Take a look.
<a href='http://www.wkusports.com/page.cgi?page=Facilities' target='_blank'>http://www.wkusports.com/page.cgi?page=Facilities</a>
Those stadium pics don't do the stadium justice, as the one home side is pretty impressive (two decks). Obviously it needs to be "finished". I couldn't help but notice that back in the 70's they averaged over 15K quite a few years.......wonder why their attendance declined after that. Where they DI in the 70's before the IA and IAA classifications went into effect around 1982 or so?
Also, Nick, you've got to have some scoop here as to whether or not this is a cruel hoax or a reality??? Also, is MTSU part of the "mix", and/or are there discussions with Temple going on?
Their B-Ball arena is very nice and their football stadium has potential if they do the improvements that have been rumored.
ex Cincy Kid Wrote:Those stadium pics don't do the stadium justice, as the one home side is pretty impressive (two decks). Obviously it needs to be "finished".
They'd have a lot of work to do to have the finest half a stadium in the MAC.
WKU was along time member of the OVC. In the 60's,70's & 80's WKU was with Eastern Kentucky, Morehead St, Murray St, Middle Tenn, East Tenn, Tenn Tech & Austin Peay. This was a compact 2 state league with great in state rivalries and good traveling fan bases.
League was a D-II before going I-AA. After that , teams started to drift away, league membership changed and attendance fell. WKU does not draw well these days in FB and do not travel well.
BB is well funded. FB is a stepchild. Minor sports are skeletons.
Good luck. You have bought a pig in a poke !!
WKU attend will be up when you play teams like, Ohio, Miami, Ball St. and MTSU.
Who wants to see West Virginia Tech, Union College (Ky.) and Southwest Missouri. You have to play someone.
This years schedule is pretty bad as well. Remember this is a football state. UK has a top 20 attendence and a bottom 20 program. Louisville always does well. Also, WKU can help with Nashville and Louisville coverage.
paladin1aa Wrote:WKU was along time member of the OVC. In the 60's,70's & 80's WKU was with Eastern Kentucky, Morehead St, Murray St, Middle Tenn, East Tenn, Tenn Tech & Austin Peay. This was a compact 2 state league with great in state rivalries and good traveling fan bases.
League was a D-II before going I-AA. After that , teams started to drift away, league membership changed and attendance fell. WKU does not draw well these days in FB and do not travel well.
BB is well funded. FB is a stepchild. Minor sports are skeletons.
Good luck. You have bought a pig in a poke !!
Paladin are u upset nobody wants Youngstown? Not that im sure your advocating for YSU in the MAC
paladin1aa Wrote:BB is well funded. FB is a stepchild. Minor sports are skeletons.
Good luck. You have bought a pig in a poke !!
If football is a stepchild, I wish I had a stepfather that nice!
Last time I checked they won the 2002 National Title! That's more than YSU can say these days.
Guys, as I have stated before, YSU is happy where they are and we have no problem with this.
I am a grad of Morehead St. and old rival of WKU. I have followed them as a league member of the Gateway Conference as a YSU fan.
I know the WKU situation well. They drew poorly as a National Champ and if you check their website ,attendance is terrible. BB will thrive, FB suffer and in my opinion fail as a I-A for attendance. They DID NOT travel well in the GFC nor to YSU.
This , in my opinion, will be another albatross around the MAC neck. Even if they build the other FB side, WKU is a BB school and MAC schools WILL NOT increase their attendance in FB.
Good luck !!
paladin1aa Wrote:Guys, as I have stated before, YSU is happy where they are and we have no problem with this.
I am a grad of Morehead St. and old rival of WKU. I have followed them as a league member of the Gateway Conference as a YSU fan.
I know the WKU situation well. They drew poorly as a National Champ and if you check their website ,attendance is terrible. BB will thrive, FB suffer and in my opinion fail as a I-A for attendance. They DID NOT travel well in the GFC nor to YSU.
This , in my opinion, will be another albatross around the MAC neck. Even if they build the other FB side, WKU is a BB school and MAC schools WILL NOT increase their attendance in FB.
Good luck !!
:snore: Sure Penguin, It dosent hurt to go after, whats the worst they dont make 15k and drop again. We dont lose anything.
Nothing = back to the drawing board !!
<a href='http://www.kmea.org/SMBC/SMBC03Info/WKUpics.html' target='_blank'>http://www.kmea.org/SMBC/SMBC03Info/WKUpics.html</a>
Go to this site for pictures of WKU stadium and notice the open area ready for the "other side".
paladin1aa Wrote:Guys, as I have stated before, YSU is happy where they are and we have no problem with this.
An excellent source told me this week that Youngstown State would like to be in the MAC.
Does it mean YSU is actively pursuing this? I don't know. Does it mean YSU sees the MAC as realistic? I don't know.
But I do believe YSU looks up at the MAC and figures that would be a nice, nice place to be.
But that won't happen Kent State and/or Akron around.
paladin1aa Wrote:Nothing = back to the drawing board !!
So?
YSU is not pursuing the MAC. They are in the beginning of a major campus building campaign .
I like YSU and I would welcome them in if we were to lose 2 or maybe 3 Ohio schools.....right now we are ODing on Ohio schools.
paladin1aa Wrote:WKU was along time member of the OVC. In the 60's,70's & 80's WKU was with Eastern Kentucky, Morehead St, Murray St, Middle Tenn, East Tenn, Tenn Tech & Austin Peay. This was a compact 2 state league with great in state rivalries and good traveling fan bases.
League was a D-II before going I-AA. After that , teams started to drift away, league membership changed and attendance fell. WKU does not draw well these days in FB and do not travel well.
BB is well funded. FB is a stepchild. Minor sports are skeletons.
Good luck. You have bought a pig in a poke !!
Football attendance is trending upwards. Attendance wasn't great this year, but we did average over 10,000 plus were averaging almost 12,500 for the first half of the season. This was helped out by a capacity crowd of over 18,000 people for the Eastern Kentucky game. One of the biggest problems with attendance is that, as good as the Gateway is, a lot of fans don't care about games against those schools. They aren't passionate about games against them, so they may or may not come dependent upon weather and other obligations. Also, I don't think the program is marketed quite as well as it could be either. As for the away games, well how many people would really be excited about heading to places like Northern Iowa during late fall and winter?
As for football being treated like as stepchild, yes, it was in the past. To the point that it was almost cut in the early 90s. Under the current AD and president, that treatment has changed somewhat. They want WKU to be competitive in all areas of sports in which we field teams as well as excel in all areas of academics.
WKU is where "The Spirti Makes the Master!"
A couple of points Topper. EKU will not stay on the schedule if WKU goes I-A. As I-A , UK & UL will not play you. WKU avg. 7k in 2002, more inline with their attendance figures going back decades.
For 50 years, BB & its boosters have dominated WKU athletics. Your Prez & AD are self serving on the FB kick until they have moved on to bigger & better positions. A new Prez & AD will fall right back to the BB control freaks !!
The biggest problem is the 15k requirement. If you still had the in state rivalry with EKU, Morehead & Murray and old OVC foes MTSU,Tenn Tech,ETSU you would have a chance.But your folks aren't going to go bonkers and show up in droves for CMU,NIU,Buffalo,Kent,Akron or Ball St. Your folks won a National Championship and couldn't get excited about that and playing Ill.St, UNI, WIU, YSU or the rest of the GFC.
Wish you guys well as a I-A. But I think you have bitten off more than you can chew. And as I see it , you will drag the MAC down as they will struggle to save some programs who aren't going to make the 15k rule.
All in all , a decision that will disappoint alot of folks.
Paladin, I don't usually mind your posts, but you are so completely negative on most anything discussed here that I'm wondering if your intent is to just "bust everyone's chops" around here!
Also, if you go back decades on WKU attendance, actually with their old OVC rivalries they did used to hit the 15K average quite frequently.........again, I have no idea if they can do it in the MAC but if MTSU joins wouldn't that be a sell-out game possibility?
Another thing to ponder. If WKU joins the MAC and goes I-A they might be able to get Kentucky to start playing them. Hosting Kentucky every once in a while would be huge for their attendance in that particular season. They could probably setup 2 for 1's with both Kentucky and Louisville actually. Both would bring in a lot of fans for them.