Cal Poly, UC Davis to join Big Sky Conference

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/07/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The much-rumored talk of the Big Sky Conference losing the University of Montana, and perhaps other schools, took on another twist Tuesday.

Big Sky football is expanding.

One of the top conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision, the Big Sky announced that UC Davis and Cal Poly have accepted invitations to become affiliate members in football only, bringing the membership up to 11 teams. A timeline for the switch was not announced, but the move seems feasible for the 2012 season.

UC Davis and Cal Poly have the strongest programs in the five-school Great West Football Conference, which will have to seek new membership or, more likely, fall apart. The majority of UC Davis and Cal Poly teams compete in the Big West Conference.

"The Big Sky is recognized as one of the top Football Championship Subdivision conferences in the nation," Big Sky Conference commissioner Doug Fullerton said in a statement. "The addition of two great institutions like Cal Poly and UC Davis gives us more depth to compete for additional playoff berths and enhances our profile throughout California. This is a great fit for both institutions and the Big Sky Conference. We are bringing in two strong western FCS programs. They will benefit from us in having access to an automatic playoff bid and a full slate of conference games.

"We worked in cooperation with Big West Conference commissioner Dennis Farrell," Fullerton added. "The Big West fully supports this effort, as it gives its two football-playing members a home."

UC Davis and Cal Poly will have to adhere to the withdrawal procedure of the Great West - a process which could take a year. Most of the Big Sky schools have nine or 10 games scheduled for 2011, but the change could happen in 2012.

UC Davis and Cal Poly, which were Division II powers before moving up to Division I, would join Sacramento State as Big Sky programs in California, where high school talent is rich. Both schools have excellent facilities and fan bases.

Cal Poly, whose head coach, Tim Walsh, coached Big Sky member Portland State from 1993-2006, won the Great West championship in 2008, and UC Davis captured it last year. In 2009, UC Davis averaged 9,908 fans for five home games and Cal Poly averaged 9,588 for five home games, which would have ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, among Big Sky programs.

"This is an extremely exciting day for our football program and the institution," UC Davis athletic director Greg Warzecka said. "Our fans will not only be able to watch some great teams come to Aggie Stadium, but they will have a much better opportunity to travel to road games."

"Our goal all along has been to find stability for our football program, and the Big Sky Conference gives us exactly what we needed," Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone said. "The Big Sky Conference is one of the best FCS conferences in the country and offers great competition with teams that are natural rivals in our region."

Fullerton said the Big Sky will seek future expansion to create a 12-team football conference which would split into two six-team divisions.

The announcement comes during a week in which Cal Poly will host top-ranked Montana and UC Davis will host Portland State.

The nine Big Sky programs in 2009 are Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State and Weber State.

Besides UC Davis and Cal Poly, the Great West's members are North Dakota, South Dakota and Southern Utah. The latter three programs could be expansion possibilities for the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which has nine programs.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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