For all LU to FBS supporters...

[ispeakjive]

Did any of you care about the hotly-contested Troy v. Middle Tennessee State on ESPN showcasing two low-level FBS teams no one really knows or cares about? 

My guess is neither did anyone else.

I'm sure the Sugar, Rose, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton, etc. Bowl committees were dialed into that game as well.  Lamar should be envious.

[coachacola]

[quote name="ispeakjive" post="866888" timestamp="1286336326"]
Did any of you care about the hotly-contested Troy v. Middle Tennessee State on ESPN showcasing two low-level FBS teams no one really knows or cares about? 

My guess is neither did anyone else.

I'm sure the Sugar, Rose, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton, etc. Bowl committees were dialed into that game as well.  Lamar should be envious.


[/quote]

I watched a little of it.  Do you plan on watching any SLC games on ESPN this year...oh wait, ESPN never shows SLC games, or even Montana or Appy State games.  Why worry about being on national TV when the local station will broadcast a few games?

[kingkat99]

[quote name="coachacola" post="866951" timestamp="1286364741"]
[quote author=ispeakjive link=topic=74028.msg866888#msg866888 date=1286336326]
Did any of you care about the hotly-contested Troy v. Middle Tennessee State on ESPN showcasing two low-level FBS teams no one really knows or cares about? 

My guess is neither did anyone else.

I'm sure the Sugar, Rose, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton, etc. Bowl committees were dialed into that game as well.  Lamar should be envious.


[/quote]

I watched a little of it.  Do you plan on watching any SLC games on ESPN this year...oh wait, ESPN never shows SLC games, or even Montana or Appy State games.  Why worry about being on national TV when the local station will broadcast a few games?
[/quote]

Make it past the first round in the playoff and they air those games... ;)

[ispeakjive]

Call me crazy, but I would rather the program strive for championships in FCS than aspire to 6-5 seasons in FBS and hopefully get one Tuesday night game a year while playing in the lower levels of FBS.  I truly hope that it is not what Dr. Simmons and Coach Tubbs brought the program back for.  I could care less if there are ever any nationally-televised games as long as the program is winning.  I would be willing to wager a pretty sizeable bet that neither Troy nor Middle Tennessee State garnered any additional students on their campuses from playing a Tuesday night game on ESPN in the first week of October.  Let's assume we go to the Sun Belt.  Do you think Middle Tennesse State would pack them in at the Stadium more than Sam Houston or SFA?  I would say no.

[sleepy]

[quote name="ispeakjive" post="867051" timestamp="1286378305"]
Call me crazy, but I would rather the program strive for championships in FCS than aspire to 6-5 seasons in FBS and hopefully get one Tuesday night game a year while playing in the lower levels of FBS.  I truly hope that it is not what Dr. Simmons and Coach Tubbs brought the program back for.  I could care less if there are ever any nationally-televised games as long as the program is winning.  I would be willing to wager a pretty sizeable bet that neither Troy nor Middle Tennessee State garnered any additional students on their campuses from playing a Tuesday night game on ESPN in the first week of October.  Let's assume we go to the Sun Belt.  Do you think Middle Tennesse State would pack them in at the Stadium more than Sam Houston or SFA?  I would say no.
[/quote]

I could not agree more!!!!!!!!!  Not to mention it is something we can maintain and that is important.  It is impossible for us to maintain a high level in a big conference.  Just a fact.

[coachacola]

The lowly New Orleans Bowl that the Sun Belt champion plays in drew more viewers than the FCS championship game last year.  I hope you like traveling out west or to the northeast on a weeks notice because that seems to be what happens to the SLC teams in the FCS playoffs.

[UNLV]

Typical bumpkin Setx mentality. Lets all forget that Beaumont is bigger than Monroe and Ruston combined and that LU is bigger
than UL-Monroe and La tech.

[sleepy]

Far from a bumpkin pal. Trust me I know what it takes to win at D1 college athletics.  I did it at Lamar!!! We are bigger than Monroe and Ruston???????????  Who cares.  They completely suck.  Are we bigger than Denton?  No.  So let's be North Texas. They are currently talking about getting rid of their program. This program needs local support and the only way to get that is to win. The only place we are going to consistently win is FCS. The minute we stop winning the people in this town quit supporting and that is a simple fact. That is what Beaumont does. We will never be on the national spectrum in football it is a fact of life people.  

[1KatKiller]

I disagree with you about UNT talking about dropping their program. They'll open a new stadium next season...I doubt they'll drop football any time soon.

[sleepy]

I didn't say they were dropping it.  I said there were talks about it.

[bigred360]

[quote name="sleepy" post="867136" timestamp="1286385925"]
I didn't say they were dropping it.  I said there were talks about it.
[/quote]

Now, there probably will be a coaching change. I believe Todd Dodge needed to win 7 games this season to save his job.

BTW, I'm a big Todd Dodge fan and monitored his teams at South Lake Carroll. What he did there was amazing!

I wish him and UNT the best this season.

[AJ25]

Off subject.. But you're not going to spend the money UNT did on a new stadium and drop the team, that's not happening. I do agree that Lamar should be AT LEAST 5 years at the FCS level. TX State is looking to move, and every FBS team they play beats them by 30 at least. I don't care if Lamar plays an FBS schedule and are an FBS team if we just lose. I'd rather see a winner for 5-10 years at the FCS level building a WINNING mentality, then move.

[ispeakjive]

I have a hard time understanding how it is bumpkin to want to see the program win and develop.  You have to know your market and the market here, maybe more so than other college towns, is going to dictate that you win in order for the program to be supported.  Any premature bump to FBS and 3-8, 4-7, etc. seasons will kill the program.  Again. 

The size of the town doesn't matter, it is your recruiting and fan base that dictate what you can do with your program.  But, since you mentioned it, La. Tech and ULM have really raised their national profile by playing, FBS, haven't they. 

It is not bumpkin to develop what you have instead of having grandiose plans that fall flat.  Lamar is a great, regional university, and it is not bumpkin to accept that and develop it under the constraints that are there.

[quote name="UNLV" post="867115" timestamp="1286384026"]
Typical bumpkin Setx mentality. Lets all forget that Beaumont is bigger than Monroe and Ruston combined and that LU is bigger
than UL-Monroe and La tech.
[/quote]

[bigred360]

I don't want to make any one mad but I don't want any part of a SLC with DII schools moving up to replace Texas State, UTSA and budget cuts that could kill football programs in Louisiana.

I do think that it is best for Lamar to stay in the SLC for about the next 5 years to see if we are competitive and good enough to challenge for the conference title.

However, Lamar is growing as I saw a graph with at least $120 million in renovation and new contruction on the Lamar University campus. If coachacola reads this I wish he'd post the graph I'm talking about.

Anyway, it shows what is planned from now until the year 2014. I've heard people talk about how nice the campus is compared to when they attended the university. Well, by 2014 with $120 million spent on renovations and new construction the campus will be even nicer.

Conferences don't just look at the athletic part of a university but also the academic side too.

No one can say what the SLC is going to look like in 5-10 years and if enrollment tops 20,000 students at Lamar as has been suggested, LU will be big enough to be in a FBS conference.

[sleepy]

[quote name="bigred360" post="867227" timestamp="1286391744"]
I don't want to make any one mad but I don't want any part of a SLC with DII schools moving up to replace Texas State, UTSA and budget cuts that could kill football programs in Louisiana.

I do think that it is best for Lamar to stay in the SLC for about the next 5 years to see if we are competitive and good enough to challenge for the conference title.

However, Lamar is growing as I saw a graph with at least $120 million in renovation and new contruction on the Lamar University campus. If coachacola reads this I wish he'd post the graph I'm talking about.

Anyway, it shows what is planed from now until the year 2014. I've heard people talk about how nice the campus is compared to when they attended the university. Well, by 2014 with $120 spent on renovation and new construction the campus will be even nicer.

Conferences don't just look at the athletic part of a university but also the academic side too.

No one can say what the SLC is going to look like in 5-10 years and if enrollment tops 20,000 students at Lamar as has been suggested, LU will be big enough to be in a FBS conference.

[/quote]
If, if, if................we can be as big of a school as we want but if we cannot dominate a conference like the southland we have NO BUSINESS going FBS.  I don't care how many students we have.

Bottom line is if we move to a larger conference and don't have a very solid program to that conferences standards(I mean competing consistently for conference championships) Beaumont will not support the team and it will be gone once again.

[coachacola]

Here's the chart:

[img]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5008358852_3bcac8d337_z.jpg[/img]

Here's the link to the website: http://www.brb.state.tx.us/cep_search.aspx?action=fin

I don't think anyone at Lamar wants to jump up to the FBS level for at least 5 years so it's probably pointless to argue over that.  But the SLC is a bottom feeder conference, and by being in it long term will hurt all of Lamar's athletic programs IMHO.  I don't think Lamar will have the financial problems is had back in the '80s and '90s so it should be able to compete in a better conference down the road.

[lcm2007ms]

[quote name="sleepy" post="867262" timestamp="1286394034"]
[quote author=bigred360 link=topic=74028.msg867227#msg867227 date=1286391744]
I don't want to make any one mad but I don't want any part of a SLC with DII schools moving up to replace Texas State, UTSA and budget cuts that could kill football programs in Louisiana.

I do think that it is best for Lamar to stay in the SLC for about the next 5 years to see if we are competitive and good enough to challenge for the conference title.

However, Lamar is growing as I saw a graph with at least $120 million in renovation and new contruction on the Lamar University campus. If coachacola reads this I wish he'd post the graph I'm talking about.

Anyway, it shows what is planed from now until the year 2014. I've heard people talk about how nice the campus is compared to when they attended the university. Well, by 2014 with $120 spent on renovation and new construction the campus will be even nicer.

Conferences don't just look at the athletic part of a university but also the academic side too.

No one can say what the SLC is going to look like in 5-10 years and if enrollment tops 20,000 students at Lamar as has been suggested, LU will be big enough to be in a FBS conference.

[/quote]
If, if, if................we can be as big of a school as we want but [b]if[/b] we cannot dominate a conference like the southland we have NO BUSINESS going FBS.  I don't care how many students we have.

Bottom line is [b]if[/b] we move to a larger conference and don't have a very solid program to that conferences standards(I mean competing consistently for conference championships) Beaumont will not support the team and it will be gone once again.
[/quote]

If, if, if........ your arguement is no better than the one you are refuting

[NorthoftheBorder]

I am for the most part now staying out of this argument because it is futile for all of us to be debating this any more.  The sides are drawn and I have not seen anyone make an argument for either case (Stay FCS/SLC or go FBS/New Conference) that has swayed anyone to change their position.  We all think we know the answer (and are convinced that the opposition is absolutely clueless), but in the end it is just our own desire and opinion.  Dr. Simmons and his team will do the right thing at the right time.  And if history proves out, all of us who are on this board who really have a strong passion for the success of LU football really know that out of the 17k that have shown up for the 1st 2 home games , many are fair weather and will not continue to come if the program doesn't win in the next few years no matter what level we play at.

[coachacola]

Here's a related article you guys might find interesting.  Terror posted this on another forum.

[quote]It is long past the time when the Louisiana Tech Athletic Department, particularly the football program, should have given up on its delusions of mediocrity.

It’s not just about the won-loss record as Tech moves into its 10th year in the Western Athletic Conference, though that, too, is hard to ignore. There are also the economics that are dragging down not only the once proud football program, but academics as well. We’ll get to the economics later. [/quote]

http://louisianavoice.com/2010/10/03/louisiana-tech-delusions-of-football-mediocrity/

There's always risks involved in taking your athletic program to the next level.

[puddin tane]

[i]It’s bad enough that Tech is forced to compete in a conference spread out over seven states, the nearest of which is New Mexico State, but how can you build a rivalry with teams half a continent away? The logistics just aren’t there.[/i]

Lordy, thats what I've been saying to the WAC pumpers..............and what swtsu and  utsa are gonna run into

[bigred360]

[quote name="sleepy" post="867262" timestamp="1286394034"]
[quote author=bigred360 link=topic=74028.msg867227#msg867227 date=1286391744]
I don't want to make any one mad but I don't want any part of a SLC with DII schools moving up to replace Texas State, UTSA and budget cuts that could kill football programs in Louisiana.

[b]I do think that it is best for Lamar to stay in the SLC for about the next 5 years to see if we are competitive and good enough to challenge for the conference title.[/b]

However, Lamar is growing as I saw a graph with at least $120 million in renovation and new contruction on the Lamar University campus. If coachacola reads this I wish he'd post the graph I'm talking about.

Anyway, it shows what is planed from now until the year 2014. I've heard people talk about how nice the campus is compared to when they attended the university. Well, by 2014 with $120 spent on renovation and new construction the campus will be even nicer.

Conferences don't just look at the athletic part of a university but also the academic side too.

No one can say what the SLC is going to look like in 5-10 years and if enrollment tops 20,000 students at Lamar as has been suggested, LU will be big enough to be in a FBS conference.

[/quote]
If, if, if................we can be as big of a school as we want but if we cannot dominate a conference like the southland we have NO BUSINESS going FBS.  I don't care how many students we have.

Bottom line is if we move to a larger conference and don't have a very solid program to that conferences standards(I mean competing consistently for conference championships) Beaumont will not support the team and it will be gone once again.
[/quote]

I highlighted the area of my post that stated we need to stay in the SLC for about five years [b]to see if we are competitive and good enough to challenge for the conference titles.[/b]

People keep forgetting about the football fee $8.75 for fall and spring semesters and $4.50 for summer sessions. If we have 20,000 students and they average 12hrs for spring and fall semesters that is that is $7 million and the summer sessions lets drop down to 15,000 with each student taking 6 credit hours. That is over $800,000 for the summer sessions. Together that is about $7.8 million annually. So the football program will never be dropped again even if we don't have the student growth expected. Our current headcount for this fall is 14,388 students taking 140,904 credit hours. So this fall the football fees has produced $1,127,157. Get the picture.

So "if" there is student growth to the point LU administrators are saying there will be in the next 5-10 years. Then "if" the football team is competitive and challenge for the conference titles. I think there would be a very good possibility of a joining another conference.

Also, regarding the chart coachacola post (BTW thank you) I was off by a few million dollars. It's not around $120,000,000 it is more like $163,870,000 from now to 2014.

[UNLV]

[quote name="puddin tane" post="867359" timestamp="1286402308"]
[i]It’s bad enough that Tech is forced to compete in a conference spread out over seven states, the nearest of which is New Mexico State, but how can you build a rivalry with teams half a continent away? The logistics just aren’t there.[/i]

Lordy, thats what I've been saying to the WAC pumpers..............and what swtsu and  utsa are gonna run into
[/quote]The WAC pumpers put conditions on joining the WAC. There must be an eastern division. For Example:

La Tech
LAMAR
Texas st
UTSA
Ark st
UNT
ULL
Each and every school would benefit greatly from this WAC eastern division.

Ok lets look at a new SLC

Lamar
SFA
SHSU
Mcneese....I think Mcneese football survives huge budget cuts.
UTA
AMCC
Tarleton
AM-Kingsville
Abilene Christian
Delta st
Pan Am
Houston Baptist.

Which would you choose?

[puddin tane]

[quote name="UNLV" post="867598" timestamp="1286417389"]
[quote author=puddin tane link=topic=74028.msg867359#msg867359 date=1286402308]
[i]It’s bad enough that Tech is forced to compete in a conference spread out over seven states, the nearest of which is New Mexico State, but how can you build a rivalry with teams half a continent away? The logistics just aren’t there.[/i]

Lordy, thats what I've been saying to the WAC pumpers..............and what swtsu and  utsa are gonna run into
[/quote]The WAC pumpers put conditions on joining the WAC. There must be an eastern division. For Example:

La Tech
LAMAR
Texas st
UTSA
Ark st
UNT
ULL
Each and every school would benefit greatly from this WAC eastern division.

Ok lets look at a new SLC

Lamar
SFA
SHSU
Mcneese....I think Mcneese football survives huge budget cuts.
UTA
AMCC
Tarleton
AM-Kingsville
Abilene Christian
Delta st
Pan Am
Houston Baptist.

Which would you choose?
[/quote]

LU, SAM, MCNEESE, SFA, ULL, ARK ST, UNT AND LA TECH

[UNLV]

[quote name="puddin tane" post="867633" timestamp="1286421009"]
[quote author=UNLV link=topic=74028.msg867598#msg867598 date=1286417389]
[quote author=puddin tane link=topic=74028.msg867359#msg867359 date=1286402308]
[i]It’s bad enough that Tech is forced to compete in a conference spread out over seven states, the nearest of which is New Mexico State, but how can you build a rivalry with teams half a continent away? The logistics just aren’t there.[/i]

Lordy, thats what I've been saying to the WAC pumpers..............and what swtsu and  utsa are gonna run into
[/quote]The WAC pumpers put conditions on joining the WAC. There must be an eastern division. For Example:

La Tech
LAMAR
Texas st
UTSA
Ark st
UNT
ULL
Each and every school would benefit greatly from this WAC eastern division.

Ok lets look at a new SLC

Lamar
SFA
SHSU
Mcneese....I think Mcneese football survives huge budget cuts.
UTA
AMCC
Tarleton
AM-Kingsville
Abilene Christian
Delta st
Pan Am
Houston Baptist.

Which would you choose?
[/quote]

LU, SAM, MCNEESE, SFA, ULL, ARK ST, UNT AND LA TECH
[/quote]I can accept this if it was FBS. Where is UTSA and Texas st?

[sleepy]

[quote name="NorthoftheBorder" post="867306" timestamp="1286397139"]
I am for the most part now staying out of this argument because it is futile for all of us to be debating this any more.  The sides are drawn and I have not seen anyone make an argument for either case (Stay FCS/SLC or go FBS/New Conference) that has swayed anyone to change their position.  We all think we know the answer (and are convinced that the opposition is absolutely clueless), but in the end it is just our own desire and opinion.  Dr. Simmons and his team will do the right thing at the right time.  And if history proves out, all of us who are on this board who really have a strong passion for the success of LU football really know that out of the 17k that have shown up for the 1st 2 home games , many are fair weather and will not continue to come if the program doesn't win in the next few years no matter what level we play at.
[/quote]

Well said.  The last sentence of your post is one I am trying to stress!