WAC is voting on UIW/McNeese tomorrow per Matt Brown. However, might be voting for one spot?

In that case, give me McNeese.

Gosh. The only way UIW looks attractive is if they give each member school $2M cash up front.

SFAJack_76 said:

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nacluth said:

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Gosh. The only way UIW looks attractive is if they give each member school $2M cash up front.

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Not enough. No way UIW gets in. Yuck.

If only McNeese wasn't in Louisiana. Budget constraints.

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Yep. I do like the idea of going after a Louisiana and Texas school this week, but it's not those two.

That's just the SLC all over again and both of those teams are basketball dumpsters right now.

We're the 18th ranked conference right now according to KenPom AdjEM.

Next season's conference lineup will be 15th overall, based on this moment's KP numbers.

With McNeese and UIW? 20th conference overall. A significant step back.

SFAJack_76 said:

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nacluth said:

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Gosh. The only way UIW looks attractive is if they give each member school $2M cash up front.

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Not enough. No way UIW gets in. Yuck.

If only McNeese wasn't in Louisiana. Budget constraints.

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Maybe we can mount a campaign "NO TO THE. WORD".

nacluth said:

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Gosh. The only way UIW looks attractive is if they give each member school $2M cash up front.

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The way that UIW and HBU bought their way into the SLC.

BigJack85 said:

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TallTexan said:

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If CUSA is targeting Tarleton, that conference is over.

Conference USA is actively pursuing multiple avenues to expand and stay afloat. Among the schools they have been engaged with are Sam Houston State, New Mexico State and Tarleton State. There’s an effort to fortify the Western flank of C-USA that got gutted by the AAC.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 22, 2021

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It's all speculative. If WKU and MTSU head to the MAC it's done. Why would anyone join a sinking ship?

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No way they take Sam and leave us. We are a package deal.

Why do you think so 03? Sam is FBS ready in everything except fan numbers (which granted is a big thing). We don't seem to be ready to make the jump from a financial point of view.

UIW should be a No!
Any idea how SFA is voting on this?

Kat1990 said:

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UIW should be a No!
Any idea how SFA is voting on this?

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That would be a resounding no.

nacluth said:

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Why do you think so 03? Sam is FBS ready in everything except fan numbers (which granted is a big thing). We don't seem to be ready to make the jump from a financial point of view.

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We actually spent about 1.5 million more than Sam does on average.

The football team would give some sunbelt teams trouble, but 22 more football scholarships and expanding the stadium might not be money that they have.

How in the world did UIW get into the mix? Seems best to me for the WAC to let the dust settle on these other conference changes and see what shakes out. UIW and likely McNeese would still be there. Not getting the UIW idea as they don't bring anything to the table.

Ljacks&Longnecks said:

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How in the world did UIW get into the mix? Seems best to me for the WAC to let the dust settle on these other conference changes and see what shakes out. UIW and likely McNeese would still be there. Not getting the UIW idea as they don't bring anything to the table.

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Absolutely. No reason to pull the trigger now.

Or ever.

PurpleOut said:

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nacluth said:

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Why do you think so 03? Sam is FBS ready in everything except fan numbers (which granted is a big thing). We don't seem to be ready to make the jump from a financial point of view.

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Are they as an athletic department? They don't even market themselves after a National Championship.

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Exactly this. We spend more on average than them and promote ourselves better. We are better in literally every aspect except football(though clearly that gap is closed) and baseball.
I think the BOTPW is a very valuable thing for any conference and they know it, which is why I don't see us ever really being separated.
I do see both us and Sam making the jump to the FBS within the next 10-15 years though. That's been the goal. Ryan Ivey wants to build SFA football up, and to be honest it should be. Basketball has been absolutely phenomenal but, especially in Texas, Football needs to be as big of a priority when it comes to success.

TallTexan said:

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We actually spent about 1.5 million more than Sam does on average.

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I hope this is in total athletic budget and not just on football.

nacluth said:

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TallTexan said:

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We actually spent about 1.5 million more than Sam does on average.

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I hope this is in total athletic budget and not just on football.

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That is true. I don't have numbers that granular.

Ljacks&Longnecks said:

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How in the world did UIW get into the mix? Seems best to me for the WAC to let the dust settle on these other conference changes and see what shakes out. UIW and likely McNeese would still be there. Not getting the UIW idea as they don't bring anything to the table.

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Same way they were considered for the Southland. Maybe the San Antonio charm?

KumbayaKat said:

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Ljacks&Longnecks said:

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How in the world did UIW get into the mix? Seems best to me for the WAC to let the dust settle on these other conference changes and see what shakes out. UIW and likely McNeese would still be there. Not getting the UIW idea as they don't bring anything to the table.

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Same way they were considered for the Southland. Maybe the San Antonio charm?

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Look I enjoy the Riverwalk and Fiesta Texas as much as the next person, but I don't talk up San Antonio's portapotties just bc they're in San Antonio.

Perhaps , but the San Antonio charm didn't upgrade their facilities or appear to put any extra fans in the stands.
Not knocking IWU status as an educational institution but they really didn't fit the SLC on their athletic budget or 1950 facilities so why would they fit the WAC.
Based on their location and mine (Austin) they were my nearest access to catching an SFA game in person but I can't let that get in the way of...they don't belong here (WAC).

Sam Houston to CUSA. Meh. Meh. At least we can ditch the NRG stadium routine.

In regard to Big's post I looked around and found sites saying Sam, NMSU, Liberty and Jacksonville St are "on the verge" of going to CUSA. Of course things are in a crazy flux right now so I'm still on a wait and see pace.

If however Sam and NMSU leave the WAC doesn't that defeat our purpose of moving there for "maybe" 2 NCAA bids at Madness time? I'm not really concerned about FBS football cause I don't believe that is the best destination for Jack football....but IF those 2 leave and the WAC gets UIW it would be hard to argue that we "stepped up" going to the WAC.

Still too much going on right now to be sure where everyone will end up but sure hoping we don't come out on the wrong side of all this deck shuffling.

Looks almost official:

FBS independents Liberty & New Mexico State & FCS members Jacksonville State & Sam Houston State likely joining Conference USA as all-sports members, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Addition of those 4 schools will help replenish C-USA after recent losses https://t.co/gqp95A9Ryn

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 2, 2021

This kinda hurts. Nmsu is a big part of having a better bb conference and Sam was a solid bb team and great football. Hopefully GCU to WCC doesn't happen

Ljacks&Longnecks said:

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In regard to Big's post I looked around and found sites saying Sam, NMSU, Liberty and Jacksonville St are "on the verge" of going to CUSA. Of course things are in a crazy flux right now so I'm still on a wait and see pace.

If however Sam and NMSU leave the WAC doesn't that defeat our purpose of moving there for "maybe" 2 NCAA bids at Madness time? I'm not really concerned about FBS football cause I don't believe that is the best destination for Jack football....but IF those 2 leave and the WAC gets UIW it would be hard to argue that we "stepped up" going to the WAC.

Still too much going on right now to be sure where everyone will end up but sure hoping we don't come out on the wrong side of all this deck shuffling.

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This is what worries me.

The WAC had great potential as a two bid league. I crunched the numbers earlier. WAC is currently the 18th ranked KenPom conference with an adjusted EM of -4.22, mostly because Chicago State is terrible.

Next years lineup sans Chicago State and with SUU was going to be -2.3, or the 14th overall conference.

Without NMSU and with Mcneese & UIW, the conference drops to 20th overall.

The dream of a two bid league dies a horrid death.

I highly doubt C-USA would want Sam without SFA. The rivalry is attractive enough, but Sam Houston(and SFA for that matter) aren't quite ready for the FBS just yet. We need the time that the WAC was supposed to provide to build up to being ready.
Talent wise SHSU could probably go .500 with a full FBS schedule, but they don't have the budget or facilities for maintained success just yet. I would worry that jump would be too quickly and they would end up like Texas State.
We both will be at the FBS one day, but you can't do it too early.

sfa17 said:

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This kinda hurts. Nmsu is a big part of having a better bb conference and Sam was a solid bb team and great football. Hopefully GCU to WCC doesn't happen

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We're likely gonna lose Seattle.

And replace the 3 of them with two of the bottom 10% basketball teams on the conference.

I don't care that much about playing Sam every year. I would have done the same to them. But losing a chance at a two bid WAC sucks.

Yeah the current wac had so much potential. Sad

TallTexan said:

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sfa17 said:

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This kinda hurts. Nmsu is a big part of having a better bb conference and Sam was a solid bb team and great football. Hopefully GCU to WCC doesn't happen

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We're likely gonna lose Seattle.



And replace the 3 of them with two of the bottom 10% basketball teams on the conference.

I don't care that much about playing Sam every year. I would have done the same to them. But losing a chance at a two bid WAC sucks.

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Idk. Taking UIW seems crazy to me. Just crazy. McNeese makes sense. Also, I don't think it's a forgone conclusion that Sam AND JSU go to CUSA once WKU and MTSU split. The conference isn't very attractive other than LaTech. I mean Is Sam banking a huge homecoming crowd for FIU?

sfa17 said:

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Yeah the current wac had so much potential. Sad

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I don't think this has played out yet.

TallTexan said:

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Ljacks&Longnecks said:

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In regard to Big's post I looked around and found sites saying Sam, NMSU, Liberty and Jacksonville St are "on the verge" of going to CUSA. Of course things are in a crazy flux right now so I'm still on a wait and see pace.

If however Sam and NMSU leave the WAC doesn't that defeat our purpose of moving there for "maybe" 2 NCAA bids at Madness time? I'm not really concerned about FBS football cause I don't believe that is the best destination for Jack football....but IF those 2 leave and the WAC gets UIW it would be hard to argue that we "stepped up" going to the WAC.

Still too much going on right now to be sure where everyone will end up but sure hoping we don't come out on the wrong side of all this deck shuffling.

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This is what worries me.

The WAC had great potential as a two bid league. I crunched the numbers earlier. WAC is currently the 18th ranked KenPom conference with an adjusted EM of -4.22, mostly because Chicago State is terrible.

Next years lineup sans Chicago State and with SUU was going to be -2.3, or the 14th overall conference.

Without NMSU and with Mcneese & UIW, the conference drops to 20th overall.

The dream of a two bid league dies a horrid death.

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I'll be stunned if UIW makes the cut.

I would agree that everything hasn't played out yet, just don't like the trending direction.

Is UIW going to be the WAC desperation pick to cover a spot? Kinda like the last kid left in a pick up game that no one really wants.......(I can say that as occasionally that was me depending on who all was around).

New Mexico State to C-USA makes sense. You have the battle of I-10 as an inter conference rivalry, they already have FBS facilities and basketball would help elevate that conference. Liberty as well.
Sam Houston makes zero sense for both sides. Sure football wise they're maybe .500 with a full FBS schedule(that's not an insult, that means they win at least 6 games against teams with 25 more scholarships than them), but will they be able to maintain when they're no longer competing with FCS schools for recruits. Financially we've already discussed but they aren't ready there either.
Once football is over, what else does Sam bring to the table for the conference?
This is not totally a knock on them. We aren't ready either. But it makes zero sense to me and doesn't benefit either C-USA or Sam Houston.

As far as UIW, they don't make sense to come to the WAC. They're playing some quality football right now but they have bad facilities, they're in a sports market that is so saturated they make up a fraction of a percentage of the San Antonio sports fans, and they'd likely just bring the conference goal of going to the FBS down.

McNeese to the WAC would be outstanding in my opinion. Lake Charles belongs to them as they're the only college team there, and their facilities are top notch. Talent wise they are traditionally very good so they would help the conference in the long run.

If Sammy gets pulled to C-USA, which I won't believe until it happens, I'm betting Ivey will be making all the phone calls he can to try and get SFA a bid to follow. Losing both of our biggest rivalries would be absolutely heartbreaking.

BigJack85 said:

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I'll be stunned if UIW makes the cut.

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We'll know today. conference is voting on McNeese and UIW.