Tech to the Belt, 2026

[ManAboutTown]

……why???????….so STUPID…..WHY???

Some people are content to rationalize stupid, short sighted decisions bereft of vision with the only redeeming reasoning as “it’ll save us some money in the short term.”

Never mind that it’ll totally destroy the conference inside of 5 years. Nah, that’s no big worry.

[HoustonCajun]

Some people are content to rationalize stupid, short sighted decisions bereft of vision with the only redeeming reasoning as “it’ll save us some money in the short term.”

Never mind that it’ll totally destroy the conference inside of 5 years. Nah, that’s no big worry.

Why is there nothing about this
On the SBC website? Seems like that would be the top headline.

[LouisianaB]

Why is there nothing about this
On the SBC website? Seems like that would be the top headline.

They voted to invite LA Tech.

La Tech has to accept it, give notice to CUSA, etc. So there’s a few more steps before it’s official.

Apparnelty there is an issue with how much notice LA Tech has to give. CUSA requires a 14 month notice, so they will have to negotiate their exit or pay whatever fee.

[CAJUNSby90]

Never mind that it’ll totally destroy the conference inside of 5 years. Nah, that’s no big worry.

The King of Overreactions has spoken.

[Duckster]

Will call latech invite a lazy decision by the SBC. If the rational is to make money off ticket sales with a bus trip game then Louisiana and latech must make strong push this conference football game is anchored to a Saturday, like last Saturday in Oct or something like that. I realize ESPN calls the TV game time slots but if this game is supposed to be for the good of the whole conference then anchor it to a Saturday.

[Turbine]

New SBC map!

I know it has pins, but it cracks me up how far apart the map makes Tech and ULM look.

[Turbine]

I don’t like Tech. Two or three years ago, I didn’t want Tech in the SBC. But I think circumstances have changed, and it’s a necessary evil at the moment.

Everything was about dollars and cents before July 1. But that was magnified with the House settlement, revenue sharing, etc. Suddenly, paying athletes directly is legal. The less you spend on travel, the more you can spend on athletes (recruiting and retention). How much will we save? I have no idea. But it’ll be a ~$100k FB charter flight less every two years to WKU. Plus yearly trips for MBB, WBb. And every other year for BB and SB. I’m sure that would average out to $100k a year, but I don’t know for sure.

Scholarships cost. Not sure the final numbers that our coaches have to offer, but there is cost associated with that.

Our conference distributions will go down by about $400-500k per year for the next decade due to the House settlement. It’ll hit everyone across the board. But that’s still less revenue.

The east can want what they want. Some of them are propped up by student fees. We don’t have the luxury.

So I’m not happy about Tech. But I can see why it’s necessary.

If travel costs truly mattered the schools would have already been playing in every sport out of conference.

No Athletic Director worth his salt should need a baby sitter to force his hand at scheduling.

The only thing this really changes is UL will be traveling further and spending more to fill its out of conference schedule. It's a wash.

The athletic fund won't change from this step backwards.

[JamesTheJeweler]

This sucks but now that it’s done, it’s time to own them in all sports like we do ULM. This will be a boost in attendance in all sports.

LoL! I laugh every time I see someone post this.

[ULGrad@HOU]

T-Joe will retire after the Spring 2026 semester.

Not soon enough, but better than not.

[LouisianaB]

If travel costs truly mattered the schools would have already been playing in every sport out of conference.

No Athletic Director worth his salt should need a baby sitter to force his hand at scheduling.

The only thing this really changes is UL will be traveling further and spending more to fill its out of conference schedule.

The athletic fund won't change from this step backwards.

You’ll have 8 conference games every year.

4 home and 4 away

You’re guaranteed to play ULM, USM, USA, and La Tech. In a two year cycle, that’s a guaranteed 4 bus trips, 4 plane trips. Having WKU would guarantee 3 bus, 5 plane. It’s a small difference, but it’s a difference when you’re worried about revenue sharing. It’s also a larger difference when you consider the other sports.

OOC games are guaranteed pay or guaranteed return trip. But it’s also subject to availability. Conference is guaranteed availability