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WKU votes to move up to 1A


MeanGreen61

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This is a good deal for the Sun Belt Conference. It will give each team four home conference games each year. I am not sure how long it will take them to be eligible for SBC championship play but I heard from a very reliable source that they will be coming to Fouts Field next Fall.

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This is a good deal for the Sun Belt Conference.  It will give each team four home conference games each year.  I am not sure how long it will take them to be eligible for SBC championship play but I heard from a very reliable source that they will be coming to Fouts Field next Fall.

Beleive they complete the transition & move in 2009.

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Guest GrayEagleOne

My guess is by 2010 or 2011 they will pass North Texas up. dry.gif

It may depend on whose our coach. If there's no change in the coaching staff all they had to do was announce to pass us up.

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WKU board approves move to I-A football

By Michael Grant

mgrant@courier-journal.com

The Courier-Journal

OWENSBORO, Ky. – Western Kentucky University’s board of regents voted overwhelmingly Thursday afternoon to approve an upgrade of its football program to NCAA Division I-A.

At a regularly scheduled meeting at its regional campus at the Owensboro Community & Technical College, the board vote 7-2 in favor with one abstention.

The dissenting votes came from faculty regent Robert Dietle and regent Forrest Roberts of Owensboro.

Dietle, one of the most vocal critics of the move, had several complaints, including that the move would have little or no impact for academics. Roberts expressed concerns over the cost of moving to I-A. Regent Tamela Smith abstained. Regent Judi Hughes did not attend the meeting. No reason was given.

Western would begin playing I-A football in 2009 as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. It’s currently a I-AA member of the Gateway Conference.

This a dramatic shift for an institution that came close to dropping its current I-AA football program in the early 1990s. The Hilltoppers have enjoyed much success since, including winning the 2002 I-AA national championship. Now, after two transition years, they will be competing at the highest level of collegiate football.

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We will be in "transition" for 2007 and 2008. We will not count as a I-A win in 2007 but in 2008 we would. We would not qualify to win the conference or go to a bowl game until 2009. We will likely have 5-6 I-A schools on our schedule in 2007 (probably 4 SBC schools) and then 8 I-A games in 2008. 2009 we would be full members.

When it is all said and done, WKU will have a $37 Million renovated stadium, we will inject another $3.5 Million into our football program, bringing it to around $5.8 million... which will be one of the top 3 football budgets in the SBC and likely the TOP athletic budget in the SBC overall.

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When it is all said and done, WKU will have a $37 Million renovated stadium, we will inject another $3.5 Million into our football program, bringing it to around $5.8 million... which will be one of the top 3 football budgets in the SBC and likely the TOP athletic budget in the SBC overall.

I HATE YOU! mad.gif

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We will be in "transition" for 2007 and 2008.  We will not count as a I-A win in 2007 but in 2008 we would.  We would not qualify to win the conference or go to a bowl game until 2009.  We will likely have 5-6 I-A schools on our schedule in 2007 (probably 4 SBC schools) and then 8 I-A games in 2008.  2009 we would be full members.

When it is all said and done, WKU will have a $37 Million renovated stadium, we will inject another $3.5 Million into our football program, bringing it to around $5.8 million... which will be one of the top 3 football budgets in the SBC and likely the TOP athletic budget in the SBC overall.

This is what it will take to get the university to make some tough decisions. Our conference mates and future conference mates (congrats WKU) will eventually pass us by on the football field and athletic investment.

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This is what it will take to get the university to make some tough decisions.  Our conference mates and future conference mates (congrats WKU) will eventually pass us by on the football field and athletic investment.

It also means that the President, BOR, Faculty, and AD need to pull their heads out of sand if they think being an academic university alone will make the school more well-known and inviting to the public.

Of course that also means they must actually work at improving UNT and I have yet to see that either other than the weekly/monthly pissing wars.

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I ENVY THEIR COMITTMENT sad.gif

Me too! WKU give you the impression (warranted or not) that they don't do things half-assed. They are committed to their BB program, have been for years, and now they are going to show the same committment to 1A football. Good addition for the Belt...though I fear them passing us by in a few years. dry.gif

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I can understand voting for 1-A. I can understand voting against 1-A. But why does someone abstain ? Unless they are selling footballs or "thunder stix" I don't see the abstainment.

Welcome to the Belt Western Kentucky.

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Edited by greenjoe
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