(01-31-2014 01:19 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  I have tried to read the message boards of the possible candidates and look through articles and from what I can gather of the possible candidates:

JMU-- Really no expressed interest in the Sun Belt. Hard to find anything really that said point blank that they want to move to the FBS. Hard to guage what is going on there.

Liberty-- Campaigning as hard as they can to join Sun Belt. Clearly want to move up and have expressed that.

EKU-- Campaigning just like Liberty. AD said he wants EKU to join MAC or Sun Belt. Says both are "fine conferences" and would jump at chance to join Sun Belt

Missouri St.-- Have not seen much to indicate that they want to be in Sun Belt. Are embarging on big facilities improvement plan so I assume they want FBS but I have not seen a leader of MSU come out and say it.

Others (Jacksonville St., Lamar, possibly Sam Houston). Statements from these schools that they are "studying a possible move." Don't see alot of money being pumped in to improve facilities at these places yet.


Anyone see anything else please feel free to correct what I have said.

As far as facilities, some might have been making steady improvements to their facilities. Using the university I support, Lamar, as an example, numerous improvements have been made within the last five years. There are also things planned. A new on campus softball field is scheduled for this year. (This will be the second year for the team which is currently playing games at one of the fields at the Ford Park Softball Complex where Nations Baseball, USSSA Baseball, Stars Over Texas Softball, and United States Fastpitch Association (USFA) conduct softball tournaments.) The Ford Park site is not a bad one, particularly on a temporary basis.

http://www.fordpark.com/ball-fields/

A needed $5,000,000 renovation for the baseball stadium is scheduled in the next couple of years. However, baseball has had some recent renovations including a renovated and expanded locker room (2010) and an indoor pitching and hitting facility (2010). After that, the track field needs some renovations. The last resurfacing was in 2001. Here's some more information about Vincent-Beck Field (on campus).

http://www.lamarcardinals.com/facilities...adium.html

Here are some of the things that have been going on at Lamar in recent years.

Renovation of the football stadium and construction of a 54,000 sq ft Athletics Complex. Cost: > $28,000,000

http://www.lamaruniversitypress.com/lu-a...u0wxaE25TM

Excerpt from announcement in 2009...

"...The dramatic stadium upgrade is expected to take 12 to 14 months. During the renovation, the facility will get all new bench seating, new restrooms, new concession stands and a new walking surface beneath the bleachers. A major component of the project will involve making the stadium more accessible for the disabled. Ramps will be modified to lower the slope, making movement easier for those in wheelchairs. Additional seating for the disabled will be part of the finished facility. Throughout the stadium, concrete surfaces will be repaired, and insulation will be replaced. The playing field will see improvements, including artificial turf for the field, new goalposts and a new scoreboard to keep track of Cardinal touchdowns. New lighting will be installed throughout the stadium...

"...The stadium project goes hand-in-hand with construction of a new athletic complex. Construction of the new building will follow the same timeline as the stadium renovation. Home and visitors locker rooms will be inside the athletic complex. The building will house football coaches’ offices, a sizable weightlifting and physical conditioning room, and a large trainers’ area for taping up players and rehabilitation of injuries, McCaig said. Storage for field equipment and players’ gear will be inside the building as well. Plans for the new facility include several meeting rooms for studying game films and playbooks and for players to focus on their academic studies. Together, the two projects to provide a home for Cardinal football will cost an estimated $26 million, of which $7.5 million has come from private donors, including Provost Umphrey law firm..."

My understanding is that the Athletics Complex is similar in purpose to the one that Georgia Southern is currently constructing. Below is a link to the description of the Athletics Complex contained in an Open House invitation in March, 2011.

http://www.lamaruniversitypress.com/lu-a...u0yqKE25TM

There are some nice interior photos of the complex at this link.

http://www.lamarcardinals.com/facilities...mplex.html

Daktronics Video Scoreboard included with scoreboard configuration
Scoreboard Area - 48' X 88'
Daktronics Video Board - 26' X 52' (per announcement)

Here's a link to an 2010 annoucement about the scoreboard and providing a little more detail.

http://signweb.com/content/lamar-univers...u0zbaE25TM

Press Box Renovation

Excerpt from the 2009 donation announcement describing the renovations...

"...The renovated press box will include a presidential booth with seating for 25; a kitchenette; a media center with seating for 32; a TV broadcast booth; two radio broadcast booths; restrooms; two camera decks, two coaches booths; scoreboard booth, and public address booth..." My understanding is that there is also a luxury box for one of the major donors to the athletics department in the press box.

Luxury boxes added to football stadium area.

Here's a link of the May, 2010 announcement complete with exterior and interior renderings. (The suites were built as part of the adjacent 10,080 seat Montagne Center (basketball). As a side note, the Montagne Center has had several recent renovations including a new court.)

http://www.lamarcardinals.com/sports/m-f...10aaa.html

Renovation of Volleyball arena and construction of a Recreational Sports Center.
Cost > $19,000,000

"...The newly constructed Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center (SURC) is a state-of-the-art facility offering 130,000 square feet of activity space. Highlights of the SURC include an indoor track, a forty-foot indoor rock climbing wall, a fitness center featuring the Cardio Theater audio/visual system on select cardio machines, a full line of pin-select progressive weight machines and a full array of free weights. The SURC also houses a café; television and game lounge; three dedicated basketball courts; five racquetball courts; a multipurpose court for badminton, volleyball, and table tennis; an outdoor putting green; and a fully-enclosed indoor soccer/floor hockey rink..."

There's a hokey video that does a really good job of showing off the facility if anyone is interested. :)

Tennis Court Renovations in 2009.

http://www.lamarcardinals.com/facilities...ility.html

16 courts, 5 of which are stadium courts
Pro Shop and Meeting Area
Locker Room and Restrooms
Electronic scoreboard to keep up with 6 matches

Construction of Soccer Complex in 2009. It has 500 seats, lights, natural grass pitch and support building including coaches offices, training room, academic study area, equipment and locker rooms, as well as concessions and restrooms.

Improvements to facilities are only as good as the gap they create between you and everybody else.

(02-01-2014 01:56 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Improvements to facilities are only as good as the gap they create between you and everybody else.

Just showing that a little money has been spent to improve facilities in recent years. Thought that might be one of the reasons for a lack of announcements of a whole bunch of renovations mentioned in the original post. The point was that a lot of work has already been done.

Don't need to renovate / rebuild the basketball arena. We already have a very nice 10,080 seat arena (with a new floor). It would be nice to upgrade the scoreboard.

Don't need to renovate tennis courts, volleyball courts, soccer stadium. They are either new or the money has already been spent.

Don't need to build a new athletics complex. We already have a pretty new 54,000 sq ft (very nice) one.

Football stadium, while meeting minimum capacity requirements, would need expansion, but not renovation like some others. Renovation part has already been done. Below is a link to a thread on our board where we, as fans, were speculating on expansion possibilities. When we reviewed other expansions, it looked like we had already done most of the heavy lifting. A stadium expansion would be an incremental cost. A lot of the costs involved in the other expansion projects were for renovations which we have already done.

http://www.bigredinsider.com/index.php?o...9#msg51419

Needed items are on campus softball field (this year), renovation to baseball field (next couple of years), and track (haven't seen anything on this).

(02-01-2014 02:28 PM)LUSportsFan Wrote:  

(02-01-2014 01:56 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Improvements to facilities are only as good as the gap they create between you and everybody else.

Just showing that a little money has been spent to improve facilities in recent years. Thought that might be one of the reasons for a lack of announcements of a whole bunch of renovations mentioned in the original post. The point was that a lot of work has already been done.

Don't need to renovate / rebuild the basketball arena. We already have a very nice 10,080 seat arena (with a new floor). It would be nice to upgrade the scoreboard.

Don't need to renovate tennis courts, volleyball courts, soccer stadium. They are either new or the money has already been spent.

Don't need to build a new athletics complex. We already have a pretty new 54,000 sq ft (very nice) one.

Football stadium, while meeting minimum capacity requirements, would need expansion, but not renovation like some others. Renovation part has already been done. Here's a link to a thread on our board where we as fans were speculating on expansion possibilities. When we reviewed other expansions, it looked like we had already done most of the heavy lifting. A stadium expansion would be an incremental cost. A lot of the costs involved in the other expansion projects were for renovations which we have already done.

http://www.bigredinsider.com/index.php?o...9#msg51419

Needed items are on campus softball field (this year), renovation to baseball field (next couple of years), and track (haven't seen anything on this).

I wasn't insulting or belittling Lamar.

I was just pointing out that whenever we talk improvements we have to keep an eye on the competition. If everyone spends $50 million then nobody has gained any advantage.

(02-01-2014 02:35 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(02-01-2014 02:28 PM)LUSportsFan Wrote:  

(02-01-2014 01:56 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Improvements to facilities are only as good as the gap they create between you and everybody else.

Just showing that a little money has been spent to improve facilities in recent years. Thought that might be one of the reasons for a lack of announcements of a whole bunch of renovations mentioned in the original post. The point was that a lot of work has already been done.

Don't need to renovate / rebuild the basketball arena. We already have a very nice 10,080 seat arena (with a new floor). It would be nice to upgrade the scoreboard.

Don't need to renovate tennis courts, volleyball courts, soccer stadium. They are either new or the money has already been spent.

Don't need to build a new athletics complex. We already have a pretty new 54,000 sq ft (very nice) one.

Football stadium, while meeting minimum capacity requirements, would need expansion, but not renovation like some others. Renovation part has already been done. Here's a link to a thread on our board where we as fans were speculating on expansion possibilities. When we reviewed other expansions, it looked like we had already done most of the heavy lifting. A stadium expansion would be an incremental cost. A lot of the costs involved in the other expansion projects were for renovations which we have already done.

http://www.bigredinsider.com/index.php?o...9#msg51419

Needed items are on campus softball field (this year), renovation to baseball field (next couple of years), and track (haven't seen anything on this).

I wasn't insulting or belittling Lamar.

I was just pointing out that whenever we talk improvements we have to keep an eye on the competition. If everyone spends $50 million then nobody has gained any advantage.

Understood and whole-heartedly agree. I think the emphasis should be on need and fulfilling future as well as present requirements.

Obviously Liberty wants to join but I would not go as far as saying they want it the most. Some of these other schools like JMU, EKU or Missouri St may want to join the Belt more but they may need a little more time. Navy announced a move to the AAC two years in advance so what would be wrong with a school like EKU announcing a move effective 2016 instead of 2015? Is their a rule against it? It would certainly allow them time to get their facilities up to par.

We certainly have put our money where our mouth is in regard to how much we want to join the Sun Belt.

(02-01-2014 03:47 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  We certainly have put our money where our mouth is in regard to how much we want to join the Sun Belt.

You have a point there. Liberty has the cash and the will to make it happen. That is one of the reasons I believe the NCAA should give Liberty a wavier to allow them to move up as an independent.