(02-18-2019 10:54 PM)Todor Wrote:  If Cal State LA is even thinking about DI, they need to go the Big West route. The WAC doesn't need to nurse another Cal State school along so they can join the BW after a few years. The BW is the weaker conference so let them hand hold and sponsor their own new members

All I need to know about CSU LA is their home attendance of around 200 for home games last year. Pathetic. The admins may want D1, but apparently no one else cares at all about their sports.

This CMU news certainly is amusing.

Oklahoma City U is another interesting possible add to the WAC. Former D1 member, long outgrown the NAIA. We!l funded sports and facilities now. Nice private school, in a big metro area like lots of WAC schools, law school, good reputation. I think they may be interested now because they used to be in a nice little rough NAIA conference that was very local. Now a lot of defections to D2 has left them in a much weaker and more spread out conference. OCU is now very out of place

OKCU should have made the move to D1 when they were talking about it in 2008. They have to go D2 route first.

WAC does have others to look at from big towns.
San Francisco State
Sonoma State
Chico State
CSU-San Bernardino
CSU-L.A.
CSU-East Bay
Azusa Pacific
CSU-Dominguez Hills
Central Washington (fastest growing area in Washington)
Western Washington
Colorado Mesa
CSU-Pueblo
Colorado-Colorado Springs
West Texas A&M
Midwestern State
UTPB
Angelo State
Central Oklahoma
Oklahoma Baptist
UAFS
Lubbock Christian
Saint Mary's
Saint Edwards
Tarleton State
Commerce
Kingsville
UT-Tyler
Rogers State
Oklahoma Christian
Washburn
Rockhurst
Cameron

That is were all the schools located in a heavy populated region.

(02-19-2019 12:22 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(02-18-2019 09:47 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(02-18-2019 08:51 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(02-18-2019 05:24 PM)SeattleVandals Wrote:  Dixie State Athletic Director Jason Boothe liked the tweet by College Consulting. The drama is getting spicy!!

Good way to start up a heated rivalry for the WAC. Dixie State VS Colorado Mesa could be fun to watched in the future.

It is just my opinion, but I don't think the WAC is interested in any D2 school that has limited accessibility (no major airport within 75 miles, no major highways running through it) and is located in a community under 100K; unless otherwise a suburb of a larger metropolitan area. The WAC's growth model is not the Big Sky. It is more so a western, more sparse, version of the Big East or Atlantic 10.

Ideally, the WAC would like to adds schools located near places such as Denver, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, etc.

Although Dixie State is a little off the beaten track located in St George, Utah, their addition will pay dividends once they're eligible for the WAC tournament (St. George is located less than two hours away from Las Vegas). Dixie State's biggest strength is they have been perennially one the of the top drawing basketball attendance in division 2.

Grand Junction's metro is over 100,000. Interstate 70 goes through the city which is down the road from Denver. Grand Junction Regional Airport which is travel.
Allegiant Air
American Eagle
Delta Connection
Denver Air Connection
United Express

So, Delta, American and United Airlines fly to Grand Junction. So, you actually described Western State instead of Colorado Mesa.

I am not describing any particular D2 school. I am just saying certain "WAC optimal" metrics need to be met before throwing just any D2 school into the WAC expansion mix. Western Colorado clearly has some negative factors for any WAC consideration. Western Colorado's D1 target might be trying join the Big Sky in the future.

Oklahoma City has a tiny student enrollment. They are not a candidate IMO. Not for a long long time.

It would take OCU 12 years to become a full D1 member. They are a very long ways away.

(02-19-2019 12:35 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(02-19-2019 12:22 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(02-18-2019 09:47 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(02-18-2019 08:51 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(02-18-2019 05:24 PM)SeattleVandals Wrote:  Dixie State Athletic Director Jason Boothe liked the tweet by College Consulting. The drama is getting spicy!!

Good way to start up a heated rivalry for the WAC. Dixie State VS Colorado Mesa could be fun to watched in the future.

It is just my opinion, but I don't think the WAC is interested in any D2 school that has limited accessibility (no major airport within 75 miles, no major highways running through it) and is located in a community under 100K; unless otherwise a suburb of a larger metropolitan area. The WAC's growth model is not the Big Sky. It is more so a western, more sparse, version of the Big East or Atlantic 10.

Ideally, the WAC would like to adds schools located near places such as Denver, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, etc.

Although Dixie State is a little off the beaten track located in St George, Utah, their addition will pay dividends once they're eligible for the WAC tournament (St. George is located less than two hours away from Las Vegas). Dixie State's biggest strength is they have been perennially one the of the top drawing basketball attendance in division 2.

Grand Junction's metro is over 100,000. Interstate 70 goes through the city which is down the road from Denver. Grand Junction Regional Airport which is travel.
Allegiant Air
American Eagle
Delta Connection
Denver Air Connection
United Express

So, Delta, American and United Airlines fly to Grand Junction. So, you actually described Western State instead of Colorado Mesa.

I am not describing any particular D2 school. I am just saying certain "WAC optimal" metrics need to be met before throwing just any D2 school into the WAC expansion mix. Western Colorado clearly has some negative factors for any WAC consideration. Western Colorado's D1 target might be trying join the Big Sky in the future.

No, the Big Sky would not be inviting Western Colorado. They are not DI material for any conference.

Why they are even a discussion is just David St idiocy.

Is there a screen shot of the tweet? I clicked on the link and the tweet was gone. I went to the main page for that twitter account and could not find the tweet.

(02-19-2019 12:35 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  Oklahoma City has a tiny student enrollment. They are not a candidate IMO. Not for a long long time.

You don’t know ****! DavidSt says the OKC has potential for the WAC and you should believe him. They were in the Horizon league with Notre Dame in the early 80s! They were D1, therefore are a forever candidate to move back up. All they need is a big time donor and vision!!!! Yeah, DavidSt rules!!!!!!!!!!

(02-19-2019 04:22 PM)TardisCaptain Wrote:  Is there a screen shot of the tweet? I clicked on the link and the tweet was gone. I went to the main page for that twitter account and could not find the tweet.

I Tweeted a screenshot. Can't get it to attach to post unfortunately

Any school can move to D1 with the right amount of money

BTW if you look at Collegiate Consulting's web site you discover it's an Atlanta based group. They list testimonials from Troy, FAMU, SIU-C, UT-RGV, and the Gulf South Conference (D-II). They list their team members former jobs with UNLV, Hofstra, UIC, ULL, St. Cloud State, Hartwick, UMBC, TAMU plus WVIAC (D-III conference).

If you look at their "News" page you see a hodgepaodge of schools and conferences from all over the country. It doesn't look to me like the WAC is anything like exclusive. Rather the same "both sides of the fence" consulting goes on at multiple places in the lower end of the conference spectrum -- those without the in-house "talent" to do these reports and evaluations.(Conferences like the B1G, SEC, P12, ACC would likely only hire a consulting company to give a parallel report so that they assure themselves their data gathering is at least as thorough and hit all the requirements of the NCAA)

But I can see where a conflict of interest could seem to arise, where a Consultant members might want to push a client school and a conference to make a move where they could milk extra fees. But you have to think both the conference expansion committee, made up of ADs and Presidents of member schools, and the leadership of the school in question would not be unduly influenced. After all Collegiate Consulting is playing the role of "match maker" and as with any match, the participants themselves have to decide if a relationship and nuptials make sense. So I think that is much ado about nothing.

Now the obvious WAC connection is Shannon M Hurd, who is a "copy editor", and Jeff Hurd's daughter.* That would give Collegiate Consulting a pretty direct source to know the inside decisions of the WAC.

* a quite online search revealed their ages, middle names, year of college graduation, of course address and more. I'll only note that Jeff Hurd is 68, and will be 69 when we start 2019-20 season. Something to keep in mind, succession that is.

Anyway, I think we can trust that tweet as accurate information given the direct contact they have with the WAC.

(02-19-2019 01:37 PM)RandomFan Wrote:  It would take OCU 12 years to become a full D1 member. They are a very long ways away.

I forgot that you can't go from Naia to D1 anymore. Yeah, that pretty much makes Oklahoma City out of any picture.

(02-19-2019 12:35 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  Oklahoma City has a tiny student enrollment. They are not a candidate IMO. Not for a long long time.

You're right. I thought they were closer to 4-5k. But that sure hasn't stopped many others from thinking they belong. I'm looking at YOU Presbyterian! As well as a few others:)

(02-20-2019 03:44 AM)Todor Wrote:  

(02-19-2019 12:35 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  Oklahoma City has a tiny student enrollment. They are not a candidate IMO. Not for a long long time.

You're right. I thought they were closer to 4-5k. But that sure hasn't stopped many others from thinking they belong. I'm looking at YOU Presbyterian! As well as a few others:)

Tulsa is the tinyist FBS school in the country. Sometimes some of these smaller private schools do want to move up to D1 to attract certain type of students to grow. It has to do with endowment and all that which they could move up. There are some privates in D2 that do have the money that are more than some FBS schools.

(02-20-2019 03:44 AM)Todor Wrote:  

(02-19-2019 12:35 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  Oklahoma City has a tiny student enrollment. They are not a candidate IMO. Not for a long long time.

You're right. I thought they were closer to 4-5k. But that sure hasn't stopped many others from thinking they belong. I'm looking at YOU Presbyterian! As well as a few others:)

This thread is meant to be about Mesa more than realignment talk .
Not to derail this further, but OCU would be a bad choice compared to Central Oklahoma if the WAC wants the OKC market. Both are in the OKC metro area. OCU is an NAIA school with 1500 undergrads while Central Oklahoma is a Division 2 school with 15000 undergrads.

(02-20-2019 02:50 AM)Stugray2 Wrote:  They list their team members former jobs with UNLV, Hofstra, UIC, ULL, St. Cloud State, Hartwick, UMBC, TAMU plus WVIAC (D-III conference).

We need to add St. Cloud State immediately, if not sooner. Someone get Hurd on the horn, STAT!!!

(02-19-2019 09:02 PM)SeattleVandals Wrote:  

(02-19-2019 04:22 PM)TardisCaptain Wrote:  Is there a screen shot of the tweet? I clicked on the link and the tweet was gone. I went to the main page for that twitter account and could not find the tweet.

I Tweeted a screenshot. Can't get it to attach to post unfortunately

I think they took it down because I responded to them that Metro State would struggle to attract a fan base for D1 since they would be competing against 5 other schools for the Denver market, and Colorado Mesa would not. I did say Colorado Mesa would be a better choice with Grand Junction growing just like St. George.

Yes DavidSt you were the one guy on the internet that forced their hand on taking a tweet down. lol

(02-21-2019 03:58 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  Yes DavidSt you were the one guy on the internet that forced their hand on taking a tweet down. lol

(02-21-2019 04:52 PM)PojoaquePosse Wrote:  

(02-21-2019 03:58 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  Yes DavidSt you were the one guy on the internet that forced their hand on taking a tweet down. lol

Me? Nooooo.

Good luck to all schools mentioned in this thread tonight! lol

If Denver can win then they will do fine