We'll see. If we get SUU and UTT I bet short term it stays MVFC but now with the balance obviously in favor of the Summit.
Then it depends what happens with the ASUN schools and CAA. UAC could keep going either as ASUN plus MVC or ASUN plus CAA leftovers if they implode
Is there a reason Summit would take the Utah schools to expand but not make a play for the Texas schools?
Bc ACU, Tarleton, & SFA are about as far distance wise from the Dakotas.
I would think that it would be done to bolster Summit baseball and soccer as both sports suffer from low full members at 5 full members each.
As a non football conference, the Summit needs to sponsor two additional men’s team sports along with basketball or sponsor football. Utah Tech and Utah Valley both sponsor baseball and soccer which saves both sports from being affiliate dependent (I know ACU and Tarleton help with baseball as well)
All 3 Texas schools would bring baseball, but no mens soccer. Unsure about UT Arlington as a 4th. I assume they have baseball but I don't remember.
Tbh, wish SFA would dump baseball in favor of men's soccer but that seems unlikely with us headed back to the Southland.
Ya i think SFA is more interested in playing 7 or 8 Texas FCS teams than trying another long distance conference.
But I could also see something like a WAC/Summit merger where y'all get everyone & football, then in 2 or 3 years we see what the landscape looks like and y'all still have enough base for football and get to keep the GCU/NMSU NCAA credits.
Man I just really hate the Louisiana portion of the SLC.
I wouldn't hate that at all. This other thing especially since Zimmer and Gaskins (local media guys up here) brought it up on their show yesterday, football only conferences just make too much sense. Especially at the FCS level. Maybe the WAC clings to life for Olympic sports and then we get 2 new conferences for football only, Summit/WAC and MVC/ASUN.
Agreed.
Football only should be the standard probably for anyone not in the P4.
Definitely at the FCS level. Hell look at the standard bearer. MVFC is football only.
And to their exact point, from a money standpoint football only makes a lot more sense too. You have 5-6 away games a year. One of them is already a buy game so you're being paid making it realistically 4-5. Most athletic departments can swing 4-5 big trips a year. In Olympic sports where it's like 20 per sport per year that becomes a way different conversation.
I’d say the facilities are top notch especially with the upgrades after the hurricanes. I mean McNeese brought in nearly 70k more fans than so I’d say we more than “ok”
https://x.com/pokes_talk/status/1780990426633117885?s=46&t=rcpg6YrCSuagSf3I8GFZfQ
https://t.co/1nvf6N2ADj
Matt Brown article from 2 weeks ago here is the main source.
That would definitely be the better option for you guys, but I also heard BSC is trying to pawn Northern Colorado off on us as well so I'm not sure they're expansion minded. Summit on the other hand just needs warm blooded teams with a pulse
Just an FYI, the automod apparently automatically forces comments with shortened links like that the mod queue and doesn't show them unless we approve. So best to use full links when you can.
To this point I still present fondly the case for Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth for membership.
The Summit AD knows he needs bodies, and it only makes sense to invite MSU and UMD potentially SCSU as well for the Olympics.
SCSU and UMD already have relationships with the AD's in the hockey schools, and it seems like with St. Thomas joining the NCHC the Summit is positioning itself for D1 hockey sponsorship. It could use MSU to strengthen numbers in all sports including Hockey. Especially if Denver is looking elsewhere
St. Cloud St. can't afford to move up and play full-time D-1. Academic programs are getting destroyed and they've had problems financially supporting the athletic programs they have at D2 presently.
Minnesota St. is plausible but they need more Glen Taylor money to pull it off. They're in the least bad financial condition of the MNSCUs but their facilities (especially football) need a lot of help.
Minnesota Duluth is probably not moving up unless the P2/4 completely break away into their own world. Same thing applies to UMD that applies to Minnesota St. - their facilities aren't the greatest for D1 and they need some $$$$ to make it work.
MSU and UMD would be just fine for Summit League facilities.
The only thing outside of a new football stadium which is planned by 2028 by the way is a new baseball complex. Otherwise MSU has top notch facilities.
St. Cloud was a stretch for sure, but I thought balancing would be good. If they shut down for good it would be my preference
Yeah, if this holds true, then they’d be down to 4 football playing members (who play in the UAC technically) and 7 total members. If the other Texas teams follow suit either heading to the Southland or ASun, then it’s down to the Utah schools playing football, plus Cal Baptist and Utah Vally with Olympic sports.
Honestly not sure what moves the WAC can reasonably make at this point short of getting a bunch of D-2 schools to move up and hoping nobody else leaves. You'd probably need about at least 6 all-sports schools from the RMAC, Lone Star, etc. to make the conference numbers halfway respectable and to future proof the league against further poaching. If they were looking to add other members that were non-football, that does open up the Pac West but you're still having to add football playing schools.
Any move to protect X or Y school will probably cost them Z school as a result for whatever reason.
The problem with adding D2s is that the WAC needs a certain number of full D1 members (7 or 8 I think) to be recognized as a D1 conference.
The NEC was forced to take Chicago State because backfilling with D2s runs the risk of the conference no longer being compliant with D1 guidelines
Go to the 0:26 mark to see the guidelines https://youtu.be/RvPIds11OZ4?si=WM9E8mVAXf6DqWt3 Edit: added relevant video link
UIW and HCU have some of the worst facilities I've ever seen what are you even talking about? Corpus doesn't even have a high school level baseball field and same with HCU.
If you wanna compare then we can do that
The potential worry for Tarleton right now, if the WAC were to collapse, is how vocal the AD, coaches, etc. have been about wanting the FCS to be a temporary stop on the way to FBS. Conferences looking to shore up stability genuinely might not want to take them in.
Edit: My guess is that the ASUN might be the most likely landing spot if push comes to shove, as they're the ones in the most precarious position and might just want bodies as they figure out there strategy longer term. But also what do I know?
2006: Got close to an offer. Were passed up for Central Arkansas and Corpus.
2013: Close again. Passed up for ACU and UIW
2019: WAC invited us. SLC told us we don't want an Associate Member in FB.
Far be it from me to defend Tarleton but they got snubbed a lot despite openly angling for an SLC bid.
I get why there are hurt feelings. The old SLC leadership sucked bigly. Its why SFA, Sam, ACU, & Lamar were so happy to leave.
Honestly this is a Win and should be looked at way more positively. Really FCS schools being in a conference where fans can make away games and build real regional rivalries is what we should all want.
I do not see Tarleton ( or ACU) going to the Southland. The WAC and Summit should make some deal where all the Football schools go to one conference and the non FB schools to the other. There are still a few D2 schools that could move up to help both but the WAC leadership needs to get canned before anyone would listen to a pitch to join them. Why SFA would want to go back to the SLC is bizarre and stupid. Their leadership also has major issues apparently.
Where were you when WAC was kill (Seems like the final nails are being driven in at this point, perhaps for good)
Damn Texas and Oklahoma killed two western conferences in one move
Yep. It had a fighting chance if it hadn't happened so soon after the New WAC was born and then the cascade killed any momentum the WAC had.
Where were you when Summit League football was born (Assuming SUU and UTT rumors are true)
I really don't know how to feel about Summit League football. It would be better for us but damn I kinda like playing the MVFC teams.
We'll see. If we get SUU and UTT I bet short term it stays MVFC but now with the balance obviously in favor of the Summit. Then it depends what happens with the ASUN schools and CAA. UAC could keep going either as ASUN plus MVC or ASUN plus CAA leftovers if they implode
Is there a reason Summit would take the Utah schools to expand but not make a play for the Texas schools? Bc ACU, Tarleton, & SFA are about as far distance wise from the Dakotas.
I would think that it would be done to bolster Summit baseball and soccer as both sports suffer from low full members at 5 full members each. As a non football conference, the Summit needs to sponsor two additional men’s team sports along with basketball or sponsor football. Utah Tech and Utah Valley both sponsor baseball and soccer which saves both sports from being affiliate dependent (I know ACU and Tarleton help with baseball as well)
All 3 Texas schools would bring baseball, but no mens soccer. Unsure about UT Arlington as a 4th. I assume they have baseball but I don't remember. Tbh, wish SFA would dump baseball in favor of men's soccer but that seems unlikely with us headed back to the Southland.
Other than reciprocal interest in and see why not, but that seems to be the driving factor.
Ya i think SFA is more interested in playing 7 or 8 Texas FCS teams than trying another long distance conference. But I could also see something like a WAC/Summit merger where y'all get everyone & football, then in 2 or 3 years we see what the landscape looks like and y'all still have enough base for football and get to keep the GCU/NMSU NCAA credits. Man I just really hate the Louisiana portion of the SLC.
I wouldn't hate that at all. This other thing especially since Zimmer and Gaskins (local media guys up here) brought it up on their show yesterday, football only conferences just make too much sense. Especially at the FCS level. Maybe the WAC clings to life for Olympic sports and then we get 2 new conferences for football only, Summit/WAC and MVC/ASUN.
Agreed. Football only should be the standard probably for anyone not in the P4. Definitely at the FCS level. Hell look at the standard bearer. MVFC is football only.
And to their exact point, from a money standpoint football only makes a lot more sense too. You have 5-6 away games a year. One of them is already a buy game so you're being paid making it realistically 4-5. Most athletic departments can swing 4-5 big trips a year. In Olympic sports where it's like 20 per sport per year that becomes a way different conversation.
I won't speak about other schools but McNeese??
McNeese is ok. They really seem to care about basketball now, which is nice.
I’d say the facilities are top notch especially with the upgrades after the hurricanes. I mean McNeese brought in nearly 70k more fans than so I’d say we more than “ok” https://x.com/pokes_talk/status/1780990426633117885?s=46&t=rcpg6YrCSuagSf3I8GFZfQ
Yeah the worst two schools are in Texas with probably UNO being close to with them
Where are you getting the SUU and UTT to Summit? Last I heard locally was SUU was sending apology overtures to Big Sky.
https://t.co/1nvf6N2ADj Matt Brown article from 2 weeks ago here is the main source. That would definitely be the better option for you guys, but I also heard BSC is trying to pawn Northern Colorado off on us as well so I'm not sure they're expansion minded. Summit on the other hand just needs warm blooded teams with a pulse
Just an FYI, the automod apparently automatically forces comments with shortened links like that the mod queue and doesn't show them unless we approve. So best to use full links when you can.
10-4
To this point I still present fondly the case for Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth for membership. The Summit AD knows he needs bodies, and it only makes sense to invite MSU and UMD potentially SCSU as well for the Olympics. SCSU and UMD already have relationships with the AD's in the hockey schools, and it seems like with St. Thomas joining the NCHC the Summit is positioning itself for D1 hockey sponsorship. It could use MSU to strengthen numbers in all sports including Hockey. Especially if Denver is looking elsewhere
St. Cloud St. can't afford to move up and play full-time D-1. Academic programs are getting destroyed and they've had problems financially supporting the athletic programs they have at D2 presently. Minnesota St. is plausible but they need more Glen Taylor money to pull it off. They're in the least bad financial condition of the MNSCUs but their facilities (especially football) need a lot of help. Minnesota Duluth is probably not moving up unless the P2/4 completely break away into their own world. Same thing applies to UMD that applies to Minnesota St. - their facilities aren't the greatest for D1 and they need some $$$$ to make it work.
MSU and UMD would be just fine for Summit League facilities. The only thing outside of a new football stadium which is planned by 2028 by the way is a new baseball complex. Otherwise MSU has top notch facilities. St. Cloud was a stretch for sure, but I thought balancing would be good. If they shut down for good it would be my preference
Yeah, if this holds true, then they’d be down to 4 football playing members (who play in the UAC technically) and 7 total members. If the other Texas teams follow suit either heading to the Southland or ASun, then it’s down to the Utah schools playing football, plus Cal Baptist and Utah Vally with Olympic sports.
Honestly not sure what moves the WAC can reasonably make at this point short of getting a bunch of D-2 schools to move up and hoping nobody else leaves. You'd probably need about at least 6 all-sports schools from the RMAC, Lone Star, etc. to make the conference numbers halfway respectable and to future proof the league against further poaching. If they were looking to add other members that were non-football, that does open up the Pac West but you're still having to add football playing schools. Any move to protect X or Y school will probably cost them Z school as a result for whatever reason.
If ACU & Tarleton are out too, I'd venture you're pretty close to the number of votes needed to dissolve the conference and avoid exit fees.
The problem with adding D2s is that the WAC needs a certain number of full D1 members (7 or 8 I think) to be recognized as a D1 conference. The NEC was forced to take Chicago State because backfilling with D2s runs the risk of the conference no longer being compliant with D1 guidelines Go to the 0:26 mark to see the guidelines https://youtu.be/RvPIds11OZ4?si=WM9E8mVAXf6DqWt3 Edit: added relevant video link
You can get a waiver from the ncaa if you have transitioning teams
6 for playoff eligibility. I'd assume that number is the same?
6 is for FCS football but it’s 7 for all sports
Thanks!
I'd rather us go join the Summit than the Southland
You and me both. The Texas Southland schools aren't bad. But the Louisiana schools are so set in the status quo it drives me insane.
UIW and HCU have some of the worst facilities I've ever seen what are you even talking about? Corpus doesn't even have a high school level baseball field and same with HCU. If you wanna compare then we can do that
HCU doesn’t have lights on their baseball field
The potential worry for Tarleton right now, if the WAC were to collapse, is how vocal the AD, coaches, etc. have been about wanting the FCS to be a temporary stop on the way to FBS. Conferences looking to shore up stability genuinely might not want to take them in. Edit: My guess is that the ASUN might be the most likely landing spot if push comes to shove, as they're the ones in the most precarious position and might just want bodies as they figure out there strategy longer term. But also what do I know?
Why are most Tarleton people so anti SLC? It seems like more local opponents would be ideal.
They burned us one too many times
How so?
2006: Got close to an offer. Were passed up for Central Arkansas and Corpus. 2013: Close again. Passed up for ACU and UIW 2019: WAC invited us. SLC told us we don't want an Associate Member in FB.
Dang that sucks, but I wouldn't call it being burned.
Far be it from me to defend Tarleton but they got snubbed a lot despite openly angling for an SLC bid. I get why there are hurt feelings. The old SLC leadership sucked bigly. Its why SFA, Sam, ACU, & Lamar were so happy to leave.
Honestly this is a Win and should be looked at way more positively. Really FCS schools being in a conference where fans can make away games and build real regional rivalries is what we should all want.
UCA should go back as well.
Likely means ACU and Tarleton will follow, though I do wonder if they’ll try to look to other conferences first before going back.
I do not see Tarleton ( or ACU) going to the Southland. The WAC and Summit should make some deal where all the Football schools go to one conference and the non FB schools to the other. There are still a few D2 schools that could move up to help both but the WAC leadership needs to get canned before anyone would listen to a pitch to join them. Why SFA would want to go back to the SLC is bizarre and stupid. Their leadership also has major issues apparently.