any UCO fans here..

[jimbo slice]

take the daily Oklahoman rag? i initially saw the story behind a pay wall (that i refuse to pay them for) about a possible timeline and UCO going D1. i initially saw it late Sunday night and then saw it again Monday morning. I'd be interested in hearing the cliff notes version of it.

maybe the guys mentioning it here a couple of months ago were on to something. don't know if the Oklahoman has any contacts in Edmond but, there may be some fire with this smoke. surely as bad as that newspaper is, they didn't just dream that up out of the thin blue sky.

[briansperry1998]

I love the idea but would really prefer to have some football success at the D2 level before making the move.

[Predatory Primates]

The last I heard, UCO was underfunded by D2 standards, let alone D1.

I would think it would take an impressive donor drive to make it happen.

[lleachieshusband]

I like it. You guys go D1, we have a really good DC who has worked with your head coach who is needing a good D1 opportunity to move up to after this season. We’ll even throw in our OC as well :-). Oops. Did I say throw in? I meant throw out.

[Try II]

take the daily Oklahoman rag? i initially saw the story behind a pay wall (that i refuse to pay them for) about a possible timeline and UCO going D1. i initially saw it late Sunday night and then saw it again Monday morning. I'd be interested in hearing the cliff notes version of it.

maybe the guys mentioning it here a couple of months ago were on to something. don't know if the Oklahoman has any contacts in Edmond but, there may be some fire with this smoke. surely as bad as that newspaper is, they didn't just dream that up out of the thin blue sky.

Not the whole article but this sure sounds like they are certainly thinking about it


UCO AD Stan Wagnon chats with The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto about the Bronchos’ future and says of a possible jump to DI: “There’s probably a study somewhere on a shelf that we could point back too. We probably need to pull it off the shelf and say, ‘Where are we now?’ […] It’s all up in the air until we get that clarity of what’s gonna happen at the highest level. […] I think you’re going to see us use athletics to better the overall brand and identity of the university. Whether that entails moving to Division-I or not, I don’t think we’ve answered that question … but we’re willing to ask the question and then answer it for ourselves.” On the state of DII: “The Division-II membership now is not what it used to be. Most of the new schools coming into Division-II don’t look like UCO. There’s a lot of them that are private, there’s a lot of them that don’t play football, so I think it’s wise for us to pay attention to the landscape and be ready for the next opportunity that comes our way.” Asked about President Todd Lamb’s aspirations for UCO: “I think he has aspirations for UCO and what it could become. We’re the third-largest university in the state, and I think he wants us to start acting like it.”

[Pure cool]

Is UCO ready to make a Division-I leap? Bronchos thinking big, keeping options open. Interesting. At first, I thought there is no way UCO can compete (fan base following) with Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, but it is possible after last week's game where nearly 10,000 fans showed up. I can only assume UCO would be an FCS school. Tarleton State had 14,000 fans in its home opener and Tarleton is a FBS school. Going to keep an eye on UCO's attendance from here on out. If they only get 2,000 per home game (16 % capacity) then DREAM ON. The BIGGEST thing is: UCO has to learn how to win in D2 first.

[GorillaTeacher]

Is UCO ready to make a Division-I leap? Bronchos thinking big, keeping options open. Interesting. At first, I thought there is no way UCO can compete (fan base following) with Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, but it is possible after last week's game where nearly 10,000 fans showed up. I can only assume UCO would be an FCS school. Tarleton State had 14,000 fans in its home opener and Tarleton is a FBS school. Going to keep an eye on UCO's attendance from here on out. If they only get 2,000 per home game (16 % capacity) then DREAM ON. The BIGGEST thing is: UCO has to learn how to win in D2 first.

Tarleton is FCS. Moving up more than one classification at a time is generally prohibited. So UCO would become an FCS school as well. The only time in recent history a school was allowed to move up more than once class at a time is St. Thomas, who moved from D3 to a non-scholarship FCS conference, so it wasn't much different than before.

[Pure cool]

Tarleton is FCS. Moving up more than one classification at a time is generally prohibited. So UCO would become an FCS school as well. The only time in recent history a school was allowed to move up more than once class at a time is St. Thomas, who moved from D3 to a non-scholarship FCS conference, so it wasn't much different than before.

Thanks for clarifying. Wanted to ask a Pitt Fan: You guys compete every weekend with Kansas and Kansas State and you guys at Pitt do a great job holding your own with a solid fan base every weekend. How do you do it?

[GorillaTeacher]

Thanks for clarifying. Wanted to ask a Pitt Fan: You guys compete every weekend with Kansas and Kansas State and you guys at Pitt do a great job holding your own with a solid fan base every weekend. How do you do it?

Tradition, mainly. Also KU hasn't really been a national power in football, if ever really. K-State has a good tradition, but they also have never won anything more than conference championships. We have the most wins of any football program in Kansas. That helps.

[Predatory Primates]

Thanks for clarifying. Wanted to ask a Pitt Fan: You guys compete every weekend with Kansas and Kansas State and you guys at Pitt do a great job holding your own with a solid fan base every weekend. How do you do it?

Great relationship with the community and alumni bases in KC, Springfield, Tulsa, Bentonville, OKC, and Wichita all within a doable daytrip drive.

[Try II]

Is UCO ready to make a Division-I leap? Bronchos thinking big, keeping options open. Interesting. At first, I thought there is no way UCO can compete (fan base following) with Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, but it is possible after last week's game where nearly 10,000 fans showed up. I can only assume UCO would be an FCS school. Tarleton State had 14,000 fans in its home opener and Tarleton is a FBS school. Going to keep an eye on UCO's attendance from here on out. If they only get 2,000 per home game (16 % capacity) then DREAM ON. The BIGGEST thing is: UCO has to learn how to win in D2 first.

Plenty of schools have moved up w/o having won much i.e. Mercyhurst, Utah Tech, SIU-Edwardsville Just have to want to go, have some money, get an invite. The Southland, WAC and United Athletic Conference would gladly take the Broncos.

[washeduptiger]

Is UCO ready to make a Division-I leap? Bronchos thinking big, keeping options open. Interesting. At first, I thought there is no way UCO can compete (fan base following) with Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, but it is possible after last week's game where nearly 10,000 fans showed up. I can only assume UCO would be an FCS school. Tarleton State had 14,000 fans in its home opener and Tarleton is a FBS school. Going to keep an eye on UCO's attendance from here on out. If they only get 2,000 per home game (16 % capacity) then DREAM ON. The BIGGEST thing is: UCO has to learn how to win in D2 first.

Please see lindenwood on your last sentence.

[northwest missouri state]

I’ve said it a few times - they built d1 facilities. you don’t do that w/o aspirations of jumping. winning has nothing to do with it, as counterintuitive as that is the evidence of others doing it in spite of winning drives the point home.

their funding/budget issues though are a problem relative to that aim obv and gives me pause to it all.

my guess is they sold ad on that vision and the master plan involved him recreating the magic and hoping that would help generate the $.

[briansperry1998]

Do all sports have to move if football makes the jump to D1-AA? I'd love to see wrestling in the Big12.

[GorillaTeacher]

Do all sports have to move if football makes the jump to D1-AA? I'd love to see wrestling in the Big12.

yes