School: IUP
Location: Indiana , PA
Media Market: Technically 2: Pittsburgh and Johnstown/Altoona
Enrollment: 13, 000+ (11,000-Undergrad/2,000 Grad)
Current US News Academic ranking: Fourth Tier
Endowment: 38.6 Million
Current designation: II
Proposed future desination: 1AAA
Stadium: on campus
Stadium size: 6,500 (Creative expansion , but expansion possibel without a doubt on one side (http://www.d2football.com/stadiums/iup/t98/ )but wedged in the middle of campus. The fieldhouse is on the other side.
Football attendance: about 5, 000 per game
NFL/College competition: Steelers are king! 1B Penn State about 1 1/2 away and Pitt a distant 3rd.
Distance: 40 miles
BB Arena: on campus: Memorial Gymnasium, 2500 Oversized High school gym...Plans are , and land bought for Convocation Center with 4,000 seat arena to be done by 2009
BB Arena size: 2,500
BB attendance: 2,000
NBA competition: NONE
Distance: N/A

Arguement:
I am more interested in D-1 Football than basketball, but at the FBS level...I highly doubt it. The President is a supporter of upgrading the program and has stated athletics is the "Front Door" of a University and makes it more attractive. They are going to be 1-a in basketball but Football's main downfall is the beast that is Penn State down the road. the Athletic director better schedule opposite home games to Penn St. home schedule...That said IUP vs. our rivals Cal Pa and Slippery Rock have produced home games with 10,000+...but I don't know if we could substain 5,000 against most opponents...The other positive is the current head coach is Lou Tepper, Formally of Illinois whom was not bad there but did not reach that next level in the Big 10, but he may know what it takes and is running a cleaner program...The negative is our D2 success was mainly do to our marginal standards of whom we accepted as players...quite frankley guys with borderline characters and lots of ability and many a d-1 transfer mostly kicked off their previous team...Now Cal PA has taken this niche and with half the students spends almost double on thier athletics than IUP ??? Basketball will happen I believe but as for for 1-A in football...In a football crazed region a third "major" college program is unlikely.

If IUP moves up to Division I, it would behoove themselves to keep an FCS football program. Conference affiliations will be more likely with football than without football. Even if IUP winds up in say, the Horizon League or the Summit League (think about IUP vs. IUPUI), there would be plenty of opportunities to pick up a football-only membership (Big South, CAA, Northeast, Gateway, etc.).

They should strive to be an FCS and basketball power. Be App State in FB and G'town in basketball. They are simply too small to be a good FBS candidate.