2012 New Orleans Bowl

[Frenchie35]

Wait a minute.. Where did this Big 12 bs start? Lets look at history. We have beat 2 Big 12 teams (t a&m and k-state) that I recall. And both were in down years. We have never beat an sec, big 10, acc, PAC 12 school, again, that I recall. We play two money games a year and have a DOA record vs. the big boys.. The question keeps getting asked ,"what do we have to do to get noticed?" We'll, lets start by beating Arkansas and k-state next year. Start doing it regularly and we will get noticed just like Boise did. Else, we are where we are.. Would be much better to take the money games, win them, say "thank you very much for the check, move onto the next big boy victim and repeat. Then we get noticed and asked to join the party....

I think that is the answer to all our questions. Have been thinking this way for awhile now. Forget about all that other crap, budget etc, clear your minds and beat the so call money game teams, come home and say, "who's next". That will get you notice big time...

[MelRock]

I have to disagree a little bit that winning on the field has nothing to do with you getting in a bigger conference. Do you not think that the Big East didn't notice Boise State winning. They are 112th TV market with a population of 262,290. Lafayette, LA 123 with 230,670. Now the other schools yes it is about TV market, but that is not the only criteria.

[CajunAlum10]

I have to disagree a little bit that winning on the field has nothing to do with you getting in a bigger conference. Do you not think that the Big East didn't notice Boise State winning. They are 112th TV market with a population of 262,290. Lafayette, LA 123 with 230,670. Now the other schools yes it is about TV market, but that is not the only criteria.

This.

[cajunfan96]

FYI....Big 12 has come out of Ken Winstead mouth.....I believe it's the ultimate goal.

Not suprising. Ken Winstead gets it!

[cajuncorkdork]

The Big 12 isnt going to use the 20 million as a reason to bring us in . What are we doing to make us attractive to them without the 20 mil???

[CajunAlum10]

Guys, let's be honest with ourselves here. I don't care if you think CUSA is not a big step up right now.... but there is no way in hell we get an invite from the Big12 coming straight from the Belt. Give me a freakin break.

I agree the Big12 is the perfect ultimate destination. But this isn't chinese checkers, you don't hop over other conferences. Whoever pointed out TCU earlier, just look at that example. They didn't go straight from the WAC to Big12, they went WAC, CUSA, MWC, then BIG12.

The only way we hop over a conference in my opinion is if we get invited to MWC for an EAST division of some sort... that would be leap frogging CUSA. The Sun Belt may have been on the up and up, but perception is still perception and CUSA gives us a much better outlook on our future. No doubt about it.

[Bigbuf]

Not suprising. Ken Winstead gets it!

Let's give them credit....Ken is the salesman for the school. He would not go out and say something that is not approved. If its Ken's goal then it's Scott's and T-joe's and approved by HUD.

Lets just hope that the backing is there from EVERYONE to make this happen!

[moorecajun]

Guys, let's be honest with ourselves here. I don't care if you think CUSA is not a big step up right now.... but there is no way in hell we get an invite from the Big12 coming straight from the Belt. Give me a freakin break.

I agree the Big12 is the perfect ultimate destination. But this isn't chinese checkers, you don't hop over other conferences. Whoever pointed out TCU earlier, just look at that example. They didn't go straight from the WAC to Big12, they went WAC, CUSA, MWC, then BIG12.

The only way we hop over a conference in my opinion is if we get invited to MWC for an EAST division of some sort... that would be leap frogging CUSA. The Sun Belt may have been on the up and up, but perception is still perception and CUSA gives us a much better outlook on our future. No doubt about it.

Ok, you guys have got to start thinking "long term" here. We are coming out with a MASTER PLAN to create a footprint for athletics for the next 10-20 years; nobody is talking about the next year or two. Look down the road; CUSA cannot be our goal for this; it can be an intermediate step but CUSA is only slightly better than the Sun Belt today, who knows how long it stays witht that "perception".

We are talking about a PLAN that will need us to attain certain annual goals, 5-year goals, etc., always looking to the future.

[CajunAlum10]

Ok, you guys have got to start thinking "long term" here. We are coming out with a MASTER PLAN to create a footprint for athletics for the next 10-20 years; nobody is talking about the next year or two. Look down the road; CUSA cannot be our goal for this; it can be an intermediate step but CUSA is only slightly better than the Sun Belt today, who knows how long it stays witht that "perception".

We are talking about a PLAN that will need us to attain certain annual goals, 5-year goals, etc., always looking to the future.

I completely agree! I just don't see how you get to BIG12 without including CUSA in the beginning of that "long-term" plan. First thing's first, lets win a Sun Belt Championship outright next season.

[cajunfan96]

I completely agree! I just don't see how you get to BIG12 without including CUSA in the beginning of that "long-term" plan. First thing's first, lets win a Sun Belt Championship outright next season.

What we need is some RCAF board members to be replaced for some with Vision!!!!!!!!

[bjc6267]

I was invited to a crawfish boil with Coach Hud in early 2012. (It was an RCAF auction item that some friends had purchased). We were sitting and talking with Hud about his plans for the future. Conference realignment came up, and Coach Hud brought up the Big XII. It was something to the effect of, "I know people were hoping for a jump to CUSA, but that is not really my final goal. I can't see any reason why we can't build up the program to be ready for Big XII membership in the foreseeable future." It's a paraphrase of what he said 10 months ago, but still, he did mention having Big XII aspirations in the next several years.

I know that it still a very long shot, but we have seen tremendous growth in the development of RCAF. This is all WITHOUT A PLAN and with only two great seasons under an amazing coach. Let us assume we get 1 more year with Hud and win another 8 games and end up in another regional bowl. The combination of having the master plan in 2013 and people seeing the need to either pay Hud in the $1 million range or bring in a top flight coach in that range should drive heavy fundraising activity.

If we can either keep Hud or bring in someone to carry on his momentum, I think that our budget in 2016 will look drastically different than it does in 2012. A $25 million budget in 2016 is not at all out of our reach regardless of what conference we are in. If we hit $25 million and have 5 or 6 years of consecutively winning, it would not be a bad move by the Big 12 to spread into the Louisiana market. Maybe it is not as ridiculous as everyone is saying.

[Turbine]

Any national firm that may have been hired (to come up with a master plan) has to made to understand that priority one is to get into the Big-12

If that is "goal one" then any other possible contingency will be easily met.

[Zeebart21]

I was invited to a crawfish boil with Coach Hud in early 2012. (It was an RCAF auction item that some friends had purchased). We were sitting and talking with Hud about his plans for the future. Conference realignment came up, and Coach Hud brought up the Big XII. It was something to the effect of, "I know people were hoping for a jump to CUSA, but that is not really my final goal. I can't see any reason why we can't build up the program to be ready for Big XII membership in the foreseeable future." It's a paraphrase of what he said 10 months ago, but still, he did mention having Big XII aspirations in the next several years.

I know that it still a very long shot, but we have seen tremendous growth in the development of RCAF. This is all WITHOUT A PLAN and with only two great seasons under an amazing coach. Let us assume we get 1 more year with Hud and win another 8 games and end up in another regional bowl. The combination of having the master plan in 2013 and people seeing the need to either pay Hud in the $1 million range or bring in a top flight coach in that range should drive heavy fundraising activity.

If we can either keep Hud or bring in someone to carry on his momentum, I think that our budget in 2016 will look drastically different than it does in 2012. A $25 million budget in 2016 is not at all out of our reach regardless of what conference we are in. If we hit $25 million and have 5 or 6 years of consecutively winning, it would not be a bad move by the Big 12 to spread into the Louisiana market. Maybe it is not as ridiculous as everyone is saying.

Our problem.. Too many people saying ____ cant be done.. Too few people like HUD saying get it done. Sucks to be small time.

Z

[Turbine]

The Big 12 isnt going to use the 20 million as a reason to bring us in . What are we doing to make us attractive to them without the 20 mil???

You are right, but when you lay down your guaranteed budget for proactive consideration, it is fair to include those numbers.

[CajunAlum10]

I was invited to a crawfish boil with Coach Hud in early 2012. (It was an RCAF auction item that some friends had purchased). We were sitting and talking with Hud about his plans for the future. Conference realignment came up, and Coach Hud brought up the Big XII. It was something to the effect of, "I know people were hoping for a jump to CUSA, but that is not really my final goal. I can't see any reason why we can't build up the program to be ready for Big XII membership in the foreseeable future." It's a paraphrase of what he said 10 months ago, but still, he did mention having Big XII aspirations in the next several years.

I know that it still a very long shot, but we have seen tremendous growth in the development of RCAF. This is all WITHOUT A PLAN and with only two great seasons under an amazing coach. Let us assume we get 1 more year with Hud and win another 8 games and end up in another regional bowl. The combination of having the master plan in 2013 and people seeing the need to either pay Hud in the $1 million range or bring in a top flight coach in that range should drive heavy fundraising activity.

If we can either keep Hud or bring in someone to carry on his momentum, I think that our budget in 2016 will look drastically different than it does in 2012. A $25 million budget in 2016 is not at all out of our reach regardless of what conference we are in. If we hit $25 million and have 5 or 6 years of consecutively winning, it would not be a bad move by the Big 12 to spread into the Louisiana market. Maybe it is not as ridiculous as everyone is saying.

+1,000