wardly

Chill, Tom. I, as well as many others, have seen CUSA recruiting evaluations showing us to be number one in the conference. People tend to accept their perspective since the information comes from those who do this sort of thing for a living instead of an out of sorts fan.

So if Seth's recruiting was best in CUSA ,what he has done with that talent doesn't reflect well on his coaching ability. With all due respect to Sonny, if his last name wasn't Dykes he might not be mentioned for the Tech job based upon his last P5 job at Cal. Having said that, both of these guys have done a great job where they are. I read where the 6 CUSA schools joining the AAC were ranked in terms of value to the conference. UTSA was #1, UNT#6. I have to believe if our football results were reversed so would our value, as until this year no one outside of Texas had ever heard of the Roadrunners. Dykes has SMU operating like a well oiled machine. He has done a wonderful job with transfers, has recruited well in local high schools, and has the Mustangs in a position to be a perpetual bowl participant with top 25 ranking. The only fly in the soup is poor attendance , which doesn't seem to increase even with on field success.

Still do.

No one , except for LSU and a few others, makes money in men's baseball. Texas Tech lost $2 million their last full season played.

So 8 of CUSA's established baseball programs average between 500 and 250 fans per game. The other 4 are between 3,000 (So.Miss.) and 900. The cost for a stadium is at least $10 million , so why would you invest in a sport that is a cash drain on an underfunded athletic department even if you drew a "couple thousand fans " fans. Just my opinion, but its financially irresponsible to make a capital investment of that magnitude in order to add a non revenue producing sport for an unknown fan base.

The Idaho Arena seats 4,200 and is primarily made of wood. Looks great.

So does Tulsa. An on campus 6,000 seat basketball arena would be perfect. I say "on campus " as because of the number of games played basketball is an "occurrence" while football is an "event". To get students to come out in numbers the arena needs to be within walking distance . I think that a new arena would need to be financed in the same manner our football stadium was, without using state funds. However, if the "Super Pit" is getting a "make over" that updates locker rooms, etc. , it is hard to cost justify a new arena. Speaking of hard to justify, why would you spend millions of dollars to add a non revenue sport such as baseball for a few hundred fans? Besides a baseball stadium you must add women's sports [I don't recall the number] to offset the addition of a men's sport. My benchmark is that if SMU can't afford it, UNT can't.

I don't disagree, but apparently the SBC, MAC, and ESPN don't believe WK and MTSU brings added value to their conferences. The MAC is a mirror image of the MWC in that they apparently see no need to expand, and the SBC feels 14 programs is enough. Conferences are just not going to expand just for the sake of expansion. La. Tech, on the other hand, is getting pay back from ULL and especially ULM for decades of refusing to acknowledge their existence. It's a shame but its also self inflicted.

Yes.

Marshall is a done deal. They have a new president coming on board in the next week or so and are waiting for him to rubber stamp their decision. Both WK and MTSU would love to go to the MAC , who to date has shone no interest in expansion. The SBC passed on both schools so I can only assume they bring no added value plus a little out of both conferences footprint.

W.K. and MTSU are a little out of the SBC footprint as well as the MAC's. My question is, do they add value to either conference? Apparently not. Also, the SBC East will consist of James Madison, ODU, Marshall, Coastal Carolina, App St., Georgia St. and Georgia Southern,which is a nice regional division. The West will have Texas St., ULL, ULM, So. Miss, Ark. State, Troy, and USA. Again, a nice regional division. CUSA is hosed, with one team in Miami, one in El Paso, and not much in between. They may be able to stay on life support by adding New Mexico State for all sports, and both U. Mass and U. Conn for football only but what a mess. They would have no value to ESPN, and to dissolve the conference would be a mercy killing.

Just curious. Do either WKU or MTSU bring any value to the MAC? And yes, La. Tech passed on the Independence Bowl about 11 years ago to avoid playing ULM.The had a real good team that year but stayed home instead. Their refusal to play either ULM or ULL just bit them in the butt as the SBC decided 2 programs in Louisiana was enough and will not be adding La. Tech.

Independent

I forgot about his college coaching experience. It was my understanding that the ability to bring his high school staff was a condition of employment mandated by Dodge.

It's not odd, unless you think that normal people let drunk. Ask any doctor.They don't.

I don't understand you comments. Does "lol" mean laugh out loud"? What does "wut' mean?

As alcoholic who has not had a drink since Christmas of 1988 I can tell you that this is a big red flag. Not to preach, but normal people don't get drunk, and they certainly don't get D.U.I.'s. The only way I would consider him would be to mandate ongoing A.A. participation or an out patient program, and even then I would be very concerned. He has a drinking problem,so the question is would you hire someone as an employee in your business knowing this.

No comparison. Dodge had no college coaching experience plus he was allowed to bring his high school staff which was a grave error. He could recruit, and coach Mac did well with those players until he didn't. I can't think of any high school coach who made the direct leap to college head coach and succeeded. Also, I have no idea why Graham Harrell would be interested in North Texas. It appears that he might have P5 opportunities in the future.

He may not relish the idea of remaining at La. Tech with an independent schedule.

The University of South Florida , know as " South Florida" or "USF", has the same issue. Wonder how they handle it. Their "BULL" logo looks like two squigglies but when they tried to switch to a bull similar to Merrill Lynch's it caused such an uproar that their Administration dropped the idea. Just put " UNT" on the sides of the helmet ," Mean Green " on the back of the helmet ,"North Texas " on the front on the jersey , and a "Swooping Eagle" on the jersey sleeve. That should end any confusion, right?

The UTSA coach had a very successful Texas high school coaching background. The SMU coach has done it with transfers and marketing. Somehow I don't think its rocket science to generate a profile as to the background needed by a coach to be successful in Denton . I have been supporting UNT football since 1961 but gave up my club seats this year. Some of it has to do with my age and concern for COVID but basically I am just tired of decades of horse shit football. Yes we had a few good seasons with Corky, Darrell , and Seth, but when you must reach back to the 70's to have something to hang your hat on you have an ongoing problem.

Does anyone really know all the details of his contract and buy out?

True,but to date it appears the MAC has shown no interest in expansion.

I think both UTEP and LA. Tech will go independent because they have no other choices. I don't know what is going on at FIU but I read that Marshall was basically told to either make a decision or their spot in the SBC was going to MTSU. Both the Blue Raiders and Hilltoppers are probably collateral damage at this point unless the MAC is interested.