Ragin Cajun Athletics: No. 2 in State of Louisiana according to...

[cajunfanatico]

......CBS Sports

The National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has been ranking athletic programs for years but weighs every sport equally, meaning a football national title is worth the same number of points (100) as a women's water polo title. The CBS Sports Best in College Sports award is weighed more heavily toward sports that generate the broadest base of fan and media interest. We rated five sports -- football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and a "wild card" sport.

The wild-card spot went to the most successful among the school's following spectator sports: softball, men's lacrosse, men's ice hockey, men's soccer, wrestling, volleyball, women's soccer or women's gymnastics.

For our formula (which takes into account only schools that field FBS football programs): we weighed football with a triple value, while men's basketball is worth twice as many points as the other sports that are part of the formula.

OSU received 300 points for winning the football national title (100 points times three). Oregon finished second in the AP Top 25 for football and was awarded 270 points. Football teams that finished with a winning record or went to a bowl game, but didn't rank in the final AP poll, received 75 points (25 points times three). Teams that were bowl-eligible, but didn't play in the postseason were awarded 30 points.

For all titles that were settled via a bracket, point totals were based on via how many teams filled out the bracket. Duke's national title in men's basketball was worth 200 points. Teams that made the NIT, CBI or CIT were given 20 points (10 points times two).

http://mweb.cbssports.com/ncaaf/eye-on- ... m-rankings

Here's the rankings for all FBS programs in the State of Louisiana:

23) LSU
44) Cajuns
83) LaTech
105) Tulane
119) UL Monroe

Que 755 with his Forbes quotes..............3, 2, 1

[sader24]

Seems accurate. Problem of course is ULL has hit their ceiling with nowhere to go.

[jonathanjoseph]

Anyone and everyone should have seen this coming from a mile away. As ULL ups its facilities the gap will become more acute.

[Eaglewave]

Seems accurate. Problem of course is ULL has hit their ceiling with nowhere to go.

I'll take that over what I am seeing from our end. Besides women's basketball, we don't have a major sport that I would be extremely confident in beating them in.

[winwave]

Great job RD. Give the man a raise and extension. Oops doesn't need the extension as he has a lifetime guarantee.

[DrBox]

Congrats. ULL does a nice job with its resources. But the only relevance to Tulane is just as an illustration of how much better you can be when you are willing to use the resources at your disposal.
I will say that the only major sport where we wouldn't be basically be 50/50 at worst to beat them is softball and that's because we don't play softball. Their football team, while well coached, is a result of a schedule like ours was the last year in C-USA and gets killed when they face a good team OOC. But it's a solid sunbelt football team.

ULL, good or bad, doesn't affect us. ULL fans have held this long fascination with Tulane, including, for years, blaming us and using us as a strawman for their woes. But we're on two different completely different planes.

[cajunfanatico]

Seems accurate. Problem of course is ULL has hit their ceiling with nowhere to go.

I don't buy that and fortunately those in charge of our athletics don't either.

Our football team has never been ranked, never beaten an SEC team, and has not been invited to an Access Bowl. Those are all attainable goals I'd like to see us shooting for in the nearterm.

Our men's basketball team over the decades has done some extraordinary things but of late has sucked. We can do better, much better, and I predict that this coming year will be a good one for the team. Women's basketball is just now starting to make some noise and seeing some progress from one year to the next.

Our baseball team has made the CWS but not won it all. We entered this past season in rebuilding mode but still managed to come within two games of another CWS appearance. With our starting pitching rotation all being freshman and some solid newcomers signed up, I'm confident Coach Robe will work his magic again. And the same for softball, multiple WCWS appearances but no title. I believe it's only a matter of time as our softball program seems to compete at the highest levels most years.

I believe football is going to be key to our success. As the saying goes, it drives the bus. And while I don't know what the future holds, I believe there will continue to be changes in the playoff structure and perhaps more conference realignment as well. All we can do is what we're doing now..........winning with the competition and schedules we've got, doing our best to rep well in bowl games and on national TV, and improving facilties and brand name so we'll be ready when some now unforeseen opportunity presents itself.

If all that represents our ceiling, then I'm okay with where we are and what we're doing. I'd suggest that until Tulane receives its Big12 invite, that you're in pretty much the same shape as well.

[cajunfanatico]

But we're on two different completely different planes.

There you and I find common ground.

[CN Hide & Seek Team]

ULL had to raise tuition and fees 20% year over year, merely a symptom of the cliff approaching from state funding.

[golfnut69]

Name Branding...Is an issue...Louisiana-Lafayette is a tuff sell to larger conferences..that is why you only see "Louisiana" on their jersey's..but the name remains the same...why do you think SW Texas changed their name to Texas State.... So until USL can legally change their name and "The University of Louisiana" will not be it...they will have a branding issue..fyi...South Alabama, sounds just as good as South or North Carolina....one more thing ..since Auburn opened the "TOPS" can of worms, this will be one more hurdle to jump... I understand the the NCAA has or will shortly be getting involved, at least that is what I was told at the golf course....

[cajunfanatico]

Name Branding...Is an issue...Louisiana-Lafayette is a tuff sell to larger conferences..that is why you only see "Louisiana" on their jersey's..but the name remains the same...why do you think SW Texas changed their name to Texas State.... So until USL can legally change their name and "The University of Louisiana" will not be it...they will have a branding issue..fyi...South Alabama, sounds just as good as South or North Carolina....one more thing ..since Auburn opened the "TOPS" can of worms, this will be one more hurdle to jump... I understand the the NCAA has or will shortly be getting involved, at least that is what I was told at the golf course....

Texas-Austin seems to have caught on with the larger conferences.

Seriously, we changed our name legally in 1984 to the University of Louisiana. I think what we're seeing today, Louisiana on our jerseys and UL on our baseball caps is an effort by our administration to force the issue back into the courts. That's the only sense I can make of it and if they are indeed trying to force the issue, it's because they believe they'll see a favorable outcome.

Of course, that's all just my opinion and worth the paper it's written on.

[golfnut69]

Name Branding...Is an issue...Louisiana-Lafayette is a tuff sell to larger conferences..that is why you only see "Louisiana" on their jersey's..but the name remains the same...why do you think SW Texas changed their name to Texas State.... So until USL can legally change their name and "The University of Louisiana" will not be it...they will have a branding issue..fyi...South Alabama, sounds just as good as South or North Carolina....one more thing ..since Auburn opened the "TOPS" can of worms, this will be one more hurdle to jump... I understand the the NCAA has or will shortly be getting involved, at least that is what I was told at the golf course....

Texas-Austin seems to have caught on with the larger conferences.

Seriously, we changed our name legally in 1984 to the University of Louisiana. I think what we're seeing today, Louisiana on our jerseys and UL on our baseball caps is an effort by our administration to force the issue back into the courts. That's the only sense I can make of it and if they are indeed trying to force the issue, it's because they believe they'll see a favorable outcome.

Of course, that's all just my opinion and worth the paper it's written on.

The correct name is The University of Louisiana - Lafayette...NOT "The University of Louisiana" ...and while I agree with your Texas @ Austin post...it is the Flagship University of that particular educational system....Just like Texas A&M is the flagship for it's designated educational system...and while we are on the subject of schools in Texas....UTSA has an overall better economic upside to conferences than ULALAF will ever have

[cajunfanatico]

The correct name is The University of Louisiana - Lafayette...NOT "The University of Louisiana" ...and while I agree with your Texas @ Austin post...it is the Flagship University of that particular educational system....Just like Texas A&M is the flagship for it's designated educational system...and while we are on the subject of schools in Texas....UTSA has an overall better economic upside to conferences than ULALAF will ever have

You're arguing points I didn't try to make. I said we legally changed our name to the University of Louisiana in 1984. What happened in the courts thereafter was LSU using their political influence to undo what we had legally done. Nothing more.

As for UTSA, I wish them luck. I'm sure there are dozens of examples of schools with better overall economic upside to conferences than ours, though again, that's a point I did not try to make.

[sader24]

I don't see where ULL goes from here conference wise. They've pretty much hit a wall from an attendance standpoint. 30k is about it and it fell last year. That might do at a major private school, but not a wannabe public school. TV market is virtually worthless, educationally it's far far behind LSU and behind La. Tech. Also, I think the New Orleans Bowl proved their football program is at best even with us from a talent standpoint. They have done well beating bad teams, but if they were in the AAC this year they would likely be a little worse than us.

[jonathanjoseph]

I don't see where ULL goes from here conference wise. They've pretty much hit a wall from an attendance standpoint. 30k is about it and it fell last year. That might do at a major private school, but not a wannabe public school. TV market is virtually worthless, educationally it's far far behind LSU and behind La. Tech. Also, I think the New Orleans Bowl proved their football program is at best even with us from a talent standpoint. They have done well beating bad teams, but if they were in the AAC this year they would likely be a little worse than us.

Right. but 30K playing a Sun Belt schedule is 45K> playing a P5 schedule.

I think you are correct in terms of the current conference alignment. What people are discounting is what might happen going forward. The existence of conferences has lost much of its purpose and is actually a net negative on almost everyone (excepting the Iowa States, Washington States, type universities who would be dead in the water without being attached to P5 heavyweight conference mates).

If you break it down to supply and demand, there is currently more demand for attractive college football games then there is supply. Create a good product and there will be opportunities to attract an audience in the future. The NFL game streaming via Yahoo is a big big step in this direction and this at a time when more cable sports networks are popping up. The bet ULL is making is the exact same bet Mike Aresco is making on the AAC, so unfortunately we are now tied at the hip to ULL rather than TCU. The difference is that ULL is trying while Dickson is sealing our fate as a laughing stock.

At some point in the near future, ULL as an independent may be able to make more money than Tulane in the AAC. I think there many more dominos to fall yet.

ULL has good, proactive leadership. As they say, you make your own luck. I think ULL ends up a success story via a move that isn't visible yet to the naked eye. I think ULL has about the same chances for athletic success as Tulane University has of avoiding bankruptcy.

[golfnut69]

There is no one in their right or left mind that would go "Independent"...NONE...Members of a Conference either band together and improve the product...or a member or members improve their own product to the point of being attractive to a larger fish in the pond...being an independent is bordering on lunacy and the person making that decision would be an excellent choice as a member of the Board of Directors of the "W" organization

[jonathanjoseph]

There is no one in their right or left mind that would go "Independent"...NONE...Members of a Conference either band together and improve the product...or a member or members improve their own product to the point of being attractive to a larger fish in the pond...being an independent is bordering on lunacy and the person making that decision would be an excellent choice as a member of the Board of Directors of the "W" organization

It's lunacy today. It won't be lunacy at some point sooner rather than later.

[cajunfanatico]

I don't see where ULL goes from here conference wise. They've pretty much hit a wall from an attendance standpoint. 30k is about it and it fell last year. That might do at a major private school, but not a wannabe public school. TV market is virtually worthless, educationally it's far far behind LSU and behind La. Tech. Also, I think the New Orleans Bowl proved their football program is at best even with us from a talent standpoint. They have done well beating bad teams, but if they were in the AAC this year they would likely be a little worse than us.

While I'd certainly like to see the Cajun program competing in a better conference, I honestly don't feel that that's a make-or-break issue for us at this time. One only need look at the changes and improvements in our program over the last 4 years to see that we're making our way forward regardless of our conference office main address.

Now, having said that, I do believe there will come a time soon that conference affiliation could hold us back, especially in football, and that leads into the attendance issue.

In 2011 (Hud's first year) the Cajun program ranked No. 1 in FBS as the most-improved in average attendance. That year we averaged 29,171, up almost 12,000 per game from the previous year. And before anyone here makes the comment about inflated attendance numbers, lemme point out once again that we are one of the few, if not the only, FBS programs that reports tickets scanned at the gate, and not tickets sold.

In 2012 we averaged 22,865, 2013 we averaged, 25,976, and last year, 25,775. Again, while I'd like to see much better attendance averages, considering the quality of home opponents, I can't complain too much as we're still head and shoulders above where we were just a few years ago. And I have to admit that we've dropped the ball too often early in the year by losing high profile games and it's come back to bite us in the ass later attendance-wise. Toss in a weeknight game or two each season, and it really kills attendance averages. Fortunately for this year, the Cajuns have 6 Saturday games scheduled at Cajun Field which should help improve our attendance average considerably, especially if we have a break-out season and start off the season with a few solid wins.

Cajun Field has now been expanded to 36,900 seats which is a reasonable size for where our program is today and where we want to be in the next few years. A new upper deck and press boxes are in the planning stages and if our success on the field continues, we can go to 45,000 seats if needed.

Some here see these numbers and interpret them as ceilings or walls. I see them more as milestones, and as I said previously, we're way ahead of where we were just a few short years ago.

[TXWave88]

Why do I always come to this Tulane forum to read about ULL? I really do not care what ULL did, does or what they call themselves. If you think they live in a fantasy world, look at Tulane. At least the discussion about SC and RD is in the light of improving Tulane. All talk about ULL does nothing except inspire more ULL talk.

[cajunfanatico]

Why do I always come to this Tulane forum to read about ULL? I really do not care what ULL did, does or what they call themselves. If you think they live in a fantasy world, look at Tulane. At least the discussion about SC and RD is in the light of improving Tulane. All talk about ULL does nothing except inspire more ULL talk.

If you're offended by posts about the Cajun program, might I suggest you not open any threads clearly related to the subject? Boom, end of problem. And for the record, excluding this thread, since the 3rd of June I've made only two posts re the Cajun program, both in the appropriate forum so I don't feel I've abused the privilege of posting here or have been overbearing in any way.

And while I understand that you may not care about anything related to our program, personally, I think you should if you're a true fan of Tulane atheltics. I certainly care about what Tulane is doing, and also care what's going on in Ruston. Like it or not, we're all competing today for the same prize.....recognition as the No. 2 program in the State of Louisiana. Most certainly in football, from a recruting standpoint, that's a prize worthy of trying to capture.

[TXWave88]

Why do I always come to this Tulane forum to read about ULL? I really do not care what ULL did, does or what they call themselves. If you think they live in a fantasy world, look at Tulane. At least the discussion about SC and RD is in the light of improving Tulane. All talk about ULL does nothing except inspire more ULL talk.

If you're offended by posts about the Cajun program, might I suggest you not open any threads clearly related to the subject? Boom, end of problem. And for the record, excluding this thread, since the 3rd of June I've made only two posts re the Cajun program, both in the appropriate forum so I don't feel I've abused the privilege of posting here or have been overbearing in any way.

And while I understand that you may not care about anything related to our program, personally, I think you should if you're a true fan of Tulane atheltics. I certainly care about what Tulane is doing, and also care what's going on in Ruston. Like it or not, we're all competing today for the same prize.....recognition as the No. 2 program in the State of Louisiana. Most certainly in football, from a recruting standpoint, that's a prize worthy of trying to capture.

Even with the poor leadership, all Tulane can do is worry about what they do. It does not matter what other schools do. If Tulane takes care of business, it gets to where it wants to be. If Tulane decides to go cheap and not support its athletic department enough to make it a winning program, then it does not matter what other schools do as we are losers no matter what. I personally look at the other schools in Louisiana, but it means nothing to our fate. If Tulane chooses the path that leads to winning or losing, then that is where we stand. If Tulane wins, we are the #2 school in the state, hands down mostly do to the market we are in and the conference we call home. The potential at Tulane is clearly the highest outside of LSU and we have chosen to ignore it. For your sake, i hope ULL sells every game out, wins wins 8 -9 games a year. As long as Tulane wins 8-9 games, Tulane is fine. That is the difference. For other schools to be considered the #2 , they have to win a big mountain to climb while we continue to swim at the bottom of the deep end. That gap is super close right now, but in my opinion, if we started winning tomorrow, the gap is back with Tulane being ahead.

[jonathanjoseph]

Why do I always come to this Tulane forum to read about ULL? I really do not care what ULL did, does or what they call themselves. If you think they live in a fantasy world, look at Tulane. At least the discussion about SC and RD is in the light of improving Tulane. All talk about ULL does nothing except inspire more ULL talk.

If you're offended by posts about the Cajun program, might I suggest you not open any threads clearly related to the subject? Boom, end of problem. And for the record, excluding this thread, since the 3rd of June I've made only two posts re the Cajun program, both in the appropriate forum so I don't feel I've abused the privilege of posting here or have been overbearing in any way.

And while I understand that you may not care about anything related to our program, personally, I think you should if you're a true fan of Tulane atheltics. I certainly care about what Tulane is doing, and also care what's going on in Ruston. Like it or not, we're all competing today for the same prize.....recognition as the No. 2 program in the State of Louisiana. Most certainly in football, from a recruting standpoint, that's a prize worthy of trying to capture.

Even with the poor leadership, all Tulane can do is worry about what they do. It does not matter what other schools do. If Tulane takes care of business, it gets to where it wants to be. If Tulane decides to go cheap and not support its athletic department enough to make it a winning program, then it does not matter what other schools do as we are losers no matter what. I personally look at the other schools in Louisiana, but it means nothing to our fate. If Tulane chooses the path that leads to winning or losing, then that is where we stand. If Tulane wins, we are the #2 school in the state, hands down mostly do to the market we are in and the conference we call home. The potential at Tulane is clearly the highest outside of LSU and we have chosen to ignore it. For your sake, i hope ULL sells every game out, wins wins 8 -9 games a year. As long as Tulane wins 8-9 games, Tulane is fine. That is the difference. For other schools to be considered the #2 , they have to win a big mountain to climb while we continue to swim at the bottom of the deep end. That gap is super close right now, but in my opinion, if we started winning tomorrow, the gap is back with Tulane being ahead.

You are correct on all of the above, but I think it's critical that we see that someone else in the state, with good leadership, sees the vacuum we're creating and is trying to fill it. I think it's quite relevant and quite telling.

Also, that there are not more Tulane posts is a reflection of the pathetic state of the Tulane fan base not contributing, and not a reflection of there being too many ULL posts.

[DrBox]

Name Branding...Is an issue...Louisiana-Lafayette is a tuff sell to larger conferences..that is why you only see "Louisiana" on their jersey's..but the name remains the same...why do you think SW Texas changed their name to Texas State....

ULL's academics and paltry federal research dollars are an impossible sell to major or semi-major conferences. It's not their "Fault" per se, it's just not their mission. Name has nothing to do with it.

And Jonathan, Tulane has put more into facilities in the last 10 years than ULL has.

Meanwhile, love the ULL chest beating on a Tulane board, when one cannot even post on a ULL board.

[cajunfanatico]

Meanwhile, love the ULL chest beating on a Tulane board, when one cannot even post on a ULL board.

You keep repeating that despite the fact that it's clearly false. Only last night I read more than one post by LaTech fans on the Ragin Pagin site. Now, a guy like Jonathan (not JJ) wouldn't be welcomed there, he's hardly welcomed anywhere these days, but those who don't go out of their way to be assholes can probably post there.

[jonathanjoseph]

And Jonathan, Tulane has put more into facilities in the last 10 years than ULL has.

The raw number is not really relevant. Only one of those universities was dumb enough to wasted $80M on something stupid. Then we wasted $10M on a stupid renovation to Fogelman. Of that $90M spent, do we have a football or basketball gameday facility that impresses recruits? Nope. What do we have to brag about? Turchin and the Hertz Center.

Meanwhile, ULL is building an IPF, locker rooms, etc. The kinds of facilities that everyone who knows how it works says makes the difference in recruiting.

The bottom line is that recruits who would choose based on facilities will clearly prefer ULL to Tulane in the very near future.