TexasTerror
June 26th, 2010, 08:41 AM
Original Post: Going Down? Several FCS Look to Div II? (http://anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?t=69470)
In wake of the recent budget cut information made available in the state of Louisiana, in addition to the recently announced figure of a $3.3M budget for Mississippi Valley State University - here is a list of schools that could be in dire straits and could be on the verge of exploring moves to either a) keep their program Div I by finding new sources of funds to sustain athletics at the current budget or b) finding the best way to maintain athletics while transitioning down.
Southland Conference
McNeese State
Nicholls State
Northwestern State
Southeastern La
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Grambling
Mississippi Valley State
Southern
The general concern for each of the Louisiana schools is whether or not they will lose their general fund subsidy from the university that essentially keeps them afloat. My thinking is that these universities over the next year will need to get their student body to pass a fee increase to make up for the likely chance that their support from the university will be eliminated or trimmed significantly.
Most of the above schools have already eliminated sports and are floating very close to the minimum number of sports allowed at the Division I level. These schools have already cut positions in their athletic departments and unfortunately, guarantee games can not save the institutions. For the SLC schools, the gap between the Texas school budgets and that of Louisiana only continues to increase, while I believe the same can be said for the SWAC where Texas Southern is positioned to outrank the rest in budget under the leadership of Charles McClelland.
The academic part of these universities have taken a substantial cut and there's only so much that can be cut without putting these schools in a position where they are unable to function.
In Valley's case, their budget of $3.3M is small by Div II standards and would be on the upper tier of Div III. I would have to review the figures once more, but that budget is nearly 50% less than the lowest Southland Conference budget and probably 30-40% less than the next lowest SWAC budget.
In wake of the recent budget cut information made available in the state of Louisiana, in addition to the recently announced figure of a $3.3M budget for Mississippi Valley State University - here is a list of schools that could be in dire straits and could be on the verge of exploring moves to either a) keep their program Div I by finding new sources of funds to sustain athletics at the current budget or b) finding the best way to maintain athletics while transitioning down.
Southland Conference
McNeese State
Nicholls State
Northwestern State
Southeastern La
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Grambling
Mississippi Valley State
Southern
The general concern for each of the Louisiana schools is whether or not they will lose their general fund subsidy from the university that essentially keeps them afloat. My thinking is that these universities over the next year will need to get their student body to pass a fee increase to make up for the likely chance that their support from the university will be eliminated or trimmed significantly.
Most of the above schools have already eliminated sports and are floating very close to the minimum number of sports allowed at the Division I level. These schools have already cut positions in their athletic departments and unfortunately, guarantee games can not save the institutions. For the SLC schools, the gap between the Texas school budgets and that of Louisiana only continues to increase, while I believe the same can be said for the SWAC where Texas Southern is positioned to outrank the rest in budget under the leadership of Charles McClelland.
The academic part of these universities have taken a substantial cut and there's only so much that can be cut without putting these schools in a position where they are unable to function.
In Valley's case, their budget of $3.3M is small by Div II standards and would be on the upper tier of Div III. I would have to review the figures once more, but that budget is nearly 50% less than the lowest Southland Conference budget and probably 30-40% less than the next lowest SWAC budget.