Serious Conference Realignment Discussion

SBC regional plan should place in highest priority the size of teams' fan travel number$.

THAT's the only business decision they should be studying.

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Originally Posted by crawfish333

Some of you seem to think UL and ULM may have prevented La. Tech from being invited to join the SBC. I would disagree. IMO, There were several factors that came into play, some of which may eventually change. Here are some of the factors that may not have been discussed on this forum previously:

• The eastern teams have been clamoring for the add of former FCS rival schools for some time now, including Marshall and James Madison. As I am sure many of you are aware, Marshall and App was pushing hard for their add.
• JMU is a school that the conference wanted in the last realignment, but it was not ready. They have a large athletic budget and a traditional rivalry with other eastern schools. They also have good support for their programs. Even as an FCS school, football attendance is typically well over 20K.
• I believe that Marshall and App drove the inclusion of ODU. For Marshall, it could have been an all 3 or nothing deal.
• There were rumors that Marshall may have been trying to organize the eastern SBC and C-USA schools to start an east coast league. (not sure how serious it was) The schools added to the SBC effectively removed this as an option.
• IMO, the McClelland interview from last year hurt La. Tech's chances from schools in the conference (other than UL and ULM) the most. I think UL and ULM would have voted for La. Tech to be added for political reasons, but other schools (like Arkansas State) had no such obligation. Since the administration did nothing to refute what McClelland said, I guess the other schools probably assumed that it was the official position of La. Tech. I think most conferences would not wish to add a school that openly expressed distain for the conference.
• Having 3 schools from Louisiana was also not especially appealing.
• Adding USM was a no-brainer. The west schools like UL, ULM, ASU, and USA were anxious to get a local rival, and ULM fits the bill perfectly. They also openly publicly expressed a strong desire to join the belt.

Things change rapidly in Conference realignment these days, so nothing is out of the realm of possibility. For example, if Texas State were to get an invitation to join the MWC, then I expect La. Tech might be a strong candidate to replace them, if they would publicly express a desire to join the SBC. Also, if UTA and UALR were to leave, the conference might decide to go to 16 full time members. No apology would be necessary but perhaps a rebuke of what McClelland said about the Belt might be helpful. To me, it seems like McClelland screwed the pooch as he was planning his exit from La Tech. Sometimes it is better to say nothing rather than alienate those who you may need help from in the future.

Good luck in whatever path La. Tech chooses.

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I can agree with all of this except the McClelland item. That's message board fodder and nothing else.

You also didnt note that Tech football beat every single SBC team it played from 2001 until the end of 2020. It took the covid year for a SBC football team to finally knock off Tech. I think that's the real reason Tech is where it is. A victim of our own success. SBC AD's and Presidents werent about to risk another 2 decades of football futility verus Tech.

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Originally Posted by Champ967

I can agree with all of this except the McClelland item. That's message board fodder and nothing else.

You also didnt note that Tech football beat every single SBC team it played from 2001 until the end of 2020. It took the covid year for a SBC football team to finally knock off Tech. I think that's the real reason Tech is where it is. A victim of our own success. SBC AD's and Presidents werent about to risk another 2 decades of football futility verus Tech.

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Not just in football either. Basketball would clearly go our way. We would be top 2-3 in baseball before a pitch is thrown.

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Originally Posted by Champ967

I can agree with all of this except the McClelland item. That's message board fodder and nothing else.

You also didnt note that Tech football beat every single SBC team it played from 2001 until the end of 2020. It took the covid year for a SBC football team to finally knock off Tech. I think that's the real reason Tech is where it is. A victim of our own success. SBC AD's and Presidents werent about to risk another 2 decades of football futility verus Tech.

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Agreed on your point about McClelland. His comments were reckless and needlessly called out another school. His comments reflected badly on the university and there was a reason he was let go. There is also a reason why we have continued to schedule and play ULM and ULL in sports before and after McClelland. The administrations don't seem to have a problem working together before and after his comments. Message board posters bring this up much more, and they really only have brought it up again recently. It was forgotten about until Tech's isolation after realignment became apparent. It's a red herring.

However the idea is nonsensical that the Sun Belt didn't invite Tech because Tech has bossed them around on the football field. If a team bossed CUSA around consistently and fit in the geographic profile of the conference, we would not hesitate to invite them in the conference. Would we reject Alabama if they wanted to join? Would the MAC reject Notre Dame? Obviously those analogies aren't exactly the same as those are huge profile schools but the point still stands. You want the conference to have better competition; inviting a winning member is wanted not rejected. It simply came down to Troy and the eastern Sun Belt schools holding the votes and sway of the conference's direction and CUSA having a terrible media deal and leadership.

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Originally Posted by Dawgonit

However the idea is nonsensical that the Sun Belt didn't invite Tech because Tech has bossed them around on the football field.

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Well, maybe ...

But I like it and I'm sticking with it.

Pete Thamel
@PeteThamel
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17m
Sources: Conference USA has invited Liberty, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State and Sam Houston to join the league. The potential of paying a $2 million entrance fee appears to be the last major issue.

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Originally Posted by sportdawg

Pete Thamel
@PeteThamel
·
17m
Sources: Conference USA has invited Liberty, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State and Sam Houston to join the league. The potential of paying a $2 million entrance fee appears to be the last major issue.

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And there is the classic Tech blow both our feet off with a shotgun move.... "We need you guys to survive but you have to pay us 2 million for the privilege of saving our dysfunctional administrations ass.... please dont call our bluff.. pretty please.."

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Originally Posted by DallasDog

And there is the classic Tech blow both our feet off with a shotgun move.... "We need you guys to survive but you have to pay us 2 million for the privilege of saving our dysfunctional administrations ass.... please dont call our bluff.. pretty please.."

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C-USA gonna say, "Oops, we forgot to delete that line."

Well, you know what they say, "you miss out on 100% of the conference entry fees you don't ask for!"

I am inviting anyone on this board to come over to my place Friday for a barbeque. Please bring a check for 2 million dollars or equivalent in junk silver (preferred)

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Originally Posted by FriscoDawg

Tech cannot survive on Louisiana students alone.

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Tech needs to absorb ULM or LSUS to instantly grow and draw the correct attention.

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Originally Posted by sportdawg

Pete Thamel
@PeteThamel
·
17m
Sources: Conference USA has invited Liberty, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State and Sam Houston to join the league. The potential of paying a $2 million entrance fee appears to be the last major issue.

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Well that gets the league up to 7. Still one more needed to save the conference.

Rumors from the CUSA board...

WKU and MTSU were first asked to sign a 25-year guarantee to stay contract before The MAC extended an invitation. Now it is a 15-year term. Missouri State was considering a move to CUSA as an all-sports member but only if WKU and MTSU stayed in CUSA. Seems to me that the powers-that-be at WKU, MTSU, and Mizzou State should have a conference call and all get on the same page. If those three do decide to make CUSA home, then the additions of NMSU and Liberty makes 8 and then Sam Houston State would make it an ideal 9. Jacksonville State is also rumored to be interested. 10 schools, 5-team divisions, East-West.

Then the options of single-sports-only schools open up...and I really like the idea of Dallas Baptist for baseball. Wow! That would be a huge addition.

That's most of the positives...on the flip side, if CUSA does lose WKU and MTSU to The MAC, and thus no Mizzou State, Then UCONN and UMASS enter the picture, as do some other FCS schools.

What really bugs me about this is what Wood's comments that make it seem like we're just making phone calls and seeing what happens. If you're Louisiana Tech and you're the strongest member of the remaining 3, aren't you running point on keeping this thing together. At the end of the day, MAC is really weak in football. You're going to let WKU and MTSU get poached because they think you're looking to jump off the ship as soon as a lifeboat miraculously shows up?

I'm actually feeling a bit better about all this today. At this point we can only control what we can control and Guice/Wood should be focused on keeping WKU and MTSU in the fold.

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Originally Posted by Bill Brasky

What really bugs me about this is what Wood's comments that make it seem like we're just making phone calls and seeing what happens. If you're Louisiana Tech and you're the strongest member of the remaining 3, aren't you running point on keeping this thing together. At the end of the day, MAC is really weak in football. You're going to let WKU and MTSU get poached because they think you're looking to jump off the ship as soon as a lifeboat miraculously shows up?

I'm actually feeling a bit better about all this today. At this point we can only control what we can control and Guice/Wood should be focused on keeping WKU and MTSU in the fold.

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Do you really think Woods and Guice are actively talking with WKU and MTSU to keep them around?