Not that it’s going to happen over night, but It would make a shit ton of sense for the other BIG XII teams that have planned trips to Austin; no changes needed but a slightly longer bus ride south.I've been waiting for this exact thread to start for a couple of hours now!
UTSA is broke and kept afloat by city government. TXST is its own university system and could theoretically afford the move. Problem is sports culture- we have none besides our women's teams. This season gets even bigger for us. Win Now!!It hurts me to ask... but objectively, why would a conference pick us vs UTSA? We don't carry any major media markets. We also don't win games so all we have to sell ourselves on is hot chicks and river floats.
Not necessarily objective…(completely biased)It hurts me to ask... but objectively, why would a conference pick us vs UTSA? We don't carry any major media markets. We also don't win games so all we have to sell ourselves on is hot chicks and river floats.
I hate that this is the answer our AD came up with the last time around. The reality is that we don't really pull in either market, but if you're going to go that route, then the message should be that we have a huge alumni base that is spread over 2 of the top 10 and 4 of the top 40 media markets in the country (5 DFW, 8 Hou, 31 SA, 38 ATX). MTSU or WKU (can't recall which) made a very similar case during the last realignment circus and it made a great visual in their deck, as opposed to the brutally amateur effort we put forth (dated newspaper scans from 2005, iirc).TXST can pull from both ATX & SA markets (if not more with increased exposure)
I just don't see how taking both schools makes sense from a business perspective, they are too close in proximity. I can see a conference taking one of the two schools and unfortunately I suspect UTSA provides a better ROI since they can draw the SA market. I think we have two plausible scenarios for invite:What about the possibility of Texas State and UTSA taking the place of SMU and U of Houston in The AAC if SMU and Houston get invited to the Big 12?
Yup. Memphis and Cincinnati as well would be my best guess today.Houston and SMU would be next in line.
It's... beautiful.Yup. Memphis and Cincinnati as well would be my best guess today.
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Let's look at this from a different angle...indulge my fan fiction for a moment:
The AAC is going to get gouged here, so they'll want to pull from the MAC, CUSA and SBC. That would weaken any of them. What if the SBC was aggressive and pulled in 6 other teams from that same SEC footprint for our own 16 team superleague? Take from CUSA before they can take from you.
UTSA, North Texas, Rice - this puts 4 teams in TX, gives us more games in state, outlines the famed Texas Triangle and hits all 4 of those media markets
LA Tech/Tulane - solidifies LA, one of the most fertile recruiting states, take both if you don't want USM
Southern Miss - traditionally a solid team, same in hoops, neither great recently; really good baseball
Charlotte - puts 3 in NC, 2 top 25 media markets
West: TXST, UNT, UTSA, Rice, LA Tech/Tulane, ULL, ULM, ASU
East: USM, USA, Troy, GAST, GASO, APPST, Coastal, Charlotte
Would also make for clean 4 team pods, which I think would be the way to go w/ that many teams
TXST, UNT, UTSA, Rice
LA Tech/Tulane, ULL, ULM, ASU
USM, USA, Troy, GAST
GASO, APPST, Coastal, Charlotte
Media Markets: 5, 7, 8, 22, 24, 31, 38, 45, 50, 59, 83, 86, 94, 97
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As soon as I heard about the OU/UT thing, this was my first thought: dreading another conference realignment because we may wind up with the short stick.Exactly …. . There’s really no reason for any larger/more respectable Conference to consider US for membership …. too many good/solid programs lined up ahead of us.
We’re more like when kids line up and wait to get picked for a “pick-up” game of “whatever.” We’d be the last kid picked, you know, the kid no one really wants, but gets picked at the end cause the last guy picking needs a “warm body.”
I know that some here might be good with that (whatever it takes to move up, am I right?) But unless this round of realignment goes deep, I expect we’re gonna be left on the sideline, with our toes kicking at the dirt, wishing someone would have picked us, still not understanding that we really have so little to offer a larger more competitive conference.
That’s just how it is, when you’re the “Charlie Brown“ of college football.