NLA pt. 1 - Zim on Sac State to MAC, FBS/FCS near future landscape for Jacks & Yotes

"It's about money! Just g*****n money!"   The fictitious coach Pete Bell — played by Nick Nolte — said that about high stakes college basketball in the 1994 film about the sport and its scandals, Blue Chips.   There's no scandal at Sacramento State, but anybody with a brain able to compute deductive reasoning can strongly surmise that the Hornets' acceptance into the illogical geographic non-fit of the Mid-American Conference — elevating an also-ran FCS program into the FBS — was first and foremost about the money.   The MAC is charging SSU an $18 million entry fee and the Hornets are also paying the FCS-to-FBS fee to the NCAA while agreeing to cover the travel costs of MAC teams that reside 2,175 to 3,000 miles away when they visit Sacramento.   This is the price of poker when you are desperate to join the FBS and the geographic fits — the retooled Pac 12 and Mountain West — said "no."   Sioux Falls Live's Matt Zimmer wrote about this on Monday, and there was plenty more to unpack over beers at the Gateway Lounge during the weekly "Nobody's Listening Anyway" podcast for "Happy Hour with John Gaskins."   What kind of poker hands do the South Dakota Div. I schools have now that North Dakota State is in the Mountain West and the MAC gladly takes in high enough bidders?   SDSU athletic director Justin Sell continues to employ the holding pattern approach, but also braces to be ready in case the Jackrabbits get a call. In his Happy Hour interview last week, USD's Jon Schemmel gave that general stance for the Coyotes.   They're not selling out. But when might they ever have a chance to buy in?    Can they just sit back and hope "the big split" of the Power Four leagues from the Group of Six conferences is going to just happen, bringing the waves all the way to SDSU and USD (and Montana and Montana State, for that matter) and everyone can just slide into a new "second tier" FBS ocean?   Again, plenty to unpack.