Ignastradamus said:
Not sure if this gossip belongs in the Athletic Department thread of if it deserves its own thread.
SFA to Conference USA?
https://footballscoop.com/news/utep-joins-mountain-west-other-dominoes-likely-and-possibly-to-fall-conference-realignment
A couple of years ago I think that would've been the dream move for the administration, but we absolutely weren't there yet.
Now, if the call came I think the decision would be much harder than some people would think.
Pros:
-Obvious increase in revenue in football with the tv money and exposure and reigniting our biggest rivalry with Sam Houston would be great.
-Increase in competition across the board. Let's face it, the SLC is much worse than the WAC in any sport not called football. We will go back to dominating a bad conference in all sports sure, but what does that get us?
-Possible increase in student/casual fan support with more recognizable named opponents. A home game against La Tech, Tx State, or UTEP would draw a much bigger crowd than a home game against Northern Colorado or Lamar.
-We get to be in a video game again, which shouldn't be underestimated as a recruiting tool not just for football but for the student body as a whole.
Cons:
-Obviously we would not be ready for the FBS in a number of ways. Fortunately I do think Homer Bryce Stadium is still slightly better than Bowers, but we'd still have a bottom 5 stadium in the FBS. Competitively we'd likely be very bad for several years at least, and the novelty of hosting recognizable FBS names would wear off until we could put together a good season. Plus with how fast Sam Houston became decent at the FBS level, we might have to wait a little while before the Battle of the Piney Woods becomes competitive again.
-The travel issue that hurt us in the WAC would be back. We would need to hope the possible increased revenue we make could make up for it.
-With how saturated the FBS is getting, the chances of the FBS being split is becoming greater, meaning in the near future we may end up seeing 3 D1 subdivision of football, making the move much, much less likely.
Basically the only way the C-USA move would make sense is to benefit football. Sam Houston went all in on football and it kind of paid off for them, at least for now. We are trying to build a complete athletic department that wins in all sports. It does hold back Football a little bit, but that's when you ask what's more important, moving conferences for football exposure and revenue, or doing what's best for the entire athletic department regardless of revenue.
