(10-21-2009 04:56 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(10-21-2009 04:08 PM)SunBelt Watcher Wrote:  

(10-21-2009 01:25 PM)airtroop Wrote:  

(10-21-2009 01:08 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(10-21-2009 08:58 AM)galojah Wrote:  The guy called South Alabama "Southern" Alabama and can't even get the conference name right, (It's Sun Belt, not sunbelt).

MTSU and WKU are not interested in the MAC.

Give a guy a domain, they think they are a journalist.

He also called Georgia Southern "South Georgia", suppose he got those two mixed up?

There was a time when the MT&WKU package move to the MAC made sense, those days are loonnnnnnnnng gone. It would be pretty much a lateral move(I'd say a small step back) from a quality of conference perspective, it would be a major MAJOR step back in recruiting grounds, while Ohio is a top 5 recruiting state, Florida, Texas and Georgia are all top 5 states and Louisiana and Mississippi(we may not play in Mississippi, but it's sandwiched in our footprint) are very good states as well. So we'd be trading all of that for Ohio, which has like 8 FBS schools in it and a slew of FCS schools as well. Finally from a fan perspective, I like the rivalries we're building and I much prefer to be playing road games in October and November in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, etc. rather than Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, etc.

No thanks to the MAC.

I must say, although I agree this guy's credibility is no more than the cred of any of the rest of us when it comes to conference realignment talk, he does make a point about attendence in the SBC. We really need work in that department.

It says a lot when South Alabama can draw 19,000 folks per home game (average) vs top-tiered JUCOS while only a couple of SBC teams can make that same claim. It almost even goes as far as to disprove the "level of competition" and "bad weather" arguments, too, considering we've had crappy weather at every game this year (i.e., rain, suffocating heat, threats of rain and extreme cold).

Somehow, some way, the SBC teams need to work harder to increase home attendence before the majors and the major bowls are going to increase their respect for our conference. Attendence alone suggests not even Sun Belt fans care to watch SBC matchups.

Just my 2 cents

I think he brings up a lot of good points about our conference.

When the next wave of realignment hits there will be a lot of jockeying around.

In the south, football will reign supreme so the basketball only schools will always in the back of their mind be looking for a place to crawl because the Belt will eventually want them replaced with football playing members.

The travel issues will continue to weigh down the Belt so 2 divisions would save the conference as a whole millions of dollars over the year and likely increase attendance with match-ups that will have more of a local interest.

Finally, the idea that many schools really would prefer to be Conf USA or something else is likely true as schools in a conference like ours are really just looking at it as a stepping stone to somewhere bigger and better on the way to BCS land.

The guy just makes a lot of since.

nice try tobi....go back to your blog and make some sense there.

(10-21-2009 05:45 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  The poll question asks which AA should be moved up when the moritorium is ended. La. Tech is listed. The author thinks La. Tech is a AA?

I would have thought that would be popular on this board.

Wow, I totally missed that. Sweet....thanks for pointing that out.

The Sun Belt is known as the starter conference. There will never be any shortage of teams wanting into the Belt if you lose a member. Ga Southern UTSA Jacksonville St. just to name a few. And as far as attendance the MAC is not exactly lighting things up themselves. And lets face it the South Florida schools are always going to suffer in attendance. I lived in Miami. It's always sunny. People go to the beach. Even UofMiami doesnt draw. South Florida just doesn't seem to be all that into college sports.

(10-21-2009 11:44 AM)MeanGreen61 Wrote:  

(10-21-2009 11:03 AM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  I believe the kid doing the writing is a North Texas fan.

From his bio:
I am a fan of college football, and especially the sad sack UNT Mean Green and the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (Damn those knuckleheads who took out the "rainbow". Hawaii is the Rainbow state. You are a wimp when you let someone steal your identity.) I am also a fan of many Texas publics at lower levels like WT, Texas State, UTSA, and UTPA.

Please, please don't hold it against us

All I can say is that this guy must be from the Rio Grande Valley because seriously, who is a fan of Pan Am? They haven't done anything. There is nothing to be proud about. At least WT, won 4 straight Division conference titles. Texas State has won 2 since 2005, and UTSA is well UTSA...

just for the record, i voted for Texas State in that poll.

(10-21-2009 01:08 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  There was a time when the MT&WKU package move to the MAC made sense, those days are loonnnnnnnnng gone. It would be pretty much a lateral move(I'd say a small step back) from a quality of conference perspective, it would be a major MAJOR step back in recruiting grounds, while Ohio is a top 5 recruiting state, Florida, Texas and Georgia are all top 5 states and Louisiana and Mississippi(we may not play in Mississippi, but it's sandwiched in our footprint) are very good states as well. So we'd be trading all of that for Ohio, which has like 8 FBS schools in it and a slew of FCS schools as well. Finally from a fan perspective, I like the rivalries we're building and I much prefer to be playing road games in October and November in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, etc. rather than Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, etc.

No thanks to the MAC.

Ohio is not as saturated with teams as you think. Ohio has 11.5 Mil. residents with 8 FBS teams, 1 full-scholarship FCS (YSU) and one non-scholarship FCS (Dayton). Compare that to Louisiana at 4.4 mil. residents with 5 FBS teams and 6 FCS teams. The MAC in general is not an area with a lot of overlapping competition. It's basically just the Big 10 and Notre Dame, 2 Ohio FCS schools, 3 poor Indiana FCS teams, ZERO FCS teams in Michigan, and Western PA has no strong FCS programs. That leaves a lot of players for MAC schools. Hell, here at Buffalo we won the MAC with 1/3 of our roster being NY'ers. There are plenty of bodies to go around in the Great Lakes states (though it's true the speed guys are all found in the South, and many Northern kids that could play football are drawn to college lacrosse and hockey). The Belt sits in the footprint of the SEC, ACC, CUSA and 4 FCS conferences, so it always seemed to me the competition for media attention and recruits is much tougher, even with all those FL and TX recruits every school is looking to snag.

(10-21-2009 10:24 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  just for the record, i voted for Texas State in that poll.

Thanks.

Looking forward to the Belt.

a dumb article for sure.

(10-22-2009 10:21 AM)chrisattsu Wrote:  

(10-21-2009 10:24 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  just for the record, i voted for Texas State in that poll.

Thanks.

Looking forward to the Belt.

A thanks from me as well!!! Lots of misinformation and unsubstantiated opinions in that article, but I have to say if the Belt expands I want Texas State to be a part of it. Go SBC

i'm glad the Texas State folks came back out. you guys should speak up more.