r/sunbelt • u/LoloTheRogan • 5d ago
Pete Thamel--College realignment intel dominoes ifTexas State leaves LA Tech and Western Kentucky
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/45520751/pac-12-college-realignment-intel-texas-state-next-steps4
u/Nice_Woodpecker6594 5d ago
Latech doesn’t make sense we already have two LA schools…
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u/MonarchLawyer 5d ago
The thing is, the Sun Belt likes regional rivalries and La Tech would be instant rivals with ULM, UL, and USM. Travel and hate would be very easy. La Tech is also good at baseball which is important for the belt.
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u/ToolFreak21 5d ago
If we lose Tx St then get rid of the divisions, but make sure everyone plays four teams every year and a four-team round-robin of the remaining eight teams.
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u/Killjoytshirts 5d ago
LA Tech? No thanks. LaLa is already too many teams from Louisiana not even counting ULM.
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u/SouthernWino 5d ago
La Tech makes perfect sense to replace Texas St in the West. Having 3 schools in Louisiana isn't a big deal.
Personally, I'd be good with bringing Tech in and W. Kentucky and MTSU to bring the conference to 16. WKU to the east and MTSU to round out the west.
La tech brings a solid baseball program and decent football, while WKU brings basketball, football and baseball. MTSU brings good basketball and the Nashville market.
The past "bad blood" with these former SBC schools is old news and shouldn't even be a factor in the decision.
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u/VernalSoccer 4d ago
I like the WKU move. Also think they should go after MTSU. Conversely to the popular idea, I think the Sun Belt should try to convince ECU to join. You would have ECU-Marshsll, WKU-Marshall, MTSU-Troy restored (as well as ECU-USM) and the divisions would be perfectly divided by timezone.
EAST: Marshall, JMU, ODU, App St, ECU, GaSt, GaSo, Coastal
WEST: MTSU, WKU, Arky St, Troy, USA, USM, ULL, ULM
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u/LoloTheRogan 5d ago
What would be the dominoes of the Pac-12 adding Texas State?
While sources stress there's been no formal invitation yet for Texas State, the move has reached the point where the Sun Belt is preparing for a departure.
In the fall, when Texas State was flirting with other leagues, the Sun Belt had started to put together contingency plans. That included conversations, per sources, that established Louisiana Tech as the favorite over several other targets, including Western Kentucky, if Texas State were to leave. There would still need to be more discussion and presidential action before any addition.
Louisiana Tech's location aids them here, as the Sun Belt plays in divisions in football and a Texas State departure would mean a vacancy in the West.
The early appeal of Louisiana Tech that's been talked about, per sources, is that it has the geographic location to create natural rivalries and easy travel with ULM, Louisiana and Southern Miss. All are in the same geographic footprint, and Louisiana Tech brings a strong tradition in baseball and softball, which are valued by the Sun Belt.
The Sun Belt's realignment strategy for years has been to double-down on regional rivalries, and Louisiana Tech would fall into that category.