Okay so ya'll are the richest girl in the conference, but SHSU is still the prettiest...

Just because you live in a nice house and Daddy let's you drive the BMW, doesn't mean you'll get asked to the dance.

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Fan of the Big 12 Conference, the Mountain West Conference and...

A politicians answer, nice dodge.

The question was not if Lamar was rich or pretty, but rather WHY Lamar gave a FCS coach a FBS salary and WHY is Lamar raising it's budget to play in the SLC. The average SLC budget is about 8 million.

According to a Lamar fan, the budget will rise every year until it reaches 18 Million. Is Lamar so rich to be able to just throw money around?

I have a random and curious question. Has there been a team of any past season since the inception of the sport that the conference has sponsored has been in the top 25 AP/BCS standings?

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The answer is obvious, Lamar WANTS to join the FBS. But like my grandpa says; WANT in one hand, sh*t in the other, and see which one gets filled first.

Are you insinuating that Lamar has secretly made a deal to go FBS? They've shouted from the rooftops that they want to jump but they still have nowhere to land...

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Fan of the Big 12 Conference, the Mountain West Conference and...

Indeed. If Lamar has upgraded their budget that is at or above what is needed for FBS...great! It's always great to see schools invest in preparation for a potential upgrade to FBS. But they need an invite. There is no need for secret deals or conspiracy theories: the Sun Belt has expanded with schools and Lamar wasn't one of them. Maybe they will be next. And if they are, great for them, they already have the budget for it.

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A conspiracy? C'mon, it was 2 simple questions on why a school would make those moves. We aren't talking about future moves, but moves already made. It is hard for me not believe had JMU or Liberty did the exact same moves, it would be solid proof of JMU or Liberty to the SBC.

Ok, We all know that the SBC commish likes to think big, right? So how about this scenario: he attempts 16! Here are the adds: East - Citadel (all sports), James Madison (all sports), and Liberty (all sports), West - Sam Houston St. (all sports), Lamar (all sports), and Missouri St. (all sports).
I know a lot of people are unhappy with the Liberty pick, but they are ready and have the ffinancial backing to make the move. The Citadel only has 2400 students, but are ready and have a huge endowement (see my earlier post). James Madison is the obvious invite.
In the west, Missouri St. is not quite ready and neither is Sam Houston St., but Lamar is ready but has a small number of students.
What do you guys think of this idea?

You do know Lamar is bigger than La Tech, bigger than UL-M, bigger than Idaho, bigger than Ark st.

I don't have a problem with a anyone saying Lamar won't get the invite. What kills me when ppl make up stuff. Lamar won't get the invite because Lamar is too small, Lamar endowment too small, Lamar lacking in fan support, etc etc.

Playa,
I am not saying that they are smaller than Louisiana Tech, but that the current student body size is small for what the Sun Belt is looking for. I would like Lamar to get in, as they are relatively close to Texas State, and the Louisiana schools. However, in the current east-west split, the conference would have to go to 14 for them to get in. I personally would like to see the SBC go to 16. I think that the Citadel and Missouri St. would both be fine additions. I am really not certain about Liberty though. I believe that Lamar could improve on the football field over time, but I don't think that they could compete right away.

All I ask is to get your facts right. SBC has contacted schools in the west and schools smaller than Lamar, like UTC.

Playa,
UTC is in the east, not the west. They are close to Appalachian St. and Georgia St. in eastern Tennessee.

Mo st is in the west as well as SHSU. UTC is smaller than Lamar. If Lamar is too small, why did the SBC contact a school smaller than Lamar? obvious your facts are wrong.

Lamar could be a fine addition (in a vacuum).

Benson had discussion with them when he ran the WAC.

I think the over-riding issue is geography (which gets ignored so much these days).

Lay out the SunBelt schools, and figure out the divisions....
it works out PERFECTLY if #12 is located somewhere near Appy St. (to be in the Eastern Division and serve as Appy's travel partner).

That is why they were all over JMU (apparently JMU didn't jump and will not make any decision until a report is issued in September).
That is why Liberty is being considered, although a lot of folks aren't crazy about them.
That is why Jacksonville State may enter the picture.....
That is why Lamar (which may have everything athletically that the Sun Belt would want) is not the focus of discussions right now.

If you think I'm full of crap about the map thing, go back a few months and Benson had this all figured out, and then WKU left.
He was showing all he other league Pres. / AD's his map (which turned up on a Freedom of Information Act search).
So the "hole" is currently in the Eastern Division.

If another team were to leave from the east, they could shift 2 teams in ARK or LA to the East, and potentially add Lamar and elevate NMSU to full mmebership...

I don't think geography has been ignored. The only reasonable reason, IMO, Lamar is not invited is Lamar being in the west.
But that logic don't allows jive with the Idaho invite, even being as a football only.

Yes, the balance division hole is in the east. However the Houston/Beaumont hole is west. Which is more important in the short term? Southeast Texas is bigger than 3 SBC states with 2 teams in each. Lets not ignore that fact.

Here's how I'll justify the Idaho / NMSU football only invitations.

Go back 10 years. Both schools were full members of the Sun-Belt.
Karl Benson was commissioner of the WAC, and invited USU, NMSU and Idaho from the Sun-Belt to join the WAC.

Benson then presided over the WAC for another 6-7 years... he has friends / connections at Idaho and NMSU.
When he became head of the Sun-Belt, he started pulling in WAC schools that he had coaxed into the WAC... Texas St., UTA, UTSA...
When Idaho and NMSU football were left high and dry by the MWC, he felt badly.
He couldn't / didn't want to add them to the Sun-Belt because they are geographic outliers, and he couldn't / didn't want to sell the Sun-belt membership on that silliness.

But Football is another thing - 8 conf. games a year, and for 4 of those games - they are coming to you.
So in terms of travel, it's only 4 trips to Idaho and 4 to NMSU per year for the whole league. It's not burdensome, and I think it's Benson throwing those schools a lifeline....

Frankly, I think Idaho should fall back to FCS and be a full member of the Big Sky. It's where they belong, playing all their regional rivals.
They don't belong in FBS, there are few other schools in the Mountain / Pacific time zones that want to play them.
It has the feel of somebody with a big ego at Idaho trying desperately (and failing) to keep up with Boise St.