(12-05-2013 11:21 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: (12-05-2013 11:01 PM)chrisattsu Wrote: My guess is the Southland is going all football members. Corpus is the only remaining basketball school so maybe they join the WaC with pan Am.
There have been talks in the D2 world that members of the Lone Star Conference might be making the move.
Tarleton State played Abilene Christian in front of Southland officials earlier this season. They have solid football and basketball teams, a comprehensive facilities plan, and just approved a $22 per credit hour athletic fee.
West Texas A&M is just outside of Amarillo, has a 20,000 person stadium that they fill, and solid athletic track record.
My guess is one of these two will be taking Oral Roberts spot
I never understood why West Texas A&M wasn't at least Division 1.
Ohio played them in the 1960 Sun Bowl.
They did it to save money.
West Texas State (now A&M) played in the Border Conference with (Arizona, ASU, New Mexico, UTEP, and Texas Tech) from 41-61. Later, they joined the Missouri Valley (with North Texas, Louisville, Cinci, Memphis) and played there until 1984.
In the 1970s enrollment dropped and the university could not afford nice things like providing tenure to faculty. However, they continued to fund D1 sports. This pissed off the Academics. A new president came in 1984 and decided to save the university money by dropping to a regional D2 conference. Later, another president defunded the football team all together. Being West Texas, people threw a fit and it was reinstated.
In the past decade, they have been at or near of the conference in basketball, volleyball, and football. They have raised the athletic fee and created a master plan to be one of the premiere teams in D2.
WT is a regional state school that views its peers as Tarleton, Angelo, ACU, and Texas A&M Commerce. The Lone Star Conference was stable after they dumped the Oklahoma schools and everyone was committed to building the brand. However, Abilene's defection opened everyone's eyes. The available replacement schools are small, private colleges that don't play football or some universities in Mexico (I kid you not). This caused Tarleton to start looking towards FCS.
With ACU gone and Tarleton trying to go, WT will likely do everything in their power to not be left behind