(04-05-2020 08:21 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 02:15 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/colle...story.html

One of the key items in the ODU study was this:

“Conference membership decisions need to be made” to reduce travel expenses and missed class time while generating more fan interest in the form of ticket sales.

Ah, yes, conference realignment as the solution to all problems. "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

Changing conferences is not going to solve ODU's money shortfall. If just moving to the Sun Belt makes them happy -- they can apply any time they want to -- then great, it's their decision to make. But... Travel savings are over-exaggerated. It's just a fantasy that 26 schools are going to happily agree on how to be shuffled amongst themselves while also agreeing to let everyone move without the non-movers getting to collect those hefty exit fees.

ODU's biggest challenge is going to be raising money from donors hurt by this year's very bad economy, to compensate for the athletic department being hurt by the same very bad economy, while (if possible) maintaining that article's stated ambition to spend enough money to be as good in basketball as San Diego State was this past season and (presumably) to be one of the best G5 programs in football as well. That fundraising effort is a hard job that they will have to tackle, and IMO the idea of a 26-school conference shuffle is just a distraction from that necessary task.

Similar thoughts here.

The other key bullet item was how C-USA was materially hurt by the defections of Memphis, SMU, Houston, UCF, Tulane and ECU. That makes it sound to me like going to the American is what they have in mind, and not some restructured C-USA. That list kind of makes a lie of geographically close thing, except they don't like going to UTEP.

Are they talking to the AAC about being the 12th, replacing UConn? That is what it sounds like to me. The AAC may have to add somebody in two years when the waiver runs out.

(04-05-2020 10:34 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 08:21 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 02:15 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/colle...story.html

One of the key items in the ODU study was this:

“Conference membership decisions need to be made” to reduce travel expenses and missed class time while generating more fan interest in the form of ticket sales.

Ah, yes, conference realignment as the solution to all problems. "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

Changing conferences is not going to solve ODU's money shortfall. If just moving to the Sun Belt makes them happy -- they can apply any time they want to -- then great, it's their decision to make. But... Travel savings are over-exaggerated. It's just a fantasy that 26 schools are going to happily agree on how to be shuffled amongst themselves while also agreeing to let everyone move without the non-movers getting to collect those hefty exit fees.

ODU's biggest challenge is going to be raising money from donors hurt by this year's very bad economy, to compensate for the athletic department being hurt by the same very bad economy, while (if possible) maintaining that article's stated ambition to spend enough money to be as good in basketball as San Diego State was this past season and (presumably) to be one of the best G5 programs in football as well. That fundraising effort is a hard job that they will have to tackle, and IMO the idea of a 26-school conference shuffle is just a distraction from that necessary task.

Similar thoughts here.

The other key bullet item was how C-USA was materially hurt by the defections of Memphis, SMU, Houston, UCF, Tulane and ECU. That makes it sound to me like going to the American is what they have in mind, and not some restructured C-USA. That list kind of makes a lie of geographically close thing, except they don't like going to UTEP.

Are they talking to the AAC about being the 12th, replacing UConn? That is what it sounds like to me. The AAC may have to add somebody in two years when the waiver runs out.

If Old Dominion thinks the AAC is going to be better travel wise than C-USA, Temple says hi. The advantage of course is their media deals will likely give them more money than C-USA. Of course is Old Dominion the #1 choice for the AAC of anyone out there? Highly doubtful.

Of all the G5 conferences the one that would give them the least travel miles would probably be the MAC (nothing further west than Chicago but nothing closer than Huntington, WV) but the MAC probably would have no interest on ODU. The AAC, Sun Belt, and C-USA all have Texas teams. C-USA has four Texas teams including UTEP which is the worst for a Virginia team. The AAC has two Texas teams and Tulsa. The Sun Belt has 2 Texas teams. C-USA has Marshall and Charlotte in neighboring states. The AAC has East Carolina. The Sun Belt has Appalachian State. I doubt the AAC's interested in ODU. I think the Sun Belt probably saves them a little bit. In football, all of the conferences do divisions to keep travel down. They probably should do divisions or take geography into consideration when assigning schedules so Old Dominion isn't playing UTEP twice in a season. Maybe they shouldn't play at all unless they are two top teams where there's a reason to play. The same should be true in a lot of sports. Do Penn State and Nebraska really need to play each other in men's basketball? Of course in the Big 12 West Virginia has to play somebody:)

The B12 will add UCF and Temple to improve social distancing.

The old incentive for Sun Belt schools to leave and join CUSA was their hefty tv contract which has since withered away. Now there's virtually nothing that CUSA offers that would entice Sun Belt schools to leave their current set up. SBC schools are very happy with our relatively tight footprint and splitting CFP revenue only 10 ways instead of 14 ways like CUSA.

I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

(04-05-2020 08:21 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 02:15 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/colle...story.html

One of the key items in the ODU study was this:

“Conference membership decisions need to be made” to reduce travel expenses and missed class time while generating more fan interest in the form of ticket sales.

Ah, yes, conference realignment as the solution to all problems. "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

Changing conferences is not going to solve ODU's money shortfall. If just moving to the Sun Belt makes them happy -- they can apply any time they want to -- then great, it's their decision to make. But... Travel savings are over-exaggerated. It's just a fantasy that 26 schools are going to happily agree on how to be shuffled amongst themselves while also agreeing to let everyone move without the non-movers getting to collect those hefty exit fees.

ODU's biggest challenge is going to be raising money from donors hurt by this year's very bad economy, to compensate for the athletic department being hurt by the same very bad economy, while (if possible) maintaining that article's stated ambition to spend enough money to be as good in basketball as San Diego State was this past season and (presumably) to be one of the best G5 programs in football as well. That fundraising effort is a hard job that they will have to tackle, and IMO the idea of a 26-school conference shuffle is just a distraction from that necessary task.

ODU is not looking for a new conference to solve ALL its problems but it would be nice to be in a conference with some regional players and not have a conference financially drain the hell out of you with terrible leadership. When we joined the teams were much different than the teams that are currently in C-USA, most noticeably was ECU leaving. That really hurt but don't blame them.

ODU actually does a pretty damn good job of raising funds and will likely take a hit but I think it bounces back if ODU make a good conference move. If we go through this and ODU is still in C-USA I think it really hurts interest. Everyone hates being in C-USA so the quicker we get out the better off we will be.

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  The old incentive for Sun Belt schools to leave and join CUSA was their hefty tv contract which has since withered away. Now there's virtually nothing that CUSA offers that would entice Sun Belt schools to leave their current set up. SBC schools are very happy with our relatively tight footprint and splitting CFP revenue only 10 ways instead of 14 ways like CUSA.

I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

Select teams in the Sunbelt combine with select teams in C-USA would create a very nice conference. One that on paper far better than the MAC and could rival MW for #2 G5. That conference would be something like:

Old Dominion
WKU
Marshall
App State
Liberty
Charlotte
JMU
UAB
MTSU
Ga Southern
Ga State
Coastal Carolina

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

This might work, eh?

Sun Belt to C-USA

Arkansas State
Louisiana - Monroe
Louisiana - Lafayette
Texas State

C-USA to Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Western Kentucky
ODU
UAB

That would leave two 12-team football conferences:

C-USA

Arkansas State
Texas State
UNT
Rice
UTEP
UTSA
UL-Monroe
UL-Lafayette
LA-Tech
FAU
FIU
Southern Miss

Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky
ODU
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
USA
UAB
Troy

(04-06-2020 10:03 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

This might work, eh?

Sun Belt to C-USA

Arkansas State
Louisiana - Monroe
Louisiana - Lafayette
Texas State

C-USA to Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Western Kentucky
ODU
UAB

That would leave two 12-team football conferences:

C-USA

Arkansas State
Texas State
UNT
Rice
UTEP
UTSA
UL-Monroe
UL-Lafayette
LA-Tech
FAU
FIU
Southern Miss

Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky
ODU
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
USA
UAB
Troy

Id take that

(04-06-2020 10:03 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

This might work, eh?

Sun Belt to C-USA

Arkansas State
Louisiana - Monroe
Louisiana - Lafayette
Texas State

C-USA to Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Western Kentucky
ODU
UAB

That would leave two 12-team football conferences:

C-USA

Arkansas State
Texas State
UNT
Rice
UTEP
UTSA
UL-Monroe
UL-Lafayette
LA-Tech
FAU
FIU
Southern Miss

Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky
ODU
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
USA
UAB
Troy

I'd take this over calling up JMU or bringing in Liberty. The Sun Belt and CUSA have 26 mouths to feed when combined. That's more than enough already. Don't bring in two additional teams just to make them feel better and fit them into the footprint.

(04-06-2020 10:15 AM)cmett003 Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 10:03 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

This might work, eh?

Sun Belt to C-USA

Arkansas State
Louisiana - Monroe
Louisiana - Lafayette
Texas State

C-USA to Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Western Kentucky
ODU
UAB

That would leave two 12-team football conferences:

C-USA

Arkansas State
Texas State
UNT
Rice
UTEP
UTSA
UL-Monroe
UL-Lafayette
LA-Tech
FAU
FIU
Southern Miss

Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky
ODU
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
USA
UAB
Troy

Id take that

Same here.

(04-06-2020 06:40 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 10:34 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 08:21 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 02:15 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/colle...story.html

One of the key items in the ODU study was this:

“Conference membership decisions need to be made” to reduce travel expenses and missed class time while generating more fan interest in the form of ticket sales.

Ah, yes, conference realignment as the solution to all problems. "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

Changing conferences is not going to solve ODU's money shortfall. If just moving to the Sun Belt makes them happy -- they can apply any time they want to -- then great, it's their decision to make. But... Travel savings are over-exaggerated. It's just a fantasy that 26 schools are going to happily agree on how to be shuffled amongst themselves while also agreeing to let everyone move without the non-movers getting to collect those hefty exit fees.

ODU's biggest challenge is going to be raising money from donors hurt by this year's very bad economy, to compensate for the athletic department being hurt by the same very bad economy, while (if possible) maintaining that article's stated ambition to spend enough money to be as good in basketball as San Diego State was this past season and (presumably) to be one of the best G5 programs in football as well. That fundraising effort is a hard job that they will have to tackle, and IMO the idea of a 26-school conference shuffle is just a distraction from that necessary task.

Similar thoughts here.

The other key bullet item was how C-USA was materially hurt by the defections of Memphis, SMU, Houston, UCF, Tulane and ECU. That makes it sound to me like going to the American is what they have in mind, and not some restructured C-USA. That list kind of makes a lie of geographically close thing, except they don't like going to UTEP.

Are they talking to the AAC about being the 12th, replacing UConn? That is what it sounds like to me. The AAC may have to add somebody in two years when the waiver runs out.

If Old Dominion thinks the AAC is going to be better travel wise than C-USA, Temple says hi. The advantage of course is their media deals will likely give them more money than C-USA. Of course is Old Dominion the #1 choice for the AAC of anyone out there? Highly doubtful.

Of all the G5 conferences the one that would give them the least travel miles would probably be the MAC (nothing further west than Chicago but nothing closer than Huntington, WV) but the MAC probably would have no interest on ODU. The AAC, Sun Belt, and C-USA all have Texas teams. C-USA has four Texas teams including UTEP which is the worst for a Virginia team. The AAC has two Texas teams and Tulsa. The Sun Belt has 2 Texas teams. C-USA has Marshall and Charlotte in neighboring states. The AAC has East Carolina. The Sun Belt has Appalachian State. I doubt the AAC's interested in ODU. I think the Sun Belt probably saves them a little bit. In football, all of the conferences do divisions to keep travel down. They probably should do divisions or take geography into consideration when assigning schedules so Old Dominion isn't playing UTEP twice in a season. Maybe they shouldn't play at all unless they are two top teams where there's a reason to play. The same should be true in a lot of sports. Do Penn State and Nebraska really need to play each other in men's basketball? Of course in the Big 12 West Virginia has to play somebody:)

ODU thinks being in the AAC would be about $15m or so better in revenue. TV maybe $7m more, donations and fans in the stands to see the likes of Memphis, Houston, ECU, Navy, Cincy and UCF probably about as much better as well.

Being from SJSU, I can tell you the only thing you can count on is the TV money. But that alone is worth keeping the travel schedule.

(04-05-2020 10:34 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 08:21 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 02:15 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/colle...story.html

One of the key items in the ODU study was this:

“Conference membership decisions need to be made” to reduce travel expenses and missed class time while generating more fan interest in the form of ticket sales.

Ah, yes, conference realignment as the solution to all problems. "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

Changing conferences is not going to solve ODU's money shortfall. If just moving to the Sun Belt makes them happy -- they can apply any time they want to -- then great, it's their decision to make. But... Travel savings are over-exaggerated. It's just a fantasy that 26 schools are going to happily agree on how to be shuffled amongst themselves while also agreeing to let everyone move without the non-movers getting to collect those hefty exit fees.

ODU's biggest challenge is going to be raising money from donors hurt by this year's very bad economy, to compensate for the athletic department being hurt by the same very bad economy, while (if possible) maintaining that article's stated ambition to spend enough money to be as good in basketball as San Diego State was this past season and (presumably) to be one of the best G5 programs in football as well. That fundraising effort is a hard job that they will have to tackle, and IMO the idea of a 26-school conference shuffle is just a distraction from that necessary task.

Similar thoughts here.

The other key bullet item was how C-USA was materially hurt by the defections of Memphis, SMU, Houston, UCF, Tulane and ECU. That makes it sound to me like going to the American is what they have in mind, and not some restructured C-USA. That list kind of makes a lie of geographically close thing, except they don't like going to UTEP.

Are they talking to the AAC about being the 12th, replacing UConn? That is what it sounds like to me. The AAC may have to add somebody in two years when the waiver runs out.

It does, but on the other hand, the fact that CUSA costs them 4 million a year is an entirely separate matter. My guess is, going to the AAC is the preferred option.
The AAC is still spread out, but the AAC revenue more than makes up for the high CUSA level travel costs. However, if thats not possible, then a more geographically reasonable conference is the preferred ODU backup. ODU has more control over making something like that backup option actually happen than they do their preferred option.

(04-06-2020 10:19 AM)rknj8993 Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 10:03 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

This might work, eh?

Sun Belt to C-USA

Arkansas State
Louisiana - Monroe
Louisiana - Lafayette
Texas State

C-USA to Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Western Kentucky
ODU
UAB

That would leave two 12-team football conferences:

C-USA

Arkansas State
Texas State
UNT
Rice
UTEP
UTSA
UL-Monroe
UL-Lafayette
LA-Tech
FAU
FIU
Southern Miss

Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky
ODU
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
USA
UAB
Troy

I'd take this over calling up JMU or bringing in Liberty. The Sun Belt and CUSA have 26 mouths to feed when combined. That's more than enough already. Don't bring in two additional teams just to make them feel better and fit them into the footprint.

If it were up to me, I would drop the three Alabama schools and just go with nine members, for a balanced 4 home / 4 away schedule and fewer slices to the pie to share.

If we are assuming Coronavirus is the catalyst for realignment, then we more likely won't see realignment based on geography but based on who's left. If sports really are cancelled for the rest of the year or longer, entire athletic departments may be forced to shutter or at least go on hiatus until things get better. I think several G5 schools are going to get big spoonfuls of reality soon.

(04-06-2020 10:03 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

This might work, eh?

Sun Belt to C-USA

Arkansas State
Louisiana - Monroe
Louisiana - Lafayette
Texas State

C-USA to Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Charlotte
Western Kentucky
ODU
UAB

That would leave two 12-team football conferences:

C-USA

Arkansas State
Texas State
UNT
Rice
UTEP
UTSA
UL-Monroe
UL-Lafayette
LA-Tech
FAU
FIU
Southern Miss

Sun Belt

Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky
ODU
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
USA
UAB
Troy

A few things about this 1 the sunbelt is happy with our conference, of the two conferences the only schools not happy are C-USA East teams and mostly ODU does the most complaining. 2 why would the Alabama teams be in the sunbelt and Florida school be in C-USA that doesn’t makes sense. Also I know for a fact some of the Sunbelt West teams will not be in the same conference as C-USA West teams and will go independent and or form a 3rd conference. 4 how do we know a more central conference wouldn’t form with something like and leave the schools in the east and the west on an island.

South
Louisiana
Rice
Southern Miss.
South Alabama
Troy

North
Louisiana Tech
Arkansas State
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky
Missouri State or UAB

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  The old incentive for Sun Belt schools to leave and join CUSA was their hefty tv contract which has since withered away. Now there's virtually nothing that CUSA offers that would entice Sun Belt schools to leave their current set up. SBC schools are very happy with our relatively tight footprint and splitting CFP revenue only 10 ways instead of 14 ways like CUSA.

I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

ArkStFan can confirm this, but I believe the SBC splits football revenue 12 ways, with UALR and UTA receiving full shares for some reason.

(04-06-2020 10:01 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  The old incentive for Sun Belt schools to leave and join CUSA was their hefty tv contract which has since withered away. Now there's virtually nothing that CUSA offers that would entice Sun Belt schools to leave their current set up. SBC schools are very happy with our relatively tight footprint and splitting CFP revenue only 10 ways instead of 14 ways like CUSA.

I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

ArkStFan can confirm this, but I believe the SBC splits football revenue 12 ways, with UALR and UTA receiving full shares for some reason.

I’m 99% sure they do not split football money but they do split money for everything else.

(04-06-2020 10:47 PM)Cajuns1252 Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 10:01 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(04-06-2020 09:08 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  The old incentive for Sun Belt schools to leave and join CUSA was their hefty tv contract which has since withered away. Now there's virtually nothing that CUSA offers that would entice Sun Belt schools to leave their current set up. SBC schools are very happy with our relatively tight footprint and splitting CFP revenue only 10 ways instead of 14 ways like CUSA.

I could see a scenario where conferences dissolve and 12 team conferences of SBC east+CUSA east and SBC west+CUSA west form. A lot needs to happen before that though.

ArkStFan can confirm this, but I believe the SBC splits football revenue 12 ways, with UALR and UTA receiving full shares for some reason.

I’m 99% sure they do not split football money but they do split money for everything else.

Correct. Little Rock and UTA do not field football teams and therefore do not receive CFP money or bowl payouts.

(04-05-2020 10:34 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 08:21 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-05-2020 02:15 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/colle...story.html

One of the key items in the ODU study was this:

“Conference membership decisions need to be made” to reduce travel expenses and missed class time while generating more fan interest in the form of ticket sales.

Ah, yes, conference realignment as the solution to all problems. "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

Changing conferences is not going to solve ODU's money shortfall. If just moving to the Sun Belt makes them happy -- they can apply any time they want to -- then great, it's their decision to make. But... Travel savings are over-exaggerated. It's just a fantasy that 26 schools are going to happily agree on how to be shuffled amongst themselves while also agreeing to let everyone move without the non-movers getting to collect those hefty exit fees.

ODU's biggest challenge is going to be raising money from donors hurt by this year's very bad economy, to compensate for the athletic department being hurt by the same very bad economy, while (if possible) maintaining that article's stated ambition to spend enough money to be as good in basketball as San Diego State was this past season and (presumably) to be one of the best G5 programs in football as well. That fundraising effort is a hard job that they will have to tackle, and IMO the idea of a 26-school conference shuffle is just a distraction from that necessary task.

Similar thoughts here.

The other key bullet item was how C-USA was materially hurt by the defections of Memphis, SMU, Houston, UCF, Tulane and ECU. That makes it sound to me like going to the American is what they have in mind, and not some restructured C-USA. That list kind of makes a lie of geographically close thing, except they don't like going to UTEP.

Are they talking to the AAC about being the 12th, replacing UConn? That is what it sounds like to me. The AAC may have to add somebody in two years when the waiver runs out.

We'd probably be OK with CUSA financially if we were still making what we made when we joined. Though fan interest is still tepid. We'd definitely be OK with the travel in the AAC with the money provided there. If we're not getting media dollars then tell me what the point of travelling to Texas is.

I thought the Sunbelt was happy was ok with their membership, the CUSA teams that didn't move up to AAC are not. The Sunbelt didn't have exit fees till a number of years ago.
I didn't think the travel was bad in the Sunbelt since FAU and FIU left. Sunbelt is trending up in football. Basketball was doing pretty well this year till things got shutdown. Texas State and South were hot going into the conference tournament and weren't even the top team.