Boise to MWC

[Eddie]

The blue field's fine. It's their thing. Let them have it. When I hear people complain about it, it always makes me think jealousy is at the root.

I don't care if they have blue turf or not. That's their thing. I'm not one of those people who says "make them change it if they join the MWC."

That said - there have been times when I've been watching their home games and some of the players just disappear depending on the camera angle and how far out it is zoomed. There might be some small indicator that there is something there, but the fact that it's a player or even how many players loses me.

I suppose I didn't watch too many BSU games this year, and I could get used to it over time.

But really that's my only comment about the blue turf.

[USUC]

This is the type of response that makes me love the SMURF TURF!

Ha ha. I get the blue turf now. Its annoying and causes strong emotional reactions providing a psychological advantage. Its the turf's version of Dennis Rodman.

[BlueHair]

Ha ha. I get the blue turf now. Its annoying and causes strong emotional reactions providing a psychological advantage. Its the turf's version of Dennis Rodman.

Just for fun, I wish all the MWC teams would paint their field when hosting Boise State. Can you imagine RES with red grass?

[Sizzle]

The Pac 10 is looking to expand because its about to negotiate a new TV contract. The Big 10 is looking to expand because it has its own TV network. You don't hear much talk about the SEC or Big 12 expanding. The SEC already has a new, fat contract and Texas controls the Big 12 and is happy with its situation with the Big 12 (but looks like it is willing to listen to other offers).

I don't see what advantage there is to bringing in the three schools you mentioned. Nevada and Fresno State's markets and quality of their programs don't justify splitting the MWC pie into more parts. The reason why the MWC should hold off on those programs is the same reason why the Pac 10 is apparently looking past the Utah+Colorado option. Houston is Texas's version of San Jose State only with a slightly better football program (still, no one cares). The quality of Boise's program is definitely something desirable and could launch the MWC into automatic qualifier status.

The interesting thing that people like to diss on is Utah being a viable TV market. In terms of DMA size (which is number of TV households), it is the 31st largest in the country, ahead of Kansas City, Vegas, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Cincinnati, and Memphis and right behind Baltimore, San Diego, Nashville and Hartford/New Haven CT.

Granted, it is 1/8 the size of New York, 1/5 the size of LA, but it is not a Podunk market. Seattle, the 13th ranke DMA is about double the Salt Lake market.

If you are interested, other DMAs in the conference are Dallas/Ft Worth (5), San Diego (28th), Vegas (42), Albequerque (44), Colorado Springs (92), Cheyenne (197).

I believe Fort Collins also falls within Cheyenne, but it may be Denver, which is 16th.

[Shaka]

Smurf Turf isn't going anywhere. I'm waiting for the, "the home team blends in with the field" smack. Complaining about the turf is lame.

[USUC]

Alright alright, I'm done complaining about the smurf turf. A friend of mine just called in a little bit of panic over Boise coming into the conference. He thinks this will hurt us overall because we will have four teams that can beat each other every year. Thus, the chances of the conference producing an undefeated team goes way down. There may be some truth to this but I can't remember the last time the conference champion didn't go undefeated in the conference. Maybe TCU in 2005-2006? Each of the four powerhouses won't be equally talented from year to year. I don't know why it would be any different.

[Shaka]

Alright alright, I'm done complaining about the smurf turf. A friend of mine just called in a little bit of panic over Boise coming into the conference. He thinks this will hurt us overall because we will have four teams that can beat each other every year. Thus, the chances of the conference producing an undefeated team goes way down. There may be some truth to this but I can't remember the last time the conference champion didn't go undefeated in the conference. Maybe TCU in 2005-2006? Each of the four powerhouses won't be equally talented from year to year. I don't know why it would be any different.

Not to worry, BYU will go undefeated the next three years. In what will be Jake Heaps last home game LES the entire stadium will become like the City of Enoch and be translated. BYU fans who were not quickened because they weren't in attendance will complain that Jake had one more year of eligibility. The only answer the Church had was that Jake had fulfilled his earthly mission and was urgently needed in the hereafter.

[BlueHair]

Smurf Turf isn't going anywhere. I'm waiting for the, "the home team blends in with the field" smack. Complaining about the turf is lame.

The "blends in with the field smack" is dumb anyway. I don't hear people complaining about Michigan State's green. Having said that, the blue turf is dumb. It seems like a used car salesman type of gimmick. Beyond cheesy.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

The only thing I don't like about the blue turf is I think it looks awful on tv. Other than that whatever blows wind up the skirts of the people of Boise is fine by me.

[Surfah]

The only thing I don't like about the blue turf is I think it looks awful on tv. Other than that whatever blows wind up the skirts of the people of Boise is fine by me.

Same. It doesn't translate well on TV. Blue on blue. But it's their thing. I can dig that. They no longer need it though for people to recognize them. I am excited for the VA Tech game.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

The interesting thing that people like to diss on is Utah being a viable TV market. In terms of DMA size (which is number of TV households), it is the 31st largest in the country, ahead of Kansas City, Vegas, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Cincinnati, and Memphis and right behind Baltimore, San Diego, Nashville and Hartford/New Haven CT.

Granted, it is 1/8 the size of New York, 1/5 the size of LA, but it is not a Podunk market. Seattle, the 13th ranke DMA is about double the Salt Lake market.

If you are interested, other DMAs in the conference are Dallas/Ft Worth (5), San Diego (28th), Vegas (42), Albequerque (44), Colorado Springs (92), Cheyenne (197).

I believe Fort Collins also falls within Cheyenne, but it may be Denver, which is 16th.

The SLC-Utah market, IIRC, stretches from Weber county down to Utah county. There's quite a geographical span between those two. The distance from the northern part of Weber county to the southern part of Utah county is about the same distance between Cincinnati, Ohio to Louisville, KY. While the reality is that folks in Weber have more in common with folks from Utah County than the same comparison between Cincinnati and Louisville, I also don't think that the fans of, for example, the Cincinnati Bengals stops at the border with Kentucky. If the NFL were looking to expand and if Cincinnati didn't already have a franchise, Cincinnati would likely still win that battle.

When looking at Utah, or say, OU, OU is the far bigger draw because of the multiple markets it pulls in. All that Utah pulls in is the SLC media market and it's a big geographic market for its size. OU will pull in OKC and Tulsa.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Same. It doesn't translate well on TV. Blue on blue. But it's their thing. I can dig that. They no longer need it though for people to recognize them. I am excited for the VA Tech game.

Simply for TV I wish they would wear orange or white pants, jersey or helmet. I don't really think they blend in to players on the field, but they do to idiots like me watching on TV.

[YOhio]

What's not to like about Boise? Compared to BYU, Utah and even Colorado I think they stack up quite well. Just looking at the amenities and weather in Boise makes this a no-brainer.

BYU and Utah live in an area in which travel in and out of can be extremely difficult with flights often delayed or cancelled. BYU suffers from a further disadvantage of being a full hour away from the nearest airport. So even if they are closer to four of the ten Pac-10 schools, travel is very difficult in months of snow (October-March).

Cooler than some U.S. cites; certainly, but not near as cold as Salt Lake City (home to Utah ), Provo (home to BYU) and Boulder (home to Colorado , another school mentioned as an expansion candidate). Salt Lake City averages 27 degrees for a low in December and 25 in January (Source: Weather.com). Provo is colder still—24 degrees for an average high in December and 22 in January. Boulder ’s average low temperature is 19 in December and 21 in January. Boise ’s weather is warmer than Utah for certain—23 in December and 23 in January and the balmy temperatures in the spring, summer and fall. (Source: Cityrating.com). And the motto of Utah , which boasts of “The Greatest Snow on Earth”, tells us that Utah is the place that gets all the snow. Boulder , too, gets dumped on every winter.

[SteelBlue]

What's not to like about Boise? Compared to BYU, Utah and even Colorado I think they stack up quite well. Just looking at the amenities and weather in Boise makes this a no-brainer.

BYU and Utah live in an area in which travel in and out of can be extremely difficult with flights often delayed or cancelled. BYU suffers from a further disadvantage of being a full hour away from the nearest airport. So even if they are closer to four of the ten Pac-10 schools, travel is very difficult in months of snow (October-March).

Cooler than some U.S. cites; certainly, but not near as cold as Salt Lake City (home to Utah ), Provo (home to BYU) and Boulder (home to Colorado , another school mentioned as an expansion candidate). Salt Lake City averages 27 degrees for a low in December and 25 in January (Source: Weather.com). Provo is colder still—24 degrees for an average high in December and 22 in January. Boulder ’s average low temperature is 19 in December and 21 in January. Boise ’s weather is warmer than Utah for certain—23 in December and 23 in January and the balmy temperatures in the spring, summer and fall. (Source: Cityrating.com). And the motto of Utah , which boasts of “The Greatest Snow on Earth”, tells us that Utah is the place that gets all the snow. Boulder , too, gets dumped on every winter.

[Top Ute]

Devil's advocate view

Do we really need Boise State?

The MWC has sent three teams to a BCS bowl game. The first (Utah 2004) qualified under the much-stringent older standards (top 6 in BCS), and the other two (Utah 2008, TCU 2009) also would've qualified under the tougher standards were they still in place.

Boise State has never met the qualifications of the old standard. It finished in the top 6 only last year, but under the old standard, wouldn't have made it into a BCS game because TCU was ranked higher.

If anything, adding Boise makes sense in the same respect some think the Pac-10 would add Utah -- it removes a threat to their own, and improves the odds of BCS bowl access.

The odds of a one-loss MWC team getting into a BCS game will improve infinitely, because an undefeated C-USA, WAC, MAC or Sun Belt team will NEVER get in ahead of one of the MWC's Big Four. And if the MWC is going to attain auto-bid status, it has to add Boise State.

But given where I stand on college football, I don't need Boise to give my school a leg-up of any kind on the BCS conferences.