C-USA Baseball

[NorthTexasWeLove]

Move this where you may mods...

 

C-USA is having a pretty good baseball season by all standards. 4 (SoMiss, LaTech, Charlotte, and Old Dominion) teams sitting around 35 wins and all 4 teams in the top 25. Good luck to these teams in their respective Regionals and hopefully Super Regionals, as a couple of them will certainly host Regionals. All this conference success while Rice, a usual baseball power, is a doormat this year.  

[UNT Mean Green]

Absolutely, this is very impressive for the conference! Rice has been bad for a while now... that program is a mess. Would love for UNT to have baseball at the right time as it could be one of the only sports that we could have a reasonable chance to win a national title at!

[wardly]

Define "reasonable".

[UNT Mean Green]

1 minute ago, wardly said:

Define "reasonable".

Realistic. There are a lot of positive factors for a baseball program at the right time. With the location + available recruiting base, to go along with the scholarship situation in baseball (nearly everyone on partial scholarship) and the affordable education at UNT, there's an excellent formula to leverage those advantages into a nationally relevant program. 

[UNTLifer]

I have read on FB of few people that think we should drop back down to FCS and use the scholarship savings from the move to start a baseball program.  I threw up in my mouth a little at the thought of moving down.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

21 minutes ago, wardly said:

Define "reasonable".

Legitimate shot at national relevance. Since I've been alive programs such as Pepperdine, Cal State Fullerton, Wichita State, Rice and Coastal Carolina have won national championships. We all know the prowess of Vanderbilt athletics *eye roll*, but in baseball their power is legitimate. Much like the "lesser" schools (mid-major, G5, etc.), Vanderbilt has decided to carve its niche into baseball to make it a relevant sports program to the SEC. There have been several other pretty solid baseball programs to from "lesser" schools to have significant national relevance. Exhibit A: Right down the street, Dallas Baptist. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

3 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I have read on FB of few people that think we should drop back down to FCS and use the scholarship savings from the move to start a baseball program.  I threw up in my mouth a little at the thought of moving down.

That's a little crazy. However, what have our conference mates done to afford them the opportunity to have a baseball program that we have not? If UTSA can do it, then what are we waiting for? 

[meangreen11]

1 hour ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

That's a little crazy. However, what have our conference mates done to afford them the opportunity to have a baseball program that we have not? If UTSA can do it, then what are we waiting for? 

The response I have always heard was they don't want to "half-ass" it, meaning they want a new stadium to completed and a good solid budget to be in place etc.  I do agree the UTSA doing it is a valid argument, especially since UTSA has a much smaller overall budget.  I would love to see a comparison of UTSA's budget against ours.  My sense is that our AD office and coaches salaries are much higher than what they pay for theirs.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

1 hour ago, meangreen11 said:

The response I have always heard was they don't want to "half-ass" it, meaning they want a new stadium to completed and a good solid budget to be in place etc.  I do agree the UTSA doing it is a valid argument, especially since UTSA has a much smaller overall budget.  I would love to see a comparison of UTSA's budget against ours.  My sense is that our AD office and coaches salaries are much higher than what they pay for theirs.

And what is our higher overall salary doing for us as to them, specifically vs them? It's smoke and mirrors. Either announce a future plan of baseball or announce we have no desire to be a competitive athletic department while making your school as athletically attractive as possible in hopes of getting your university into a superior, higher payout conference. We're teetering. Nevertheless, CUSA is showing out this year. Tune in and cheer em on. 

[UNTLifer]

UTSA, like other schools that didn’t have football years ago, had baseball prior to deciding to start their football programs. They realized that football brings in money, alumni to campus, and excited students unlike other sports. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

13 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

UTSA, like other schools that didn’t have football years ago, had baseball prior to deciding to start their football programs. They realized that football brings in money, alumni to campus, and excited students unlike other sports. 

Yes. 

None of that has anything to do with how the likes of UTSA can do it, but we cannot. It doesn't really matter what came first or what didn't. 

[wardly]

Setting aide the probably $8 to $10 million necessary to build a 1st class stadium, how much money are you prepared to lose annually to create a non revenue sport that would draw a few hundred  fans at best to games knowing that Texas Tech runs a deficit of about $2 million to field a team? Its great to want a new toy if you are not paying for it.

[RBP79]

Ŵe fielded a baseball team.....1984 thru 1988. I worked with a guy who played on that team. It was short lived and his one remark that stood out was how embarrassing it was to play home games at a City of Denton park because of no NT BB stadium. 

Title lX ended the run.

Edited May 18, 2021 by RBP79
Update

[NorthTexasWeLove]

54 minutes ago, wardly said:

Setting aide the probably $8 to $10 million necessary to build a 1st class stadium, how much money are you prepared to lose annually to create a non revenue sport that would draw a few hundred  fans at best to games knowing that Texas Tech runs a deficit of about $2 million to field a team? Its great to want a new toy if you are not paying for it.

I don't think anyone is anticipating a Baum Stadium being built in the event we decide to stand up a baseball team. I think a seating arrangement such as a UTSA is fine to get things going. There is always the possibility of future expansion if need be. 

[UNTLifer]

On 5/18/2021 at 1:37 PM, RBP79 said:

Ŵe fielded a baseball team.....1984 thru 1988. I worked with a guy who played on that team. It was short lived and his one remark that stood out was how embarrassing it was to play home games at a City of Denton park because of no NT BB stadium. 

Title lX ended the run.

That was a glorified club team at best.  I love baseball, want the sport at NT and think we would be successful very quickly based on our location, etc...  I would model our stadium after Dallas Baptist and start there.  BUT, I would rather see us get all of our existing sports up to speed and with the necessary facilities to be successful that have been lacking forever than to see us add baseball and continue to try to manage all of these needs resulting in another poorly funded program.