Mikovio wrote:MidwestBest wrote:He isn't wrong though, were currently debating the merits of adding *more* Horizon league teams and irrelevant directional schools from Texas...
To be fair, UT-Arlington's NET was 129 last year and they're expected to be better. And if you want to talk irrelevant Texas schools, CUSA champ Sam Houston State's NET was a whopping 152. Trading MSU for UTA could easily be an upgrade on the court.
It is what it is. Missouri State is gambling that by joining the bottom FBS rung they can somehow propel themselves into the stratosphere. It's an expensive proposition that needs donors to step up and likely a huge increase in student fees. I think it's likely their other sports will see cuts in order to feed the FBS beast and that eventually the Power conferences will break away entirely and they'll be left on the same level as the MVFC anyway.
This is my line of thinking on Arlington, they are decent already at basketball and have shown a willingness to invest a lot, in 5 years the hoops product could be better than it is with msu. I believe maintaining basketball competitiveness should always be a top priority.
I know for a fact it is a relatively easy direct flight from Chicago, Peoria, and Bloomington. I can only assume it is the same from nashville. A quick look up and both the iowa schools and evansville also have direct flights into dallas. I do get the travel concerns but i just dont think a once a year flight to dallas for each athletic team is nearly as catostrophic as people want to make it out to be.
Finally, the privates want to recruit DFW students and believe this could help. I dont get it at all, i think it is ridiculous but for this reason UTA will be a strong cadidate. I will never force someone to be pro Arlington and understand why people would not be but there are some positives from adding them that i hope the anti arlington crowd could at least try to embrace if the mavs are in fact added.