Why would UTSA leave the AAC? We can do without MTSU or WKU from CUSA.
Also, why add another Texas school to the AAC? They already have UTSA for the San Antonio market, Rice for the Houston market and N Texas for the DFW market. The AAC is looking at only large market schools, although few of their members have any real presence in their markets. Using the AAC logic, MTSU would bring them the Nashville market, but they aren't in the west and not a very attractive school.
So, where does the AAC go to replace SMU? Lafayette is a bigger market than San Marcos and fits perfectly in the I-10 corridor - Tulane, UL, Rice, UTSA. Should UL apply or just stay where we are? The AAC is a better perceived conference and is the first conference to provide any school with an opportunity to move to a P5 conference, unless we don't have such ambitions.
Please, everyone, calm down.
We do need to watch expansions, because when dominoes fall, we're in the line-up.
On the other hand, remember that University presidents frequently aren't all that bright. And this is a case in point. They believe they can suck up all the money, all the TV, all the talent, all the attention.
And the proof of their folly is expansion itself. Sure, some of it is shuffling names. But some of it is accommodating the new schools who have elbowed their way to the table.
So here's the damning question to the clueless presidents: when will schools stop elbowing their way up to the table?
It won't happen. Realignment will never stop, because the presidents, and their bone-headed boosters, aren't smart enough to stop playing a dumb game.
I would put Memphis ahead of us for next promotion. And a lot of our future will depend on Des, we'll have a better idea of that in the next few weeks. But if Mike is the kind of coach I think he is, after Memphis we're in the top 3 to move up after. We are a multi-threat school, several nationally-competitive sports (and recent activities suggest more sports are moving up fast), facilities, academics, research centers, and others.
Our market and our attendance are holding us down for the moment.
But our day will come.
Patience, Grasshopper.
[Trivia: the old man who played the master in the TV series Kung Fu got his start in a popular 1930's movie serial. Who was the actor, and what character did he play in the 1930's?]
Here’s the honest truth. Some of y’all do not want to hear it, but it is still the truth.
For almost 45 years this university has stifled athletics. We barely even grew academically, until the last 3-5 years. We are not on any radar to be accepted into any P5 league.
Tulane is so far ahead of us in every metric it’s not even funny. Hell they even shed the Jewish Private stigma.
Had athletics and academics pushed forward in the 80’s and 90’s to be some the strongest each could possibly be, we would be in a better position.
Our enrollment is down from traditional levels. Our Endowment hasn’t grown fast enough. Our own administration would rather keep everything a secret, even our achievements, out of fear from the political dealings in the state.
Our endowment is $500M away from being considered a peer to the P5 universities. Our athletic budget would need to double, even before P5 payouts. Our fan support sucks, football stadium sucks and we haven’t proven we can sustain success.
That’s not even getting into the major economic shift in Acadiana away from O&G.
If we are being objective, what do we offer and when has this university shown to have the gonads to make such a move? Not since 1984. 40 dang years ago.
. . . thanks . . .
Did tulane grow overall and rise up, or do the spike up in one thing, every so often?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)