Poll: Would Missouri State accept a Sun Belt invite?

[BEARZ77]

Everything is conjecture till an invite goes out from someone/somewhere. I think all MSU officals have ever said is that they want to be in position to be able to act on any potential opportunities if they meet our needs. Illinois State has said the same, and they are the school most similar to us right now. UNI and SIU have well documented financial constraints and diminishing enrollments and I've assumed Indiana State is in similar circumstances. I have no idea what the Murray St administration considers their future goals.

I've said all along, I would like to wait a bit cause like many others, I see FBS football below the P-5 as probably looking to combine with the top level FCS teams in some fashion in the near future. What conferences will look like then , who knows, but I think you'll have a much better chance to be in a better conference if you have the ability to put out a FBS level football program. With our enrollment, facilities, and current trends, i just think we'll have some options. And we have a very business savvy , aggressive president who supports athletics spear heading our efforts. I would point out President Smart was chair of the committee that was able to secure Belmont, Murray St, and UIC. He's pretty solid in the business networking arena .

[Mikovio]

I don’t disagree that football drives the bus in college athletics. Something like 85% of P5 revenue is from football.

The problem is, revenue below the P5 (especially below AAC) is trash. The MAC media rights deal that makes them play half their games on Tuesdays basically covers their ESPN+ production expenses.

If the thought is the Sun Belt/MAC could be a springboard to P5 like it was for UCF, that would be something but it seems like a moonshot. Maybe I’m underestimating MSU. Maybe welcoming North Texas instead of Northern Iowa will bring 8 figure donors out from under rocks.

You can laugh at private school fans for being “out of touch” but Loyola’s MBB Final Four run was way cheaper and got them way more publicity, applications and revenue than 20 Dollar General Bowls.

If the P5 breaks off, the lower rung FBS and FCS will likely combine. At that point the conferences/schools with better financial health will be in better position. That’s probably not going to be the Ball States even though they’ve been fielding more scholarships for decades. Even if you’d been FCS to that point, I doubt that will be a bar to challenge the MAC/SB going forward.

[TBS_20]

The Sun Belt is a guaranteed $2-million per year. Sure, a Final Four run would be more revenue but how many ISUs are really making Final Four runs? It's not many. What, 3 over the past 15 years? If no Final Four run over 20 years (which is likely) then it's nothing or a minimum $40-million. You take the guaranteed money ever time over a lottery ticket.

[Drakey]

The Sun Belt is a guaranteed $2-million per year. Sure, a Final Four run would be more revenue but how many ISUs are really making Final Four runs? It's not many. What, 3 over the past 15 years? If no Final Four run over 20 years (which is likely) then it's nothing or a minimum $40-million. You take the guaranteed money ever time over a lottery ticket.

How much does it cost to get that 2 million? 3 milion?

[racernation]

The Sun Belt is a guaranteed $2-million per year. Sure, a Final Four run would be more revenue but how many ISUs are really making Final Four runs? It's not many. What, 3 over the past 15 years? If no Final Four run over 20 years (which is likely) then it's nothing or a minimum $40-million. You take the guaranteed money ever time over a lottery ticket.

How much does it cost to get that 2 million? 3 milion?

There needs to be a LIKE button on this forum.

[Bulldog4life24]

The Sun Belt is a guaranteed $2-million per year. Sure, a Final Four run would be more revenue but how many ISUs are really making Final Four runs? It's not many. What, 3 over the past 15 years? If no Final Four run over 20 years (which is likely) then it's nothing or a minimum $40-million. You take the guaranteed money ever time over a lottery ticket.

How much does it cost to get that 2 million? 3 milion?

There needs to be a LIKE button on this forum.

+1 to that

[MissouriValleyUnite]

The difference in football budgets between Arkansas State and Missouri State is $1 million.

[TBS_20]

Many of you are just being bias. If it doesn't make sense financially I'm sure they won't do it. That's why they turned down CUSA. Once it makes sense financially they will go. Obviously, MSU thinks the Sun Belt is a win. I'm sure they know way more about financials regarding this situation than any of us and they've determined the Sun Belt makes sense.

[TBS_20]

Good news is there basketball will be in the tournament every year cuz damn

[mvfcfan]

Just to prove how irrelevant the Sun Belt is on a national landscape, two fans on here have mentioned North Texas as being a SBC opponent and another mentioned Florida Atlantic. Ten years ago those schools were Sun Belt, but they are now CUSA and getting ready to go join Wichita's league in a couple of years.

This is the current Sun Belt:
Arkansas State
Louisiana Lafayette
Louisiana Monroe
Texas State
Appalachian State
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Coastal Carolina
Troy
South Alabama
James Madison (joining)
Southern Mississippi (joining)
Marshall (joining)
Old Dominion (joining)