I kept reading rumors from both our fans and some SB fans(ark st fans) that there was contact, somebody said the president went to New Orleans(with no proof of course) but then the MSU president said that the SB has never even contacted them. If your conference president is looking for a 12th team, why has he never contacted the team that clearly was a message board favorite along side JMU and some of the teams like Arkansas St would like to have them invited? I've read that Benson wants an east team and he is contacting Liberty even though they don't have the votes, does he have his own agenda and doesn't care what the schools want?

What's the real story? Were all the rumors just made up? I understand MSU not wanting to go to the belt because of basketball since that is our biggest sport on campus but the stadium is being rebuilt with the track and soccer teams moved to a new stadium across campus (and the football coach is currently in his last season of his contract and it WONT be renewed so there will be a new coach after this season and we would be in the perfect position to hire a new coach for the FBS move without having to buyout a contract this fall) seems to indicated the univ. wants to improve the football program. Personally, I'd rather stay in the MVC as I'm a college basketball fan but I'm going to be a fan of MSU no matter what conference they play in.

by the way: here is what the stadiums looks like today

No idea where the president attending the meeting rumor came from.

Do know AState and Mo State have talked.

(04-18-2014 06:15 PM)msu_bears Wrote:  I kept reading rumors from both our fans and some SB fans(ark st fans) that there was contact, somebody said the president went to New Orleans(with no proof of course) but then the MSU president said that the SB has never even contacted them. If your conference president is looking for a 12th team, why has he never contacted the team that clearly was a message board favorite along side JMU and some of the teams like Arkansas St would like to have them invited? I've read that Benson wants an east team and he is contacting Liberty even though they don't have the votes, does he have his own agenda and doesn't care what the schools want?

What's the real story? Were all the rumors just made up? I understand MSU not wanting to go to the belt because of basketball since that is our biggest sport on campus but the stadium is being rebuilt with the track and soccer teams moved to a new stadium across campus (and the football coach is currently in his last season of his contract and it WONT be renewed so there will be a new coach after this season and we would be in the perfect position to hire a new coach for the FBS move without having to buyout a contract this fall) seems to indicated the univ. wants to improve the football program. Personally, I'd rather stay in the MVC as I'm a college basketball fan but I'm going to be a fan of MSU no matter what conference they play in.

by the way: here is what the stadiums looks like today

I didn't realize you guys disbanded football and tore down the stadium in favor of strengthening basketball.

Internet posters lie, AD's lie too. 3rd and 4rth hand information is unreliable. Welcome to the wonderful world of realignment.

There has been contact with member schools. Whether or not MSU's president was being entirely truthful when he said no contact with the league remains to be seen.

I'm sure Missouri State is on the Sun Belt radar, but it's likely at least a couple years from an invite, such as when the football only schools leave or are castaway. Missouri State will make a great Sun Belt addition in the near future. I like those construction pictures. What all is being done to your football stadium?

(04-18-2014 06:47 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  Internet posters lie, AD's lie too. 3rd and 4rth hand information is unreliable. Welcome to the wonderful world of realignment.

Now hold on just a darn minute.

Didn't either the WKU pesident or AD say almost the identical thing about no contact with CUSA....three days before announcing the CUSA move???!!!

There have been schools that denied they were moving to a certain conference even the day
before they announced it. Same with coaches, and others. Sometimes they take advantage
of semantics to offset the truth. We have not talked to them, when a certain other person
has handled the contacts, or something similar.

Your president in the audio indicated Missouri State is a basketball school. While he may have
been concentrating on basketball at the time, or because they just went through a basketball
season; sure seems to be basketball centric. Seemed to have no concern for anything except
stay where you are. So seems that is what you intend to do. Internet rumors start from the
smallest things a lot of times though.

(04-18-2014 10:44 PM)GoApps70 Wrote:  There have been schools that denied they were moving to a certain conference even the day before they announced it. Same with coaches, and others. Sometimes they take advantage of semantics to offset the truth. We have not talked to them, when a certain other person has handled the contacts, or something similar.

Yup, welcome to the wonderful world of weasel words, that sound like they mean one thing and really mean another.

"We have had no contact from that conference{+}."
{+ though we have been assured by a third party in close contact with that conference that if we express interest in joining, an invitation will shortly be on its way.}

"We have had no contact from that conference{+}."
{+ though we have had contact with schools making up a super-majority in that conference.}

"We have had no contact from that conference{+}."
{+ though someone who has had contact with that conference has shared with us something that the conference commissioner recently told the member schools.}

See how it works? You answer a question with a statement that is literally true, and which sounds like it answers the real question, but which in reality leaves enough wiggle room that its not actually saying much of anything at all.

And then there are inside sources: some inside sources are actually inside, and some aren't really. And sometimes inside sources have been told the truth, and sometimes they've been lied to. Indeed, if you don't think that your process it airtight, lying to people who somebody thinks is an inside source is a great way to get contradictory rumors out there to sow confusion.

The good thing is that there are some deadlines out there that are part of the public record. So we do know that if anyone intends to move up from FCS in time for the Sunbelt to have a 2015 season CCG, they have to apply by June 1 of this year, and NCAA rules say that to move up, they need an invite. So if someone says on June 1 that they've "had no contact" ... then they are either just lying, or else are not starting their FCS transition year until 2015/2016 at the earliest.

(04-18-2014 09:36 PM)pjc1979 Wrote:  Missouri State will make a great Sun Belt addition in the near future. I like those construction pictures. What all is being done to your football stadium?

The old east side stands were demolished and the running track removed. The new east stands are a larger reinforced concrete structure with a party deck on top and with bathrooms/conncsion stands built in. The old stands were high school style stands (steel fream with wood bleachers).

The field/turf will be replaced this summer moving it closer to the existing west wide stand.

The track/soccer teams are moving across campus to a brand new stadium. you can see it starting to take an oval shape and the new 1,000 seat stands and press box are under construction on the left side of the 2nd picture. You can see our new-ish arena in the background.

(04-18-2014 10:42 PM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(04-18-2014 06:47 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  Internet posters lie, AD's lie too. 3rd and 4rth hand information is unreliable. Welcome to the wonderful world of realignment.

Now hold on just a darn minute.

Didn't either the WKU pesident or AD say almost the identical thing about no contact with CUSA....three days before announcing the CUSA move???!!!

Thus the statement that ad's lie. I was making a general comment on the reliability of information that you read on message boards. I think you are assigning intent to my post that is not there.

(04-19-2014 02:24 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  

(04-18-2014 10:42 PM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(04-18-2014 06:47 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  Internet posters lie, AD's lie too. 3rd and 4rth hand information is unreliable. Welcome to the wonderful world of realignment.

Now hold on just a darn minute.

Didn't either the WKU pesident or AD say almost the identical thing about no contact with CUSA....three days before announcing the CUSA move???!!!

Thus the statement that ad's lie. I was making a general comment on the reliability of information that you read on message boards. I think you are assigning intent to my post that is not there.

I was trying to inject some levity.

Is it possible the MAC is looking at JMU and Missouri State, but Missouri State isn't ready yet, so they're saying they aren't expanding (yet)? JMU turned down the Sun Belt because for whatever reason they think the MAC is a better fit and they're confident an invite from the MAC will soon be available? Or JMU administration just could be dumb in turning down the Sun Belt offer. Not sure which is true.

(04-22-2014 02:16 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  Is it possible the MAC is looking at JMU and Missouri State, but Missouri State isn't ready yet, so they're saying they aren't expanding (yet)? JMU turned down the Sun Belt because for whatever reason they think the MAC is a better fit and they're confident an invite from the MAC will soon be available?

Would the Eastern schools really want to add one school to both divisions? If Toledo and Bowling Green are in locked cross-division play in an eight game schedule with six in-division games and two cross division games, we'll play Toledo something like once every seven years in football.

Quote: Or JMU administration just could be dumb in turning down the Sun Belt offer.

Remember that the JMU administration did not turn down the Sunbelt offer. Rather, the BOV refused to grant the administration authority to accept any offer. From all available indications, the administration tried to position itself so it could accept an offer from the Sunbelt, which goes against the "quiet offer in the back pocket" theory.

One word......Saban

Was really hoping MSU would become a member as early as 2015, but those hopes seem dim at this point. Good luck and maybe someday y'all can move up to FBS no matter what league you land in.

The rumors have pretty much died lately. won't be any movement for at least a year, but I figured as we still may be a future member I'd show you guys an update on our stadium construction as they are coming along nicely.

Link to construction cam of both football and soccer/track stadiums: http://www.missouristatebears.com/facili...ction.html
Football stadium:



New field hockey and lacrosse stadium:



Soccer/Track stadium:

(04-19-2014 02:24 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  

(04-18-2014 10:42 PM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(04-18-2014 06:47 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  Internet posters lie, AD's lie too. 3rd and 4rth hand information is unreliable. Welcome to the wonderful world of realignment.

Now hold on just a darn minute.

Didn't either the WKU pesident or AD say almost the identical thing about no contact with CUSA....three days before announcing the CUSA move???!!!

Thus the statement that ad's lie. I was making a general comment on the reliability of information that you read on message boards. I think you are assigning intent to my post that is not there.

A university president saying,"there has been no contact with XYZ conference", is like the president of the united states saying during a political uproar over a white house employee doing something really stupid, "I have complete confidence in Mr. XYZ".

The next day he's gone.

(04-18-2014 06:15 PM)msu_bears Wrote:  by the way: here is what the stadiums looks like today

Dang, 3 months makes a little difference...

I predict that Missouri State will eventually get their chance to go FBS. Whether or not their administration chooses to take that chance is another story.