As many of you know, Texas State has announced their intentions to move their football program to FBS.

Here is a link to a recently launched site that will show the progress TxSt has made and will continue to make over the next few years...

http://www.athletics.txstate.edu/thedrive/

One of our main road blocks we need to tackle is facility improvement. A brand new baseball and softball complex is set to begin construction this summer. Football Stadium expansion will follow soon after. Here is a link to a PDF that shows a lot of the facility improvements we'll be making.

http://www.athletics.txstate.edu/thedriv...042107.pdf

Yo Bob, Thanks for the info.

Good like with your facility construction.

Looks like you guys are doing a good job with infrastructure. Geographically, you guys are right between NMSU and LaTech, so you could make a case of being a buffer location. I 100% agree that basketball could be the key to success. Schools that can make the NCAA tourney bring in revenue and money to the conference.

Greetings WAC Fans from beautiful San Marcos Texas.
Here are the crazy ramblings of another Texas State fan on our move up and why it might interest the WAC. Please correct me if I am wrong about any of this.
Right now the WAC has nine teams that are full members of the conference. If you were to add in the coming years Texas State, University of Texas at San Antonio and The University of North Texas that would put you at 12 teams and allow an east/west split of the conference with a more regional feel. That would also save the conference and schools travel expenses. Have an East made up of La Tech, Texas State, New Mexico State, UNT, UTSA and Nevada, West of Boise, Idaho, San Jose State, Hawaii, Fresno State and Utah State. Play all of the schools in your east or west subconference every year and rotate the schools in the other sub conference like the Big 12 does now. Have a championship game in the end. UTSA, which is hoping to field a football team by 2010, would be a real asset because they will play in the Alamodome which would make a great site for the championship game every other year when the East would host it. Great destination city. That would also give you the media markets of Austin (Texas State), Dallas/Ft Worth (UNT) and San Antonio (UTSA).
I think this would be a simalar set-up that the WAC had when you had Rice, SMU and TCU in the conference. The difference between those schools and the three I mentioned is these are big public schools that better fit in the model of what the WAC is now. Texas State has 28,000 students, UTSA around 29,000 and UNT around 33,000.
Taking on new programs in the form of Texas State and UTSA is always a risk for a conference but I think once these programs are up and running they would be a real asset to the conference. After all look at what Boise State's addition did for the WAC.
That's my book, flame away if you wish.

Texas State to the WAC would not be a good idea. Why would the WAC need a buffer location? The real goal should be to help Louisiana Tech find a more geographically suitable conference to move to rather than keeping the WAC spread out as far as it is at this time. It would almost make more sense for Texas State to join the MWC since TCU is already in that league except, of course, the people running that place would probably not want anything to do with the Bobcats.

With UT-San Antonio looking to do something in football, it makes you wonder if establishing a new Southern conference wouldn't be the answer.

There still would not be enough schools to establish a new FBS level conference in that area. If the Big East were to split and expand with Temple, Memphis, East Carolina, and Central Florida - as many message board posters so love to speculate - that would leave CUSA looking for three replacements.

Now let's assume those three replacements are Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and UTSA just for the heck of it. This leaves the Sun Belt in need of two replacements and possibly in search of four programs with football if they then desire to go from 8 - including South Alabama - to 12 as a result.

You would then be looking at Texas State and Louisiana Tech sitting out there along with the possibilities of Appalachian State and Georgia Southern, or maybe later UNC Charlotte and Georgia State, not to mention previous rumblings from Jacksonville State and possibly Lamar. A new league is a stretch.

beamout2000 Wrote:Have an East made up of La Tech, Texas State, New Mexico State, UNT, UTSA and Nevada, West of Boise, Idaho, San Jose State, Hawaii, Fresno State and Utah State.

Nevada in the East? I'm guessing that you're making the common mistake of thinking Nevada is in Las Vegas, because only Hawai'i and San Jose are further west than Reno (almost exactly the same as Fresno).

None of the western teams would be a logical fit in an eastern division. If you created a southern division, you could include Hawai'i under the logic they have to travel so far anyways, but that would create more problems than it would solve.

On the flip side, it would have been difficult to predict the way things have worked out so far, so who knows what the future holds? If the MWC took one WAC team -- count me as one who thinks that's pretty unlikely -- an alignment such as that might work. At this point, I don't like the idea, but I do think the WAC needs to keep an open mind about such possibilities.

Good luck with the move. It'll come with growing pains, but as a Nevada fan, I wouldn't want to go back.

First off, Temple is no longer in either the Big East or CUSA, they moved to the MAC a few years ago. Secondly, I am a graduate of Nicholls State. I would hate to lose a great rival such as Texas State. It may be a big step forward to move to FBS but there is a major period of adjustment to that level and only one team was able to see success right out the box and that was Marshall. However, Marshall has been going through a dry spell the last few years. I wish you all the best of luck but remember the Battle For The Paddle!

(06-01-2008 02:14 PM)clpack Wrote:  

beamout2000 Wrote:Have an East made up of La Tech, Texas State, New Mexico State, UNT, UTSA and Nevada, West of Boise, Idaho, San Jose State, Hawaii, Fresno State and Utah State.

Nevada in the East? I'm guessing that you're making the common mistake of thinking Nevada is in Las Vegas, because only Hawai'i and San Jose are further west than Reno (almost exactly the same as Fresno).

None of the western teams would be a logical fit in an eastern division. If you created a southern division, you could include Hawai'i under the logic they have to travel so far anyways, but that would create more problems than it would solve.

On the flip side, it would have been difficult to predict the way things have worked out so far, so who knows what the future holds? If the MWC took one WAC team -- count me as one who thinks that's pretty unlikely -- an alignment such as that might work. At this point, I don't like the idea, but I do think the WAC needs to keep an open mind about such possibilities.

Good luck with the move. It'll come with growing pains, but as a Nevada fan, I wouldn't want to go back.

(05-26-2008 01:30 PM)WAC_FAN Wrote:  Looks like you guys are doing a good job with infrastructure. Geographically, you guys are right between NMSU and LaTech, so you could make a case of being a buffer location. I 100% agree that basketball could be the key to success. Schools that can make the NCAA tourney bring in revenue and money to the conference.

UTSA Alumn here...

I am not sure what we are going to do conference wise, but I hope we move with Texas State to keep the regional rivalry going.

We usually stay pretty competetive in baseball and basketball, but obviously have not played a single football game yet. The real potential we have there is the alamodome in downtown SA and coash Larry Coker (plus a TON of South Texas talent to recruit)

We were also just ranked (25, but still ranked) in one of those bozo mid-major rankings. So we are taking the baby steps necessary. See you guys soon in one form or another!

[url=http://www.collegeinsider.com/mmpoll/]

North Texas has no interest in being in a conference that includes SWTSU-SM and/or UTSA.....

FGCU has announced it is conducting the feasibility study for football, which is not a surprise.

I've often wondered why Corpus-Christi hasn't yet.

I believe North Alabama and West Georgia are considering DI moves, but I doubt to the FBS level.

The WAC currently will have 8 members once Boise State departs, adding 1-2 more would help with scheduling and help keep the conference's status as an FBS conference should it lose any more members. The only problem is that all the realistic candidates are FCS.

The WAC will have to add a football school. The WAC would also be smart to approach the Zags.

The Zags are important because they're ESPN's Golden Boys in the West and our TV contract wouldn't be hurt badly, or at all.

(05-29-2008 10:47 AM)jediwarrior Wrote:  With UT-San Antonio looking to do something in football, it makes you wonder if establishing a new Southern conference wouldn't be the answer.

How about a New Southwest Conference? I'd love it to be

South
Texas Longhorns
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Baylor Bears
Houston Cougars
Rice Owls
Texas State Bobcats

West
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Arkansas Razorbacks
Texas Christian Horned Frogs
SMU Mustangs
North Texas Mean Green
Texas El Paso

But I doubt the Big boys would let us play so came up with:

South
Texas State Bobcats
UTSA Roadrunners
Houston Cougars
Rice Owls
Tulane Green Wave
Louisiana Lafayette Rajun Cajuns
Louisiana Tech Bull Dogs

West
Texas Christian Horned Frogs
SMU Mustangs
North Texas Mean Green
Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
Texas El Paso
New Mexico State Aggies
Nevada Wolfpack

I think this would cut down on travel costs and be a decent competitive conference. Doubt TCU would leave but ya never know.