Scheduling . .

[RCAJUN90]

_ Why would we have to play BCS schools every week? Other conferences still need to schedule games. It might be easier to schedule C-USA, WAC, MAC & an SBC game mixed in with BCS schools and a 1AA school than it is to play those conferences as an SBC member. We have a bowl game to play for in the SBC, but it hasn't done anything for us. We tied for the conference and didn't play. We were bowl eligible this year and didn't play. We have a great reputation on baseball and softball, so that shouldn't be a problem. Basketball has a great reputation although we haven't played well of late. Football is up and coming. I don't think scheduling would be a major problem. In fact, we would likely have better scheduling than in the Belch. Games vs. conference members for the most part don't excit me. I still think we would be just as attractive to anyone as we are now in the Belch and likely moreso. I just might be easier to establish ourselves as an Independent than an also ran in the Belch. Maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part, but I am not ready to concede that the SBC is better than being an Independent. _

Hey that is what message boards are all about. You bring up an interesting shift for UL. We disagree if it would be a good or bad move. I respect your opinion. We can both agree that the Belch is not where we want to be.

[Frenchie35]

_
And you're also assuming that if we got 20 free throws, we would have made 4 for the win _

Yes

[HoustonCajun]

_ Hey that is what message boards are all about. You bring up an interesting shift for UL. We disagree if it would be a good or bad move. I respect your opinion. We can both agree that the Belch is not where we want to be. _

Thanks, and I respect your opinion as well. None of us want to be in the Belch, but think there is no alternative right now. I submit that there is.
And, another major advantage of being an Independent vs. SBC that I failed to mention is recruiting. I submit that being an SBC member hurts recruiting. An Independent would play a much better schedule, have as good or better chance at a bowl game, and allow for better recruiting because of our better schedule, better perception nationally, better fan support, better facilities, and better financial support. Understand that my recommendation for Independent status is based on our SBC membership. If we were in a better conference, that would make all the difference in the world. And, I would include the WAC as a much better conference, as well as C-USA. The MAC holds no interest for me and makes no sense anyway. I think we can achieve more as an Independent that we ever will in the Belch because its reputation will always be that of the lowest conference in 1A. We can gain more notoriety, improve our reputation, increase support, improve recruiting, improve scheduling, use our UL and Louisiana name, and win. And, when we do win, we won't be perceived as winning in the lowest level conference which means nothing. We will be winning against higher level competition, against teams our fans would rather see us play, against teams that will inspire people to support our program and against teams that will bring us more national recognition. And that will take us to a higher level and give us a better chance at conference realligment quicker than maintaining affiliation with the Belch. We can schedule because everybody needs teams to play, particularly on a regional basis, and we won't be hindered by the reputation of the SBC or by conference scheduling requirements, which generate 0 dollars for us anyway. Again, just my opinion.

[CajunZ1]

_

I can't find much wrong with what you're saying.

Can anybody refute these ideas as bogus? The only argument to the contrary that I've heard was a simple "we'd go bankrupt and it would be the death of UL football."

How so?

Again, I'm just asking since I'm admittedly pretty ignorant about all this stuff...

[Hammer58]

_ I can't find much wrong with what you're saying.

Can anybody refute these ideas as bogus? The only argument to the contrary that I've heard was a simple "we'd go bankrupt and it would be the death of UL football."

How so?

Again, I'm just asking since I'm admittedly pretty ignorant about all this stuff... _

Prior to the Belt membership we were indiependent. At one time it was possible in large part because you had a number of other football mid-majors that were in the same boat such as S Miss, E Carolina and others that people mention as our peers that have passd us by. the big change came when most of them got into CUSA. That and the bowl tie-ins going to different conferences changed the landscape. The argument about a better chance of playing in a bowl as an independent and easier to recruit have been proven worng. that was our reason for seeking FB only memebership in the Big West. When that door closed we pursued forming football in the Belt which up until then did not have it and did not have enough members playing FB which is why ULM got into the Belt.

[Hammer58]

_ Thanks, and I respect your opinion as well. None of us want to be in the Belch, but think there is no alternative right now. I submit that there is.
And, another major advantage of being an Independent vs. SBC that I failed to mention is recruiting. I submit that being an SBC member hurts recruiting. An Independent would play a much better schedule, have as good or better chance at a bowl game, and allow for better recruiting because of our better schedule, better perception nationally, better fan support, better facilities, and better financial support. Understand that my recommendation for Independent status is based on our SBC membership. If we were in a better conference, that would make all the difference in the world. And, I would include the WAC as a much better conference, as well as C-USA. The MAC holds no interest for me and makes no sense anyway. I think we can achieve more as an Independent that we ever will in the Belch because its reputation will always be that of the lowest conference in 1A. We can gain more notoriety, improve our reputation, increase support, improve recruiting, improve scheduling, use our UL and Louisiana name, and win. And, when we do win, we won't be perceived as winning in the lowest level conference which means nothing. We will be winning against higher level competition, against teams our fans would rather see us play, against teams that will inspire people to support our program and against teams that will bring us more national recognition. And that will take us to a higher level and give us a better chance at conference realligment quicker than maintaining affiliation with the Belch. We can schedule because everybody needs teams to play, particularly on a regional basis, and we won't be hindered by the reputation of the SBC or by conference scheduling requirements, which generate 0 dollars for us anyway. Again, just my opinion. _

Then why are we having trouble filling the slot for that last game right now? At least in a conference we only have to go out and fill about 4 or 5 games per season because the rest are conference games. As an independent we have to negotiate 12 games per season and make all of the dates work. As an independent there were times going into the summer when we still didn't know what our finalized schedule was going to be for the upcoming season. Now with a conference we have future schedules completed or almost completed before the end of the current season.

As for the wins and increased fan support, how do you figure that? If the Belt is so bad and we have struggled here how do you see us automatically winning if we are playing other teams which by your definition would be better than the Belt teams? Are we going to draw draw better crowds at home because we are getting killed in money games at BCS schools on the road? Who other than Belt teams, if even them, are going to agree to come here to play? If your answer is the BCS teams that we manage to get 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 deals that probably leaves us with very few home games if we have to travel 2 or 3 years for every 1 home game we manage to get.

Finally, every bowl has its participants locked in with a conference tie-in. Even in a rare year like this with open spots because of teams not having 6 wins what independent other than ND or Navy got a bid?

I just do not see the argument in favor of being an independent holding any water.

[HoustonCajun]

_ Prior to the Belt membership we were indiependent. At one time it was possible in large part because you had a number of other football mid-majors that were in the same boat such as S Miss, E Carolina and others that people mention as our peers that have passd us by. the big change came when most of them got into CUSA. That and the bowl tie-ins going to different conferences changed the landscape. The argument about a better chance of playing in a bowl as an independent and easier to recruit have been proven worng. that was our reason for seeking FB only memebership in the Big West. When that door closed we pursued forming football in the Belt which up until then did not have it and did not have enough members playing FB which is why ULM got into the Belt. _

From a recruiting standpoint, this is a quote on another thread:

We are recruiting against FAU, MT, Ark. State, UAB, ULM, LaTech, Tulane and some MAC programs. Those are our peers right now.

Why not try and improve the level of our peers? We are recruiting to the level of a Belch member. And in doing so, it will take that much longer to get to a higher level. Easier to recruit may not be totally accurate, but it can't be that easy to recruit for Belch competition. And, on top of that, up to this year, we haven't been very competitive even in the Belch. How can it be more difficult to recruit against a schedule that would substitute for FAU, FIU, UNT, ULM, MTSU, ASU and now WKU schools from C-USA, WAC, Big 12 and SEC? I don't know, I'm just asking? It is assumed that we can't recruit and compete as an Independent, but why not? We might actually do better financially outside of the Belch. We might get a better reputation and when we start winning against better competition, more doors might open up for us. Just about everyone wants out of the Belch, but no one is making a move to another conference and no one is willing to test Independent status. Maybe the fact that there aren't many Independents out there would work to our favor rather than our detriment. At the very least, when talking about major Independents, there would be Notre Dame, Army, Navy and Louisiana. That is better company to be in than the Belch. And, who says we couldn't schedule against them as well.

[Cajunsmike]

_ Thanks, and I respect your opinion as well. None of us want to be in the Belch, but think there is no alternative right now. I submit that there is.
And, another major advantage of being an Independent vs. SBC that I failed to mention is recruiting. I submit that being an SBC member hurts recruiting. An Independent would play a much better schedule, have as good or better chance at a bowl game, and allow for better recruiting because of our better schedule, better perception nationally, better fan support, better facilities, and better financial support. Understand that my recommendation for Independent status is based on our SBC membership. If we were in a better conference, that would make all the difference in the world. And, I would include the WAC as a much better conference, as well as C-USA. The MAC holds no interest for me and makes no sense anyway. I think we can achieve more as an Independent that we ever will in the Belch because its reputation will always be that of the lowest conference in 1A. We can gain more notoriety, improve our reputation, increase support, improve recruiting, improve scheduling, use our UL and Louisiana name, and win. And, when we do win, we won't be perceived as winning in the lowest level conference which means nothing. We will be winning against higher level competition, against teams our fans would rather see us play, against teams that will inspire people to support our program and against teams that will bring us more national recognition. And that will take us to a higher level and give us a better chance at conference realligment quicker than maintaining affiliation with the Belch. We can schedule because everybody needs teams to play, particularly on a regional basis, and we won't be hindered by the reputation of the SBC or by conference scheduling requirements, which generate 0 dollars for us anyway. Again, just my opinion. _

At one time, I was a member of an advisory board the Athletic Department had. I can tell you that being independent was one of the most difficult situations we were ever in. Scheduling and recruiting is a nightmare in that situation. We would have no one to play as everyone else is in a conference.
I understand this is only your opinion but I can assure you that you are the only one on the planet with that point of view. Did you know that there is a severe financial penalty to leave the conference. I don't believe that applies if you go to another conference. What would sports besides football do? No one and I mean no one associated with this university is even considering such a move. Scott Farmer would have not come here were we independent.
As this is something that has no chance of occurring, it is time to end this discussion.

[HoustonCajun]

_ At one time, I was a member of an advisory board the Athletic Department had. I can tell you that being independent was one of the most difficult situations we were ever in. Scheduling and recruiting is a nightmare in that situation. We would have no one to play as everyone else is in a conference.
I understand this is only your opinion but I can assure you that you are the only one on the planet with that point of view. Did you know that there is a severe financial penalty to leave the conference. I don't believe that applies if you go to another conference. What would sports besides football do? No one and I mean no one associated with this university is even considering such a move. Scott Farmer would have not come here were we independent.
As this is something that has no chance of occurring, it is time to end this discussion. _

Look, I don't know if going Independent is good or not. That's why I raised the question. I wanted to get some dialogue going to find out. On the surface, it looks like a better alternative to the SBC, which does nothing for UL except, apparently, solve scheduling dilemmas. That, as you pointed out, is significant in and of itself. I just pointed out things that to me seemed to outweigh membership in the SBC and I was wondering why not consider being an Independent as a better alternative. I thought I laid out good reasons for being an Independent, the scheduling issues notwithstanding. Those issues, it appears, far outweigh any other possible benefits. Since none of us work in the athletic department, we don't know all that goes into making this kind of decision. Maybe you do. These things are simply discussion items on a board that, at least from my perspective, provide something else to think about and discuss rather than this dismal excuse for a basketball season that is, for all intents and purposes, already over.

[Cajunsmike]

Look, I don't know if going Independent is good or not. That's why I raised the question. I wanted to get some dialogue going to find out. On the surface, it looks like a better alternative to the SBC, which does nothing for UL except, apparently, solve scheduling dilemmas. That, as you pointed out, is significant in and of itself. I just pointed out things that to me seemed to outweigh membership in the SBC and I was wondering why not consider being an Independent as a better alternative. I thought I laid out good reasons for being an Independent, the scheduling issues notwithstanding. Those issues, it appears, far outweigh any other possible benefits. Since none of us work in the athletic department, we don't know all that goes into making this kind of decision. Maybe you do. These things are simply discussion items on a board that, at least from my perspective, provide something else to think about and discuss rather than this dismal excuse for a basketball season that is, for all intents and purposes, already over.

I don't work in the Athletic Department but I have talked often enough with people who do to realize the challenges they face and I have a pretty good understanding of the situation they are in which is why I chimed in. Dialogue is fine but the discussion was going around in circles and it is time to move on to other ideas which may yet prove beneficial.

[CajunT]

_ From a recruiting standpoint, this is a quote on another thread:

We are recruiting against FAU, MT, Ark. State, UAB, ULM, LaTech, Tulane and some MAC programs. Those are our peers right now.

Why not try and improve the level of our peers? We are recruiting to the level of a Belch member. And in doing so, it will take that much longer to get to a higher level. Easier to recruit may not be totally accurate, but it can't be that easy to recruit for Belch competition. And, on top of that, up to this year, we haven't been very competitive even in the Belch. How can it be more difficult to recruit against a schedule that would substitute for FAU, FIU, UNT, ULM, MTSU, ASU and now WKU schools from C-USA, WAC, Big 12 and SEC? I don't know, I'm just asking? It is assumed that we can't recruit and compete as an Independent, but why not? We might actually do better financially outside of the Belch. We might get a better reputation and when we start winning against better competition, more doors might open up for us. Just about everyone wants out of the Belch, but no one is making a move to another conference and no one is willing to test Independent status. Maybe the fact that there aren't many Independents out there would work to our favor rather than our detriment. At the very least, when talking about major Independents, there would be Notre Dame, Army, Navy and Louisiana. That is better company to be in than the Belch. And, who says we couldn't schedule against them as well. _

Since you used my words to make your points, I'm going to answer some of them.

"Why not try and improve the level of our peers? We are recruiting to the level of a Belch member. And in doing so, it will take that much longer to get to a higher level. "

1) Because that is who we are!

2) It's alright to have a stated goal that you want to be something more, but you must have a plan to get to that level. And measured improvement every year.

3.) What do we have that would be better then most Sun Belt programs?
a) Larger Budget
b) Better Facilities
c) Student Fees
d) Own production company for athletics

Answer: None of the above


HoustonCajun, there is nothing wrong with aspiring to be something more then what we are right now. But until we win at this level consistantly, improve funding and build better facilities, we are a Sun Belt program at best. And expecting to out recruit programs that have more to offer in education, facilities, Television contracts and Bowl opportunities is ridiculous.

[CajunZ1]

_ Since you used my words to make your points, I'm going to answer some of them.

"Why not try and improve the level of our peers? We are recruiting to the level of a Belch member. And in doing so, it will take that much longer to get to a higher level. "

1) Because that is who we are!

2) It's alright to have a stated goal that you want to be something more, but you must have a plan to get to that level. And measured improvement every year.

3.) What do we have that would be better then most Sun Belt programs?
a) Larger Budget
b) Better Facilities
c) Student Fees
d) Own production company for athletics

Answer: None of the above


HoustonCajun, there is nothing wrong with aspiring to be something more then what we are right now. But until we win at this level consistantly, improve funding and build better facilities, we are a Sun Belt program at best. And expecting to out recruit programs that have more to offer in education, facilities, Television contracts and Bowl opportunities is ridiculous. _

This is a sobering post...

Someone make sure this isn't read outloud at the recruiting bash!

j/k. I appreciate your realistic look at things. In order to become better, we must first become good.