re: Sun Belt & Louisiana Tech Conference Realignment: Why The Bulldogs Could Be Departing CUSA

Louisiana Tech was close to a football only deal with another conference a few months ago - they could find no where to park their other sports.

The no invite from the AAC a few years ago stung Tech hard. That turndown changed everything in Ruston.

I believe more realistic / cooler heads are in place at Ruston and a spot in the SBC would be appreciated.

Beside Tulane and LSU in the SEC, Tech had the best conference deal in Louisiana. They had an amazing run in the old WAC. There was some good football and great basketball played in Ruston. It was a privilege to get invited to go to Ruston to watch Fresno, Boise, Hawaii, Nevada, UTEP, etc…tech fans and boosters got very, very spoiled.

Tech needs to commit and help build that type of experience with the SBC…..and as I alluded earlier, the current administration would be all in with the SBC should that conference ask.

No one can blame Ruston for chasing the old WAC and CUSA - those days are long, long gone though.

My old buddies and contacts in Ruston are long gone - and things have change big time on that campus in the last half decade. The old legacy die hard employees in the athletic department and the key boosters are dead or long gone.

And…let’s be careful - all non SEC / BiG10 programs live in glass houses - be gentle when walking by Ruston’s house - there are some of us that know where the UL-L-M bodies are buried.

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I would think Liberty and WKU are bigger brands right now and more dedicated fan bases. Also Liberty continues to win across the board in a lot of sports. Crazy Liberty and GCU went from more or less fake universities to the size and scope they are now.

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A lot of Belt folks don’t want Liberty because of that “fake university” stigma, but if you’re looking at a program strictly for what it’s athletics can contribute to the conference, then they would seem to be the first call to replace Texas State.

Do you have any other choice if you’re LA Tech? C-USA is a dead conference walking, their boosters/leading should be jumping at the opportunity. Leave the elitist bullshite behind, you’ll be fine in the same conference as Lafayette and Monroe.

Whatever you say lil bro.

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Louisiana Tech was close to a football only deal with another conference a few months ago - they could find no where to park their other sports.

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We're they about to go west again? Because that would be atrocious for them as it was the first time

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I Gaurentee if TECH joins the Sunbelt you'll have to go back to being UL-L

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This is the thing you guys don't realize. It's at the point now where it's not " if ULL did this we'll join". You guys will have to convince the belt leadership that you'll be a good partner.


I guess you could just be in a conference with Tarleton instead but the SBC got it correct in the conference realignment. Tech just fits what they've done in the past. I'm sure they'd find another taker of tech doesn't. There's not that many conferences that will take tech if they don't go to the SBC

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College realignment intel: Texas State, cryptic posts and the Pac-12's next move (on ESPN)

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...What would be the dominoes of the Pac-12 adding Texas State?
While sources stress there has 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 it 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 has been talked about, per sources, is that it has the geographic location to create natural rivalries and easy travel with ULM, ULL 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. ...

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I don't think you turds have suffered enough in CUSA. Let em sit in the compost heap for a few more years before we throw them a pity invite. What could have been. Hey, you never know, those gambling taxes might make you guys a powerhouse again!!

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Yea, ain't hard to know where we put the bodies when we buried y'all in the same place.

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“Y’all” I only have old friends that worked at Louisiana Tech - they are long gone. To think that any school is “buried” is backwards. To know where the secrets remain, that is a different puddle to jump.

What I do know is that your friends in Ruston did not object to the name matter when it involved ULM’s conference future - your friends in Ruston had no problem with other in state programs to contract with the same conference consultant that had worked for Ruston for years - the same presentation layout from a couple of state schools where made to the same conference - they both ended up in the trash.

Even the old power brokers in Ruston wanted ULL in their western conference allignment - it was tech that got ULL into the big west - it was Tech doing everything to get ULL to join the old WAC - it was two different visions - neither was right or wrong - ULL opted to stay regional and build while Tech opted to go westward and ride coattails to build

Th only real hatred is from younger people in the UL system that have no sense of the history.

A couple of house cleaning points to note : 1) the old tech ad that made the SBC comments, he is long gone - that mentality was from the Dooley era in Ruston where Dooley’s strategy was as to avoid SBC / regional deals as much as possible - those wounds closed years ago. 2) Tech and ULL want the same thing - into the AAC - tech pushed for a joint / dual status - other schools in today’s world are more selfish

Tech and ULL should have been working together for the past 25 years - more options would have been open to the east and west had that worked out better.

Tech and ULL need their own system board - the rest of the UL schools are a good ways from those two from and administrative and academic standpoint

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Louisiana Tech doesn’t get a vote. They will accept if offered, but that’s a massive IF. I personally don’t think the invite is coming.

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100% agree

At this point, if I had to gamble, I would bet that Tech ends up somewhere besides SBC - the eastern power brokers of the SBC are not going to allow Tech to join….and I get that. Tech may have to get into a scheduling alliance with some conferences.

Statistically, tech better hope that Tulane and Memphis move - that opens way more possibilities through the G5 arena. I just don’t see the math for the SBC as to the eastern vote.