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Post by Cajundemon11 on May 10, 2024 20:09:57 GMT
In what could be a massive ripple effect, Grand Canyon and Seattle Univ have left the WAC for the West Coast Conference. How does this affect us in the southland?
Our old rival Stephen F Austin has some decisions to make in terms of their future. This step up in terms of a basketball conference is now hemorrhaging members as all the big market and traditionally strong programs have left for greener pastures. They are right in the middle of the footprint of the southland, so do they rejoin? how do the other texas schools in the WAC move forward? I personally think the southland is at a good number, but i do miss playing SFA in all sports. Fascinating to see how this all plays out.
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Post by Reality Check on May 11, 2024 14:16:17 GMT
I would love to see SFA back home, but we need not beg them. The SLC also need not agree to give away the farm to get them back, either. The way college athletics is headed, old rivals mean much less than they used to. It's all about making massive amounts of money or overall survival. That's the current narrative. I would welcome Tarleton in and Abilene back, as well. Abilene is probably looking at CUSA since it's in a big enough TV market to possibly hang tough in a much less credible, yet geographically broad conference. Tarleton isn't in such a beneficial situation. SFA may try to follow SHSU, though. Time will tell.
A 2025/2026 SLC could look like this:
West: Abilene Tarleton TAMU-Commerce UIW TAMU-CC UTRGV HCU
East: Lamar SFA McNeese Nicholls UNO SLU NSU
That's 14 teams. If SFA, Tarleton, and Abilene go other directions, I think we could see TAMU-Kingsville, Midwestern State, Delta State and/or maybe one or more of the Arkansas D-II teams join. I also think few are considering options if the economy tumbles in the future. If admins aren't considering options for this, they are being foolish. I see universities joining forces in the future to survive. I hope I am wrong, but our economy can't continue under this pace without some form of palpable corrections.
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Post by Cajundemon11 on May 11, 2024 17:56:20 GMT
To be honest, I’d rather not see the Southland get to 11 members again like we had before the WAC split. (In football) The only schools I can see rejoining if I had to bet would be SFA and ACU. Tarleton has their eyes on FBS and they have the resources and averaged 20k plus last fall so they could jump right now. A&M kingsville and Delta can’t afford the jump and I know for sure WT, Angelo, and Central Ok all turned down both the wac and Southland a few years ago to stay d2. The division model is a thing of the past and only worked when you had a conference championship to pair up the two division winners. The WAC now has a sinking ship feeling to it and these Texas schools are trying to find a way out and now UTRVG looks like they were ahead of the curve.
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Post by Reality Check on May 12, 2024 11:04:25 GMT
Tarleton will never survive FBS as it is now. Thinking about it, many who are FBS now won't survive FBS, especially when the Power 5 lock them out fully. It will be interesting what the lower level of FBS will look like when this happens. I think they call themselves Group of 5 or something. Fans want to win sometimes, at minimum. Many FBS programs seldom win more than 3-4 games. They've become doormats who have sold themselves out for money and so-called status. The same could be said for FCS on a smaller scale, which is why I believe we are headed to D2, D3, or lower if our new coach doesn't find a way out of this quicksand we have been in for the past 15 years. I hope I am wrong, but the conversations being had around me are "we have too many universities in Louisiana." And we have a new leader who is austere. So, university budget reductions, possible closings, or consolidations are coming. I have been mocked over the consolidation prospect. No matter what, buckle up.
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Post by Cajundemon11 on May 13, 2024 17:49:55 GMT
I think of all the schools in the southland/wac as of now, Tarleton is easily the best positioned to move up into group of 5 or whatever it will be called moving forward. They have the resources, the stadium, and finished last season with the 4th best attendance figures in FCS. I think due to just lack of any better options until they receive an invite from the CUSA they might have to join ACU and SFA in a southland move, if no other options come available with the WAC falling apart.
Rumblings on the AGS forums are that the Summit is going to form a football conference which would be a split of the Dakota Schools and a few others from the MVFC and a few big sky, but that would still involve a lot of traveling for the wac texas schools should they join that and still be a weird footprint.
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Post by Cajundemon11 on May 15, 2024 18:18:12 GMT
It certainly seems like things are headed this way, with ACU/SFA/Tarleton all in communication with the southland conference. At this point I would feel comfortable saying an announcement from SFA should be expected soon. I'm not sure how I feel about the conference going up to 12 football playing teams, just feels like too many. As much as i think its a great move for conference stability i don't trust that these schools aren't just trying to find a placeholder while they build an all texas conference or something down the road. Hopefully if they are admitted in the southland levies a hell of a buy out fee on them should they attempt to fracture the conference again. Otherwise, welcome home.
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Post by Czech Mate on May 16, 2024 10:54:46 GMT
It only makes sense that SFA come back home. I hope ACU and Tarleton State also find a home with the SLC. This will make us much stronger as a conference.
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Post by Cajundemon11 on May 16, 2024 19:10:16 GMT
It only makes sense that SFA come back home. I hope ACU and Tarleton State also find a home with the SLC. This will make us much stronger as a conference. Ive been doing quite a bit of digging on this, and Im no sleuth but from what I am seeing SFA to southland is a done deal. ACU and Tarleton are weighing their options with the atlantic sun and from what i can tell are still on the fence and weighing their options. They need to decide before july 1st though to avoid a massive buyout fee.
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Post by Reality Check on May 17, 2024 13:30:26 GMT
I know we don't do divisions anymore in football, but geographically, adding SFA, ACU, and Tarleton just makes sense:
West: ACU -- Abilene HCU -- Houston TAMU-Commerce -- Commerce TAMU-CC -- Corpus Christi Tarleton -- Stephenville UIW -- San Antonio UTRGV -- Edinburg
East: Lamar -- Beaumont McNeese -- Lake Charles Nicholls -- Thibodaux NSU -- Natchitoches SLU -- Hammond SFA -- Nacogdoches UNO -- New Orleans
A nice mix of large and small media markets with Shreveport-Bossier, Waco, DFW, Austin, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Houma, Lufkin, and Texarkana coverage on top of the markets listed.
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Post by Cajundemon11 on May 18, 2024 3:56:50 GMT
The question is, as fans of northwestern state do we want the Southland this big? I mean, let’s be real, we are not in a major media market and haven’t really been relevant in a major sport in a while. Are we going to get lost in a conference that big or does the Southland as things are now fit is better? Something to think about.
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Post by Czech Mate on May 18, 2024 11:59:30 GMT
It's our own fault as to where we are in 2024. We have two decent media markets to cover us -- Shreveport-Bossier and Alexandria-Pineville. We have to give them a reason to cover us, though. The best way to control your own destiny is not to manipulate whatever conference we're in but to be the best we can be wherever we are. We have to find a way to survive in the SLC, no matter what it looks like, or decide to go D-II or lower. When I hear people speak of these hurdles, I look to Appalachian State and Georgia Southern not so long ago in FCS. Also, we can go to D-II just a few hours north of us and see what Harding has done or what Valdosta State accomplished a few years back. Boone, NC, Statesboro, GA, Searcy, AR, and Valdosta, GA are not big towns. So, the size of Natchitoches has nothing to do with it. What is one thing all of those successful schools have in common? Not one of them is a double-directional in name. Not one. If we want to truly succeed, we need to get serious about our overall identity. What truly represents the people in our region and what will they takr pride in supporting? We need to decide whether we want to fight out the battle of the NSU acronym with Nicholls State, Norfolk State in VA, Northeastern State in OK, Northern State in SD, or Nova Southeastern Univ in FL or we want to pave our own true identity. The world has changed drastically since the geographic splitting of Louisiana academic quadrants in education way back in the day -- Northeast, Northwestern, Southwestern, Southeastern. Those days are long gone. Connectivity is vastly different. Access is vastly different. "Oh, NSU is tradition." Well, if we're going to use that argument, the conversation will take a dark turn because a lot of things used to be tradition and were quite hellish. It's pretty clear to me, we change or we die off from FCS and head to some obscure place in athletics. D-II or D-III, if we're lucky. NAIA if we just want to survive. If some have their way, a regional JUCO in Louisiana only. Then we can play BPCC and others in basketball and baseball, but we'll still be NSU and the only "forking" that will take place will be what we've done to ourselves because we refuse to change.
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Post by Cajundemon11 on May 20, 2024 16:57:39 GMT
I get what you’re saying to an extent. I have always wondered about the name, I personally love it but get tired of explaining where I went to school especially residing way out west. Natchitoches State Univ was thrown out on a previous discussion and I don’t hate that at all. But northwestern is tradition, SLU has rebranded their logo and have the “Louisiana” in the name, whereas we don’t unless it’s official and at the end. The other two double directionals changed their name and have been able to build a brand, especially Louisiana-Lafayette.
On the other hand you have to earn it. You make people know your name. Schools like Appalachian state or Sam Houston who no one knew started winning a lot and now everyone knows them. You win and establish a culture and the rest of the FCS will respect you. We just haven’t done that, the name in my opinion has little to do with our lack of success, the opportunities have been there - IMO it has way more to do with inept leadership and a culture of losing that has set in.
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Post by Cajundemon11 on May 25, 2024 1:19:57 GMT
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Post by Reality Check on May 25, 2024 13:37:07 GMT
Looks like SFA, Tarleton, Abilene, and UT-Arlington are returning, as well. I know we don't ha e divisions anymore, but if we did it would look similar to this:
West: Abilene Tarleton UT-Arlington UIW UTRGV TAMU-CC TAMU-Commerce HCU
East: Lamar SFA McNeese NSU SLU Nicholls UNO
This gives us 12 football members. We just need one more member to hit 16 overall. Someone call ULM and tell them now is their chance. Staying in the Sunbelt will ruin them. Also, I think UNO and UT-Arlington have thought about adding football. Interesting, but strange, times with conference shifts, NIL, transfer portal, coaches hopping jobs, etc.
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Post by Czech Mate on May 25, 2024 14:54:07 GMT
Let's just line up and play ball against whomever. All the conjecturing in the world won't help us win. Tulsa awaits!
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