It's July 1 and the FBS landscape has changed with a number of schools departing their old conferences for new ones, such as the Boise St. Broncos for the Big East, but let's also celebrate the expansion of the Big Sky Conference. Now with 11 full-time members and 13 football schools, the Big Sky welcomed North Dakota and Southern Utah into the fold for all sports and Cal Poly and UC Davis for football.
↵Six years ago, the Northern Colorado Bears were previous team to join the conference.
↵After going winless in 2011 during Earnest Collins Jr.'s first season as head coach, the Bears won't have it any easier this season. However, maybe they'll be able to beat the new guys when they play Cal Poly on Oct. 13 and North Dakota on Nov. 17.
↵Those new guys need to know it won't be a cakewalk for them in their new conference. Still, Northern Colorado might not be the best team to confront them on that -- at least for this upcoming season.