(12-12-2020 11:49 AM)LUSportsFan Wrote:  

(12-12-2020 11:10 AM)OscarWildeCat Wrote:  

(12-12-2020 10:15 AM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(12-12-2020 09:31 AM)OscarWildeCat Wrote:  If you are using R2 designation as a means of saying there are more schools with a comparable campus demographic/ culture in one conference or the other, I’ll agree this is a valid point. However, if you are trying to demonstrate the academic superiority of one conference vs another based on R2 status, um, no. And not only no but emphatically no when looking at the quality of academic preparation for undergrad student athletes. R2 status is virtually meaningless as a criterion for the quality of education undergrads receive.

The highest ranked school academically is Seattle. They are higher ranked than any school in the BSC and the SLC. They are ranked No. 162 in Forbes list of best colleges and tied for No. 124 with the University of Kansas in the U.S. News & World Report list of best colleges.

I agree that the R2 designations alone don’t tell you about the education quality of a school. There are no “academic giants” in the BSC, SLC, or WAC, but there are a lot of good schools in these conferences. A lot of good students end up at these schools because they are close to home and that is what they can afford.

I agree there are a lot of good schools in both conferences.
BSC football members UC Davis and to a slightly lesser extent Cal Poly come close to being considered academic giants. UCD is a globally prominent university in various fields of agriculture.

Otherwise, there are a bunch of schools that offer a solid education, and have achieved national and international recognition in niche areas — Criminal justice at Sam Houston or forestry at Stephen F Austin. These are just two examples. There are likely similar examples from virtually every school in the various conferences.

One of the things that excites me is growth at the universiites. I know there are a lot more examples, but here are some quick ones at the prospective members.

Stephen F. Austin - Opened an 87,000 scf STEM Center in 2018
Lamar - Followed with opening its new 83,000 scf STEM Center in 2019
Sam Houston State - Opened a new College of Osteopathy building at its Conroe campus in August, 2020.

Both Sam Houston State and Lamar experienced record enrollment in Fall, 2020 up 2% and 5% respectively. Sam Houston is now over 21,000 enrollment. Lamar is nearing 16,000 enrollment.

As a side note, for athletic fee purposes, the Lamar Institute of Technology, a now separate college across the street from Lamar, also had record enrollment. LIT students pay athletic fees supporting Lamar University athletic programs in exchange for use of university facilities and admission to university sporting events. The combination of LU and LIT moves Lamar's current effective enrollment over 20,000.

Excellent. And since we are looking for niche excellence I’ll highlight one ofcACUs niche areas of excellence in physics.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ecqfd2X...io1wd/view