If Tulane should join the Big 12 do you..............

[tpstulane]

I'm going to stay the same until I see a financial commitment from Tulane first, then I'll double everything.

[RWR]

I'm going to stay the same until I see a financial commitment from Tulane first, then I'll double everything.

+1

[JTLiuzza]

First I would run through the streets (although there would be no nudity involved. I care too much about my fellow man ) Then I would join sader in his four day drinking binge.

But I voted like you. Tulane steps up for once, I'll help. Until then, no dice.

[Ray]

I'm going to stay the same until I see a financial commitment from Tulane first, then I'll double everything.

+1

Same way here. Going to see who the new coach is, what they're willing to pay, expansion of budget for recruiting, facility upgrades, possible new athletic friendly majors, etc. The list is a long one. Just pocketing the $$ from a BCS conference or relying on donors won't work for me. I'm sure The Big 12 or any other conference will have some guidance for Tulane.

[sader24]

I'll double everything off the bat and reevaluate after a few years. I have several friends who would buy season tickets and join the Greenbackers immediately. I can't try to convince anyone with a straight face to do that as we currently stand. I think those of you who claim you would stand pat really have no clue how you would react if the headline of the Times Picayue said "Tulane Accepts Big 12 Invite". We haven't had any legitimate good news in 13 years.

[rollinggreen]

I was a member of the Greenbackers but chose not to go because I have too much respect for them. If I were to go to the meetings or the games with the current state of athletics, I would be afraid of offending these guys! I will say that they are the best club that Tulane has!

[tpstulane]

I was a member of the Greenbackers but chose not to go because I have too much respect for them. If I were to go to the meetings or the games with the current state of athletics, I would be afraid of offending these guys! I will say that they are the best club that Tulane has!

We vent behind the scenes at our meetings..............

[RWR]

sader- we do know what we would do. We would be excited but we don't want to be that league's doormat. If Tulane gets in the administration needs to immediately and visibly commit to big time football, i.e., vastly increased salaries and recruiting budgets, PE major and accepting at NCAA levels and a 1st class IPF. Non-negotiable.

[OUG]

sader- we do know what we would do. We would be excited but we don't want to be that league's doormat. If Tulane gets in the administration needs to immediately and visibly commit to big time football, i.e., vastly increased salaries and recruiting budgets, PE major and accepting at NCAA levels and a 1st class IPF. Non-negotiable.

I think the PE major(s) are a MUCH bigger deal than the NCAA admissions levels. In fact, I've seen very little evidence that Tulane still uses an "exceptions" policy at all. I do know that Scelfo was not using all the "exceptions" that we had. I think getting kids into Tulane is not really that hard, and I don't think it hamstrings us, whatever the perception. I think we don't recruit kids that are academically borderline because we don't want to be sweating grades every December/May and risk losing kids; because those kids don't see majors that interest them and that they believe they could pass, so they don't seriously consider us; and because athletes that are borderline academically just aren't as interested in our major selling point at all (academic prestige).

Even if there are academic minimums that we only allow some "exceptions" to, our policy is still radically more lenient than Stanford and Notre Dame (I know this for a fact), so we aren't alone.

The biggest priorities for improvement that we should be investing money in, with or without the Big 12, are:

1) A $1.5 Million-2 million coaching hire, with appropriate assistant salaries
2) Investing in degree programs for athletes - not basketweaking, but real, substantive subjects like sports science or sports management that these guys are intereseted in and are relevant to the careers they want. Imagine if there was such thing as "competitive NCAA rock and roll" and we didn't have a freaking music program?
3) Investing in facilities for academics. More tutors, studying space for athletes, technology programs, specialized labs where they can study things in a way that is geared specifically to their unique schedules and the demands of being an athlete.

For the $75 million it would cost us to build a somewhat successful stadium, you could do all of these things and more (though most would go to an endowment to pay coaching salaries for MBB and FB, and salaries for tutors/instructors).

Invest in these things, and the superdome all of a sudden becomes a major strength and not something that hinders us.

[Ray]

I'll double everything off the bat and reevaluate after a few years. I have several friends who would buy season tickets and join the Greenbackers immediately. I can't try to convince anyone with a straight face to do that as we currently stand. I think those of you who claim you would stand pat really have no clue how you would react if the headline of the Times Picayue said "Tulane Accepts Big 12 Invite". We haven't had any legitimate good news in 13 years.

You're probably right about a lot of us 'not having a clue' if lightning were to strike. I honestly would feel much better if we were doing much more on our end to be somewhat "earning" our way into The Big 12 or anywhere else. I would never look a gift horse in the mouth, but I'll just wait & see what Tulane does with or without an invite. Old fashioned Swede that I am.