Does Lamar have an open invite to join the WAC?

[geezer]

The change in scheduling has already started.  Boise State and Va. Tech this year, Texas and Ohio State a few years back, Oklahoma and Fla State this year.  I am not saying that they won't schedule a smaller school only that they won't travel to a smaller school unless as someone else stated they want to have some face time in an area for recruiting.

[Javelina]

[quote name="UNLV" post="940077" timestamp="1293764038"]
Arrrrrgh, biting my wrist. It is that type of mentality for Lamar dropping football and dropping down to the Southland.
Whoa is Lamar, we can never bring in anyone except Rice.... >:(
[/quote]

So if Lamar goes FBS we can expect the likes of USC, Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, LSU, Florida, Virginia Tech, BYU, Tennessee, Oregon, Auburn, Miami and Nebraska come into Beaumont?

[kingkat99]

[quote name="geezer" post="940133" timestamp="1293769371"]
The change in scheduling has already started.  Boise State and Va. Tech this year, Texas and Ohio State a few years back, Oklahoma and Fla State this year.  I am not saying that they won't schedule a smaller school only that they won't travel to a smaller school unless as someone else stated they want to have some face time in an area for recruiting.
[/quote]

The only way that the Texas' and Alabama's of the big time FBS football world come to smaller schools is if the smaller school agree to come to them twice for one trip to their school, that is exactly why Texas went to Wyoming who makes their second trip to Austin in 2012.  So as long as youre willing to give them two trips anything is possible.  But as was stated earlier conference reallignment is eventually gonna push the small FBS schools out entirely and Im sure violate many antitrust laws...

[UNLV]

[quote name="Javelina" post="940134" timestamp="1293769424"]
[quote author=UNLV link=topic=78052.msg940077#msg940077 date=1293764038]
Arrrrrgh, biting my wrist. It is that type of mentality for Lamar dropping football and dropping down to the Southland.
Whoa is Lamar, we can never bring in anyone except Rice.... >:(
[/quote]

So if Lamar goes FBS we can expect the likes of USC, Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, LSU, Florida, Virginia Tech, BYU, Tennessee, Oregon, Auburn, Miami and Nebraska come into Beaumont?
[/quote]If Lamar was FBS, yes, but maybe 1 or 2 of those schools in 10 years and like King said, a 2 for 1 deal.

Geezer, that type of scheduling won't last. Texas plays Ohio st, the loser will be nearly out of the NC hunt early with the one loss.
A second loss and its over. They will be back to playing cupcakes.

[geezer]

If you wind up with four super conferences, then a playoff for the National Title becomes more realistic.  Each conference gets one rep and you have two semifinal and one title game.

[kingkat99]

I would ask this question though of my Bearkats or your Cardinals before getting on the lets move up bandwagon, and that is if we are just going to move up to the WAC with all the other Texas SLC schools except maybe SFA what is the point other than being able to say you are now "FBS" and you get to go to a toilet bowl on occassion and possibly bring in a bi name opponent once every 5 or 10 years?

[geezer]

Going to a bowl game gives your team an extra two to three weeks of practice.  Also at this point the WAC and other FBS conferences get at least some regional TV coverage and revenue, which helps with recruiting and budget.

[YouCanUseaMint]

[quote name="kingkat99" post="940256" timestamp="1293814955"]
I would ask this question though of my Bearkats or your Cardinals before getting on the lets move up bandwagon, and that is if we are just going to move up to the WAC with all the other Texas SLC schools except maybe SFA what is the point other than being able to say you are now "FBS" and you get to go to a toilet bowl on occassion and possibly bring in a bi name opponent once every 5 or 10 years?
[/quote]

The toilet bowl is still televised on ESPN, more regional and potentially national recognition, playing opponents that interest more people (even if they're OOC games), playing big BCS teams for a loss and garnering a bigger paycheck, being associated with higher profile schools (academic and athletic), getting higher profile recruits, and so on..

[YouCanUseaMint]

[quote name="geezer" post="940243" timestamp="1293811674"]
If you wind up with four super conferences, then a playoff for the National Title becomes more realistic.  Each conference gets one rep and you have two semifinal and one title game.
[/quote]
I have to side with  UNLV.. Imagine if Texas didn't have Wyoming, Rice, and FAU on their schedule. They would have won two games..

Those big schools don't care about shutting us out because, in a sense, we already are. Those schools NEED us for their body bag games and don't want a playoff system for monetary reasons

[bigred360]

[quote name="YouCanUseaMint" post="940280" timestamp="1293818465"]
[quote author=kingkat99 link=topic=78052.msg940256#msg940256 date=1293814955]
I would ask this question though of my Bearkats or your Cardinals before getting on the lets move up bandwagon, and that is if we are just going to move up to the WAC with all the other Texas SLC schools except maybe SFA what is the point other than being able to say you are now "FBS" and you get to go to a toilet bowl on occassion and possibly bring in a bi name opponent once every 5 or 10 years?
[/quote]

The toilet bowl is still televised on ESPN, more regional and potentially national recognition, playing opponents that interest more people (even if they're OOC games), playing big BCS teams for a loss and garnering a bigger paycheck, being associated with higher profile schools (academic and athletic), getting higher profile recruits, and so on..
[/quote]

Sorry 99, gotta agree with this post. As a FBS football school you just get more national recognition than even the best FCS schools.

Again, I'm not saying for Lamar to go FBS anytime soon.

[coachacola]

I think Dr. Simmons has made it pretty clear that Lamar will try to go FBS in the next couple of years.  That doesn't mean they definitely will but if everything falls into place then we'll see Lamar make the jump.

[kingkat99]

Those are decent reasons to make the move but I'm still on the fence...

[UNLV]

[quote name="kingkat99" post="940403" timestamp="1293836153"]
Those are decent reasons to make the move but I'm still on the fence...
[/quote]Many schools have or planning to move up. How many schools at the FBS is moving back down?

[JJWooten]

But if all the FCS schools "move up" To FBS, I would be surprised to see it divided again. Heck, FBS level teams need to be divided again, there's an obvious gap between the schools.

[geezer]

I think the real question concerning the WAC is will there still be a WAC in two years and if so what will it look like?  Watched the UCF - Georgia game and heard a comment that indicated UCF could be interested in moving to a stronger conference than C-USA.  Would the B-12 be interested in them and say Notre Dame.  ND has always remained independent in football but are in the Big East for other sports.  With TCU going to the Big East that puts it at 17 teams in basketball.  These two schools would have tremendous potential for tv revenue for the Big 12 and give it a face in the Florida recruiting market.

[Green Menace]

[quote name="JJWooten" post="940466" timestamp="1293846781"]
But if all the FCS schools "move up" To FBS, I would be surprised to see it divided again. Heck, FBS level teams need to be divided again, there's an obvious gap between the schools.
[/quote]
I think the move is to have six FBS, auto qualifying conference, of 14-16 teams each.  You have the conferences, just not all the teams are in place just yet.  TCU moving to the Big East is an example.  I think Boise St and UCF are next; maybe Houston and a couple of other programs from select conferences.  These "Super Conferences" is where the TV money will go.  It already does.

The rest of the conferences will fight for the scraps.  Guess they already do that.

FWIW, I doubt you'll see any BCS/AQ teams coming to Beaumont.  That is, unless you have some serious money to get the down here.  Remember, when you fill an 80,000 seat stadium with people at some big time program, it generates several million dollars for the school's athletic department.  Why would such a team come to Beaumont for a fourth (or less) of what they could generate by having cannon fodder at home?

[bigred360]

Good post and I have a question Green Menace. What type of OOC teams do the Mean Green have coming to their new stadium in the next few years?

I really don't think any Lamar fans thinks a BSC/AQ school would come to Beaumont. If so, that is wishful thinking on their part.

I do think with the right architecture, Provost Umphrey could expand to 35,000-40,000.

[geezer]

Agree there will not be more than six BCS AQ confernces, but the B-12 needs to do something soon or I think it could easily wind up at four.  The problem for the B-12 is where can they pick up teams that will bring in new tv viewers.  While I would have liked to see Houston and TCU added to the B-12, I agree with a post on another thread that there is no tv viewers gained with those markets, and if you look at the overall picture C-USA and Mountain West are the next two conferences where they can offer something better than they already have.

[Green Menace]

[quote name="bigred360" post="940506" timestamp="1293853938"]
Good post and I have a question Green Menace. [b]What type of OOC teams do the Mean Green have coming to their new stadium in the next few years?[/b]

I really don't think any Lamar fans thinks a BSC/AQ school would come to Beaumont. If so, that is wishful thinking on their part.

I do think with the right architecture, Provost Umphrey could expand to 35,000-40,000.


[/quote]
I do know that Houston and Indiana are coming to Denton next fall.  Beyond that, I have no idea other than a new series with SMU and Army.  With the new stadium we should be able to attract some nice programs to Denton.

[Bruce]

I think it's simply important that we keep our options open and are examining all avenues.  This should include both FBS and possible new FCS conferences.  To me, the key point is that LU cannot be in the Southland Conference in five years, as it is very likely the conference will not even exist at the D1 level: Texas State and UTSA are already gone, and the impending budget crisis is going to take out several of the Louisiana schools.  Refilling the spots in the Southland will consist of bringing in very low-level schools that will drag the reputation of the conference to D2 levels, and depending on how many teams are lost, it could put the automatic NCAA hoops bit in jeopardy.  

I have to question as well whether any big-time programs will ever come to Beaumont if we go FBS, but the bigger deal to me is that the arguments on this board often seem to come between those who have an aggressive vision for LU (go FBS, ASAP!) and those who are (relatively) satisfied with remaining an FCS school and trying to develop a program that can develop into an FCS power.  To me, either is good (I've vacillated on which option I prefer many times, and still am not sure), but the point is that *neither* of these goals are feasible with LU in the Southland, because the Southland of 2015 is going to look more like a Division 2 conference than the Southland of 2010 the way things look now.  

[coachacola]

The person that talked to Benson in that interview posted something interesting about Lamar on another forum:

[quote]This is just my opinion - nothing concrete - but I think Lamar is who Benson alluded to. I have a pretty decent source that told me Lamar made a very inconspicuous showing at the WAC presentations in Dallas earlier this year, and they have an extremely competent administration that likes to keep their cards (punny, huh?) close to their vest.

It really makes sense for them. Beaumont would love the attention and they're in an extremely fertile recruiting ground. I don't see what SHSU or SFA brings that Lamar wouldn't trump.[/quote]

http://collegesportsinfo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1454&p=53157#p53157

[geezer]

Coach

I agree that Lamar is the next best choice for the WAC especially if another western team drops out.  If I remember all of the moves coming the WAC will be down to a maximum of eight football schools in 2012 with three of them in Texas and La.  SHSU and Lamar are both close to the Houston market and historically I would say SE Texas has more high profile players than the area surrounding Huntsville.  Don't mean to put SFA down but other than the college what draw is there for the WAC?

[UNLV]

I have posted many example many times of AQ schools playing at Sunbelt and WAC schools.
Monroe hosted Arkansas and Alabama. Monroe is a much smaller city than Beaumont. ULM is
half Lamar size. So many of times I asked what Monroe offered to recieve a visit by AQ schools but Lamar
would be unable to do?  is it bribes? women?  voodoo?  Yet the only response is the same broken record, "Nobody
will come to Beaumont." So it is not wishful thinking on my part, but rather extremely limited thinking on you all part.

This is so scarey too me because all it takes is 1 person in a strong position at Lamar whom share this limited mentallity
to screw Lamar for another few decades.

[coachacola]

In a few weeks the NCAA will decide if the WAC can keep their auto-bid to the basketball tourney.  If that doesn't pass then I doubt Lamar would join the WAC.  After that obstacle then Lamar has to figure out how to increase it's budget because they'll have a hard time being successful with a $11 million budget.  It needs to be at least $15 million to keep up with the other teams in the WAC.

There's also the issue of facilities.  The Montagne Center will fit right in the WAC although a new scoreboard would be nice.  Vincent-Beck is about to be renovated so that's a plus.  I think the softball field is planned for 2013, which would mean they would start softball about the same time they'd start transitioning to FBS, so that would take care of the title 12 requirements.

The football stadium holds 16K so it needs to be expanded if Lamar goes FBS.  Let's say Lamar announces they'll join the WAC in 2013, they'll  be bowl eligible in 2015.  That would give them about 4 years to expand the stadium.  This gives them time to finish the other renovations.

I don't think Lamar wants to stay in the SLC long term but if they join the WAC they'll still play a few more years at the FCS level before moving up.  We'll see what happens.

[YouCanUseaMint]

[quote name="coachacola" post="940888" timestamp="1293943278"]
In a few weeks the NCAA will decide if the WAC can keep their auto-bid to the basketball tourney.  If that doesn't pass then I doubt Lamar would join the WAC.  After that obstacle then Lamar has to figure out how to increase it's budget because they'll have a hard time being successful with a $11 million budget.  It needs to be at least $15 million to keep up with the other teams in the WAC.

There's also the issue of facilities.  The Montagne Center will fit right in the WAC although a new scoreboard would be nice.  Vincent-Beck is about to be renovated so that's a plus.  I think the softball field is planned for 2013, which would mean they would start softball about the same time they'd start transitioning to FBS, so that would take care of the title 12 requirements.

The football stadium holds 16K so it needs to be expanded if Lamar goes FBS.  Let's say Lamar announces they'll join the WAC in 2013, they'll  be bowl eligible in 2015.  That would give them about 4 years to expand the stadium.  This gives them time to finish the other renovations.

I don't think Lamar wants to stay in the SLC long term but if they join the WAC they'll still play a few more years at the FCS level before moving up.  We'll see what happens.
[/quote]
I know my opinion doesn't matter, but Lamar is the only Texas team I want elevated with us and UTSA into the WAC. Yall would solidify an eastern division with TXST, UTSA, LU, LATECH, and NMSU.

What's enrollment at these days? Student fees are an easy fix for the budget if your enrollment is decent enough.. it's what's bank rolling us to FBS