(03-03-2009 01:47 PM)OwlFamily Wrote:  The attention getting programs in the SunBelt recently have been football teams, Most notably Troy, followed by FAU, and I would imagine WKU for basketball as a third with thier recent Tourney success.

WKU going to the sweet 16 coupled with the game-winning shot that won $100,000 and is being replayed at this moment for the advertisements for march madness got way more attention than FAU or Troy's recent football wins.

I concede internally, football is the primary sport for the conference. Totally. That has been obvious since 2000.

My point is that we are not STELLAR at anything to be known as "football conference" or "Basketball conference".

and that is why it's Sun Belt vs. the World. We are fighting to secure our place every week. But in this fight, football is our special forces. Basketball is like the cavalry, we call 'em in to help out all the time, but they aren't our frontline troops.

(03-03-2009 05:00 PM)Trojan Delta Chi Wrote:  at every level of competition, football is king. highschool, college, pro...football dominates the market. you never hear about upstart fall baksetball or baseball leagues trying to get started. why? because the market isn't there. I hear about a new spring football league trying to get going every year. It's just a simple fact, football is "America's sport."

That may be because the other sports leagues already exist. Football leagues starting is just an indicator of the fact that they are behind the curve. In every community I've lived in, there are innumerable basketball, baseball, softball and soccer leagues, tournaments, etc. Football only exists at the K-12 and higher ed level because it's an expensive sport to participate in. Now as far as watching sports on TV, there's no doubt football is supreme. The Super Bowl alone demonstrates that.

You're from Alabama, a football state and I'm from Kentucky, a basketball state. We see things very differently. Football is King in Alabama, Texas, and Florida. Basketball is King in Kentucky, Indiana, and North Carolina. Sometimes our perceptions are skewed by the bubble we live in.

well i was more refering to professional leagues, not children's leagues. the XFL, the AAFL, the UNGL, the UFL, all of these were/are new professional football leagues attempting to establish themselves because the demand for year-round football is there. if you ask John Q. Public, it is the most popular sport in he country. I'm not knocking basketball, it's a great sport, but football is king now.

(03-03-2009 09:28 AM)stebo Wrote:  

(03-03-2009 08:52 AM)Trojan Delta Chi Wrote:  

(03-02-2009 09:09 PM)WKUApollo Wrote:  I've read everyone's posts and most make very valid points. Yes, football is probably becoming the signature sport for the SunBelt but I still have an issue with the fact that until this fall, only 8 of 13 teams even play football in the league, whereas they all play basketball. People don't think football when they think of UALR, Denver, USA, or New Orleans and don't associate WKU with SunBelt football..yet.

yeah, but really...people don't think of UALR, Denver, or New Orleans when they think of the Sun Belt. Why? Because they don't play football.

And two of those three will no longer be members in a couple of years... in UNO's case, maybe sooner. Denver would have already left but they don't have aywhere to go. They should get on board with that conference that is accepting all of the lost souls from New York to the Dakotas.

Dirty shame to hear about UNO leaving. I hope the Privateers reconsider because they are SBC charter members, and they bring a good, passionate fanbase as well as a good baseball team to the 'Belt. Denver I could care a less about.

(02-27-2009 04:52 PM)galojah Wrote:  Attention seems to be on Football.

MONEY is Basketball.

+10000

football in the sbc has gotten better but most of the programs still have to take body bag games. BB teams don't have to. UALR did not have a single body bag game this year and no other sbc BB teams need to either.

We do in BBall, we want to Washington (UW), Georgetown, and UCLA. In football, we are not doing any money games following the 2009 season. All OOC games from 2010 on are 1 for 1 or 2 for 2's.

I think of the SBC as a hoops league first, primarily becuase of the strong national hoops reputation of WKU. Football is coming on though. But I still think its a lot cheaper to be effective in basketball in the long term than it is to be in football.

Denver's primary revenue sport is ice hockey, which brings in about $3 million a year and sells out about 25 games at 6,000 fans a game at a $25 ticket average. The DU administration is pumping more money into men's hoops, and the results have been promising this, with DU being a .500 team this year with by far the youngest roster in all of D-I. D

Denver continues to look hard for a regionally appropriate conference home, and the hope around here is an new confrerence opportunity should shake loose within a year, depending on some other schools moving. Until then, we'll hang in the Belt.

(03-04-2009 09:09 AM)Trojan Delta Chi Wrote:  well i was more refering to professional leagues, not children's leagues. the XFL, the AAFL, the UNGL, the UFL, all of these were/are new professional football leagues attempting to establish themselves because the demand for year-round football is there. if you ask John Q. Public, it is the most popular sport in he country. I'm not knocking basketball, it's a great sport, but football is king now.

how did those leagues work out? which one is still standing?

maybe not quite the demand that you're stating.

and tho' galojay has already covered it, the sunbelt conference got more ink by one sweet 16 run in the tourney last year than every bowl game the sunbelt has EVER played in put together.

national ink. not a blurb in the times picayune or the detroit free press. national ink and ty rogers shot will be played pregame every ncaa game this year.

and i can't wait until someday we can say we got to play in a bowl in n.o. or detroit. i have my doubts under elson's leadership but the infrastructure and funding is in place for wku to be successful in football.

we've been a football conference for about 7 years now. i truly like the belt much better than the rumored mac. no comparison in my eyes. southern schools. good stadiums. BETTER attendance.

but you're wearing football colored glasses if you think we get more press through football. it may come to that in the future. we're just not there yet.

If football is the money maker, I'll make a deal right now. All the schools can keep all the football revenue if WKU can keep all its NCAA revenue to itself.

I don't think any AD's would sign off.

(03-04-2009 04:20 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(03-04-2009 09:09 AM)Trojan Delta Chi Wrote:  well i was more refering to professional leagues, not children's leagues. the XFL, the AAFL, the UNGL, the UFL, all of these were/are new professional football leagues attempting to establish themselves because the demand for year-round football is there. if you ask John Q. Public, it is the most popular sport in he country. I'm not knocking basketball, it's a great sport, but football is king now.

how did those leagues work out? which one is still standing?

maybe not quite the demand that you're stating.

and tho' galojay has already covered it, the sunbelt conference got more ink by one sweet 16 run in the tourney last year than every bowl game the sunbelt has EVER played in put together.

national ink. not a blurb in the times picayune or the detroit free press. national ink and ty rogers shot will be played pregame every ncaa game this year.

and i can't wait until someday we can say we got to play in a bowl in n.o. or detroit. i have my doubts under elson's leadership but the infrastructure and funding is in place for wku to be successful in football.

we've been a football conference for about 7 years now. i truly like the belt much better than the rumored mac. no comparison in my eyes. southern schools. good stadiums. BETTER attendance.

but you're wearing football colored glasses if you think we get more press through football. it may come to that in the future. we're just not there yet.

bad business decisions doesn't negate the fact that there had to be demand for someone to invest.