(07-26-2020 04:49 AM)Todor Wrote: Why has La Tech historically gone there own way? Like being in the WAC for so long... Is it their history, location, base? They definitely seem to view themselves differently than other seemingly similar institutions. Any insights?
They really haven't, it just seems that way because they're in a different conference from ULL and ULM.
But truth is, as minor FBS programs, all three have muddled through various conferences, with bouts of independence. I mean, compare LT to ULL and ULM since the early 1990s:
1993 - 1995: LT and ULL in the Big West, ULM Independent.
1996 - 2000: All three were independent
2001 to present: ULM and ULL in Sun Belt, LT in WAC, then CUSA.
So really, it was only in 2001 that LT diverged paths with ULL and ULM, and that was the Sun Belt/WAC split.
But those (like me) who think LT joining the WAC in 2001 was crazy often forget (like me) that both they and Louisiana-Lafayette spent three years in the Big West before then, so it wasn't an unprecedented kind of thing. These kinds of programs have to catch-as-catch-can, they don't necessarily have their pick of what conferences to be in.