Gulf South Conference could add University of New Orleans to fold

Published: Saturday, February 05, 2011, 3:15 PM
The Birmingham News By Jacob Carpenter --- The Birmingham News

After a year-long court­ship, the Gulf South Confer­ence could soon expand to the Louisiana bayou.

The University of New Or­leans announced Friday it has submitted a proposal to move to NCAA Division II and join the Birmingham-­based GSC, which also in­cludes the University of Ala­bama in Huntsville, North Alabama and West Alabama. The Louisiana State Uni­versity System Board of Su­pervisors, which is expected to approve the proposal, could vote on the measure as early as March 4.
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UNO, which had been a member of the Sun Belt be­fore beginning a transition to Division III, doesn't cur­rently have a varsity football program but is organizing one, with a projected inau­gural season in 2015.
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That's great for NO. So are they just going to D-II instead of D-III?

Cool stuff. Good luck to the Privateers.

Methinks we'll see them back in D-1 one day.

Ironically, this might be the easiest way for UNO to get in the Southland Conference down the road. IIRC, UNO would have to be Division II for five years before they can apply to Division I. It's too bad all of the stuff with the WAC didn't go down soon enough to keep New Orleans and Centenary from downgrading.

Not really surprising, The Gulf South is losing all 6 of its Arkansas Members after this season, and was going to be in desperate need to find some replacements.

(02-05-2011 10:00 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  That's great for NO. So are they just going to D-II instead of D-III?

well that spells trouble for ULL football. just kidding Cajun T

(02-05-2011 11:23 PM)theATLDawg Wrote:  

(02-05-2011 10:00 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  That's great for NO. So are they just going to D-II instead of D-III?

well that spells trouble for ULL football. just kidding Cajun T

OK--UNO is broke---Well enough to drop down in athletics---NOBODY goes to any of their games so they add the most expensive factor to an athletic program---Football--Games would be played Off Campus at Gormley Stadium---This is crazy!!!!

(02-05-2011 11:23 PM)theATLDawg Wrote:  

(02-05-2011 10:00 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  That's great for NO. So are they just going to D-II instead of D-III?

well that spells trouble for ULL football. just kidding Cajun T

Wishful thinking! But we will see what happens with Techs next year.

The title of this thread is a little confusing....just sayin'.

But to respond, if New Orleans was so broke they had to drop to division 3, I don't see how adding football is a good idea, unless they predict it will bring in more revenue than its costing them to put the product on the field. Even at the division 2 level, I don't see that happening.

(02-06-2011 01:00 PM)Mean Green Matt Wrote:  The title of this thread is a little confusing....just sayin'.

But to respond, if New Orleans was so broke they had to drop to division 3, I don't see how adding football is a good idea, unless they predict it will bring in more revenue than its costing them to put the product on the field. Even at the division 2 level, I don't see that happening.

Would a mod please spell out "New Orleans" in the thread's title, so as not to confuse anyone else?

(02-06-2011 03:08 PM)trojanbrutha Wrote:  

(02-06-2011 01:00 PM)Mean Green Matt Wrote:  The title of this thread is a little confusing....just sayin'.

But to respond, if New Orleans was so broke they had to drop to division 3, I don't see how adding football is a good idea, unless they predict it will bring in more revenue than its costing them to put the product on the field. Even at the division 2 level, I don't see that happening.

Would a mod please spell out "New Orleans" in the thread's title, so as not to confuse anyone else?

or put "UNO"... haha

(02-06-2011 04:42 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  

(02-06-2011 03:08 PM)trojanbrutha Wrote:  

(02-06-2011 01:00 PM)Mean Green Matt Wrote:  The title of this thread is a little confusing....just sayin'.

But to respond, if New Orleans was so broke they had to drop to division 3, I don't see how adding football is a good idea, unless they predict it will bring in more revenue than its costing them to put the product on the field. Even at the division 2 level, I don't see that happening.

Would a mod please spell out "New Orleans" in the thread's title, so as not to confuse anyone else?

or put "UNO"... haha

I wouldn't want anyone to confuse it with an SBC card game

To sum it up, UNO could not afford Div I... at least not in the Belt. They also could not meet the requirements of the Sun Belt's minimum championship team bylaw - so they were going to lose their conference affiliation. So the school decided to drop down to non-scholarship sports but the one pacifier for their alumni and student base was that football would be added. Long story, short - UNO could not find a conference to compete in for Div III. It has been very difficult for them over the last year - games have been canceled, sports are struggling, and the football team has not materialized. Without a Div III conference, they have two choices - move to Div II where they can have a home or drop sports completely. It looks like they will get their football team (as promised) and scholarships will return. I am going to guess that they are through the hardest patch with the budget and are rethinking their future. Div II should be a good fit for them.

It is also possible that their money has finally made it through legal (they were left a significant amount of money by a local booster that passed away).

(02-06-2011 08:39 PM)stebo Wrote:  To sum it up, UNO could not afford Div I... at least not in the Belt. They also could not meet the requirements of the Sun Belt's minimum championship team bylaw - so they were going to lose their conference affiliation. So the school decided to drop down to non-scholarship sports but the one pacifier for their alumni and student base was that football would be added. Long story, short - UNO could not find a conference to compete in for Div III. It has been very difficult for them over the last year - games have been canceled, sports are struggling, and the football team has not materialized. Without a Div III conference, they have two choices - move to Div II where they can have a home or drop sports completely. It looks like they will get their football team (as promised) and scholarships will return. I am going to guess that they are through the hardest patch with the budget and are rethinking their future. Div II should be a good fit for them.

It is also possible that their money has finally made it through legal (they were left a significant amount of money by a local booster that passed away).

Actually, that story is very misleading.

UNO AD has already notified those within the university that the D-II move does not include football. Supposedly they're doing away with it altogether.

if you go to http://www.neworleans.com, former UNO pbp man Mike Waggenheim has an eight part story on the whole UNO athletics fiasco.

(02-05-2011 10:05 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  Cool stuff. Good luck to the Privateers.

Methinks we'll see them back in D-1 one day.

Absolutely. Katrina really put that school back many, many years, but this time the school has the opportunity to start over and do it even better the second time with a better understanding of the landscape of college athletics.

UNO has been a great rival for Tulane in baseball and MBB, and I wish the Privateers every good fortune down whatever path they follow. Kartrina dealt a crushing blow to them, as to us, and to many other colleges and institutions around the City and Gulf-region. UNO's Division-I athletic program was just one of the casualties.

With all that said, UNO is a very cash-poor university with a heavy-% of commuter students (not all, but a lot) who root for other schools in football if they even care about football in the first place. The idea that UNO will ever have a Division I football program -- even FCS level in the Southland -- seems very, VERY far-off to me. Never say never, but not any time soon.