Time To Start Thinking Big

[MeanGreen61]

Time to start thinking big

Saturday, June 10, 2006 10:48 PM CDT

Over the next two years people may drive around Western Kentucky and inevitably ask: Why are they building onto L.T. Smith Stadium when they can't even fill the stands they have now?

Evolution is why.

The Hilltoppers have outgrown their current home, packed to capacity or not. It's time to start moving forward or it's gonna be treading in quicksand for the foreseeable future. The $35 million renovation and construction project of Smith Stadium will put Western Kentucky on a collision course with opportunities that seem to be waiting just over the Big Red water tower.

“This will open up a lot of doors,” WKU coach David Elson said. “This is now going to give us the big-time feel of Division I college football.”

Talk of a potential move from Division I-AA football to a I-A conference is more than just bold hearsay, it's a reality within grasp.

Even then some will still ask - Why?

Why, when Western can challenge for a national championship in I-AA year in and year out, would it want to start fresh at the bottom of I-A? Playing “major” college football gives WKU a chance to become a full-time member of the largest spectator sport in all of college athletics. No longer a once a year cupcake, with its hand-and-chin-out kind of ordeal they currently find themselves in.

With 22 more scholarships and drastically improved facilities, the Hilltoppers can not only bring in more players, but also go after the ones that used to be out of their league. Now, they'll be in the league.

Moving to the Mid-American Conference, Conference USA or even the Sun Belt will provide an opportunity to earn a berth in a nationally televised bowl game. With the Bowl Championship Series adding a fifth bowl game into the mix this season, schools from the above conferences can now play on college football's biggest stage, with a chance to make money that makes current cash flow look like bread crumbs.

Each time you are driving down University Boulevard or the Avenue of Champions and gaze over at a surgically stripped Smith Stadium, start visualizing the possibilities. A beautiful Saturday afternoon, with, just for fun, say, Vanderbilt, coming up I-65 for a contest. If you are laughing, you can stop now, it's not out of the question.

Even better, think about the return game the following year in Nashville. I smell a rivalry.

My vision may be a little more farsighted than most, but competitive teams that are not in the BCS conferences earn the right to play those types of games. Just look at your upcoming 2006 schedules and you'll see it for yourself. I can even envision a day when the Toppers get a crack at Kentucky, and if that doesn't get your motor running, then nothing will.

It's game time, and here come the Hilltoppers running out to a packed house of over 25,000 screaming fans. The entire lower level of the current Smith Stadium is electrified with 5,000 rabid students (WKU administration considering), giving the visitors' bench a heckling that would make Chris Rock proud.

Can you see an ESPN broadcast beaming a conference championship game right from Bowling Green for everyone nationwide to see? Ratings for that game would be better than even a I-AA national championship game.

I-AA is great football. Anyone who's attended a Hilltopper game in the past can tell you that. But the fact of the matter is it receives a fraction of the attention or exposure of I-A football.

Just two years ago, ESPN's “College Gameday” crew of Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso broadcast live from Bowling Green - in Ohio. Bowling Green State and Western Kentucky share more than just the obvious. Both universities and towns are not all that big in size or spotlight, but both can share the same pigskin prowess. No reason to think otherwise.

BGSU has had five consecutive winning seasons and has even cracked into and finished a season in the Top 25 during that span.

It's not far-fetched to see the Hilltoppers enjoying such success at the next level. It may not come right away. The process will certainly have its ups and downs, but in the long run it's better to start moving forward than simply settle for where you're at.

[FirefightnRick]

$35 Million?

WHOOOOOOOOOOSH! is all we will hear......

Rick

[NCMeanGreen]

..."even the Sunbelt"...

Nice...

[emmitt01]

$35 Million?

WHOOOOOOOOOOSH! is all we will hear......

Rick

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Could that be the sound of yet another program speeding past us that you are referring to?

[untbowler]

Could that be the sound of yet another program speeding past us that you are referring to? 

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NAH!!!! No way, not at UNT. we are absolutely happy where we are and besides all those other schools have we do not have. Remember this is the toughest place to work at from experience