UCA is in a great location to get great recruits. obviously by the name of CENTRAL Ark they get all the recruits from Conway, Little Rock, Vilonia, Beebe, etc... So i can see them joining the Belt in 5-10 years whenever we are willing to allow new members. I would like to see UCA and GA Southern and/or GA State.

but it wont happen for a while, well not at least till UNO, Denver, and UALR are outta the picture.

I love Denver and they are a great school but its just a hassle for the rest of the Belt and them. They should join up with a conference over there, if they can't jump in a D1 conference then i guess they'll have to go down to D1-AA or something.

(04-30-2009 12:27 AM)sotsclarinet08 Wrote:  UCA is in a great location to get great recruits. obviously by the name of CENTRAL Ark they get all the recruits from Conway, Little Rock, Vilonia, Beebe, etc... So i can see them joining the Belt in 5-10 years whenever we are willing to allow new members. I would like to see UCA and GA Southern and/or GA State.

but it wont happen for a while, well not at least till UNO, Denver, and UALR are outta the picture.

I love Denver and they are a great school but its just a hassle for the rest of the Belt and them. They should join up with a conference over there, if they can't jump in a D1 conference then i guess they'll have to go down to D1-AA or something.

Earlier this month, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that UCA violated state law by transferring more state funds to athletics than legally allowed during the past two fiscal years, in part because of presidential discretionary scholarships. Some of those scholarships went to current and former athletes.

UCA also has been moving tens of thousands of dollars in nonsports-related fees to the athletics department without reflecting those fee transfers on students' receipts as state law requires, the newspaper reported.

UCA is in a world of trouble right now. They might not recover from trying to move to D1A without the proper resources. They are also taking money from housing maintenance. Its legal but putting the housing in 7 million worth of deferred mantenance.

(04-29-2009 05:28 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  

(04-29-2009 03:10 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  If UALR is the only non-football Belt team in a couple of years, and they win a couple of Belt men's hoops titles in a row, will there be some grumbling (i.e. all of their resources going to basketball) ?

Possibly. But I hope not. Its not thier fault that everyone else went with (frankly unprofitable) 1A football.

The Belt teams all have to make thier own decisions when it comes to budget tradeoffs.

Either get on the football bus or get out of the conference. That is the direction the conference is going and I am pleased with that direction.

Profitable or not, football generates most of the conference media attention other than one weekend a year of the NCAA tourney.

We still don't have a clear answer as to whether the presidential discretion scholarships paid to athletes exceeded the limits on aid to athletes or were used to hide athletic expenses from auditors. The first puts you on probation, the second in the dog house with the state.

All I know is that they report attendance in excess of the 8,000 seats they have and then when I see photos or highlights the place in no more than 70% full and I'm being kind.

We had a member once who played things fast and loose. Texas Pan American.

(04-30-2009 06:49 AM)Big Money G Wrote:  

(04-29-2009 05:28 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  

(04-29-2009 03:10 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  If UALR is the only non-football Belt team in a couple of years, and they win a couple of Belt men's hoops titles in a row, will there be some grumbling (i.e. all of their resources going to basketball) ?

Possibly. But I hope not. Its not thier fault that everyone else went with (frankly unprofitable) 1A football.

The Belt teams all have to make thier own decisions when it comes to budget tradeoffs.

Either get on the football bus or get out of the conference. That is the direction the conference is going and I am pleased with that direction.

Profitable or not, football generates most of the conference media attention other than one weekend a year of the NCAA tourney.

+1

I don't have a problem with UALR sticking around, since they were in the SBC long before we were. However, if UNO and Denver leave, then the grumblings will certainly get louder for non-football members to get football or get out.

Already hearing some of that here in Murfreesboro.

That said, I thought football was supposed to "help" hoops. I'm not convinced that it does.