Oklahoma Football

[OBUGrad]

Re: Oklahoma Football

Filling holes with JC guys is one thing. I was more talking about have 40-50% of the roster JC.

[TigerGuy]

Re: Oklahoma Football

Pre GAC - Were all the Oklahoma schools in the NAIA? Were all the Arkansas schools in the GSC?

All the OK GAC schools besides OKBU and SNU were D2 and in the Lonestar

[UCObluejay]

Re: Oklahoma Football

Here was the situation in 2010 (Non football in parentheses)
DI, OU, OSU, TU (ORU)
D2, LSC: UCO, NSU, ECU, SE, SWOSU (Cameron)
D2/NAIA hybrid: OPSU
NAIA: NWOSU, SNU, Langston, Bacone,
NAIA non fb: (OKCU), (Okla Christian), (RSU), ("OKBU"), (St. Greg), (Okla Wesleyan?), (MACU) (SW Christian) (USAO)

[UCObluejay]

Re: Oklahoma Football

I saw this on Twitter. Pure comedy.

However, I think a reincarnated OIC has potential. The budgets of most of these schools are terrible, and the OIC would eliminate a lot of expenses. For example, no hotel rooms needed, and in some cases saving money on a big pregame meal. Not only that, but I think more fans would come to the games due to bringing back old rivalries. I'm not saying this will happen, but I personally would like it, and I personally think it would be good for the state of Oklahoma.

Do the Okla GAC schools travel any differently when they play in-state opponents? I really don't want an OIC we already kind of have it in the GAC.

HYPOTHETICAL OIC (assuming all non d1 state and gac private schools join, and LU, Bacone, and OPSU go D2) 11 Members Football UCO, SNU, SWOSU, NWOSU, LU, OPSU, NSU, SE, ECU, Bacone, OBU
Non fb? Cameron, Okla Christian?, OKC (from NAIA)

[TigerGuy]

Re: Oklahoma Football

Do the Okla GAC schools travel any differently when they play in-state opponents? I really don't want an OIC we already kind of have it in the GAC.

HYPOTHETICAL OIC (assuming all non d1 state and gac private schools join, and LU, Bacone, and OPSU go D2) 11 Members Football UCO, SNU, SWOSU, NWOSU, LU, OPSU, NSU, SE, ECU, Bacone, OBU
Non fb? Cameron, Okla Christian?, OKC (from NAIA)

[Armo Wood]

Re: Oklahoma Football

The last I heard, the State Regents for High Education commissioned a study to check on the financial feasibility (read: cost savings) for the state of OK of having a D2 OIC. One thing I've learned in all my years...organizations, both public and private, don't hire a consultant to do a study on something unless they are very serious about taking a particular action. Also, I had heard there was also some support starting to build within the state legislature. If all that is true, then I think it really is a matter of time before the OIC happens for three reasons:

1) Support seems to be building for a D2 OIC within OK, particularly with key vested institutions and communities.
2) The GNAC & GLVC as football sponsoring conferences may not be around much longer. If that happens, there will be only 14 or 15 football conferences, i.e., open slot(s) for adding a new football conference.
3) The LSC absorbing the Heartland conference starting in 2019. That means there will be 23 total D2 conferences instead of 24, i.e., a slot open to add another conference overall.

Per my second and third points, any obstacles the NCAA would have posed are pretty much either gone or could be gone soon.

Frankly, from a budgetary/economic standpoint it makes a lot of sense for the OK schools to be in an OIC. Does an OIC make sense from an athletic/competitive standpoint?...I think the short answer is it's a mixed bag.

[OPSUALUM77&81]

Re: Oklahoma Football

Should the OIC be reconstituted with Oklahoma only schools, what happens to the Arkansas schools in the GAC? Unless they can find an acceptable conference they will be thrown to the wind. I don't know how the NCAA operates on these kind of things but I can't imagine they'll let it happen to the Arkansas schools. Those hot-shots in the Oklahoma legislature think they are geniuses but I don't think the NCAA will agree so studies and proposals don't count for much. I am not sure the OIC will happen again, but maybe it should. That would give an Oklahoma school a conference championship. As currently configured, that prospect seems to be pretty slim.

[UCObluejay]

Re: Oklahoma Football

I actually belive you Armo when you say that people are getting serious, But to add to what the OPSU poster said. Our legislature has had months to come to a budget deal, and instead..

[johnintx]

Re: Oklahoma Football

Longtime lurker, rare poster...

First, thank you for the comments above regarding OKBU. Our football program has been successful everywhere but on the field. Enrollment is up, donations are up, and connection with the community is up. On the field, I'm happy that our guys got a couple of wins at the end of the season. Hopefully, we'll eventually turn the corner. There is a new stadium in the planning stages...focus groups and surveys were conducted this summer. When and if it comes off, the new stadium will be a huge boon. I don't expect to have a dominant football program, but there is some potential for success. D-II is a brave new world for us.

Connecting the dots from what I see here and other places, it looks like OIC 2.0 is a matter of when, not if. The public schools in OK are strapped for cash. ECU, SE, SW, and NW would love, love, love this. It looks like NSU would leave the MIAA for the new OIC, as well. SNU and OKBU will also go.

My questions are: 1) Would UCO go to OIC 2.0? Their enrollment and budget are higher than the other public schools. They may want to remain in the MIAA...or, they may want to save money and reunite with the other OK schools. 2) Would this conference accept non-football members? If so, Cameron and Oklahoma Christian (for example) are no-brainers.

[Armo Wood]

Re: Oklahoma Football

Should the OIC be reconstituted with Oklahoma only schools, what happens to the Arkansas schools in the GAC? Unless they can find an acceptable conference they will be thrown to the wind. I don't know how the NCAA operates on these kind of things but I can't imagine they'll let it happen to the Arkansas schools...

I think the NCAA will be more concerned with:
1) How it affects slots available for new conferences (same number of conferences in each region--3 conferences in the 8 regions for all other sports & 4 conferences per region in football)
And
2) Total number of teams within each region

Recent conference changes and some that appear to be on the horizon make the slots available in both all sports and football. The NCAA would just have to rearrange the regions to get the numbers similar...again.

As for the issue of the AR schools hanging in the wind unless they find an acceptable conference to land in, why do they have to find a new conference? The AR schools are already in an existing conference. They could look to do a combo of poaching current D2 schools with football or D2 schools willing to add football (in a very quick time frame) and look to encourage some schools that play football to move to D2 and join them. Not saying it will be easy.

[zimmy21]

Re: Oklahoma Football

I have always wanted this to happen in Minnesota...granted we are already in the same conference but I want us only in a conference with each other.

I would imagine the Arkansas schools would reach out the GSC to be allowed back in.

This should happen and could be great for NCAA football

[Friend of Ole Kim]

Re: Oklahoma Football

Longtime lurker, rare poster...

First, thank you for the comments above regarding OKBU. Our football program has been successful everywhere but on the field. Enrollment is up, donations are up, and connection with the community is up. On the field, I'm happy that our guys got a couple of wins at the end of the season. Hopefully, we'll eventually turn the corner. There is a new stadium in the planning stages...focus groups and surveys were conducted this summer. When and if it comes off, the new stadium will be a huge boon. I don't expect to have a dominant football program, but there is some potential for success. D-II is a brave new world for us.

Connecting the dots from what I see here and other places, it looks like OIC 2.0 is a matter of when, not if. The public schools in OK are strapped for cash. ECU, SE, SW, and NW would love, love, love this. It looks like NSU would leave the MIAA for the new OIC, as well. SNU and OKBU will also go.

My questions are: 1) Would UCO go to OIC 2.0? Their enrollment and budget are higher than the other public schools. They may want to remain in the MIAA...or, they may want to save money and reunite with the other OK schools. 2) Would this conference accept non-football members? If so, Cameron and Oklahoma Christian (for example) are no-brainers.

I've got to think a new OIC is a tricky question for UCO. They are the best-equipped to go it alone; they have a big enough student population to be an FCS school if they wanted to move that way. UCO would be the second-biggest school in the Southland Conference right now. They would be a big fish in a small pond in a new OIC, same as they were back in the old days before they went independent.

I also think Northeastern would leave the MIAA for a new Oklahoma conference. Then again, I think Northeastern might be more open to the GAC at this point than they were when the conference was created.

It would be easiest to take the non-football schools, because it evens out the scheduling and gets everyone under the same umbrella. The problem would be with football scheduling; there aren't enough teams for a viable conference schedule, especially in this era of so many schools only playing conference games. Plus, with the absorption/merger/whatever-it's-being-called that the Lone Star worked out with the Heartland Conference, all of the non-football schools are going to be in that monstrosity. That could be a budget-killer for Cameron, Rogers, and Oklahoma Christian, in which case they need the local option too.

Panhandle State would have made a new OIC an easy thing to make, provided UCO did participate. But the NAIA seems to be working out for the Aggies.

I've got to think there's movement coming in some form, though. Now that Langston is joining the Sooner Athletic Conference, the NAIA schools have finally come under one banner (except for Oklahoma Wesleyan, but they're the outliers in pretty much everything). I can't imagine the discussions about a new OIC haven't continued.

[OBUGrad]

Re: Oklahoma Football

I have always wanted this to happen in Minnesota...granted we are already in the same conference but I want us only in a conference with each other.

I would imagine the Arkansas schools would reach out the GSC to be allowed back in.

This should happen and could be great for NCAA football

Don't want back in the GSC. They treated the AR schools like like crap. Heck, would not even let OBU and HSU play every year even though it's a great rivalry. Also the travel is BRUTAL.

[Racous Ranger]

Re: Oklahoma Football

In all honesty it would probably be the weakest Conference in D2 and in history. What a travesty if it happened and they sent a Conference "champ" to the playoffs. Just another much better team somewhere that would get screwed out of a playoff spot. It would be much better if all Oklahoma schools dropped back to NAIA where they (belong)
can compete better. Lord knows this school is still living in the past in that respect. #getoverititslastcenturysnews

[TigerGuy]

Re: Oklahoma Football

In all honesty it would probably be the weakest Conference in D2 and in history. What a travesty if it happened and they sent a Conference "champ" to the playoffs. Just another much better team somewhere that would get screwed out of a playoff spot. It would be much better if all Oklahoma schools dropped back to NAIA where they (belong)
can compete better. Lord knows this school is still living in the past in that respect. #getoverititslastcenturysnews

I'd be in on this as well! However, there is no way all the D2 OK schools will drop back down to NAIA.