I am a USF fan and I don't know too much about Tulsa. I was questioning the adding of Tulsa from the beginning. But later realized it wasn't too bad.

My major point against Tulsa is that the school has a small enrollment. That could turn to many different things like small fan-base and small alumni-base.

Tulsa is not a small city and it is actually top 50 population-wise in the US. But how is Tulsa University's support in Tulsa? I know Oklahoma is big in OU and OSU. How many people actually go to Tulsa football and basketball games? Is Tulsa a good research and academic institution?

Another good thing about Tulsa is that the town has no pro teams except WNBA.

But how is Tulsa going to turn out in the American? I know many of you will also bring up Tulane. But heck, Tulane was a power in football in the 90s. But what about Tulsa?

Pros:

1) Tulsa fields competitive teams
2) Tulsa is a cool little town
3) Tulsa is located near many of our current member institutions
4) Good academics

Cons:

1) Sparse fan support

Unfortunately, that one con is a really, really big one.

(04-10-2014 08:19 AM)AGuyIn_Water Wrote:  I am a USF fan and I don't know too much about Tulsa. I was questioning the adding of Tulsa from the beginning. But later realized it wasn't too bad.

My major point against Tulsa is that the school has a small enrollment. That could turn to many different things like small fan-base and small alumni-base.

Tulsa is not a small city and it is actually top 50 population-wise in the US. But how is Tulsa University's support in Tulsa? I know Oklahoma is big in OU and OSU. How many people actually go to Tulsa football and basketball games? Is Tulsa a good research and academic institution?

Another good thing about Tulsa is that the town has no pro teams except WNBA.

But how is Tulsa going to turn out in the American? I know many of you will also bring up Tulane. But heck, Tulane was a power in football in the 90s. But what about Tulsa?

In football, Tulsa has finished out two seasons in the past four ranked in the top 25.

In basketball, Tulsa has traditionally had a very good program. This year they made the tourney and hopefully are on the right track.

I think academics played a huge role in this addition.. combined with the good sports.

Tulsa was a good add. They are a very small school, but they are the only game in town and have awesome support when they win. They have been down in basketball for awhile until this year, but have a great history and I think they will compete in the American.

(04-10-2014 08:30 AM)cotton1991 Wrote:  

(04-10-2014 08:19 AM)AGuyIn_Water Wrote:  I am a USF fan and I don't know too much about Tulsa. I was questioning the adding of Tulsa from the beginning. But later realized it wasn't too bad.

My major point against Tulsa is that the school has a small enrollment. That could turn to many different things like small fan-base and small alumni-base.

Tulsa is not a small city and it is actually top 50 population-wise in the US. But how is Tulsa University's support in Tulsa? I know Oklahoma is big in OU and OSU. How many people actually go to Tulsa football and basketball games? Is Tulsa a good research and academic institution?

Another good thing about Tulsa is that the town has no pro teams except WNBA.

But how is Tulsa going to turn out in the American? I know many of you will also bring up Tulane. But heck, Tulane was a power in football in the 90s. But what about Tulsa?

In football, Tulsa has finished out two seasons in the past four ranked in the top 25.

In basketball, Tulsa has traditionally had a very good program. This year they made the tourney and hopefully are on the right track.

But that was in CUSA though. That is why I brought up "upside".

(04-10-2014 08:36 AM)lollaperuna Wrote:  Tulsa was a good add. They are a very small school, but they are the only game in town and have awesome support when they win. They have been down in basketball for awhile until this year, but have a great history and I think they will compete in the American.

How is their Coaching search? What are the finalists? Danny Manning leaving really hurts.

Tulsa has only 3,100 undergrads and is the smallest school in FBS. Tulsa and Rice are the only FBS schools with lower enrollments than the military academies.

Despite the small enrollment, they were 8th in C-USA in football attendance (19,893) and 5th in C-USA in basketball attendance (4,528) so there must be some level of community support for the programs.

(04-10-2014 08:29 AM)ElectricCoogaloo Wrote:  Cons:

1) Sparse fan support

Unfortunately, that one con is a really, really big one.

I think bball support will soar next year with SMU and Memphis back on the schedule as well as Cincy, Temple, and nat'l champs UConn.

Fan support for football will be improved as well. There's been some longstanding rivalries between Tulsa and Houston/SMU which should help.

If you look at Directors Cup standings, they have the a very competitive athletic dept. I want to say they are usually a top 55ish program year in and year out.

(04-10-2014 08:36 AM)AGuyIn_Water Wrote:  

(04-10-2014 08:30 AM)cotton1991 Wrote:  

(04-10-2014 08:19 AM)AGuyIn_Water Wrote:  I am a USF fan and I don't know too much about Tulsa. I was questioning the adding of Tulsa from the beginning. But later realized it wasn't too bad.

My major point against Tulsa is that the school has a small enrollment. That could turn to many different things like small fan-base and small alumni-base.

Tulsa is not a small city and it is actually top 50 population-wise in the US. But how is Tulsa University's support in Tulsa? I know Oklahoma is big in OU and OSU. How many people actually go to Tulsa football and basketball games? Is Tulsa a good research and academic institution?

Another good thing about Tulsa is that the town has no pro teams except WNBA.

But how is Tulsa going to turn out in the American? I know many of you will also bring up Tulane. But heck, Tulane was a power in football in the 90s. But what about Tulsa?

In football, Tulsa has finished out two seasons in the past four ranked in the top 25.

In basketball, Tulsa has traditionally had a very good program. This year they made the tourney and hopefully are on the right track.

But that was in CUSA though. That is why I brought up "upside".

In CUSA football, they beat out UCF for the conference championship a couple of years ago, and then beat Iowa State in a bowl game. How that plays out in the AAC is anybody's guess, but I would think they would at least be competitive--let's not forget, a good chunk of the AAC next year will be SMU, Houston, Memphis, Tulane, UCF, and ECU--their old Cusa 2.0 conference mates.

I'm thinking they will probably struggle more in basketball.

But the topic was fan support--I still think that will increase.

(04-10-2014 08:44 AM)gulfcoastgal Wrote:  If you look at Directors Cup standings, they have the a very competitive athletic dept. I want to say they are usually a top 55ish program year in and year out.

See above. Tulsa, in overall athletics, has been the most successful in CUSA. Recent downturn is an anomaly. Coupled with their academics and proximity the add makes as much sense as any.

Since joining C-USA in 2005, we have won more conference championships than anyone else in all sports.

tulsa is the only team in this league that probably wouldn't average 30k+ on a 10 win team

they have the least growth potential of any team in our league.

what they do bring is consistency, last year was their first bad year in almost a decade and a decent in basketball. sos is key for basketball and football and tulsa was honestly by far the best option when added

tulsa despite being small and private has strong state support and often referred as part of the "Oklahoma big 3"

hopefully they can grow some t-shirt fans

Fans in the city, have shown they will support them big time if they win...kind of like UH in that regard. They beat the "Domers" in 2010 in the "Domers" stadium that makes them alright with me. They can play with and beat the the big boys. TV market has a high percentage who watch CFB

They have strong athletics and academics and are in a top 50 city. So those attributes make them solid and and have growth potential. I think with the tv coverage they will get in the new tv deal it will help build their brand.

Does anyone associated to the school know if they have any student body growth plans in place. Like would they like to increase attendance in the future to say 6-7k versus the current totals. Just curious really.

Ya, I think ESPN exposure will be a big deal here in "T-Town". In decades past (Think 60's 70's) Tulsa football attendance usually neared that 30K+ that everyone wants. With the advent round the clock sports scheduling that number has dropped. But, with continued success and a better lineup of conference opponents, (No more UAB, UTEP, USM, Rice) people have something to really get excited about.

Basketball looked to be on an upswing, then we lost Manning. As far as anyone knows (which isn't much) the coaching search is pretty methodical but there's just not a host of quality names on the market right now. The fan fav. is Mike White from La Tech, but our news media is staying hush hush on whether or not he's actually being courted. One thing I will say is that with the players we have coming back, and the conference schedule next year, attendance should skyrocket. I think we had something like 4.5K avg last year. Next year I see 5K-6K just based on the team's success this year and quality conference opponents that travel. (USM, Memphis, Cincy etc.)

All the other sports (besides WBBall) we should have relative dominance in. We won several C-USA volleyball, Mens & Women's Soccer, Softball, Tennis, and Track titles.

As ticket prices rise at the Big 12 / SEC schools in the area, (Arkansas is actually closer than OU to Tulsa), I think our attendance will increase, as we've kept ticket prices fairly reasonable.

(04-10-2014 08:29 AM)ElectricCoogaloo Wrote:  Pros:

1) Tulsa fields competitive teams
2) Tulsa is a cool little town
3) Tulsa is located near many of our current member institutions
4) Good academics

Cons:

1) Sparse fan support

Unfortunately, that one con is a really, really big one.

I think you put the nail on the head. TV seems to value bad teams with huge fan bases over decent to good teams with small fan bases. Sucks but that's reality in this landscape. If Tulsa brought 50k/week football crowds to the American with them, then I imagine it would've helped our contract immensely. Houston isn't perfect, but our trend is upward, and we have a new 40k seat stadium that will help alot.

What is the update on coaching search?