One of the most important decisions in modern Sacramento State history will be made April 27-28 — will students fund the proposed Recreation/Wellness/Events Center on campus?

Another question nearly as important will be asked very soon, but only one person — not 25,000 — holds that answer in his grasp.

President Gonzalez, which athletic conference do you fancy?

The vaunted Athletics Task Force first raised the question: Is the Big Sky Conference really where the Sacramento State Hornets belong in 2010? With Gonzalez’s monumental new vision for 6000 J St., the Big Sky just doesn’t seem like the right fit. The problem is that Sacramento State is the capital university of the fifth largest economy in the world. Should our teams be playing rivalry games in Ogden, Utah? Would Florida State ever travel to Stroud, Okla. for a conference game?

Sure, we don’t compete with the cream of the Big Sky crop in most sports. We finished fourth in men’s basketball and finished dead last in both football and women’s hoops this season. What the Golden State Warriors are to the NBA’s Western Conference, we are to the Big Sky: brief flashes of brilliance sprinkled throughout an eternity of mediocrity.

We aren’t too good for the Big Sky; after all, Montana, Weber State and Eastern Washington all have great athletic programs. Nevertheless, we will be too big.

Look at the University of California’s flagship school at Berkeley. They play in the Pacific-10 Conference, with national powerhouses Stanford, USC and Arizona.

Now don’t go off the deep end — Sac State belongs in the Pac-10 like the Detroit Tigers belong in Major League Baseball. But there is middle ground between the off-the-radar Big Sky and the big-name Pac-10, and it can be found in the Big West Conference.

It makes perfect sense in many ways. Starting next year, UC Davis is in the Big West. That means rivalry games in all sports. Stockton’s University of the Pacific is in there, too. Two teams — Utah State and Idaho — are leaving the Big West this year, making it an all-California conference.

The athletic department could save tons of money on travel — Long Beach State may be a bit of a drive, but Ogden isn’t much closer. Natural rivalries would form easily and quickly. The Davis rivalry is already there, and one with UOP would be inevitable amid frequent conference battles. And imagine the fun intra-system banter should Sac State beat up on the other CSU campuses in the conference – Fullerton, Northridge and Cal Poly.

UOP may be a lot better at basketball than Sac State, and Fullerton’s baseball team would surely knock our own back to the dugout, but it would build a strong sense of spirit at home. How many more students would show up to Hornet Gym to see the UOP Tigers instead of the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks?

The Big West seems tailored for Sacramento State, but there is one little problem: the Big West doesn’t sponsor football.

That will be the critical question for Gonzalez: What do we do with football? Gonzales shouldn’t drop the sport, but shouldn’t let it stand in the way of smart business, either.

One possibility is the newly created Great West Football Conference. Before it joined the Great West this year, UC Davis’ football team was without a conference for 10 years. Just ask any Aggie — it’s impossible to build any non-Causeway Classic rivalries with an inconsistent annual schedule.

Critics of the Great West will argue that Sac State shouldn’t leave the Big Sky — where the regular-season champion earns an automatic berth in the Division I-AA playoffs — for a conference without an automatic bid. But seriously, when was the last time Sac State was a threat to make a playoff run? Does anyone see it happening before 2007, the first season the Great West champion will be playoff-bound? Give the program time — Coach Mooshagian and his staff will make the team matter, but not before the basketball team makes it to ESPN.

Until then, let’s prioritize our sports — get our respectable teams in the Big West and figure out the rest later. The future of this destination campus depends on it.

Contact Tom Hall at [email protected]