(11-06-2026 01:03 PM)Herdfanatic04 Wrote: (11-06-2026 08:55 AM)TodgeRodge Wrote: there is not a team in Texas that is the answer unless the question is "where should we NOT add a team from".....and I say that as someone that wants to see all Texas teams with a few exceptions do as well as possible
lets break down some real facts here:
1. there is no such thing as a "market" in college football.....you do not get people in a major metro area to become fans of a college program over night because that program is in a city....sure there are plenty of examples of "college towns" where there is not a lot else to do, the university has been there forever and helped make the city what it is, entertainment options are limited....AND they play at a very high level and have done so for a long period of time
no currently available team in Texas comes close to meeting that standard
2. 20,000 students is a large university in a lot of places.....that is a mid sized university in Texas and there are a TON of mid sized universities in Texas and playing one of them is not a real recruiting advantage because that university will not even have that advantage because of the number of D1-A programs and P level programs already in the state and the massive number of ones from other places that rely on recruiting in Texas every year
3. Tarleton is 50% first gen students and 62% females.....if you are looking for a sugar baby that is probably your sweet spot for recruiting.....not so much for a university that has fans that are heavily vested in college sports even in football crazy Texas......I suppose being ~60% White and ~25% Hispanic helps with those that might want to watch football and more s with those looking for a sugar baby, but still that is not going to overcome the factor of a lot of them are probably Tshirt fans of other programs or not interested in college sports
4. their enrollment growth is VERY recent.....that means their alumni pool is small, young, not making major donations, and not showing up to fill the stands
5. a lot of people like to trash UT, but UT as a SYSTEM is NOT the system in Texas that keeps their other system member universities down and that is definitely something they do not do academically and something they do not do for athletics......on the other hand The Texas A&M System IS the system that does that and they do it worse than even the UH System.....so there is every chance that if things change they could have the rug pulled out from under them in terms of facilities improvements, enrollment growth, ability to spend academic side money on athletics, and a number of other ways....which gets me to
6. 76% of their budget of $31.96 million comes from student fees or direct academic side transfers.....actually split down the middle 38% each.....if there comes a time (and it will come) when there are questions about why the academic side is paying $24.5 million per year to play sports (along with that question for every other public university in Texas and many other states spending like that) well the answer from a large system like the A&M System will be "we have affordable over here" ----->>> Tarleton and other system members that were just told to cut academic side subsidies while College Station rolls on with donor money (that Tarleton is a long ways away from having)
Tarleton is not the answer, Sam Houston is not the answer, and UTRGV is not the answer.....cross them all off the list ASAP if you want what is best for The SunBelt
1. The Louisiana schools are in a larger institutions system and are apt to face the same budget cuts you theorize, maybe the rest of us should just drop them if it’s such an issue? (Not something I’m advocating for, just trying to make a point)
2. One of your negatives is essentially just that it’s a young and growing university
3. You completely ignore any athletic success they’ve had in your rant
4. If it’s a growing university, clearly their students don’t care about paying said student fees, so why is that seen as such a downside to the school?
5. Alot of the SBC have donor bases that are old and dying, so in 10 years, who’s going to be making more donations? The recent college grads or the dead people?
6. I’m not advocating to add TSU as #14, but your word salad rant intrigued me.
really weak reply void of reality and just wanting to argue for the sake of argument
1. Louisiana is a poor state unfortunately with way too many universities and university systems and it is dominated (even outside of the LSU System) by LSU and what is best for them
the Texas A&M System is run the same way it is all about what is best for College Station
so your first point really makes my point more than it refutes it especially if you understand the set up of Louisiana universities and the Texas A&M System
2. in 2015-16 Tarleton was 12,330 students....the next year they were into the 13s
they hit 14 in 2020-21 and were there until 2022-23 then the next yeas in the 17s and now possibly 27,000
that type of growth is not sustainable in the current demographic environment
and if you think that "young people" especially those that are first gen college students will have free time and disposable income to continue to support a program long term then you need to go take a couple of classes on social demographics and finances.....this is a LONG TERM decision for The SunBelt not a "hey who is lifting their skirt at us" decision
3. I am not sure what you consider "athletic success", but they played in DII for 19 seasons up to and including 2019 and won their conference 5 times and 3 of those 5 were co-champions and that was in a conference with what looks to be 9 to 11 football playing programs in those 19 seasons.....so that is not exactly "dominating" and they did not exactly tear it up in the playoffs
in D1-AA they have been to the playoffs the last two seasons, but lost in the second round and then in the quarter finals do they did not even do as well as Sam Houston did before they moved up.....this is not like adding one of the teams from The Dakotas
4. if you want to ignore the unsustainable pace of academic side subsidies that is fine, but pretending that a university with a lot of first gen college students that are 60%+ female that has $750,000 in ticket sales and $1.08 million in donor contributions and a $31.96 million dollar budget made up of 76% academic side transfers is suddenly going to be able to grow that budget, and be able to support any meaningful NIL money is just wishing on one hand and crapping in the other......that is not a strong new conference member that is a hanger on and a "W" most years for the other members
5. old and dying people are the ones that have money.....much more so that young first gen college students that have not even graduated yet.....old people are the ones that make major donations, leave life trust, and that have kids that have grown up going to games with their parents (unlike a first gen student) and that might be willing to make a donation in the name of their parents or grandparents.....because they have one or more prior generations of college graduate level earnings to work with and or because their kids are successful on their own and do not need a full inheritance
you seem to again not understand who makes donations and who has the money to offer major support
6. you can advocate for anyone you wish, but at least present a decent argument and understand actual reality and facts instead of just making a weak ass argument because you want to call something a "rant"....and nothing you posted intrigued me other than how someone can lack the basic understanding of who and how successful college programs are funded
it is very very rare those successful programs are funded off very large academic side transfers and off of donations from very recent first gen graduates making donations and filling the stands after buying seat licenses and over priced tickets....even more so for a school that is in the middle enrollment wise in a state with a very large number of universities and universities in D1-A, P conferences, and even in D1-AA
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We are looking to add only 1 school
