Fair enough...I agree, invest or kill it..No middle ground.
But...
Keep the Silver Bowl...You mean the single biggest reason besides losing that nobody attends games? Now you keep same operating costs and have lower attendance numbers..
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Fair enough...I agree, invest or kill it..No middle ground.
But...
Keep the Silver Bowl...You mean the single biggest reason besides losing that nobody attends games? Now you keep same operating costs and have lower attendance numbers..
Being in Sin City makes football parents not want their kids to come here. Stigma.
But basketball parents, they look the other way somehow.
Renaming the uni? Come on.
It’s just more excuses. Stigma now.
Why doesn’t that apply to basketball players? We’ve had many drafted/play in the league. How come the stigma that you speak of doesn’t matter to basketball?
It’s an excuse.
It is simple. If they decide not to stay FBS then you can dump football and get rid of most of the athletic department which include 2/3 rds of the women's programs which are tied to the number of athletes on the football team. UNLV has the money to hire a first rate coach (should be at or near the top of the MWC at a minimum) just based off the 10 year payout they will get for the events leaving Sam Boyd. If the AD and UNLV are unwilling to pony up for the money to hire a first rate coach, then they should consider a drastic cutback on the entire athletic department budget (which is one of the highest in the MWC) and put the blame where it should fall, which in this case would be the AD.
Why wouldn't he be. He's starting and playing for the guy who originally recruited him..
The guy who recruited him recognized his talent, which would have been lost, I think, under Sanchez, not that Sanchez is a bad coach.
Not only is he starting, but he's leading the MT Grizzlies to blowouts of other FCS teams. I'm sure he's on NFL scouts' radar. It would not be the case at UNLV.
All I"m suggesting here is UNLV going to FCS would not be the end of the world nor the end of UNLV's athletic programs. I already cited Villanova, which has won some NCAA national basketball championships, while also winning an FCS football championship. BTW, Villanova is in the top 10 of FCS football right now.
I'm only offering a compromise between spending more on UNLV football and dropping the program. I still don't see how UNLV's athletic programs are going to suffer if UNLV changes to FCS football, any more than Villanova has suffered.
Football has the P5. Basketball has the defacto P6 with the Big East. Villanova is an older university with a lot of alumni and money.
Compare apples to apples not apples to oranges.
As for Sneed being on NFL radars..
He completed 44% percent of his passes while at UNLV. In the toughest matchup he faced against SDSU he struggled a ton. Obviously guys can improve. But he's just over 6' 200lbs. We are seeing some guys that size get looks in the NFL but pump the breaks a bit. There were some question marks about Kyler Murray and his size and Sneed is nowhere near the athlete Murray is, he isn't facing the same level of competition, he doesn't have his arm strength etc.
If UNLV dropped down to FCS it would kill the program. The general feeling about the program is apathetic as it is now.
Playing an FCS schedule would only further that. It would drop the interest in football even more.
Vegas has a taste of professional sports now. The Golden Knights have completely changed the landscape. The Raiders are here next year. There are growing rumors of MLB possibly coming.
Back when UNLV was the only show in town maybe it makes sense. Now, no.
You either go all in. Or you drop the program.
They got 24k for a game against Boise the #16 team in the nation. Almost half of that might have been Boise fans.
How many people do you think would go to watch UNLV play Sacramento State?
A drop to the FCS would be like waving a white flag. It would likely alienate a lot of long time supporters.
I have not missed a game in 20 years. I have purchased an extra season ticket or two every year. I give those away to get new people out to games. If UNLV dropped to FCS I would be out. I can't speak for other fans but I'm pretty sure many would feel similarly.
This isn't a knock on the FCS. There are a lot of solid teams and players that come out of FCS schools. Just doesn't interest me. I would look for other things to spend my entertainment dollars on.
If UNLV dropped to the FCS it wouldn't suddenly increase any desire in the university/administration to improve the program. If they aren't going to attempt what it takes to get it right at the FBS level why would they be any more motivated to be competitive at the FCS level.
It would be more of the same. Which has basically been just get by...
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You can't go back. It would, indeed, by waving a white flag.
Funny, though, the only glory days of UNLV football were the days when we were Division II, or FCS today.
The Rebels won. They even pushed out Tony Knap for going 6-6.
They were in the playoffs. They were ranked nationally in those polls.
The games were fun, exciting. The in-house crowds were better than today's.
When Las Vegas had 1/4 the population. And the budget worked.
And, basketball thrived.
I would go back to that any time.
But, few others would. Better to get beat up by Wyoming and Arkansas State.
35 years of mediocrity makes me doubt we will see a turnaround.
Maybe one day we will get to go to the Peanut Butter Bowl or something.
But, just as my mirror says, you can't go back again.
Funny, though, the only glory days of UNLV football were the days when we were Division II, or FCS today.
The Rebels won. They even pushed out Tony Knap for going 6-6.
They were in the playoffs. They were ranked nationally in those polls.
The games were fun, exciting. The in-house crowds were better than today's.
When Las Vegas had 1/4 the population. And the budget worked.
And, basketball thrived.
I would go back to that any time.
But, few others would. Better to get beat up by Wyoming and Arkansas State.
35 years of mediocrity makes me doubt we will see a turnaround.
Maybe one day we will get to go to the Peanut Butter Bowl or something.
But, just as my mirror says, you can't go back again.
Yep...
There are a lot of real diehard UNLV football fans. You have to be, to have watched and supported a subpar product all these years.
That or a sadist. Or is it masochist?
I think a move back to the FCS would run a fair amount of them off..
Points well taken. You know more of how the fan base feels than I do. Thanks.
There was a time when I would have begrudgingly said you might be right.
Now...I just don't think it would be the way to go.
Nobody really knows how the landscape in college athletics is going to change or look in the next few years. The way things are trending the gap in the haves and have nots is probay only going to widen.
But schools like UNLV have to shoot their shot now, because there may not be another chance for a long while..They have to try and position themselves for a P5 invite.
Whether they get one is a whole different story.
Medical school, large TV market and new stadium make UNLV a more attractive addition vs years past but who knows if it will be enough.
Don't forget about the regional footprint.
Sure there are some schools with different conference affiliations in other parts of the country. Not in the southwest. MWC has been bullish in the past that it's all or none. I don't think they would allow us to stay in if we dropped to FCS.
Again why drop, and lose money, just because we suck?
I get the frustration with the results I really do. I get the competitive angle to, where we "fit".
But costs will be the same. A program still has the same athletes, same game day costs. You still have to recruit. Etc. Sure you may be able to spend less because you do have to try to keep up with the Jones's but still.
You could drop the whole thing since Football has been a financial drain, but it still brings up the whole point of hurting the other programs. Again no MWC.
Also this should all be moot. The Fertitta complex just opened. A decision has already been made. You don't drop 20+ million of your own money and give up the next year.
Sure there are some schools with different conference affiliations in other parts of the country. Not in the southwest. MWC has been bullish in the past that it's all or none. I don't think they would allow us to stay in if we dropped to FCS.
Again why drop, and lose money, just because we suck?
I get the frustration with the results I really do. I get the competitive angle to, where we "fit".
But costs will be the same. A program still has the same athletes, same game day costs. You still have to recruit. Etc. Sure you may be able to spend less because you do have to try to keep up with the Jones's but still.
You could drop the whole thing since Football has been a financial drain, but it still brings up the whole point of hurting the other programs. Again no MWC.
Also this should all be moot. The Fertitta complex just opened. A decision has already been made. You don't drop 20+ million of your own money and give up the next year.
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