, but it even took them 4-5 years to get bowl eligible. How would you feel about your team being done playing football by Thanksgiving? I feel that the experiencing at least 1 guaranteed home playoff game every year coupled with the National Championship game every 4 years or so >>>> sometimes playing in a 1/2 full Qualcomm stadium or in Albequerque against another 7-5 team.

Even teams that dont make bowl games, GET BOWL MONEY!!!! Its devided between the teams in the conference.