Big Sky lookalikes

Posted on March 8, 2007 by Colin O'Keefe


So I was thinking about this one (these images aren't the best) during last night's game and decided to post it after seeing an entry on Ian Ruder's blog. Now that it's the offseason for both men's hoops and football, it looks like we may need stories like this. Anyone else have some Big Sky look-alikes?
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The America Channel: Because college kids are heroes.

Posted on December 20, 2006 by Colin O'Keefe
According to a press release, the Big Sky Conference, amongst other non-major conferences, has signed a "comprehensive video broadcast agreement" with The America Channel. Under the agreement, the America Channel has the rights to over 200 games from just about every sport.

If you take a look at the press release, you may find that this could be the phoniest channel ever. Sports are dramatic, emotional and just good enough already. You don't need to add in other content to make them better because their complexity through being simple is what makes them great.

If it fails, which is very possible, we could see some sort of college sports reality TV show network. I mean, who else wishes cameramen were there when Eric van Vliet got into a fight at a downtown Missoula bar?

Then again, this press release could be the only phony thing and we could just be jumping to reality TV right away.

Some clips after the jump. Continue Reading...
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SUU wants in too

Posted on July 10, 2006 by Colin O'Keefe
The University of Northern Colorado is officially a member the Big Sky Conference as of July 1 and now Southern Utah University wants in as well. Too bad the BSC made sure the door was closed tight after letting the Bears of NCU in.

This is detailed in an article by Rich Johnson for the Southern Utah Spectrum.

Why they're not getting in:
  • Too far away:
Although SUU is in the Big Sky's "footprint," Cedar City is not an easy travel destination, Fullerton said.

SUU would, however, provide a travel partner for Northern Arizona, which, by Big Sky standards, is marooned in Flagstaff, Ariz.

But other than NAU, Idaho State and Weber State, the Big Sky's other six teams would be forced to fly to Las Vegas and then bus to Cedar City for games.
  • Not good enough:
To make itself more compatible with the Big Sky, Beazer said SUU's football program would become a "counter" and that the school would add volleyball, one of conference's core sports.

As a "non-counter" program, SUU is a particularly unattractive opponent for Division I-A teams, who typically pay six figures for a game against a lower-level team.

  • Not quite smart enough:
Academics are also an issue, Fullerton said.

"It's hard to criticize institutions," the commissioner said. "The mission is one thing. We have some institutions that have mature research components."

My favorite quote from the article is totally irrelevant from its main point:
The Big Sky sponsors 10 other sports at the Division I level and has a history of success in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
Not quite.
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