Personally I loved the UAC move. We have 2 built in rivals and it seems pretty competitive in basketball

I love how we fit perfectly in the footprint of the conference. Its a lot of storied brands that care about athletics and being at the top of the mid major level

I have really enjoyed it and I think ACU has also really enjoyed it. When ACU made the move to DI they joined the SLC, which they were a founding member. It made sense at the time. It was regional, allowed us to travel to most away games and helped us develop a new set of rivalries. What started becoming apparent though were the differences in priorities, spending and vision. All of those hurt the SLC's national footprint and value. That is why we left and joined the WAC. That was a really rough journey, but the difference was a set of schools that had vision and were determined to move forward and make things work together. We are a little more spread out, but still represent a good larger southern conference. I think that larger footprint helps us value wise. We are schools that are in areas that bring more to the table and schools that are more like minded. Joining forces with the ASUN also increased our value because it was a huge help to make us more efficient, improve scheduling and marketing. I think all of those things have helped with the slightly better various ratings of our teams, sports and conference over-all. It's still a work in progress but I think the leaders are being intentional and that makes a difference. I don't get to physically go to as many away events, but the ESPN+ coverage has been great and consistent, further increasing our leverage and value. (Yes, I know viewership is primarily internal, but it still helps with being seen)

(Yesterday 10:55 AM)Outsider Wrote:  I have really enjoyed it and I think ACU has also really enjoyed it. When ACU made the move to DI they joined the SLC, which they were a founding member. It made sense at the time. It was regional, allowed us to travel to most away games and helped us develop a new set of rivalries. What started becoming apparent though were the differences in priorities, spending and vision. All of those hurt the SLC's notional footprint and value. That is why we left and joined the WAC. That was a really rough journey, but the difference was a set of schools that had vision and were determined to move forward and make things work together. We are a little more spread out, but still represent a good larger southern conference. I think that larger footprint helps us value wise. We are schools that are in areas that bring more to the table and schools that are more like minded. Joining forces with the ASUN also increased our value because it was a huge help to make us more efficient, improve scheduling and marketing. I think all of those things have help with the slightly better various ratings of our teams, sports and conference over-all. It's still a work in progress but I think the leaders are being intentional and that makes a difference. I don't get to physically go to as many away events, but the ESPN+ coverage has been great and consistent, further increasing our leverage and value. (Yes, I know viewership is primarily internal, but it still help with being seen)

I like how all the institutions here share the same mindset of wanting to constantly move forward and grow higher in athletics

When we moved up from D2 to D1 and joined the WAC, a poster described it as the Conference of Misfit Toys. We had all three types of D1 schools, an independent FBS New Mexico, two independent FCS schools, Utah Tech (then known as as Dixie State) and Tarleton and then a group of basketball only institutions. We had a for profit school (Grand Canyon who is now considered by the Dept of Ed as a private school even though their business operations have not changed), private church schools and public institutions.

The conference stretched from Seattle to Texas. There was also fairly substantial athletic budget funding issues. We had multiple schools move in and out of the conference so there was no stability.

Nobody was pulling the same rope in the same direction.

I think the UAC has much more like minded institutions and we appear to be mostly rowing in the same direction. I like the new conference and the schools in it. Each school will still be looking out for themselves but hopefully we are working together to keep moving forward.

We were more isolated in the OVC. Not having a real rival or familiar opponents it kind of killed fan interest. I believe the UAC will reverse some of that damage.

(Yesterday 12:51 PM)LR-Trojan-Fan Wrote:  We were more isolated in the OVC. Not having a real rival or familiar opponents it kind of killed fan interest. I believe the UAC will reverse some of that damage.

It should definitely help with the Governor’s I-40 Showdown, but I know there should be more.

(Yesterday 12:56 PM)Outsider Wrote:  

(Yesterday 12:51 PM)LR-Trojan-Fan Wrote:  We were more isolated in the OVC. Not having a real rival or familiar opponents it kind of killed fan interest. I believe the UAC will reverse some of that damage.

It should definitely help with the Governor’s I-40 Showdown, but I know there should be more.

Hopefully we should still go to the FBS as a conference some day. As long as Tarelton doesn't get selfish and move up themselves

TexanFan said it well and got rep points for it. I'm pretty much thinking the same from a UTA perspective.

This is as content as I've been since the Sun Belt days. The only thing I miss is a true rivalry like we had with Texas State. Even though we didn't have football and they did, we each wanted to beat the other. Very noticeable attendance bumps for both schools when the other came to town. That hasn't been replicated yet, but am hopeful about the future overall as it relates to the UAC.

When we joined the WAC, the Texas Four from the SLC had a year in the WAC under their belt. We didn't play Lamar as they left, but ACU, Sam, SFA, Tarleton and UTRGV gave us Texas rivalries, even if UTRGV is so far away. SFA and UTA have a long history of dislike and that was revived after a decade of hibernation. It was quite as intense as when I was a student, but it was pretty good and had they stayed, likely would have returned to that level as each school has a competitive attitude towards all sports. Then they left, but what can you do.

I was happy to see Little Rock rejoin the Mavs and have always wondered why they went the OVC route instead of the WAC when the two schools were cast out of the SBC. LR invests strategically and for a stretch there, the top of the SBC was decided with a LR/UTA game in basketball. Not gonna lie, but was selfishly sad to see what LR did in baseball the last two years as we dominated LR in that sport and now they have passed us easily. The Trojans are likely the preseason favs.

As for the ASUN 5, as a whole, they are a good group and several will be in the running for the Commish Cup. I value a well-rounded conference and there are no pushovers and no clear bottom dwellers.

Also, it's not a secret here that I despised GCU, or more accurately, their funding model. They are literally doing it in a way that is illegal in Texas, as I'm sure it is in most states. Shedding that albatross alone made me a bit happier. It isn't fun knowing a diploma mill is spending academic dollars to quadruple the athletic budget to the point of athletic imbalance.

Getting rid of the extreme geographic outliers has been great too. Seattle was a quality conference partner, but a trek to say the least. Similar to UVU, though not as extreme. SUU and Utah Tech were mitigated by their proximity but didn't change the idea that travel to their cities was difficult. CBU was a 20-hour drive as well. That's five of nine schools two years ago and four of seven last year that required a full vacation if I wanted to go. Now the longest drive is in the ballpark of 12-13 hours. Still long, but can be done in a weekend.

We had some heated games back in our sun belt days. I hate to say it Arkansas State has passed us up. UCA was about to as well until the university plugged in their controller and got a forward thinking AD

No, would rather be in a western based conference. If it carried the WAC brand it would have softened the blow, but moving from a Western based conference to an eastern one is highly disappointing. Nothing against any of the schools, just not interested in a conference that is mainly in the SE US. It is better than being in the SLC, but I am hoping we can get the MWC invite soon.