GrandGreen

Let see NT has gotten a lot of help from its Texas brothers in trying to move up the athletic ladder. I think NT should help TSUSM and UTSA as well as sponcer Sam, SFA, and Lamar's move up. Maybe we can even convince UTA to reinstate football. To heck with a new SWC, NT can be the bell cow in establishing a new FB division Southland. I have never faulted SMU for their determination to keep their distance from NT, only their clumsy attempts to hide their intent. I think any fan that believes the proliferation of more Texas fb division schools is good for NT is dilutional. They will compete for media coverage, fans, recruits and they will lower guarantees of money games and ncaa revenue sharing. They will also only hasten the day when the "bigs" decide there are just too many barely hanging on schools around and will make moves to cull the "have nots" from the herd. As far as budgets, are you sure that theirs will be higher than NT's. NT still has more students and their max is the same as NT. They may be able to get to the max faster, but all are limited to $20 per hour and all start at a lower figure. Their advantage is that the majority of their fees won't have to be spend on a stadium. However, a new on campus stadium also should be an advantage for NT.

One question, other than message board fodder; is there one thread of evidence that the WAC wants an Eastern Division. Why would they, they have tried that before with a much better cast of teams and it ended in flames? They offered NT and apparently others a slot before because they wanted to replace existing teams and would accommodate La Tech with adding one close rival. NT turned them down and they took Idaho instead of adding more than one Eastern team. Things are different now, they have lost only one team and I expect they would love for La Tech to leave. I am sure if they added another Eastern team they would prefer NT to TSUSM and UTSA; but there is a good chance that they do not want another Eastern team. There is also a possibility that La Tech will exit the league even without a CUSA bid. They have one of the lowest budgets in the conference and with the loss of the Boise generated revenue and pending big reduction in state funding: they may have to limp back to the Belt.

I am sure that vote is just WAC fans, not a chance that some UTSA or TSUSMT fans could be voting. I guess I can register my opinion that the WAC would be an incredibly stupid move for NT as many times as the proponents can advocate joining. Do you realize that the travel and the extended days away from class or not just for the football team but soccer, softball, volleyball, etc? The WAC may be marginally better overall in athletics but the travel, additional costs, time zone difference, stability of the league, accessibility of conference tournaments & bowls, and even bigger lack of regional foes are all negative factors when compared to the Belt. I will state again 5 of the 8 WAC universities are further away from Denton than Miami. In addition, it is my belief that the home crowds will actually decrease with WAC opponents versus the Belt. With the exception of La Tech, there will be no boost from the visiting team attendance and I doubt if any of the others will be anymore a draw than MTSU, ULL, etc As far as the WAC inviting FCS schools, they have little other choice if they want to expand. In that regard, they are at the same level as the Belt unless NT does something really foolish.

Per the NCAA reported revenue and expenses, neither A&M and UT charge students athletic fees. Giving student special ticket prices has nothing to do with mandated athletic fees. The majority of students at NT receive some type of financial aid which is true at most universites. IF you count student loans as a type of financial aid then that number would be very high.

I doubt UT or A&M have manitory student athletic fees. At $10 an hour and that can go up to $20, NT students will be paying more than you are suggesting. UT and A&M are programs that want to actually limit student attendance were they can sell more expensive tickets to non-students.

Shoot, bring them on; we are already in the same conference as Troy.

It always gets high marks even from the Green broadcast crew. I did see several on the Belt board who think that USA' s Mitchell Area is as good or better. I have attended games there and I prefer the Pit. It is like a lot of the new arenas reminds me of McDonalds, a lot of plastic and bright colors. I could care less about suites, I never been in any that offered a really good view of the game.

Why not? Both Sam and SFA have traditionally better athletic programs than UTSA and TSUSM. I don't blame teams for moving up, but I am afraid all its going to do is as the FB numbers mount is to hasten the Big Boys to try to drop a lot of bottom tier programs. As self serving and undemocratic as it is, I hope the NCAA stops this flow of teams moving up.

Disregarding his stupid asides, the guy is only rating the football stadium and basketball arenas, a long ways from assessing total athletic facilities. I assume he is apparently a reporter who has actually seem all the facilities he is rating so his opinions on this subject may be better than his assessment of athletic programs. Actually he rates NT very high when you consider he is reviewing Fouts. I have not seen in person; Troy, MTSU, or WKU; so it is hard to argue. From all accounts, WKU basketball area is the standard having gone through an extensive re-model. They also spend a lot on expanding and improving their football stadium. He does state that NT could move up to two with the new stadium, I guess WKU is untouchable in his mind. I have wondered how WKU seems to have the resources to have the biggest budget in the Belt. I am sure their basketball program helps but they are just starting out in FB division football. You would not think that a relatively poor state would have money to burn on college athletes.

Despite some bad data and a lot of focus on walk-ons that most likely will never see the field, his conclusion that the defense with the exception of the secondary was not improved is questionable. The linebacker crew if you consider that Nwigwe was lost mid season has everyone back. Yet, they added their best high school recruit Orr and two smallish but potentially very good juco linebackers. Defensive end should be a lot deeper with the addition of two jucos and their second best high school recruit Bellazin plus grayshirt Boutwell. They did only recruit one interior defensive lineman and he seems a real stretch. Very unusual to recruit an offensive lineman and convert him to defense, look for him to end up back on offense. However, they do have a number of young defensive tackles: Cantly (I still think he will end up as a tackle), Anyiam (he also will end up at tackle), and White.

I generally like this guy's work, but he did not do a lot of home work on this one.

Someone might want to ask him to compare UNT attendance numbers with FIU and FAU despite UNT playing awful football. This guy has got to be an embarrassment for FAU.

Yes, NT took over 10,000 to UT once. As TSUSM will find out that after a few beatings in away home games, the crowds will dwindle in a hurry. Clue, NT and TSUSM have been in the same conference before, neither team traveled remotely well; do you really think that is going to change if both are fb division? As far as the WAC, I don't think many want to go East. They would be ecstatic if La Tech found another home. I doubt that the WAC expands unless they find a suitable candidate in the West or lose several more teams which would make them even less attractive.

NT only lose one position player from last years team but lose their two best pitchers. So, I too was surprised when no additional pitchers were signed. However, I suppose they could still add a pitcher. Simmons was a starting pitcher but she was third in the rotation, Kirk was injured and I don't think played, so she should be a redshirt freshman. It is not usual for teams to only use a couple of pitchers, some Belt teams last year used the same pitcher in every Belt tournament game. Still, softball is even more pitcher dominated than baseball; so it is concerning that NT doesn't have more pitching options. NT should have easily the best team in their history next year if they can get good pitching.

Unfortunately, the mean green is going to need a lot of break out players this year to turn this thing around. On offense, the Quarterback who ever it is, is going to have to have a breakout year. The rest of the offense is experienced, so there not going to be many opportunities for new players to shine. I do think Dodge may surprise at wide out. On defense, look for much improvement in the linebacker corp. Technically; you really can't identify a new juco as having a break out year; thought I think the defense will depend on several. My picks to have break out years are DT Jackson and DE Obi.

Well, TSUSM data was strangely not included in the NCAA data base. so I used a bias source a San Marcos newspaper: www.sanmarcosrecord.com/sports/x1048581371/The-state-of-Bobcat-athletics-Budget-and-salaries- Apparently this link does not work, but it is easy to find. Do you really think TSUSM is spending that kind of money in the Southland? It looks like some pretty sloppy research by the Star; For example, it lists NT with 13 sports; any FB division school has to have 16. The term budget is also pretty nebulous; maybe it is including capital costs in TSUSM's number. At least the NCAA data has some breakdown to components. I applaud UTSA and TSUSM desire and progress toward moving up. I think both schools are hindered by their proximity to each other and most fans don't know what a challenge it is going to be. The beginning of any project is usually the time for wild enthusiasm. As time marches, on the task can look much more challenging. The fun of announcing big series with name schools and pontificating on the great attendance and support your team will garner could easily fade as your team is clobbered and those big envisioned crowds never materialize.

A few numbers relative to the Belt and WAC; Distances: The farest Belt game at Miami is closer than 5 of the 8 WAC teams. Driving Distances except Hawaii Distances from Denton: Monroe 321, Lafayette 428, Jonesboro 461, Mobil 622, Murfreesboro 710, Troy 726, Boca Raton 1355, and Miami 1399 Distances from Denton: Ruston 290, Las Cruces 682, Logan 1359, Fresno 1519, San Jose 1653, Reno 1933, Moscow 1974, and Manoa (who knows, approx. 3800) Operating Expenses: 2008-2009 as reported to NCAA (always highly suspect) In Thousands WKU 22,322, FIU 21,801, MTSU 19,441. NT 17,184, FAU 15,969, TROY 15,458, ULL 11,941, ASU 11,052 AND ULM 10,131 HAWAII 35,717, NMSU 28,791, FRESNO 28,645, NEVADA 23,998, SAN JOSE 17,810, USU 17,802, LA TECH 15,967, IDAHO 15,618 I never believe these numbers. There is just too many ways to slant them. You want a big number just allocate more indirect costs and offset with revenues from institutional funds. I am still amazed at the reported numbers by NMSU. They should have killed in the Belt with budgets like that.

Not to let facts get in the way, TSUSM athletic budget for 2009 was $13,422,0000: a big leap from previous years. NT was $17,184,000 or $3,742,000 more. Lots of luck with that WAC thing. TSUSM has two things going for it, it got approved a large student fee and some how got common use of the Texas State moniker. I do hope you have to play a FB division schedule before you leave NT in the dust.

Not that bad of an analysis. A couple of minor points, Stratford is reportedly the fastest receiver NT has, not sure were he gets that he is comparatively slow. At cornerback, a concern by this writer; he has forgotten about Royce Hill and downplays that NT has two fairly highly regarded transfers coming in: Ford and Wood. Over all, a good job by the writer. He actually is higher on NT's defensive line than I am. He also is fairly optimistic about the quarterback position.

I am certainly not that familiar with La Tech finances. I have heard they have a few major supporters, but the state financing crisis in Louisiana has got to be scary. Although it didn't mention La Tech specifically, I recently saw an article that most schools in the Louisiana state system get about fifty percent of their athletic funding from the state. With big state funding cuts looming, I think La Tech may have a lot of cost cutting to do and staying in the WAC looks increasingly foolish. Problem is that a lot of their administrators have apparently make a lot of big promises relating to never going back to the Belt. I frankly don't know why CUSA would be anymore interested in them now, than in the past. I really don't think upgrading programs is their immediate concern, they may be more in a survival mode as they lose millions in state funds.

Hey that is working well for La Tech. This is one of the most far out reasons for courting the WAC I've heard, that it will make us more attractive to CUSA. I guess no one at CUSA realizes that NT really wants in their conference. Comparing this to A&M and the SEC is ridiculous. Someone has to believe a bluff for it to work. If CUSA loses Eastern Teams, I am afraid NT will be far down the list of replacements because they will want replacements out of the Eastern Division's locale not Texas. Unfortunately, although geography is one of NT's biggest assets; it works against them as it relates to CUSA. CUSA already has 4 Texas teams and that is more than enough for out of state members. Texas schools don't want anymore in-state recruiting and fan competition with another state school and are unlikely to offer any NT support. Unfortunately, NT's recent football record has given them an easy out even though NT has to rate high in other factors.

Maybe being in a local division with close rivals had a little to do with that. It led to better things because the majority of the Eastern division split off into a different leauges to get out of the WAC leaving only La Tech behind.

It is difficult for me to believe anyone in authority at NT would even consider a move to the WAC. However, I never thought that as many fans would be behind such a move. Vito for move rationale is very weak. The WAC may be still a slightly better overall conference than the Belt but assuming NMSU and La Tech are better rivals than what is in the Belt is highly suspect. La tech has never really been a rival of any kind to NT other than in recruiting. NMSU likewise was only a big football game when the conference title was in play. NMSU is a good BB program but has never really created a stir at the Pit. I assume that the WAC will have a better tv contract but it will be much diminished after the Boise exit. The one plus point that Vito had is the perceived move up. This is much more smoke than substance, the WAC is not that much better; and if the Belt stays together it could quickly bypass the WAC in perception as well as substance. As far as the point, of the WAC being the more stable conference; are you kidding? I also take issue that the WAC would be a big step up in competition. The WAC does still have some attractive teams but Fresno, Nevada and Hawaii are not teams that are going to help NT with attendance or fan interest. USU, NMSU and Idaho were not even big factors in the Belt. The WAC makes no sense for NT. NT is not an UT were travel costs and local rivalries are not important. As for the WAC establishing an Eastern presence, didn't they already try that with disastrous results. La Tech is in an awful position in the WAC. They will bleeding money if they stay and are definitely not wanted by the rest of the conference. Why should NT even entertain joining such a mess? NT is doing exactly what they should be doing, building a solid athletic program. The only fly in the ointment now, is a poor football program. I think a lot of fans would be a lot less flusterated with the Belt, if NT was once again making frequent trips to New Orleans.

I believe that La Tech will be a formidable candidate also, but that to me is different from them being cast as a natural. They have definite budget issues and the likelihood of most or any of the Northern Louisiana state schools being concentrated under the La Tech banner is miniscule and even if they did, I am not sure how that would directly benefit their athletic program. I doubt even La would shut down schools to add a portion of those savings to athletes at Ruston. The only perceived advantage La Tech has is a prior association with many of the CUSA schools that where in the WAC. If you look closely at the current college landscape and what is happening and almost happened in conference shakeups, you can see the value of those prior relationships is not much. One thing about La Tech posters, they have no doubt that La Tech is one of the best programs outside of the AQ conferences. This is opposed to many NT fans who seem to think that anyone who has a fb division program is some how vastly superior. In the case, of UTSA and TSUSM; they don't even have to be fb division. La Tech has been successful and in many ways is to be admired, but they don't have NT's facilities, media market, transportation hubs, number of alums, general resources and potential. A lot of average fans base their assumptions on the current football program and name recognition. So you get people who believe for instance that Troy will be a coveted conference member or that La Tech is a "natural". People who make decisions are going to do it on a long term basis. Facilities, geography, academic standards, and overall resources are the major factors. Plus unfortunately the fear of competition for recruits and fans definitely enters into the equation. I frankly think that NT compares very favorably with the rest of the Belt as well as La Tech and the Texas newcomers. I just wish more of our fans would look at the many positives and believe in a program that is at long last moving quickly forward.

Why would La Tech be a natural? Small market, budget problems; yes they have it all.