(10-13-2020 08:38 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  

(10-11-2020 05:57 PM)FrankyP Wrote:  

(10-11-2020 04:50 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-10-2020 04:49 PM)FrankyP Wrote:  

(10-10-2020 02:31 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  If you consider the population of their communities it's not shocking. San Antonio and El Paso are larger cities with no competition for college football. Those programs can garner sponsorships and sell merch in their cities. And, being in larger cities, UTEP and UTSA have larger sponsors, and more of them to choose from, which allows them toy earn more. Marshall, while not in a major population, has a more national brand and sell merch outside their community. Southern Miss is in a similar situation. UAB and Charlotte surprised me. Both should have much more success in their regions. The rest are basically victims of their locations.

But the question is can they ever escape their location problem? That’s like saying a blind man can’t fly a plane, so it’s not his fault. Bottom line is he will never be able to fly, in this lifetime anyway.

Yes, but they have almost no control over that. To overcome their locations, they need to bring industry and people to their regions. That is a matter of state and local leadership, and to a large extent, natural resources. The only other option is to become a national online diploma mill and include hefty athletic fees into the cost of tuition.

Yeah, but that is exactly my point. Location is basically immutable, which will always limit the expansion of those in a bad one. And the opposite is also true as a good location with a large base of potential fans can greatly help a program.

Location in college football is not always as it seems. Clemson, SC has about seven thousand less people in it than Ruston. Oxford, MS. is 10th largest town in MS. and Starkville is 14th. So what I am trying to say is that development of a regional identity is the most important thing a public school can do. ULL has done a good job of that in Acadiana. Tech not so much north of Alexandria, but its not out of the realm of possibility.

Are you ever IN Acadiana? It's choc full of LSU fanatics, just like the rest of the state. ULL is by far the "regional" fan's second choice there.