First let me say that losing the CUSA bid to the likes of UTEP is embarrassing!!! There I said it!
Second, I just don't buy into all the reasons many are giving. I've been in sales for over 22 years and many times I've closed deals when my price wasn't the best or my product wasn't the most flashy. No, I closed those deals because my customer trusted me and wanted to do business with me. I believe this element played a much larger role in the final outcome. I'm convinced we didn't close the deal because several of the players just don't won't to associate with La Tech (a certain USM AD comes to mind) and our admin's didn't do enough to heal old wounds. Remember the brawl in Tulsa? etc, etc, etc.........
Market Size: Any market where 70% of the HH's speak Spanish as the primary language is suspect. Sorry PC crowd. Also, didn't hear anyone address HH income E.P. vs NoLA. Also, how much of that market is across the border.
Athletic Budget: UTEP $10mm vs LTU $9mm. That's a wash.
On Field Results: With the exception of MBB this year, Tech dominates. Especially in men's baseball. Hard to argue that since they don't even have a team.
Facilities: Heard someone point out that if you include Independence Stadium our facilities stack right up.
Fan Attendance: Ah Now we're finding one of our perceived warts. Admitted our at home attendance is below UTEPs but when you factor in (sell) the reality that LTU will bring lots more fans to CUSA away games I say this is a wash as well. Even I could "sell around" this perceived deficiency.
So when I finished scratching my head in amazement I have to believe that we were sucker punched by some CUSA folks that simply don't want to do business with us. (a certain USM AD comes to mind)
Yeah we need to be about improving all areas of LTU athletics, but we must do a better job on the relationship side of the sell job next time as well.