I think....

[WOSgrad]

[quote name="kingkat99" post="1223320" timestamp="1337280787"]
[quote author=WOSgrad link=topic=99866.msg1223300#msg1223300 date=1337278654]
[quote author=kingkat99 link=topic=99866.msg1223257#msg1223257 date=1337274829]
I hope its Lamar or SFA.
[/quote]

Honest inquiry here. Why is that your wish and not SHSU?
[/quote]

Because outside of a feasibility study SH has done nothing to prepare itself for such a move.  There has not been a capital campaign started, our facilities need a ton of work and expansion in some cases(see capital campaign) and we dont have a fan base at this point that would go very far in sustaining such a move.  I think that this is not a decision that should be made on a wim or out of fear another opportunity may be a long time coming or not at all.  If you're going to do something then do it right.  And lastly our playoff run last season was awesome and it was a great experience to be apart of that and I would hate to lose the opportunity to be apart of something like that again in the future.
[/quote]

Thanks.  I asked because I think Lamar is in the exact same boat.

[UNLV]

Lamar has been small time for more than a decade. What is so exciting about Lamar since leaving the Sunbelt? yet you guys want more of this small time.

[WOSgrad]

[quote name="UNLV" post="1223441" timestamp="1337302671"]
Lamar has been small time for more than a decade. What is so exciting about Lamar since leaving the Sunbelt? yet you guys want more of this small time.
[/quote]

At the outset, I will say that I am probably in severe minority...perhaps one of the only ones. But here goes

I could give a rats rear end on whether Lamar ever achieves FBS status and I certainly don't want them in it anytime soon.  What I want out of my college alma mater is a winning program.  I don't care if it is in FCS.  Heck, I don't care if it is Division III.  What I want out of the Lamar University football program is that when I attend a home game that the team I am rooting for has, at least, an even money shot of winning the game.  And after the 1st year of conference play, I don't see Lamar at that point even in the small time Southland Conference.  I see it as being of NO USE to Lamar University to jump into an FBS conference just for the freaking sake of saying it is in an FBS conference.  I can see it now, "Yeah, we got the crap kicked out of us.  But hey because we are in the FBS, our tailkicking will make it on the crawl on Sportscenter!!!"

Advocating a push into FBS when Lamar has not yet shown it can even be competitive in FCS to me is just plain flat out stupid.

[UNLV]

It doesn't seem like you are in the minority. Lamar can win at FBS or FCS or DIII if the program is built correctly. I would rather see Lamar whipping La Tech or UNT in football, basketball, all sports than to see Lamar whipping Houston Baptist. You must think of other sports too. Budget cuts will hurt the LA. schools so expect Lamar, ORU, and SFA to dominate basketball in the Cupcake SLC. However outside the SLC Lamar will get whipped....Vermont. A better league brings better talent. The SLC is ranked 27 out of 31 conferences. One and done in the NCAA. Now one and done in the play in game.

When Lamar was in the Sunbelt, I was living in Las Vegas. Lamar got serious press time. Lamar was on the boards at the sportbooks in all the casinos, even the small ones. Now they say Lamar who? 

[WOS95]

i want my alma mater to win football games too! and right now we dont! my only concern, if we do go fbs, is getting big time recruits to come to lamar so we can compete..i know some lamar athletes personally and they've told me that beaumont, texas is hard to sell to young talented athletes...this is their words not mine..they said beaumont is boring.

[UNLV]

It's hard to sell Ruston more than Beaumont. It's hard to sell Lamar because of the FCS. I wouldn't worry about that too much because all these new FBS and start-ups are diluting the talent pool.
Advantage Lamar. And once Lamar show some wins, selling Lamar and Beaumont becomes easier.
We can only wait to see what Lamar does. We most likely will know within a week.

[Green Menace]

Lamar needs to concentrate on winning, winning, and more winning.  At the same time, fill your stands.  Then, knock off an FBS program or two on occasion.  The rest will come.  Lamar has people (Simmons) that want the program to succeed and the donor money is available when needed.  But I think you need a big time coach that can move the program forward, faster, and gets people excited.  See UTSA, Larry Coker, and whoever the female AD is.  Her name escapes me, but she sure is impressive in what she has done.  Of course, it doesn't hurt to have the complete back of the city and businesses.

[UNLV]

The Lamar rule; Must win before moving up unlike other schools that move up when losing or not having a football program.

[coachacola]

Lot's of message board chatter about the WAC inviting eastern FCS schools to stay alive as a FBS conference.  Maybe the new WAC will look like this in a few years:

Idaho
New Mexico State
Lamar
Sam Houston State
Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
Liberty
James Madison
Denver (no football)
Seattle (no football)

I doubt it happens but coast-to-coast conferences are the "in" thing now!

[Green Menace]

I just don't see that coast-to-coast conference thing happening.  Too expensive.

[puddin tane]

[quote name="WOSgrad" post="1223561" timestamp="1337312141"]
[quote author=UNLV link=topic=99866.msg1223441#msg1223441 date=1337302671]
Lamar has been small time for more than a decade. What is so exciting about Lamar since leaving the Sunbelt? yet you guys want more of this small time.
[/quote]

At the outset, I will say that I am probably in severe minority...perhaps one of the only ones. But here goes

I could give a rats rear end on whether Lamar ever achieves FBS status and I certainly don't want them in it anytime soon.  What I want out of my college alma mater is a winning program.  I don't care if it is in FCS.  Heck, I don't care if it is Division III.  What I want out of the Lamar University football program is that when I attend a home game that the team I am rooting for has, at least, an even money shot of winning the game.  And after the 1st year of conference play, I don't see Lamar at that point even in the small time Southland Conference.  I see it as being of NO USE to Lamar University to jump into an FBS conference just for the freaking sake of saying it is in an FBS conference.  I can see it now, "Yeah, we got the crap kicked out of us.  But hey because we are in the FBS, our tailkicking will make it on the crawl on Sportscenter!!!"

Advocating a push into FBS when Lamar has not yet shown it can even be competitive in FCS to me is just plain flat out stupid.
[/quote]

a voice of reason in a sea of insanity....

[UNLV]

By the end of this week we will know if Lamar decides to reach for greatness by going FBS, or settling for being a senior on the jv team.

[Razor]

[quote name="puddin tane" post="1224318" timestamp="1337478011"]
[quote author=WOSgrad link=topic=99866.msg1223561#msg1223561 date=1337312141]
[quote author=UNLV link=topic=99866.msg1223441#msg1223441 date=1337302671]
Lamar has been small time for more than a decade. What is so exciting about Lamar since leaving the Sunbelt? yet you guys want more of this small time.
[/quote]

At the outset, I will say that I am probably in severe minority...perhaps one of the only ones. But here goes

I could give a rats rear end on whether Lamar ever achieves FBS status and I certainly don't want them in it anytime soon.  What I want out of my college alma mater is a winning program.  I don't care if it is in FCS.  Heck, I don't care if it is Division III.  What I want out of the Lamar University football program is that when I attend a home game that the team I am rooting for has, at least, an even money shot of winning the game.  And after the 1st year of conference play, I don't see Lamar at that point even in the small time Southland Conference.  I see it as being of NO USE to Lamar University to jump into an FBS conference just for the freaking sake of saying it is in an FBS conference.  I can see it now, "Yeah, we got the crap kicked out of us.  But hey because we are in the FBS, our tailkicking will make it on the crawl on Sportscenter!!!"

Advocating a push into FBS when Lamar has not yet shown it can even be competitive in FCS to me is just plain flat out stupid.
[/quote]

a voice of reason in a sea of insanity....
[/quote]

I really cannot argue this point...shouldn't Lamar prove that it can compete at it's current level before moving on to bigger and better things?  We are only coming into the 3rd year of the program being back...IMO, to expect to move to an FBS program before the FCS program has been successful is a BIG stretch

[coachacola]

[quote name="UNLV" post="1224597" timestamp="1337608613"]
By the end of this week we will know if Lamar decides to reach for greatness by going FBS, or settling for being a senior on the jv team.
[/quote]
There's no mention of Lamar seeking a conference change in the board of regents quarterly meeting agenda when they meet this week on campus.  Even if they did publicly say they want to go FBS like Appalachian State, Liberty and Georgia Southern, that doesn't mean an invite is automatic.  App. State averages about 28K per game and CUSA invited Charlotte over them and the Sun Belt invited Georgia State.  Market size matters so that puts Lamar at a disadvantage.  I know, La Tech blah blah blah, but unless you can say for certain that Lamar has a Sun Belt invite in the bag then it really doesn't matter what Lamar does this week.

[UNLV]

Lamar is not competing head to head with an App st. or GSU. Lamar is selling itself as to what it bring/will bring to the table. The Sunbelt and CUSA both lack public schools presents in/near Houston. The question is can Lamar help, not if Lamar is better than App. st. If either conference decide they need that public school in/near Houston, then Lamar should sell itself.
    Lamar is doing a piss-poor effort to sell itself publicly. Maybe in private Lamar is doing a great job, I dunno. I do know if Lamar stays FCS, the public will continue to see Lamar as jv compared to a La Tech and UL-Monroe. I don't understand this fear of FBS. A smart AD and coach at Lamar could put big bucks in Lamar hands and get some national attention to Lamar. If I was Lamar AD, I would go FBS and use Houston to my advantage. For Example, a home and home with Texas with Lamar home game being at Reliant. Home games in Beaumont with Oklahoma st and Baylor instead of Langston and Mcmurry.

[coachacola]

We don't know if Lamar wants to go FBS or not anymore.  When Billy Tubbs was AD that seemed to be the goal, but since he's retired there's been no mention of it.  And now I'm hearing that there may be a 10 year moratorium preventing schools from moving up from FCS.  Not sure how likely that is or when it would start but that could push Lamar to be proactive if they ever want to move up.

Lamar is looking for 2 home football games next year.  They'll probably end up with non-D1 opponents this late in the process.  I think as a FBS team scheduling would be a lot easier and they should be able to draw better crowds than against the Texas College and McMurry's of the world.

But since there's been no mention of Lamar moving up from Dr. Simmons or the AD, no internet chatter about Lamar joining the Sun Belt, it's not happening this month.  UTA has a move to the Sun Belt on their board of regents agenda this week.  They'll put the Sun Belt at a 12/10 setup.  We'll see if the Sun Belt expands again next year and who they'll target.

[UNLV]

I hope Tubbs didn't retire out of frustration. I know I am as a fan.

[coachacola]

I think this article by Tony Barnhart sums up Lamar's situation.

[quote]UNC Charlotte is building a football program but won't play its first game until 2013.
Georgia State has been playing football for only two years.
Old Dominion has been playing football for only three years.
Texas-San Antonio has been playing football for one year.
What do these fledgling programs have in common? [/quote]

Answer:

[quote]These schools haven't done a lot on the field, but they all have what the conferences are looking for in expansion: Student bodies of 20,000 or more, with top-50 TV markets that are in strong recruiting territories. [/quote]

Link: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19112305/conference-shuffle-creating-room-for-upstarts-to-make-jump-to-fbs

[puddin tane]

[quote name="UNLV" post="1224850" timestamp="1337652470"]
I hope Tubbs didn't retire out of frustration. I know I am as a fan.
[/quote]

I'm not so sure you a fan...maybe just a complainer.......

we missed out on football for 20 some odd years..its back, year three and you do nothing but b%tch and complain

[UNLV]

[quote name="puddin tane" post="1224872" timestamp="1337658979"]
[quote author=UNLV link=topic=99866.msg1224850#msg1224850 date=1337652470]
I hope Tubbs didn't retire out of frustration. I know I am as a fan.
[/quote]

I'm not so sure you a fan...maybe just a complainer.......

we missed out on football for 20 some odd years..its back, year three and you do nothing but b%tch and complain
[/quote]I want to see Lamar grow and one day knock off a Baylor again. You want a Lamar vs McMurry so you can laugh at how pathetic Lamar looks.

I was there before Lamar insanely dropped football. I was there when Lamar insanely dropped back down to the SLC. Now Lamar is in a position to possibly make another insane move by not jumping to FBS.

[UNLV]

[quote name="coachacola" post="1224858" timestamp="1337654445"]
I think this article by Tony Barnhart sums up Lamar's situation.

[quote]UNC Charlotte is building a football program but won't play its first game until 2013.
Georgia State has been playing football for only two years.
Old Dominion has been playing football for only three years.
Texas-San Antonio has been playing football for one year.
What do these fledgling programs have in common? [/quote]

Answer:

[quote]These schools haven't done a lot on the field, but they all have what the conferences are looking for in expansion: Student bodies of 20,000 or more, with top-50 TV markets that are in strong recruiting territories. [/quote]

Link: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19112305/conference-shuffle-creating-room-for-upstarts-to-make-jump-to-fbs
[/quote]True, but their logic is flawed and there is a limit on top 50 markets. Those schools, except ODU, will never carry there market. Also, there are no more huge markets for CUSA and Sunbelt to raid. The Sunbelt still needs a least 2 more football schools or lose an ESPN Championship game. The Sunbelt needs a western school in/near Houston. Houston Baptist?

[UNLV]

Cola, it looks to me like the SEC, Big 12, and Big 10 will chop up the ACC.

[coachacola]

[quote name="UNLV" post="1224944" timestamp="1337696075"]
Cola, it looks to me like the SEC, Big 12, and Big 10 will chop up the ACC.
[/quote]
That's why I think conference realignment is not over yet and schools like Lamar still have a small window of opportunity to go FBS.  Staying in the SLC for another year or two would only benefit the football program so I'm taking a more patient approach to all this and we'll see what happens.

Lot's of great things are happening in and around Lamar, like a new $15 million student center, a new 10 year master plan will be released soon, and the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro area has surpassed 390K in population for the first time ever.  I feel good about the future of Lamar University and the athletic program.

[UNLV]

You're right, but I'm not sure if chopping up the ACC will trickle down. CUSA and Sunbelt most likely will go 16. That would be 8 slots to fill. The PAC 12 needs 4 to go 16.

[UNLV]

Florida st and Clemson to the BIG 12. 
http://jugofsnyder.com/2012/05/21/florida-state-and-clemson-will-inform-acc-of-intent-to-leave/

Some rumors has ND joining too.

BTW, Lamar is bigger than Clemson.