Big Sky football boosted with 2 new teams

OGDEN — The landscape of college athletics changed yet again on Tuesday, as the Big Sky became the latest conference to add teams.

UC Davis and Cal Poly accepted invitations to join the Big Sky as football-only members of the conference. They are leaving the Great West Conference, a league that has been around since 2004 and includes Southern Utah University. The two California schools compete in the Big West in sports other than football.

Joining the Big Sky was a no-brainer for the two schools. Now, they'll compete in a tougher football conference and have the chance to earn an automatic bid into the FCS playoffs.

"Good teams," said Weber State coach Ron McBride. "It should be a real strong conference. There are no bad teams. It should be a pretty balanced conference."

No definite timeline has been set for UC Davis and Cal Poly to join the Big Sky in football. Most of the conference's teams have their schedules set and contracts signed for 2011. Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton said it's likely that UC Davis and Cal Poly will play several Big Sky teams in 2012 and play a regular league schedule in 2013.

"The Big Sky is recognized as one of the top Football Championship Subdivision conferences in the nation," Fullerton said. "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," he said. "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."

The addition of UC Davis and Cal Poly brings the number of football schools in the Big Sky to 11. Fullerton said the conference might not be finished expanding. One more school could be added, as the conference would then split into two, six-team divisions for football.

UC Davis has been playing football since 1915 and was a Division II power for many years. The Aggies posted 37 consecutive winning seasons from 1970-2006. UC Davis became a FCS program in 2007.

Cal Poly has been a perennial Top 25 team the last few years. The Mustangs beat Montana in a 2005 first-round FCS playoff game and have defeated the Mountain West's San Diego State twice since 2006. They nearly upset Wisconsin in November of 2008, only falling 36-35.

One of Weber State's biggest wins in school history came against Cal Poly. The Wildcats defeated the Mustangs, 49-35, in a first-round FCS game in 2008.

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