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Originally Posted by maddawg
As much as we would like to think otherwise, I am afraid that you are correct. I see sort of a club attitude with the CUSA founding schools, and unfortunately, we are not part of that club. Not making CUSA at the outset may have been Tech's biggest athletic blunder ever.
I'm sure you know, but it wasn't that we didn't make it. We actually chose not to pursue C-USA in the beginning. Stovall made that decision and D.R. rubber stamped it. We actually had a few years after the WAC when we could have worked towards C-CUSA membership, but D.R. was then content with the WAC, Jim Oakes, and the fact that WBB meant more to our school than any other sport. "Flagship Program". What an intellectual nerd he was and is.
LFR would agree with the above.:icon_wink:
Well, we did not "make" it because we choose not to try. A total lack of foresight and wisdom on the part of the admin.
Whatever the circumstances were, it not getting in CUSA has had ramifications much larger than anybody would have/could have predicted back then. And looks like it will have ramifacations into the future.
It's called "legacy".Well, we did not "make" it because we choose not to try. A total lack of foresight and wisdom on the part of the admin.
Whatever the circumstances were, it not getting in CUSA has had ramifications much larger than anybody would have/could have predicted back then. And looks like it will have ramifacations into the future.
Two bad decisions...not doing everything possible to hold on to Tommy Joe Eagles and then foolishly tossing aside Paul Miller for Jerry Stovall...have shaped Tech athletics for the past 20+ years and look to be shaping Tech athletics for the next 20+ years.
That is the Reneau athletic legacy...what could/should have been, not what was/will be.
We still have many Harry and Lloyds holding out hope.
Lloyd: If I know Mary as well as I think I do, she'll invite us right in for tea and strumpets.
I believe it is more than just the administration. It is a whole culture of N. Louisiana. The administration is part of that. They (and many of our fans, even some hard core ones on here) don't think the other schools like us, complain about ourselves constantly, think we are smaller than we are in name, etc....
Our administration has a case of being short sighted and not shooting for the top. They wait till the last minute to try to get us into something better. It is a lack of a goal and working toward it.
Many of our fans play the victim role and state others don't want us in their club, when the perception of our university is MUCH greater outside of N. Louisiana than it is in it.
Our media is, probably, the worst offender. Sometimes the old saying of "the media mirrors the people" is true, though.
Strumpets? I don't think so.
Good summary.
Regardless of whether Tulsa joins the new BE or not, I've been telling you that there's no way in hell the TV networks are gonna throw a bunch of money at the new BE. At the end of the day, it' still just SMU, Houston, Tulane, etc...... Not a lot of payback for the networks.
Tulsa, UMass, Southern Miss, or any FBS school in the central or eastern time zones would accept a Big East invite in a heart beat. That includes us. Don't be foolish to think that these schools wouldn't accept a Big East invite.
If needed, the Big East would help a school pay their C-USA exit fee. The Big East will do what's necessary to survive.
The Big East is swimming in exit penalty money from 13 schools.
The Big East is also swimming in NCAA MBB units. Their last distribution in 2011-12 was 113 units which equated to $27,369,046. Their distribution for this year is 117 units which projects to $28,725,138. Assuming the Big East will earn more than 13 units this year, the Big East will have even more units to distribute next year. Yes, those units will start to taper off. However, it takes 1 year before they kick in, and then they roll over for 6 years. In comparison, C-USA only had 21 units for $5,086,283 in 2011-12, and C-USA only has 18 units for a projected $4,419,252 this year.
The Big East's TV deal will still be larger than C-USA's TV deal.
The Big East will also most likely get a larger football performance distribution than C-USA most years.
Everybody wants the perception of moving up, and nobody wants to be associated with former Belch schools.
Also, Navy's AD appears to be very committed to the Big East.
I don't think the former C-USA teams have anything personal against Louisiana Tech. All that matters to them is their bottom line. We simply don't bring in BC$ money, NCAA MBB units, or a large TV market. In addition, our finances and facilities aren't up to par. But I don't think there is an aversion to Louisiana Tech like there is to schools from the Belch. I don't think any of those schools have a problem with the Louisiana Tech athletic or academic brand. Remember we were a part of the proposed 32-team mega-conference before we got our C-USA invite.
Last edited by Dawg06; 02-10-2013 at 08:10 PM.
Sarcasm on the 32 team deal? No emoticon, so I'll just say that there was never any substance to that.
Those teams have an aversion to any program not committed to athletics. We got into the WAC when it was time to be lobbying C-USA. We got into C-USA when it was time to be lobbying other conferences. Both happened because we have leaders who can't see past next week when it comes to athletics.
That mega-conference didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of happening, but at the time, it was a real proposal by Thompson and Banowsky. It's not like it was some internet rumor. I think it revealed where we stand in all this conference realignment mess. We are probably somewhere between #5-12 in line for the Big East right now. We are definitely not in the top 4.
IF we get our act together as far as finances and facilities go, I don't think those schools would be opposed to us. At some point, the alternatives get really ugly, but we have a very long way to go with our finances and facilities. Our proposed south end zone complex is very weak compared to our peers' facilities.
We would need a lot more movement to land a Big East invite, and I don't see enough dominoes falling in our favor to get in the Big East. This is why I was saying that we wanted Boise State and San Diego State to stay in the Big East because it meant a better C-USA. We would probably need Tulane to land a Big XII invite before we could land a Big East invite... And yes, that's very possible IF the Big XII is forced to expand to 16 as Tulane has already had discussions with the Big XII, but again, I don't see it happening.
Last edited by Dawg06; 02-10-2013 at 09:34 PM.
Of course, you also said there was no way in hell that Conference USA would look to the CAA for additions.
Seriously, if the numbers mentioned here come to fruition, I will certainly concede that you were correct on that. If I recall, my estimation (after BSU/SDSU/C7 departures) was that it would be worth at least two million (my guess was 2-3, my hope 3-4), which this certainly falls short of. Which it still might be.
University of Houston '01. Any references to "we" or "us" likely refer to UH. Cheers!
That's a really good post. It's been said a thousand times that LA Tech has a bigger and better name OUTSIDE the state of Louisiana than it does inside. It's more true today than ever.
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