We either out recruit or give those schools a run for their money in recruiting. Having us as conference mates takes away the perception advantage they gained by being in a separate conference. This was the primary reason we always got so much hate from Tulane and Memphis, but SMU enjoys not being associate with us too. Tulsa will soon enough.
I don't know how the administration of SMU feels, but I feel nothing but respect from them over here in Texas. SMU, Houston, and Rice all seem to have a very favorable view towards our name and who we are. The only perception problem I have seen is in N. Louisiana. Now, Tulane may be a whole different story.
The thinking in N.La isn't keeping us out of the BE.
http://www.mwcconnection.com/2013/2/...eal-nbc-sports
BE tv deal.
Not knocking anyone's socks off.
Think about it........ The media, the alumni, the communities, and the administration. Any one of these causes a ripple effect on the others. It does matter...... lsu has a role in this, but I hand it to them to make the people of N. Louisiana think the way they do. It is so pervasive in Shreveport that they think we are in a different division. Outside of the state, we stand on our own name alone.
You can draw a direct corralation between what I stated and money. I happen to think it has more to do with not marketing ourselves in the right way to conference officials - more than the money. However, even if you think it is just about money, that goes back to the mindset.
Champion110, I completely agree with your point about mindset. Having lived in WAC/MWC country for more than a decade, I can tell you that the Louisiana Tech name is known and respected. Fans outside of North Louisiana view us (and themselves) very differently than fans in North La.
And, when you read articles about Tech in the Las Vegas Review Journal or the Fresno Bee, you don't see the writers taking shots at the fans and teams like the Shreveport Times does. Mindset plays a big role in this.
I also agree that the mindset has a big impact on money. How many Tech alumni live in Shreveport-Bosser, but don't attend Tech games or give money to the program? How many of those same fans attend games in BR, or give money to that school? If they weren't beaten down by the Shreveport bandwagon mentality, they would give more to Tech and would not wait until we played in Independence Stadium to go see a game. School pride has a lot to do with money donated and mindset has everything to do with school pride.