(02-20-2016 12:34 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  

Panama Wrote:It's South Texas

Everything comes second to football.

That is completely incorrect. Baseball is king in South Texas and has been for generations.

As a Liberty alum who lived for many years covering sports in South Texas, I consideer UTRGV as the least of our worries as competition for an FBS invitation.

And when in the world did Liberty enter into this conversation??. LOL

If your wife graduated from one of the PSJA schools, ask her if HS baseball or football was bigger when she was in school.

They will need to outlaw any home day games until mid October.

(02-20-2016 01:09 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  If your wife graduated from one of the PSJA schools, ask her if HS baseball or football was bigger when she was in school.

I don't have to ask her. She so constantly talking football as are her friends. My niece and her husband graduated 15 years later and are in their early 30s and still attend high school football games. Wal Mart isn't covered in burnt orange down there for Longhorn baseball. We were in Family Dollar in San Juan just Monday of this past week and they had a monstrous section devoted to every conceivable Texas Longhorn piece of merchandise. Now that you mention it I can't remember ever seeing a Texas Rangers or Houston Astros baseball cap for sale anywhere. If anything after the Cowboys and Longhorns I would say the Spurs are the next most popular team.

(02-20-2016 01:11 PM)NuMexAg Wrote:  They will need to outlaw any home day games until mid October.

LOL. It was 89 on Monday. Night games will work. The temp drops fast so that by 7 it's not bad at all.

UTRGV hasn't produced a winner in any sport the last ten years. Football will be no different. Anyone is nuts to consider them for the SBC. Huge downgrade in all sports across the board.

(02-20-2016 01:50 PM)FoUTASportscaster Wrote:  UTRGV hasn't produced a winner in any sport the last ten years. Football will be no different. Anyone is nuts to consider them for the SBC. Huge downgrade in all sports across the board.

What other sport counts in TX? Things are just different when you start football in the South. Just from an interest and resource point it's going to be different.

(02-20-2016 12:34 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  

Panama Wrote:It's South Texas

Everything comes second to football.

That is completely incorrect. Baseball is king in South Texas and has been for generations.

As a Liberty alum who lived for many years covering sports in South Texas, I consideer UTRGV as the least of our worries as competition for an FBS invitation.

I concur (and that is saying a LOT given my feelings towards Liberty). UTPA has the distinction of being ejected from the league too. And they were a full, rather than an affiliate, member of the league. Anyone miss UTPA? I didn't think so.

At best, they'd be FIU. A huge school with zero fan support and little athletic contribution to the league. Anyone miss FIU (or even really notice they are gone)? I didn't think so.

That being said, I actually like UTRGV's moves to create a comprehensive state institution in the Valley. I just am very opposed to their candidacy for membership in the Sun Belt Conference. They're barely viable as a D1 school in basketball. No way they provide football value. And I'd feel the same way if they had 100,000 students. Maybe if they produced some success in FCS or in D1 basketball and had some attendance, I'd feel different.

Wow, how many schools can you insult in one post unnecessarily? And besides a couple of posts where has anyone mentioned the SBC as a landing spot?

(02-20-2016 09:32 PM)panama Wrote:  Wow, how many schools can you insult in one post unnecessarily? And besides a couple of posts where has anyone mentioned the SBC as a landing spot?

Any time there's any movement at any D1 school for basketball or anyone needs a home, posters attempt to place them in the Belt. Seriously, UTRGV can't even get in the Southland. I'm glad UTPA rebranded, got a medical school and merged with UTB, but that doesn't make them a fit for FBS football.

Some of us were in a conference with UTPA for years. There's a history. And it didn't end well.

I hope they do join the Southland (if that's what they wish to do) and wish them well in D1 basketball or FCS should they choose to start football. But people simply looking at market size without seeing any evidence that the school can actually deliver that market makes me irritated. It is not a college football supporting area. And neither is the Valley (which is great place otherwise). I suppose it could happen at some point in the future. Its hard to sell a new football team. But I think its even harder to do so in areas where support for the sport of football in general hasn't been really strong.

I'm tired of people treating this conference like we're the land of the misfit toys.

Here is the thing, and it will suck for you; chances are there will be movement in FBS in the next 10 years. Chances are they actually might end up in the SBC. Chances are you will be sharing a conference with them. Even bigger chance that you will not be able to do anything about it. No sense in losing marbles over what ifs.

(02-20-2016 01:50 PM)FoUTASportscaster Wrote:  UTRGV hasn't produced a winner in any sport the last ten years. Football will be no different. Anyone is nuts to consider them for the SBC. Huge downgrade in all sports across the board.

UTA needs to get on with adding football so we don't need another Texas team to keep the Bobcats happy.

(02-20-2016 01:09 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  If your wife graduated from one of the PSJA schools, ask her if HS baseball or football was bigger when she was in school.

PSJA in the old days was a football powerhouse.

Yep

I love how whenever a Liberty guy says something everyone automatically shuts them down! Talk about solidarity!

But yea, while baseball is great, football is king. There's always going to be (at my school there was one or two, bigger schools obviously would have more) that kid on the baseball team that wears high ankle socks and a flat brimmed hat barely above his eyes that thinks he has scouts looking at him that believes baseball is a bigger deal than football. It isn't in any part of Texas. Maybe in some school by school cases where the school has always sucked at football but is decent at baseball but either way no home high school baseball game will ever outdraw a home high school football game.

(02-21-2016 08:09 AM)panama Wrote:  Here is the thing, and it will suck for you; chances are there will be movement in FBS in the next 10 years. Chances are they actually might end up in the SBC. Chances are you will be sharing a conference with them. Even bigger chance that you will not be able to do anything about it. No sense in losing marbles over what ifs.

There will be movement at some point. I'm just not seeing a ton of chaos like what we saw in the last 10 years.

Big XII takes 2 and then the cascading impact of that. I don't see it shaking loose a spot for UTRGV.

Sure, anything's possible. But its unlikely UTRGV ends up in FBS. I'm not alone. Ask the other Texas SBC schools their opinion of UTRGV as a candidate. Sure, if UTRGV finds some traction with the local community, and starts a FCS program and achieves some success then there might be some discussion. But that will take a lot of time.

But so long as ULL and stAte are in the conference, UTRGV will have a very hard time with a SBC bid. And that's before they have to sell it to USA and UALR who probably aren't really jazzed to take them either.

Who would be the team that pushes them for membership? Texas State? UTA? I'm not sure they'd support a bid for UTRGV.

I'm glad that UTRGV wants football. But remember that UTRGV has spent 22 of its 31 years since moving to D1 in either no conference or a no-bid conference because none of the 30 plus conferences would take them. And there were more than a few desparate conferences during that time.

Two years as an FCS and then jump to FBS how?

Liberty after CCU was added we still fully plan on Joining FBS how?

Stony Brook is fundraising for a hundred million dollar expansion for FBS where ?

WSU is considering FBS football how do you consider adding FBS football.
How does that work is it like considering to date a model ?

FBS is basically closed until something happens in realignment and even then it still might be closed to new members.

Why are these leaders of universities making these crazy statements ?

Makes you wonder if something big is not coming in the next few years.
That is anyone's guess like a split or relaxing of rules who knows.
The P5 thing was going to be four 16 team conferences and a total split according to many so called experts.

(02-21-2016 10:52 AM)MJG Wrote:  Two years as an FCS and then jump to FBS how?

Liberty after CCU was added we still fully plan on Joining FBS how?

Stony Brook is fundraising for a hundred million dollar expansion for FBS where ?

WSU is considering FBS football how do you consider adding FBS football.
How does that work is it like considering to date a model ?

FBS is basically closed until something happens in realignment and even then it still might be closed to new members.

Why are these leaders of universities making these crazy statements ?

Makes you wonder if something big is not coming in the next few years.
That is anyone's guess like a split or relaxing of rules who knows.
The P5 thing was going to be four 16 team conferences and a total split according to many so called experts.

Could just be that schools want to be ready if / when their time comes.

(02-21-2016 10:52 AM)MJG Wrote:  Two years as an FCS and then jump to FBS how?

Liberty after CCU was added we still fully plan on Joining FBS how?

Stony Brook is fundraising for a hundred million dollar expansion for FBS where ?

WSU is considering FBS football how do you consider adding FBS football.
How does that work is it like considering to date a model ?

FBS is basically closed until something happens in realignment and even then it still might be closed to new members.

Why are these leaders of universities making these crazy statements ?

Makes you wonder if something big is not coming in the next few years.
That is anyone's guess like a split or relaxing of rules who knows.
The P5 thing was going to be four 16 team conferences and a total split according to many so called experts.

I think there are a few things operating here

The primacy of football over basketball has become so pronounced that some basketball schools feel that they're becoming irrelevant.

While the impact of a large and growing football primacy affects all basketball programs, The impact is more pronounced at schools outside the three prominent 'no FBS conferences' (FBS plus the A-10, the Big East, and the WCC).

The fear is that basketball will be downgraded further as a sport in the minds of the American sports market to something like college baseball or hockey. It won't get that far, but for schools that build their identity on college basketball, its not a pretty thought for them.

Another problem for the non-football schools is that most FBS (and many FCS) conferences really only care about football. Uconn has okay football, a reasonably sized market that they carry, and the most dominant college basketball program in the country since 2000. They have trouble finding a big league home. A program has very little value to a football league if they don't have it. Unless a school thinks it has a viable path to the Big East, the A-10, or the WCC, they're looking at improving their existing football or starting football in order to move up in the conference pecking order.

Want to move into the Southland? You need football. Want to move into the SoCon? Ditto. CAA? Football. Want to protect your prominent basketball program and you can't get into the A-10 or Big East? Football. The real question for the football conferences should be to ensure that those adding football really want football or do they really just want membership. If they're not all in for football, it might not turn out well. Football, and especially FBS, is very expensive and frequently requires sacrificing some basketball resources, at least in the short run.

(02-20-2016 01:58 PM)panama Wrote:  

(02-20-2016 01:50 PM)FoUTASportscaster Wrote:  UTRGV hasn't produced a winner in any sport the last ten years. Football will be no different. Anyone is nuts to consider them for the SBC. Huge downgrade in all sports across the board.

What other sport counts in TX? Things are just different when you start football in the South. Just from an interest and resource point it's going to be different.

Sp they haven't produced a winner in basketball since the Abe Lemons days, haven't had success in baseball since a few NCAA tourney successes in the 1970's, have been kicked out of conferences for lack of competitiveness, couldn't get an invite to a conference cause their sports quality is so bad, is only in the WAC cause it would have imploded without them, but they'll magically figure out how to produce a winner in football?

Add in the fact that Texas already has 12 FBS teams and at least 8 FCS teams and I don't see how you can be so optimistic.