Sam Houston is an hour from Houston, a city of 2.3 million. They have 20,000 students and are in an area where getting into the Sun Belt would be a good option based on being in the footprint.

NDSU and SDSU have no G5 league close, Kalamazoo is 800 miles from Fargo, Laramie is also 800 miles. The combined population of the two states (South Dakota and North Dakota) is around 1.5 million. Again, neither will be moving up anytime soon and neither should.

I have heard interviews with the ADs from both schools discussing the finances of moving up. They are not good. In 10 years that could change. As of now, both schools have bigger priorities.

(12-11-2017 07:37 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(12-11-2017 02:41 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  

(12-11-2017 02:17 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(12-11-2017 01:56 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  This may be the dumbest thread of all time. ...

There is no benefit, financially for any of the four schools mentioned to move up. Costs will increase dramatically while revenues stagnate. All for a shot at playing in the Potato Bowl?

All four administrations will sit back and wait things out. None are going to sign up for an FBS move right now, there are just too many question marks as to the future of G5.

Tell me why then have 10 schools moved up in ten years but only one has tentatively moved down?

FCS is expensive for what one gets out of it. FBS is the less costly choice if facilities are available and a coherent conference for the school is available. There are innumerable studies that show FBS is a better choice, just for national advertising and awareness, but the same posters choose to stick their heads in the sand.

And most of those move ups have talked about how they are struggling financially, and, all are located in populated areas. South Dakota and North Dakota are both pretty isolated.

JMU could move, so could Sam Houston. Both are in populated areas and both could have moved years ago. But not under current circumstances. TV money is drying up. National advertising/exposure? Seriously? 1.1 million watched the Potato Bowl last year. Almost 2 million watched the NDSU v SDSU playoff QUARTERFINAL last year. If NDSU v SDSU happens in Frisco this year expect close to 3 million to watch the game. Very much on par with mid-level bowls.

I'll take the exposure NDSU, SDSU get over the exposure the MAC, CUSA or SBC get playing weeknights. Unless you are at the top of the AAC or MWC, you are not getting a lot of exposure playing G5 football.

Get used to UND playing FCS for a while. Maybe, if UND builds stronger program you can begin to compete with the other Dakota schools. The day may come when NDSU and SDSU move up to another level, as of right now, neither are going anywhere. And neither is UND.

You said my thread is dumb then suggest that Sam could move up. With rare exception, like Lamar, the Southland schools could not be FBS and a few are barely D-I.

Sam is not in a highly populated area, it's close to a highly populated area but they get little run around here. The Southland gets coverage and fanfare collectively. If Houston isn't spoken for by the Big 12 or A&M, it's spoken for by Houston or even the SWAC at least as much as the Southland/Sam. Even Rice would garner more attention if they ever put a team together worth watching.

Sam would never be higher than a Sun Belt level school, which means they would only rarely be nationally ranked and grab minimal headlines. It would not be wise for them to move up unless the Southland as a whole moved up. The Dakotas and DSU's would fare better because they command attention in their entire state and NDSU has an added bonus of almost being in Minnesota. They don't have to fight major schools for headlines nearly as much as JMU, Southland schools or even Houston.