++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Something for UNT fans to consider before
jumping into the WAC.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/06/19/1977...-duke.html

This is a pretty damning statement about the new WAC:

Fresno State now finds itself on the cusp of an eight-school WAC: The Bulldogs, San Jose State, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah State, Idaho, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech.

Simply put, for Fresno State to view such a hodgepodge of dispersed, poorly funded programs as a permanent home is to accept Division I intercollegiate athletic suicide.

Fresno State is stuck struggling with a galling paradox: A program capable of excellence stuck in a secondary conference that has come to define Division I organizational and strategic instability.

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/06/19/1977...z0rPWI7sea

Some of our fans are absolutely delusional. The poll about going Wacy is still around 2 to 1 against, but since some are convinced ULL and/or ASU also want to join us in creating an Eastern WAC along with the new powerhouses TSSM and UTSA. No, I have no idea where they are getting the idea either ULL or ASU want to move. One guy keeps writing over and over how large the crowds will be to see Fresno, Nevada and the others. When it is pointed out to him none of the Wac schools drew big crowds during the Big West days, he simply says they were not in the WAC then and now it's completely different. Another guy keeps writing that stability is terrible - it means all the schools are dying. It's like reasoning with two-year-olds!

The WAC has lost 14 schools in the past 11 years.

If instability is bad, they don't want to be right.

(06-20-2010 11:03 AM)ManzanoWolf Wrote:  This is a pretty damning statement about the new WAC:

Fresno State now finds itself on the cusp of an eight-school WAC: The Bulldogs, San Jose State, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah State, Idaho, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech.

Simply put, for Fresno State to view such a hodgepodge of dispersed, poorly funded programs as a permanent home is to accept Division I intercollegiate athletic suicide.

Fresno State is stuck struggling with a galling paradox: A program capable of excellence stuck in a secondary conference that has come to define Division I organizational and strategic instability.

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/06/19/1977...z0rPWI7sea

Fresno State had its chance to excel and blew it.

Boise State took recruits right out of Fresno's back yard and game out with two BCS bowl wins.

With Boise State gone, this is Fresno's opportunity.

What's suicidal is performance, not the conference they play in.

(06-20-2010 12:22 PM)VideoGreenEagle Wrote:  Some of our fans are absolutely delusional. The poll about going Wacy is still around 2 to 1 against, but since some are convinced ULL and/or ASU also want to join us in creating an Eastern WAC along with the new powerhouses TSSM and UTSA. No, I have no idea where they are getting the idea either ULL or ASU want to move. One guy keeps writing over and over how large the crowds will be to see Fresno, Nevada and the others. When it is pointed out to him none of the Wac schools drew big crowds during the Big West days, he simply says they were not in the WAC then and now it's completely different. Another guy keeps writing that stability is terrible - it means all the schools are dying. It's like reasoning with two-year-olds!

They don't happen to agree with the assessment of the majority. it doesn't mean they are delusional. They just have a different view and opinion; which is their right.

(06-20-2010 01:50 PM)MG61 Wrote:  

(06-20-2010 12:22 PM)VideoGreenEagle Wrote:  Some of our fans are absolutely delusional. The poll about going Wacy is still around 2 to 1 against, but since some are convinced ULL and/or ASU also want to join us in creating an Eastern WAC along with the new powerhouses TSSM and UTSA. No, I have no idea where they are getting the idea either ULL or ASU want to move. One guy keeps writing over and over how large the crowds will be to see Fresno, Nevada and the others. When it is pointed out to him none of the Wac schools drew big crowds during the Big West days, he simply says they were not in the WAC then and now it's completely different. Another guy keeps writing that stability is terrible - it means all the schools are dying. It's like reasoning with two-year-olds!

They don't happen to agree with the assessment of the majority. it doesn't mean they are delusional. They just have a different view and opinion; which is their right.

Nah, delusional is good . . . all of us have those type fans

UNT leaving for the WAC just doesn't make sense. If Boise State was still hanging around, then it would make sense.

(06-20-2010 02:39 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  UNT leaving for the WAC just doesn't make sense. If Boise State was still hanging around, then it would make sense.

See my comment above about delusional fans.

And not all are delusional, but 2 or 3 certainly are!

(06-20-2010 11:03 AM)ManzanoWolf Wrote:  This is a pretty damning statement about the new WAC:

Fresno State now finds itself on the cusp of an eight-school WAC: The Bulldogs, San Jose State, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah State, Idaho, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech.

Simply put, for Fresno State to view such a hodgepodge of dispersed, poorly funded programs as a permanent home is to accept Division I intercollegiate athletic suicide.

Fresno State is stuck struggling with a galling paradox: A program capable of excellence stuck in a secondary conference that has come to define Division I organizational and strategic instability.

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/06/19/1977...z0rPWI7sea

UL is not going anywhere without NT or Ark. State, unless they move in a different direction. They were offered the opportunity to join the WAC together in such a scenario and all turned it down. I don't see any of the three wanting to travel to Utah State, Hawaii or the west period.

This is from a post on gomeangreen.com. It probably sums up the thinking of most Mean Green folks.

And I doubt that RV wants to go to a Boise-less WAC.

What the current WAC brings us:

1) New road trips to Hawaii, Fresno, and San Jose
2) games back in the Kibbie Dome
3) a reunion with former conference mates USU, La Tech, NMSU, and Idaho.
4) Bowl games in Boise (which they probably won't keep)....Albuquerque and Hawaii.
5) Next year's WAC basketball tournament is in Las Vegas. We'll see how much Vegas, a really lousy sports town, supports the WAC basketball tournament. (since UNLV is in the MWC).

I once was in favor of us going to WAC (when they had Boise). Not any more. I love the Belt's bowl destinations of New Orleans and Mobile. And I love what we're building in Hot Springs with our b-ball tourneys.

Like others have said....if the WAC goes with an Eastern division....and gets some better bowl tie-ins.....I am open to reconsidering.

Seems Hawaii is not so happy with the new WAC either and is thinking along the same lines as Fresno:

Well sportswriters down in Hawaii are starting to beat the same drum.......calling for our government officials, university officials, and fans to come together and lobby to try and get into the MWC or maybe even think of going independant. Our athletic Director already brought up the idea of going independant and even Football coach Mack brought it up as well.

I think Hawaii fans and AD officials will use the indy card only as a LAST RESORT.

Talk is even being said in the papers about finally giving in to travel subsidies and also mumblings on the message boards about UH hosting noon-saturday games so team can fly out that night.

Our biggest drawback is travel expenses here......nothing else. We'd be more attractive if we put out that we would put in place travel subsidies to get here.

(06-20-2010 06:18 PM)ManzanoWolf Wrote:  Seems Hawaii is not so happy with the new WAC either and is thinking along the same lines as Fresno:

Well sportswriters down in Hawaii are starting to beat the same drum.......calling for our government officials, university officials, and fans to come together and lobby to try and get into the MWC or maybe even think of going independant. Our athletic Director already brought up the idea of going independant and even Football coach Mack brought it up as well.

I think Hawaii fans and AD officials will use the indy card only as a LAST RESORT.

Talk is even being said in the papers about finally giving in to travel subsidies and also mumblings on the message boards about UH hosting noon-saturday games so team can fly out that night.

Our biggest drawback is travel expenses here......nothing else. We'd be more attractive if we put out that we would put in place travel subsidies to get here.

Exerpt from Honolulu Advertiser article - Boise will be tough to replace (6/20/10).

The challenge, UH athletic director Jim Donovan said, "is to think strategically instead of tactically. We have to consider where we want the WAC to be in five or 10 years. We have to think, 'Does what we do bring us value?' "

The most likely possibility, people in the industry say, is North Texas, currently a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The Mean Green turned down overtures from the WAC six years ago to remain in the Sun Belt, but indications are they want to make a move. Conference USA, which passed UNT over for Texas-El Paso in 2004, apparently is the Mean Green's first choice.

UNT has undertaken an ambitious facility improvement project and expects to open a $78 million, 30,000-seat football stadium in 2011.

For the WAC, UNT is attractive as an entry back into the lucrative Texas recruiting picture and as a travel partner for Louisiana Tech on the far-flung eastern wing of the nation's most widespread conference.

I think it would be far easier for La Tech to join the SBC than getting a group of SBC schools to go Wacy. It certainly makes more sense.

(06-20-2010 07:04 PM)VideoGreenEagle Wrote:  I think it would be far easier for La Tech to join the SBC than getting a group of SBC schools to go Wacy. It certainly makes more sense.

Tech would come kicking and screaming. We all know they're a basket case.

The only way this would work would be to institute a 12 or 14 team league. That way you only have to travel out west once or twice a season for football. This would allow for a championship game which might bring in some additional TV revenues.

(06-20-2010 08:21 PM)dchi72 Wrote:  The only way this would work would be to institute a 12 or 14 team league. That way you only have to travel out west once or twice a season for football. This would allow for a championship game which might bring in some additional TV revenues.

But why? Why would anyone want to jump to a conference that lost its cash cow? The loss of Boise decreased the value of the WAC by almost 1/2. There are no grouping of schools out there that can be added to the WAC that would change that. If there are SBC schools out there thinking and contemplating a move to the WAC, I say let them go. They will soon be VERY disappointed with the move, as the WAC is about to lose a lot of television money and will not be in a position to bring in BCS game money. They have becoming nothing more than the SBC, but the thing with that is the SBC in on the rise and the WAC is on the decline. So, if UNT, Ark State, and/or ULL want to go to the WAC I say have at it...it will be the worst mistake of your lives. Face facts, Hawaii and Fresno State already want out, and I am sure Nevada is not too far behind them.

(06-20-2010 08:55 PM)bluephi1914 Wrote:  

(06-20-2010 08:21 PM)dchi72 Wrote:  The only way this would work would be to institute a 12 or 14 team league. That way you only have to travel out west once or twice a season for football. This would allow for a championship game which might bring in some additional TV revenues.

But why? Why would anyone want to jump to a conference that lost its cash cow? The loss of Boise decreased the value of the WAC by almost 1/2. There are no grouping of schools out there that can be added to the WAC that would change that. If there are SBC schools out there thinking and contemplating a move to the WAC, I say let them go. They will soon be VERY disappointed with the move, as the WAC is about to lose a lot of television money and will not be in a position to bring in BCS game money. They have becoming nothing more than the SBC, but the thing with that is the SBC in on the rise and the WAC is on the decline. So, if UNT, Ark State, and/or ULL want to go to the WAC I say have at it...it will be the worst mistake of your lives. Face facts, Hawaii and Fresno State already want out, and I am sure Nevada is not too far behind them.

I doubt the leaders at stAte, NT, or UL Cajuns would agree to be associated with a WESTERN conference again. The Big West experience did not work then and it will not work now. The WAC without Boise is nothing to write home about, IMHO.

(06-20-2010 08:55 PM)bluephi1914 Wrote:  

(06-20-2010 08:21 PM)dchi72 Wrote:  The only way this would work would be to institute a 12 or 14 team league. That way you only have to travel out west once or twice a season for football. This would allow for a championship game which might bring in some additional TV revenues.

But why? Why would anyone want to jump to a conference that lost its cash cow? The loss of Boise decreased the value of the WAC by almost 1/2. There are no grouping of schools out there that can be added to the WAC that would change that. If there are SBC schools out there thinking and contemplating a move to the WAC, I say let them go. They will soon be VERY disappointed with the move, as the WAC is about to lose a lot of television money and will not be in a position to bring in BCS game money. They have becoming nothing more than the SBC, but the thing with that is the SBC in on the rise and the WAC is on the decline. So, if UNT, Ark State, and/or ULL want to go to the WAC I say have at it...it will be the worst mistake of your lives. Face facts, Hawaii and Fresno State already want out, and I am sure Nevada is not too far behind them.

UL is not going anywhere unless some eastern division is created with UNT and Ark. St attached. All three turned this scenario down in the past. I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

Tech is going to hold on in the WAC as long as possible, with great cost to their athletic foundation and non-football programs. Their baseball coach Wade Simoneaux has told some at UL his recruiting budget is around $7,000 dollars. But they want him to compete in the WAC with his budgets? He is looking to get the hell of Ruston as soon as possible.

The Cajuns have yet to use any RCAF funds to covers losses in athletics. RCAF has helped fund several facility improvements and several board members committed to donating funds to hire Marlin and his staff.

(06-20-2010 09:22 PM)CajunT Wrote:  ...Tech is going to hold on in the WAC as long as possible, with great cost to their athletic foundation and non-football programs.....

That'll be great. Knowing what A--holes they have been over the years to the Sun Belt, why anyone would want become members in the same conference with those clowns is a mystery. Let them rot there in the wac by themselves.