If Illinois State goes FBS in football, who replaces them?

[Aargh]

Pardon me if my memory of something I did 5 years ago or so isn't 100% perfect. I mentioned an increase of 20 to 30 scholarships. The actual number is 22, so I'm still in the ballpark with tht part of my recollection.

You've got to remember, I was crunching numbers for the WSU fan base. A "MAC-level" coach isn't going to cut it for that group. I was looking at the equivalent oi a mid-range BCS coach. Getting to the FBS level is hard. Winning games at that level is a bigger hurdle to get over. Unless your school is happy to have a 2-10 team or play in absolute obscurity in the MAC, you'd better plan on something in the range of a mill and a half.

[valleychamp]

Pardon me if my memory of something I did 5 years ago or so isn't 100% perfect. I mentioned an increase of 20 to 30 scholarships. The actual number is 22, so I'm still in the ballpark with tht part of my recollection.

You've got to remember, I was crunching numbers for the WSU fan base. A "MAC-level" coach isn't going to cut it for that group. I was looking at the equivalent oi a mid-range BCS coach. Getting to the FBS level is hard. Winning games at that level is a bigger hurdle to get over. Unless your school is happy to have a 2-10 team or play in absolute obscurity in the MAC, you'd better plan on something in the range of a mill and a half.

Right. And that same rabid "WSU fanbase" was the same fanbase that allowed the school to drop the sport of football entirely, yet you claim that they, as obvious rabid football enthusiasts, would not accept a lowly "mac level" coach. LOL, please...



Another major thing that would have to be factored in for a WSU football program is facilities. The facilities that WSU have right now are certainly not suited for a 100 player football team. Weightrooms, locker rooms, athletic offices, athletic training facilites, ect. All of that stuff would likely have to be updated to suit a football program. That is a huge cost commitment in itself.

[panther-state]

Pardon me if my memory of something I did 5 years ago or so isn't 100% perfect. I mentioned an increase of 20 to 30 scholarships. The actual number is 22, so I'm still in the ballpark with tht part of my recollection.

You've got to remember, I was crunching numbers for the WSU fan base. A "MAC-level" coach isn't going to cut it for that group. I was looking at the equivalent oi a mid-range BCS coach. Getting to the FBS level is hard. Winning games at that level is a bigger hurdle to get over. Unless your school is happy to have a 2-10 team or play in absolute obscurity in the MAC, you'd better plan on something in the range of a mill and a half.

Right. And that same rabid "WSU fanbase" was the same fanbase that allowed the school to drop the sport of football entirely, yet you claim that they, as obvious rabid football enthusiasts, would not accept a lowly "mac level" coach. LOL, please...



Another major thing that would have to be factored in for a WSU football program is facilities. The facilities that WSU have right now are certainly not suited for a 100 player football team. Weightrooms, locker rooms, athletic offices, athletic training facilites, ect. All of that stuff would likely have to be updated to suit a football program. That is a huge cost commitment in itself.

Unless you are lucky enough to gain a $6M donation from a local...then not so much
Richard O. Jacobson...the greatest Panther that never was (after Dougie Fresh, of course)

[Aargh]

Right. And that same rabid "WSU fanbase" was the same fanbase that allowed the school to drop the sport of football entirely, yet you claim that they, as obvious rabid football enthusiasts, would not accept a lowly "mac level" coach. LOL, please...

I always suspected you were more than willing to expound at length on subjects where you had absolutely no knowledge. This is pretty much the proof that my suspicions were accurate.

Football at WSU was dropped by an anti-athletics president and an AD who found it easier to drop FB than raise money. It was not the fan base.

The rabid football enthusiasts who want to bring FB back to WSU would not accept a lowly "mac level" coach. The few voices calling for starting FB back up are expecting to make a sprint to BCS level in 10 years or less. At least that's what would have to happen for their predictions to come true. I've seen Bill Parcells mentioned as a potential coach by more than one, because he started his career at WSU.

So, was it the "fanbase" that allowed UNI to drop baseball - wait - that doesn't work. WSU was actually selling tickets to FB, which makes the comparison to UNI baseball an apples/oranges thing. WSU couldn't sell enough tickets to MVC competition to make FB workable (with the attitudes of the administrators then). Wichita FB fans would not show up in sufficient numbers against Valley competition.

For college FB to work in Wichita, it would have to be at least at the level of upper CUSA or mid-range BCS. That isn't going to happen, but Wichita's rabid FB enthusiasts don't seem able to comprehend that. That's why I used the $1.5 mill figure. That would have to be paid to realize the expectations of those who want to bring FB back.

UNI has been unusually successful "doing it on the cheap". Using UNI's situation as a pattern for how other schools should operate and expect success is unrealistic. There's also the factor of how a fanbase defines success. I suspect UNI's fanbase will settle for things that the WSU fanbase would find unacceptable. At least it better be that way or UNI's habit of "doing it on the cheap" will some day catch up to UNI. Unless the UNI fanbase is pretty forgiving, UNI could lose a portion of their fanbase.

[valleychamp]

Wichita State University fielded a football team for 90 years before it was cut in 1986 due to poor attendance, financial red ink, NCAA recruiting violations, and the state of disrepair of Cessna Stadium.

after moving up to the University division and joining the Missouri Valley Conference in 1947, the program became known as one of the worst in the nation, with only 3 of the 15 coaches they had over that period posting winning records.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita_State_Shockers#Football

[bigdawg]

Omg delusional Shox fans. Bill Parcells? Really?

[Snaggletooth]

Production of NFL players from the MVC:

WSU - 38
SIU - 32
UNI - 27
Drake - 27
ISU-R - 22
Bradley - 12
ISUB - 11
MSU - 7
Evansville - 4
Creighton - 1

[panther-state]

Production of NFL players from the MVC:

WSU - 38
SIU - 32
UNI - 27
Drake - 27
ISU-R - 22
Bradley - 12
ISUB - 11
MSU - 7
Evansville - 4
Creighton - 1

How many of those 38 have won an MVP or made a pro-bowl appearence? I'm not being snarky, I'm truly curious if you have that info.

[Aargh]

Omg delusional Shox fans. Bill Parcells? Really?

In one of the many "WSU HAS TO bring back football" threads over the years, Parcells was mentioned as a potential coach who would come to WSU and take WSU to the next level.

It was also noted in those threads that none of the fans insisting on bringing football back had any resources available to contribute to the cost involved.

I'm afraid some of the fans wanting to move their MVC FB teams up to the FBS level are nearly that delusional. The dollars involved are astounding. I was trying to point that out in this thread, but all my posts have been redirected toward some other agenda by some other posters.

It takes a significant chunk of change just to cover the cost of health insurance for an additional 22 FB players. The 22 additional women on 'ships also need health insurance. Little stuff like that - that never occur to most people - are all over the place. Then there's $800 a month for room and board reimbursements for 44 additional people. The FB players may require that 12 months a year if they are expected to stay on campus over the summer for "voluntary" workouts.

Unless you're in a geographical area where you can expect 40K butts in seats and have the stadium, infrastructure, and parking to accommodate that, a move to FBS is generally suicidal for an athletic department. It's great for University Presidents and athletic directors to say that is their goal. They know it's pointless, but they know that's what their fans want to hear, so they say it. They will never do it until they see the $$ and I doubt any of them saying that are even half-heartedly going after the $$.

[Ferd Berfel]

Legendary NFL coach Bill Parcells was a linebacker at WSU in 1962 and 1963 before serving as a graduate assistant in 1964. Wichita State University was also the first Division 1-A school to hire a black head coach in College Football, Willie Jeffries in 1979.[2] In 1978 place kicker Joe Williams tied University of Arkansas All-American kicker Steve Little and University of Texas kicker Russell Erxleben for the longest kick in NCAA history after kicking a 67 yard field goal.

That record still stands today.