Ugh, I mean just...UGH!!!

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Originally Posted by Turbine

The sheer "availability" aspect embedded in being independent makes budget less of a factor.

12 games opens a lot of doors to getting appearance fees. If properly managed, that income in turn opens a lot of doors to paying opponents.

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They have a current budget of $50 million dollars...we have a current budget of $21 million dollars...which athletic department would it be easier to be independent? right here and now In real life with actual money and real budgets? Why are those doors not open now then? Where are all our P5 Home and homes? Oh that’s right we use that P5 money to operate the athletic department on our tiny budget. They don’t need money games because they have money. We need money games because we don’t have any money. Therefore having a $50 million dollar budget makes it EASIER to be independent than $20 million. Not debatable, having $30 million extra dollars would make most things in life easier...and they already have it.

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Originally Posted by Hark Mudspeth

They have a current budget of $50 million dollars...we have a current budget of $21 million dollars...which athletic department would it be easier to be independent? right here and now In real life with actual money and real budgets? Why are those doors not open now then? Where are all our P5 Home and homes? Oh that’s right we use that P5 money to operate the athletic department on our tiny budget. They don’t need money games because they have money. We need money games because we don’t have any money. Therefore having a $50 million dollar budget makes it EASIER to be independent than $20 million. Not debatable, having $30 million extra dollars would make most things in life easier...and they already have it.

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I'm not comparing UL to Liberty, I'm comparing shackled UL to independant UL.

Im saying UL can make much more money as an independent.

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Originally Posted by Hark Mudspeth

It’s also easier to be independent with a $50 mil budget, you can buy a lot of games with that instead of being the one getting bought.

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.....not being in a conference is used by other schools as huge negative against them....can't play for a championship, no ring trophy, no natural rivalries.....Also I have always thought it to be a very rough road in filling out schedules as 8 more games are needed to be booked....I could be wrong on this, but just pops up this way!!!

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Originally Posted by Boomer

.....not being in a conference is used by other schools as huge negative against them....can't play for a championship, no ring trophy, no natural rivalries.....Also I have always thought it to be a very rough road in filling out schedules as 8 more games are needed to be booked....I could be wrong on this, but just pops up this way!!!

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I think going independent would be the death of the program. The leadership at this university hasn’t shown me anything that tells me they could pull this off. We have been shown the exact opposite over and over actually. The relationships we have (don’t have) with the schools in our geographical region alone would kill us. They would sit back and laugh while watching the program die and love every minute knowing they had a hand in it.

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Originally Posted by Boomer

.....not being in a conference is used by other schools as huge negative against them....can't play for a championship, no ring trophy, no natural rivalries.....Also I have always thought it to be a very rough road in filling out schedules as 8 more games are needed to be booked....I could be wrong on this, but just pops up this way!!!

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When there were only 85 D1 teams and you had to play all D1 games, scheduling was tougher.

Now that the number of FBS (D1) teams is approaching 140 plus a FCS game being allowed. Scheduling is a completely different ball game.

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Originally Posted by Turbine

I'm not comparing UL to Liberty, I'm comparing shackled UL to independant UL.

Im saying UL can make much more money as an independent.

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And I disagree. This university doesn’t know how to make money.... and it’s most die hard fans complain everytime something goes up a dollar. Even if we were gifted the best schedule we would get crushed for a couple years and the money would dry up, the excitement would be over. You are basically betting that you will hit a grand slam and you only get one pitch, the first pitch and you gotta swing.

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Originally Posted by Boomer

.....Also I have always thought it to be a very rough road in filling out schedules as 8 more games are needed to be booked....I could be wrong on this, but just pops up this way!!!

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No you are right, why do you think Notre Dame has an agreement with the ACC to schedule 5 ACC teams in football every year. Also rumors that the ACC and ND have been in talks for them to join the conference full time, ND has denied.

Those on here that think going independent is the right move are the same as the democrats that think socialized medicine is the right move. They think they are smarter than everyone else and it is not that socialized medicine can't work it is just the wrong people were running it.

Going independent football would crush every other sport or bankrupt us.

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Originally Posted by Hark Mudspeth

And I disagree. This university doesn’t know how to make money.... and it’s most die hard fans complain everytime something goes up a dollar. Even if we were gifted the best schedule we would get crushed for a couple years and the money would dry up, the excitement would be over. You are basically betting that you will hit a grand slam and you only get one pitch, the first pitch and you gotta swing.

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How does the money dry up? UL can make as much or more from one appearance fee as the RCAF is currently bringing in.

Athletes want to play competition, recruiting will go up not down.

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Originally Posted by Turbine

How does the money dry up? UL can make as much or more from one appearance fee as the RCAF is currently bringing in.

Athletes want to play competition, recruiting will go up not down.

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Will you play all 12 on the road? You gonna have to use that money to buy home games. Your money will dry up by going 2-10. Latech, tulane, USM, Rice,Houston, SMU will all laugh at us when we ask for Home and Home without an obsurd amount of money. Why did liberty try to gain entrance to every conference possible? And only went independent as last resort? And they have money. Why doesn’t Idaho go independent? Why doesn’t every team in the bottom half of their conference go Independent? NMSU is going Independent hoping for a lifeline before they will be forced to FCS. Liberty is hedging their bets that they have enough money to last long enough to impress and they will accept a conference invitation the day it is extended.

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Originally Posted by MelRock

Going independent football would crush every other sport or bankrupt us.

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Myth!

Softball rose to national prominence as an independent (the only independent at the school for much of that time) it has maintained it's status in spite of being in a conference.

Baseball is dependent on it's out of conference schedule to maintain respectability.

The Sun Belt is like being on permanant welfare and unable to recognize how much better off you would be if you went out and got a job.

jmo