Lamar AD: FBS in 5 Years

[TexasTerror]

A misleading headline..."Deals could mean bigger things for LU athletics"

All FCS schools - for the most part - play FBS games. I do not see how playing FBS games directly translate into a move to FBS. It is not of question that Lamar is interested in moving FBS and the same goes for several schools, but the headline is unjustified...

Either way, thoughts on Lamar's plan to go FBS?


"Yes, we plan to do that, in a five-year program we would like be in the FBS, which is the Bowl Subdivision," Tubbs said. "That's where we aspire to be. As things are moving around, we want to position ourselves to have the possibility of upgrading our football program."

Details of a move have not been ironed out. Tubbs said no deal is in place with a particular conference, but "we've been looking at this for quite some time," Tubbs said.

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/local/deals_could_mean_bigger_things_for_lu_athletics.ht ml

[GA St. MBB Fan]

A misleading headline..."Deals could mean bigger things for LU athletics"

All FCS schools - for the most part - play FBS games. I do not see how playing FBS games directly translate into a move to FBS. It is not of question that Lamar is interested in moving FBS and the same goes for several schools, but the headline is unjustified...l[/url]

I think the "deals" the author is referring too are the Big10 and Pac10 expansion talks. Yes, the article begins with talk of guarantee game pay outs and how Lamar going FBS could lead bigger payouts than being a FCS program. But most of the rest of the article discusses how Big10 and Pac10 expansion could affect other FBS leagues and how this may open the door for Lamar to join them. And I think the latter is what the author meant by "deals."

[bandit]

interesting. As far as I'm aware, this is the first time he's come out in the media and flat-out said that Lamar intends to be FBS. 5 years isn't a long time - they are obviously moving aggressively.

I wonder - with UTSA, Lamar and Texas State all planning moves to FBS, would Sam Houston State be compelled to do the same? And is that something that is within the realm of possibility for them?

And if so - the question becomes where do UTSA, Lamar, Texas State and Sam Houston State all end up? The WAC, Sun Belt and CUSA could all be in line to lose members depending on what happens with expansion elsewhere.

[TexasTerror]

I wonder - with UTSA, Lamar and Texas State all planning moves to FBS, would Sam Houston State be compelled to do the same? And is that something that is within the realm of possibility for them?

And if so - the question becomes where do UTSA, Lamar, Texas State and Sam Houston State all end up? The WAC, Sun Belt and CUSA could all be in line to lose members depending on what happens with expansion elsewhere.

SHSU is in the midst of a self-evaluation that will tell it about where it stands currently, what it needs to do if it wants to be FBS, what it could do to improve as an FCS going forward, etc...

SHSU has not been sitting idly completely while UTSA and TXST formulate FBS plans. They are getting all their ducks in a row before they do it...and another key will be finding another pro-athletics president to replace the current one.

[JMUNJ08]

With so many texas schools wanting to move up is conferences would have to think about how many they would want. Its been well known TCU to the big 12 would better the conference football slate but there are already too many texas schools in the league. What team wants to go to texas 5 times a year? I know its a great state for recruiting but don't you need to branch your product out?

[TSUalum05]

Isn't there an attendance requirement for FBS play? What other requirements are in place for a FCS school to make the jump to FBS. As far as the attendance requirement (correct me if I'm wrong), LU and UTSA has to first field a team to determine the feasibility in regards to attendance. I see there's a strong likelihood UTSA can attract many fans around San Antonio but I'm not sure about LU. What was the reason LU disbanded football in the first place? LU fans, what does LU have that would make a FBS conference interested in LU?

TexasTerror - what's the average attendance of SHSU over the past 10 years because I cannot see any reason why a FBS conference would want SHSU (not trying to knock SHSU or LU)

[McNeese75]

Isn't there an attendance requirement for FBS play? What other requirements are in place for a FCS school to make the jump to FBS. As far as the attendance requirement (correct me if I'm wrong), LU and UTSA has to first field a team to determine the feasibility in regards to attendance. I see there's a strong likelihood UTSA can attract many fans around San Antonio but I'm not sure about LU. What was the reason LU disbanded football in the first place? LU fans, what does LU have that would make a FBS conference interested in LU?

TexasTerror - what's the average attendance of SHSU over the past 10 years because I cannot see any reason why a FBS conference would want SHSU (not trying to knock SHSU or LU)

xlolx now you are splitting hairs

[TexasTerror]

I am not 100% sure the new membership standards for FBS have been set at this point and if an attendance requirement is needed, it is not hard to get around that one (just ask ULM and NT who averaged less than 5,000 actual butts in the seats during their attempt to meet the qualifications!)...


TexasTerror - what's the average attendance of SHSU over the past 10 years because I cannot see any reason why a FBS conference would want SHSU (not trying to knock SHSU or LU)

In most of the recent years, we average 8500 to 9500 per game. Last year was an aberration.

Outside of football and perhaps soccer, all of our facilities are comparable to most in the Sun Belt. Our budget is pretty comparable to the schools on the lower-end in that league (ULL and ULM) and we could easily pass them up budget-wise by moving up to FBS - based on guarantee game increases alone. Figure other factors would go up.

[centexguy]

Lamar moved up to D1 football in 1973 and played 8 years at that level until the SLC moved down to 1-AA. They had a few winning seasons and averaged over 16K fans one year. When Lamar dropped down to 1-AA, they soon left the SLC and went independent, and nobody cared about football after that. While Lamar was averaging over 6K in basketball in their new arena, no money was spent on football, rumors of it being dropped increased, and attendance dropped down to about 5K per game until they dropped it in 1989.

This time Lamar is spending a lot of money on football. They'll have top-notch facilities and an administration dedicated to supporting the program. Nobody knows if Lamar will go FBS, but they are putting themselves into position to make the move if the opportunity presents itself.

[TSUalum05]

This time Lamar is spending a lot of money on football. They'll have top-notch facilities and an administration dedicated to supporting the program. Nobody knows if Lamar will go FBS, but they are putting themselves into position to make the move if the opportunity presents itself.

xthumbsupx

[TexasTerror]

Having football at Lamar may energize the basketball attendance....

The old joke around the SLC is that Lamar basketball games are filled with the "blue hair crowd" that lives in the past that was the late 70s and early 80s of basketball. Lamar fans harp on SHSU's basketball attendance, but our games are student-driven as far as attendance numbers are concerned, not so much at Lamar.

Football may get the students interested in athletics once more and actually drive the students into supporting the basketball programs as well, which will help bolster Lamar's attendance and the point of this thread - their attempt to go FBS.

[centexguy]

The old joke around the SLC is that Lamar basketball games are filled with the "blue hair crowd" that lives in the past that was the late 70s and early 80s of basketball. Lamar fans harp on SHSU's basketball attendance, but our games are student-driven as far as attendance numbers are concerned, not so much at Lamar.

The "blue hair crowd" are the ones that buy season tickets, it's called alumni and community support. I'm sure McNeese has a large "blue hair crowd" for their football games, that's why they lead the league in attendance despite a small student body. Perhaps SHSU should do a feasibility study on that because it seems once their students graduate they never go back to Huntsville.

[3rd Coast Tiger]

Ouch




Perhaps SHSU should do a feasibility study on that because it seems once their students graduate they never go back to Huntsville.

[TexasTerror]

The "blue hair crowd" are the ones that buy season tickets, it's called alumni and community support. I'm sure McNeese has a large "blue hair crowd" for their football games, that's why they lead the league in attendance despite a small student body. Perhaps SHSU should do a feasibility study on that because it seems once their students graduate they never go back to Huntsville.

Lake Charles and Beaumont are much different communities compared to Huntsville. You know that...

And let's talk about SHSU. I'll be the first to acknowledge that SHSU is digging itself out of a hole as it relates to the alumni area. We were digging ourselves out academically and as an institution in many functions until our most recent president, James Gaertner.

We've now caught up with our like-minded institutions in numerous regards, but alumni is going to take time. Our alumni involvement has gone up (as far as donations, number of donors, involvement in the Alum Association, etc) over the last few years. Unfortunately, we missed the boat on several decades worth of SHSU classes.

It is changing now and we may not gain back those classes we missed. However, we can 'cover' those we have going forward and build from there. It's hard to fix a several decades' old problem in a matter of years.

And part of the study that we are undertaking right now evaluates alumni, community support...stay tuned for the results when they get to that part of the equation!

[TheBisonator]

I'm a little late into this thread, but could this mean a possibility of the Southland moving up to FBS as a conference??

Let's say that 5 years from now there's two FCS conferences that say publicly they want to move to FBS: The Southland and the Missouri Valley. Could this mean that the NCAA could implement some rules that help these two conferences transition into FBS easier, like the Sun Belt did??

Here's what we know:

Teams in the Southland that have expressed interest in FBS:

Texas State
Lamar
Sam Houston State
UTSA

McNeese (Maybe?? They could do it)

Stephen F. Austin, NW ST and UCA could maybe go along with it.

I don't think Nicholls, SELA could do it.

Teams in the MVFC that have expressed interest:

Youngstown State
Missouri State
Illinois State

NDSU (It's in the back of the mind of the AD)
SDSU (It's in the back of the mind of the AD)

Southern Illinois (new stadium) and Western Illinois (stadium is big enough) could do it. Northern Iowa has budget issues and Indiana State is not there yet.

Just thinking out loud.

[TexasTerror]

FYI - Lamar fans, if you are wondering, one of your Aggie moderators on your board banned me. The funny thing is, it seems all of you saw my post and did not find it the least bit incorrect!


I'm a little late into this thread, but could this mean a possibility of the Southland moving up to FBS as a conference??

There have been talks of the SLC moving up as a conference for sometime.

I can see some of what you are talking about. The key would be getting a bowl game (the SLC founded the Independence Bowl) and finding new members, which IMO, could include a non-football Oral Roberts.

[LUFAN1]

Updated pictures of our stadium:

http://www.setxsports.com/forum/index.php?topic=69143.15

They are making some pretty good progess. I think they are about to start laying the turf down.

[GA St. MBB Fan]

FYI - Lamar fans, if you are wondering, one of your Aggie moderators on your board banned me. The funny thing is, it seems all of you saw my post and did not find it the least bit incorrect!



There have been talks of the SLC moving up as a conference for sometime.

I can see some of what you are talking about. The key would be getting a bowl game (the SLC founded the Independence Bowl) and finding new members, which IMO, could include a non-football Oral Roberts.

If FBS went to a playoff system - could that expedite the SLC's discussion/transition to moving up - because it would eliminate the need to get a bowl game?

[ThompsonThe]

If FBS went to a playoff system - could that expedite the SLC's discussion/transition to moving up - because it would eliminate the need to get a bowl game?

"The Home of Georgia State Football"

Don't you guys mean the "Place to Visit" and see your football team.

[GA St. MBB Fan]

"The Home of Georgia State Football"

Don't you guys mean the "Place to Visit" and see your football team.

Don't be a hater.

[CollegeSportsInfo]

If FBS went to a playoff system - could that expedite the SLC's discussion/transition to moving up - because it would eliminate the need to get a bowl game?

Playoffs of not, the bigger issue will be the new NCAA/FBS criteria: a school must have an invite from an FBS conference in order to upgrade to FBS. It'll take some legal legwork to get past that. The Southland, CAA and MVC (with all 4 Dakotas) face the same problem.

[TexasTerror]

Do any of the Lamar fans have an indication of how well season ticket sales have gone for the Cardinals?

I've heard everywhere from 3k to 7k as far as season tickets sold. Had not seen an article or anything to confirm the numbers...

Any word?

[centexguy]

I read somewhere that they have about 7,000 season tickets left. According to Lamar's website the stadium will hold a little over 15K, so my guess is they've sold at least 5,000 season tickets. The school likes to be tight-lipped on everything so no telling when they'll release that info.

[TexasTerror]

New AD on board...


Lamar University athletic director Larry Tidwell said the school has "done nothing officially" to join the Western Athletic Conference but admits a door might be open for the university to change league affiliation in the near future.

Tidwell's comments came one day after Southland Conference commissioner Tom Burnett told the San Antonio Express-News he expects Texas-San Antonio and Texas State to leave the conference for the WAC.

"We have done nothing officially with the WAC at all," Tidwell said by phone Thursday night. "I see the speculation. I get stuff from friends across the country."

Although Tidwell said no official talks have taken place with the WAC or any other conference, he did say Lamar will work to align itself to be in position for a possible move to another conference.

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/local/could_lamar_leave_the_southland_conference_.html

[JSU02]

I think the only requirement is to average 15,000 over a rolling 2 year period.

[msusig]

I think the only requirement is to average 15,000 over a rolling 2 year period.

They should be forced to play at least 5 years of FCS football before they can move up. That should go for UTSA too!

[houtexan]

I read somewhere that they have about 7,000 season tickets left. According to Lamar's website the stadium will hold a little over 15K, so my guess is they've sold at least 5,000 season tickets. The school likes to be tight-lipped on everything so no telling when they'll release that info.
It holds 16,100 under the new configuration. If 7,000 are remaining (which I doubt) you'd have to also subtract the number of student tickets held for each game. Can't recall that number. Probably around 5500-6500 season tickets that have been sold would be my guess.

[houtexan]

New AD on board...



http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/local/could_lamar_leave_the_southland_conference_.html
"...Lamar will work to align itself to be in position for a possible move to another conference."

[TexasTerror]

They should be forced to play at least 5 years of FCS football before they can move up. That should go for UTSA too!

What about South Alabama? They are already an all-sports member of an FBS league...???


"...Lamar will work to align itself to be in position for a possible move to another conference."

And that's what SHSU is doing as well... especially in light of FBS move-ups and La. issues...