NMSU Prez addresses Conference Realignment

[GiJoeRay]

Tough situation for NMSU to be in. For all those taht are calling for NMSU to drop to FCS, we really dont want that to happen. Especially if/when NMSU gets lucky every few years and knocks us off in football. Losses like that can really hold back a reconstructing program like ours.

http://www.kvia.com/news/30994233/detail.html

[JCB Lobo]

Idaho and NMSU should sue the hell out of the BCS

[Hoser]

If the Sunbelt does not let NMSU in it looks like they SOL. What other viable options do they really have except to drop down a level? This expansion thing has blown up some very good conference alliances. And the irony is that it is amateur institutions doing it all for money, pure and simple.

[SpanaBaller]

If NMSU drops down to FCS.....that means they get a cut in funding. They go down from 85 scholarships to 65 max. I also think that the Legislature won't fund a FCS program as much as they would a FBS program.

UNM could get the difference in additional funding once the shoe drops on NMSU.

Also fans tend to flee in droves from FCS teams. I could see UNM getting a boost from NMSU fans in Albuquerque and filling our stadium since NMSU fans won't have a team to support in Las Cruces anymore. Consolidating power sorta speak.

If you are a Lobo fan.......you want NMSU to fail. It is a pure business decision for us IMHO if we want to get capital outlays for a new stadium

The only side effect of losing NMSU is a loss of a rival. They again quoting Steve Alford it isn't a rivalry anymore when we win 8 straight.

[GiJoeRay]

If NMSU drops down to FCS.....that means they get a cut in funding. They go down from 85 scholarships to 65 max. I also think that the Legislature won't fund a FCS program as much as they would a FBS program.

UNM could get the difference in additional funding once the shoe drops on NMSU.

If you are a Lobo fan.......you want NMSU to fail. It is a pure business decision for us IMHO if we want to get capital outlays for a new stadium

The only side effect of losing NMSU is a loss of a rival. They again quoting Steve Alford it isn't a rivalry anymore when we win 8 straight.

Athletics opperate in the red, NMSU not receiving as much funding doesnt mean that the difference will go to UNM, all it means is that the State will pocket what would have been used and appropriate it elsewhere.

[PreLawLobo]

@Spana

That sounds like alot of wishful thinking.

[JulieG]

It is sad that some of us think doing away with a rival, and yes they definitely are, would benefit the Lobos in some way. Being for the Lobos doesn't mean you have to hate any other team.

[LoboMike]

It's hard to feel sorry for NMSU. They have the worst fan base in college sports hands down. It's a tiny fan base that's mainly made of folks that feel UNM has wronged them since the beginning of time. They've never stepped up to try and improve their own situation.

[LoboDogg]

I hate to say, but I agree with Spanna. I dont see too many negatives for UNM if NMSU drops to FCS. Half their team would transfer and then they drop to 65 schollies. UNM would be WAY out in front, even if "rebuilding".

More State money to UNM equals a big fat W for the Lobos.

[loboray]

There was a time when they had a darn good athletic program. Since the breakup of the Border conference it has been a long steady decline, although they have had their moments in Basketball. Current president and AD seem to have no clues on how to gain community support for the program. Perhaps a shake up is over due. Then again, in this time of money being God, perhaps they are doomed by their relatively small fan base. I wish them well, but the situation doesn't look good right now.

[VenturaLobo]

I'll play the devil's advocate here. I think what is happening to NMSU is bad for UNM. Nothing helps the college game more than intense fan support. Nothing breeds fan support like having a rival to bash. NMSU, being in state and one of the few "road-trip" games that NM residents can make, is our biggest rival. In an ideal world, we'd have 2 more D1 Universities within three or four hours drive of UNM so that every game had 45K screaming fans in attendance instead of having Hawaii fly out from the Islands or Fresno St come in from California. It's the brother-against-brother games that bring out the passion. That passion then spills into the high schools. And it's the passion in the high school game that eventually leads to big-time programs at the state level. Just ask Texas. We don't need NMSU to leave DIV 1, we need the state and the programs fans to rise up and say that they support the football programs.

[Zoukmaster]

All I can say is, Cole Gautsche looks like a frickin' genius for switching schools right before this all went down. Maybe he saw the writing on the wall.

The other thing this should do is give us a cautionary tale. Go out and support your team so you don't get left behind. We need to be getting behind the football team in a big way so we don't follow NMSU in 2-5 years. Go Lobos!

[nauj_lobo]

If NMSU drops down to FCS.....that means they get a cut in funding. They go down from 85 scholarships to 65 max. I also think that the Legislature won't fund a FCS program as much as they would a FBS program.

UNM could get the difference in additional funding once the shoe drops on NMSU.

Also fans tend to flee in droves from FCS teams. I could see UNM getting a boost from NMSU fans in Albuquerque and filling our stadium since NMSU fans won't have a team to support in Las Cruces anymore. Consolidating power sorta speak.

If you are a Lobo fan.......you want NMSU to fail. It is a pure business decision for us IMHO if we want to get capital outlays for a new stadium

I 100% disagree with you Spana! I am a Lobo fan and I absolutely don't want our southern brothers from State to fail. I enjoy the many years of athletic rivalry and we should encourage the Mountain West Conference to invite NMSU. Matches between UNM, NMSU, and UTEP would bring so much money to the programs due to the rivalry.

[GiJoeRay]

The State of New Mexico is growing faster than most every other state in the union, the last thing that any fan of either school should want is to be a one trick pony state. Without NMSU, UNM really has 0 rivals they would play on an annual basis in every sport. THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING! The state government will not just fork over the unused NMSU athletics money to UNM, more than likely the elected officials will put that money in much more worthy coffers. Look back at all of UNM's historic rivalries, all but 1 have moved on to bigger better conferences (CUSA is now debatable), NMSU was the last standing true rival. It will be a sad day in New Mexico sports if they have to drop to FCS.

[kpearce]

Don't be surprised if New Mexico legislators from across the state attempt to put pressure on UNM to go to bat for the Aggies becoming part of the Mountain West Conference. New Mexico legislators won't like the idea of only one FBS team in the state. It is highly unlikely UNM holds the stroke in conference to accomplish this, but I'll bet UNM will be advocating on NMSU's behalf. Just my opinion.

[GiJoeRay]

Don't be surprised if New Mexico legislators from across the state attempt to put pressure on UNM to go to bat for the Aggies becoming part of the Mountain West Conference. New Mexico legislators won't like the idea of only one FBS team in the state. It is highly unlikely UNM holds the stroke in conference to accomplish this, but I'll bet UNM will be advocating on NMSU's behalf. Just my opinion.

UNM has only 1 vote, if Im not mistaken the MWC needs 2:1 from the University Prez's to even offer an extension. With the current layout of the conference, what schools do we see voting FOR NMSU admission?

[COLOLOBO]

Our one vote means very little. We would need to lobby very hard for NMSU and we don't have the creditability to do that. We need to get our football cred up for us to have any pull for anyone.

[Digital Lobo]

All I can say is, Cole Gautsche looks like a frickin' genius for switching schools right before this all went down. Maybe he saw the writing on the wall.
!

Ditto for Jason Lenzmeier. As for NMSUcks, if their own fans barely support them, why should we? They would more than likely just be an anchor on the conference or better yet, a barnacle.

Sent from my iPhone

[TheLoboMan]

Don't be surprised if New Mexico legislators from across the state attempt to put pressure on UNM to go to bat for the Aggies becoming part of the Mountain West Conference. New Mexico legislators won't like the idea of only one FBS team in the state. It is highly unlikely UNM holds the stroke in conference to accomplish this, but I'll bet UNM will be advocating on NMSU's behalf. Just my opinion.

Heck no this shouldn't happen. Not because i'm an Aggie hater. It shouldn't happen cause it may hurt us in any future realignment. We can't be tied with NMSU. Just ask Texas where they are today because they have Texas Tech tied to them. Texas could be in a much better place except they can't get rid of their little brother Tech. They actually would have been in the Big 10. The PAC 12 was trying to get them but they have a "Tech Problem." This Cannot happen to us.

We should be in a BCS conference but we aren't. We cannot blame anyone but ourselves and our fan base. NMSU is in the same boat. They are on the outside looking in and they only have themselves to blame. If they filled the football stadium every week then they would be in a much better position as would UNM.

We have to forget about NMSU cause right now it's everyone for themselves. Can't worry about a school who's fans don't support it. Worry about UNM.

[ThreadKiller]

Like the letter alluded to , media markets will dictate who gets an invite to the MWC as much as anything. Why would we invite NMSU when we could make a play for UTEP? They are a growing media market, have their own bowl game affiliation, and many people in Lost Cruces follow UTEP more closely anyway.
I think the writing is on the wall for NMSU to go to a lower division in football.

[GiJoeRay]

Heck no this shouldn't happen. Not because i'm an Aggie hater. It shouldn't happen cause it may hurt us in any future realignment. We can't be tied with NMSU. Just ask Texas where they are today because they have Texas Tech tied to them. Texas could be in a much better place except they can't get rid of their little brother Tech. They actually would have been in the Big 10. The PAC 12 was trying to get them but they have a "Tech Problem." This Cannot happen to us.

We should be in a BCS conference but we aren't. We cannot blame anyone but ourselves and our fan base. NMSU is in the same boat. They are on the outside looking in and they only have themselves to blame. If they filled the football stadium every week then they would be in a much better position as would UNM.

We have to forget about NMSU cause right now it's everyone for themselves. Can't worry about a school who's fans don't support it. Worry about UNM.

Texas has the #1 money making athletic department in the country. That sure is a terrible spot to be in. Hell they even got their own ESPN channel.

[hefman]

The State of New Mexico is growing faster than most every other state in the union, the last thing that any fan of either school should want is to be a one trick pony state. Without NMSU, UNM really has 0 rivals they would play on an annual basis in every sport. THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING! The state government will not just fork over the unused NMSU athletics money to UNM, more than likely the elected officials will put that money in much more worthy coffers. Look back at all of UNM's historic rivalries, all but 1 have moved on to bigger better conferences (CUSA is now debatable), NMSU was the last standing true rival. It will be a sad day in New Mexico sports if they have to drop to FCS.

Not really true. NM is around the 15th or 16th fastest growing state in the country and we are only slightly above the national average for growth. We are surrounded by the 4 fastest growing states though -- Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Texas are almost always the top 4 growth states in the more recent census figures.

I agree that having NMSU drop down a division would basically be a bad thing for the state and the fans. The detriment to NMSU is obvious, but we would basically lose our one really true rival and we'd lose the excitement of those games every year (although I would assume we would still play them anyway). As much as I dislike NMSU as a rival, I would never wish this scenario on my worst enemy. It absolutely sucks that this conference alignment and program posturing for TV money has pretty much left programs like NMSU in a very bad situation. I've said my peace about the balance of power in college football in many other posts. It's complete and utter BS, and this is just another example.

However, if I look at this from UNM's perspective... In the current climate, the sport is not about regional rivalries. That ship sailed once the NCAA relinquished any power it had to the school presidents and the big TV contracts started dominating the decision-making. Schools like UNM must go into survival mode and circle the wagons or we will end up in the same situation. If this means consolidation of the institutions to focus resources on one school, then I believe that will work in our favor.

So... the selfish side of me pretty much agrees with Spana (I think I just threw up in my mouth... ;) ). I've always thought having two top division schools in this state was too much of a burden financially. Our state is sort of on the cusp of population size for having two major FBS colleges. We are also not one of the richer states. Pretty much all of the states below us in population have only one DI or FBS public university and most of the states above us have more than one (except for Connecticut, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Louisiana). Also, we've talked about the lack of DI talent in this state ad nauseum -- another reason it makes some sense.

There actually is a pretty solid argument that this state should only support one top division school. I don't like saying that, but it's true.

[LoboMike]

I agree that our success is in no way tied to NMSU. NM is a small, poor state and UNM/ABQ is the only market in it viable enough to compete in this day and age of huge TV money and such and even we are struggling with that.

[TheLoboMan]

Texas has the #1 money making athletic department in the country. That sure is a terrible spot to be in. Hell they even got their own ESPN channel.

Yes they do but they don't want to be in the Big 12. They want Big 10 or Pac 12 and they can't unless Tech comes along and those conferences don't want Tech.

[judas_priest]

The State of New Mexico is growing faster than most every other state in the union, the last thing that any fan of either school should want is to be a one trick pony state. Without NMSU, UNM really has 0 rivals they would play on an annual basis in every sport. THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING! The state government will not just fork over the unused NMSU athletics money to UNM, more than likely the elected officials will put that money in much more worthy coffers. Look back at all of UNM's historic rivalries, all but 1 have moved on to bigger better conferences (CUSA is now debatable), NMSU was the last standing true rival. It will be a sad day in New Mexico sports if they have to drop to FCS.

Actually, NM's population is not "growing faster than most every other state in the union." From 2000 to 2010 it grew 13.2%, good for 14th of the 50 - which does not qualify for growing faster than almost every other state. But more importantly, absolute growth is a better indicator of media impact (and ad revenues), and NM is in the bottom half of states by absolute population increase. http://blog.cgpgrey.com/united-state...-2000-to-2010/

And if you scan the results from before then, the same pattern holds. NM is among the faster growing states by percentage growth - 8th fastest from 1950 to 2010, although the most rapid growth rate was in the earlier part of that period, but only middling in terms of absolute growth. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004986.html

[LoboDogg]

Actually, NM's population is not "growing faster than most every other state in the union." From 2000 to 2010 it grew 13.2%, good for 14th of the 50 - which does not qualify for growing faster than almost every other state. But more importantly, absolute growth is a better indicator of media impact (and ad revenues), and NM is in the bottom half of states by absolute population increase. http://blog.cgpgrey.com/united-state...-2000-to-2010/

And if you scan the results from before then, the same pattern holds. NM is among the faster growing states by percentage growth - 8th fastest from 1950 to 2010, although the most rapid growth rate was in the earlier part of that period, but only middling in terms of absolute growth. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004986.html

Ugh, dont ruin GI Joes rhetoric with facts... cmon! Entertainment is better without facts! lol

Thanks JP!

[GiJoeRay]

Ok so were growing faster than 36 of the 50 states. That's not faster than most other how?

[judas_priest]

Ok so were growing faster than 36 of the 50 states. That's not faster than most other how?

The expression "growing faster than most every other" (I did notice your change of wording, which change is really intellectually dishonest) clearly means near the top of the list, which 14th of 50 is not.

[txlobo95]

Heck no this shouldn't happen. Not because i'm an Aggie hater. It shouldn't happen cause it may hurt us in any future realignment. We can't be tied with NMSU. Just ask Texas where they are today because they have Texas Tech tied to them. Texas could be in a much better place except they can't get rid of their little brother Tech. They actually would have been in the Big 10. The PAC 12 was trying to get them but they have a "Tech Problem." This Cannot happen to us.

This is 100% false. Tech is not "tied" to Texas. If anything, Texas A & M and Texas were "tied" together as they co-own a multi-million, possibly even billion+ mineral interest trust and even getting pressure on both sides couldn't keep that together, including Gov Perry on Texas A & M's side. It became clear A & M wanted to blaze their own trail away from Texas.

Sure, Texas "could" have gone to the Big 10 and left Tech behind. However, they would no longer be the big dog of the conf and they were told, same as the PAC 12, they would get one vote and all member schools have equal votes. In other words, Texas would not be the 800lb gorilla. That didn't sit well and why the Big 12 remained in tact. Texas is now the big dog of the conf (TX & OU get a higher % of revenue than other Big 12 schools) and they got the bump in revenue to put it on par with the Big 10, so why make the move? Geographically, it made no sense, nor did it for the Pac 12.

As far as NMSU goes, they have to work on building their fan base. That is what's killing them. You can't generate revenue without a fan base and consequently, it's not attractive to TV if you don't have fans in the stands.

[MichLobo]

http://www.golobos.com/facilities/Un...Stadium09.html

look at out top 10 crowds. if there is no more NMSU then there is no one left on this list that we play on a yearly basis. The rest have all left the conference. With out the nmsu game this year we might have averaged 4,000 fans per game. Spanna cant give you a link or any evidence that we will get more state money if NMSU folds football. My link is proof that New Mexicans like to go to this game. No more NMSU football hurts. Now NMSU needs us way more then we need them. Its by no means critical for us but with so many rivals that Lobo fans used to like to go to now gone I think this is a problem for UNM.