(08-05-2014 09:59 AM)Kruciff Wrote: Not everything is attendance numbers.
But it certainly is something. All you have to do is look at the attendance ranks and the vast majority are no coincidence are usually the best programs there are at top. Especially what people consider the most legit elite ones. Sure you'll get an exceptions but it's probably one of the better indicators for how serious you are or where your program really is, how strong the foundation to help you bounce back, hire coaches, attract players etc. People want to play infront of full houses.
UTEP charges basically nothing for tickets but still there are only a handful of program in the G5 that have ever put 47k in a football stadium for an entire year in the last 30 years regardless of circumstances, and they weren't even that great of a team. The high end potential is there.
Quote:Tulane brings investment in athletics,
UTEP brings far better facilities. FAR.
Quote:name recognition (albeit dated),
I despise UTEP but I think they are a bigger name in the athletic world
Quote:an excellent market and locale, top tier academic reputation, and not least of all lots and lots of $$$$.
The budgets are basically the same between Tulane and UTEP. As far as the market, UTEP certainly has more attention in theirs, and academics is great to spin it but the Big East took Boise State before they took Tulane or Rice. It is what it is, after thought and last on the list kind of thing you throw in after to make it sound good.
Quote:UTEP doesn't bring any of that, nor do they even have athletic success.
What's Tulane's real success the last decade?
(08-05-2014 10:37 AM)blunderbuss Wrote: They're located in a far geographic outpost devoid of football talent
Distance is basically no worse than basically any other conferences or CUSA was. Travel is a way of life. West Coast teams have done it for decades as a mater of fact. They didn't name this conference the American because they were confined to one region.
Boise Idaho has no real football talent either. You are what you make it. Let them get one great coach that's willing to stay or stay long enough to stabilize them and hand it off to a great assistant and that's all it would take to put together some success. Stuff like that can be fixed, all it takes is a coach and some players, you can magically find 47k fans to even semi care or the overall fanbase they have or just put the facilites in place they got.