(05-17-2020 07:22 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote: (05-17-2020 06:28 PM)DavidSt Wrote: West Texas A&M is also a former FBS school and could fit the group you mentioned above.
Dixie State is expanding their stadium to be at 15,000. That is another core.
Montana and Montana State Would rather join the MWC instead.
I do not think Weber State would be a candidate which would give them three schools in Utah.
You left out the three Southland schools that looked into going to D1 which one of them had a campus visit from the WAC officials in the past.
Lamar
Sam Houston State
SFAU
West Texas A&M and Dixie State are D2s that would have to wait years to transition to FBS. Also the funding to expand Dixie State’s stadium capacity to 15,000 hasn’t materialized.
Montana and Montana State aren’t on the radar screen for the MWC. If the MWC should need to add a member in the future it will likely invite a school in Texas.
I actually didn’t look at Weber State until after considering the exact same Southland schools you list. But in the end I went with the numbers. Weber State has a bigger stadium and had better attendance and on-field performance in 2019 than all three of them.
Actually, Weber State did not have better attendance than Stephen F. Austin which averaged 9,884 in 2019 in spite of a 3-8 record.
Attendance does need to improve for all four schools. Weber State's attendance average was less than 300 per game more than Lamar's. In contrast, while Weber State was having a banner season, Lamar had an extremely disappointing season following a trip to the FCS playoffs the previous year. The 2019 performance resulted in a head coaching change for Lamar. In addition, with the possible exception of the homecoming game, Tropical Storm Imelda's 40+" rainfall in Jefferson County probably didn't help Lamar's attendance in the latter part of the season. I imagine many people were more worried about recovering from flooded homes than attending a football game.
Link - NWS Tropical Storm Imelda report
(Note: Fannett, Texas with a storm high of 44.29" of rainfall from Imelda, is 14.5 miles from Lamar University per Googe Maps. Lamar's surrounding area had rainfall totals >30" from the storm.)
As far as stadium capacity, the three Southland Conference universities not mentioned in the article have stadiums with considerable berm seating capacity. Unlike some universities, none of the three include berm capacity in their official capacity number. (Based on images, it looks like the non-permanent seating portion of eastern hillside at Weber State's Stewart Stadium could be used for additional seating. I couldnt tell from pictures. Based on the stadium record attendance of 17,593 vs capacity of 17,500, it looks like that portion of the hillside is not used for overflow seating. It does look like it would provide a pretty cost effective stadium expansion to just extend east side seating toward the goalline areas, though.)
Here are the 2019 attendance averages and stadium sizes for the three Southland Conference Texas schools not mentioned in the Forgotten5 article compared to Weber State.
Weber State - 7,438/17,500 (Record attendance - 17,593)
Lamar - 7,173/16,000 (18,000-20,000 if berm seating is included - record attendance 18,500)
Stephen F. Austin - 9,884/14,475 (record attendance in the same configuration is 23,617)
Sam Houston State - 4,880/12,593 (record attendance 16,148)
Note: The season averages for Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin do not include attendance of >24,000 at the annual "Battle of the Piney Woods" game at Houston's NRG Stadium. Although the game is a great tradition for both schools, it probably negatively affects optimum home game averages. The best attended "home game" is not included in the home attendance figures for either school.
A quick note: Montana State's official stadium capacity is 17,777 per Wikipedia. I think the stadium's record attendance of 21,527 was used in the comparison pasted below.
Copy and pasted from HawaiiMongoose post above:
Quote:As I've posted elsewhere I think WAC FBS football is a pipe dream, but if it could ever happen it would require NMSU and UTEP to be joined by a lineup more like this:
Montana (past FBS/WAC candidate) - 22,545/25,203
Montana State (past FBS/WAC candidate) - 17,281/21,527
Sacramento State (past FBS/WAC candidate) - 10,950/21,195
Weber State (finished 2019 ranked #3 in FCS) - 7,438/17,500
Idaho (former FBS) - 6,885/16,000
UTRGV (new direct-to-FBS program like UTSA)
End of copy and paste
If we are not going to include any of the above Southland schools because of last year's attendance and stadium size, why is Idaho on the list other than as a former FBS member? Their last year's attendance was 6,885 (less than that of both Stephen F. Austin and Lamar). Their stadium size is 16,000, the same as Lamar's except Idaho has no unofficial berm additional seating capacity.
If we are looking at any required expansions, Lamar's stadium is designed for a future capacity of 28,000. A lot of the pre-buildout expansion work was done during the 2009-10 complete stadium renovation. In other words, a lot of any required Provost-Umphrey Stadium expansion costs including walkways, concessions, and restrooms have already been incurred. Is that the case with other stadiums?