[jacket3ree]

If we are forced to go regional outside of the Big 10 (which given its new members is actually sort of a regional conference for us), we should do it with anger that we've been unfairly kicked out of the party and with determination to get back to the party. The goal wouldn't be to make the Pacific Mountain Conference major but rather to make ourselves major again, in spite of the Pacific Mountain Conference. We should plow resources and determination into following the path BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston forged before us of major teams kicked out of major conference status that fought their way back.

There we go.  The best thing about all this is I'm reminded that I still care. I was getting close to being done with college sports before my schools were shat on (one far more than the other), metaphorically. Now I want to see the P4 somehow rise up and strike down upon the power structure of CFB with great vengeance and furious anger. 

I thought that's the place OSU and WSU were starting from, but Wazzou's AD said they 'deserved to be in a Power 5 conference.' I don't know about 'deserve' (same holds true for Stanford), but to paraphrase the late Scoop Nisker, 'if you're not invited into a power conference, go out and make one of your own.'

Those are good examples of teams fighting their way up, although I think only Houston was ever in a "major" conference, the Southwest, which folded and they landed in Conference USA before rolling into the AAC. Not to be picayune but BYU was in the WAC and MWC before being briefly independent and Cincinnati was in the Missouri Valley, Conference USA, Big East and AAC prior to jumping ship. They sure worked their way up in the shadow of Ohio State and the Big Ten, but I don't know if they went through the same sort of conference downfall as Stanford or Houston. I can't remember if the Big East was considered major in football.  The ACC started all this by scavenging that. 

Still, one can have good competitive football in a "lesser" conference.  Can one support 36 sports doing that? Harvard does (42), so....

[jacket3ree]

If we are forced to go regional outside of the Big 10 (which given its new members is actually sort of a regional conference for us), we should do it with anger that we've been unfairly kicked out of the party and with determination to get back to the party. The goal wouldn't be to make the Pacific Mountain Conference major but rather to make ourselves major again, in spite of the Pacific Mountain Conference. We should plow resources and determination into following the path BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston forged before us of major teams kicked out of major conference status that fought their way back.

There we go.  The best thing about all this is I'm reminded that I still care. I was getting close to being done with college sports before my schools were shat on (one far more than the other), metaphorically. Now I want to see the P4 somehow rise up and strike down upon the power structure of CFB with great vengeance and furious anger. 

I thought that's the place OSU and WSU were starting from, but Wazzou's AD said they 'deserved to be in a Power 5 conference.' I don't know about 'deserve' (same holds true for Stanford), but to paraphrase the late Scoop Nisker, 'if you're not invited into a power conference, go out and make one of your own.'

Those are good examples of teams fighting their way up, although I think only Houston was ever in a "major" conference, the Southwest, which folded and they landed in Conference USA before rolling into the AAC. Not to be picayune but BYU was in the WAC and MWC before being briefly independent and Cincinnati was in the Missouri Valley, Conference USA, Big East and AAC prior to jumping ship. They sure worked their way up in the shadow of Ohio State and the Big Ten, but I don't know if they went through the same sort of conference downfall as Stanford or Houston. I can't remember if the Big East was considered major in football.  The ACC started all this by scavenging that. 

Still, one can have good competitive football in a "lesser" conference.  Can one support 36 sports doing that? Harvard does (42), so....