UL-Monroe

[ah59396]

Can the Sun Belt relegate these guys and call up JMU or something?

Lose 40-7 to Liberty today and go to 0-4 on the season.

I don’t see a game on their schedule they can win, at best 1-2 wins?

Been FBS since 1994.

Never been ranked.
Never won the conference.
Never won a bowl game.
ONE winning season (8-5) in 2012
ONE bowl appearance (L 45-14 to Ohio)

What exactly is the plan down in Monroe? Go 4-8 in the Sun Belt for eternity?

Whoever their fans are must be the most loyal people on the face of the earth. We as App fans have it so good.

[APPRIDE]

Can the Sun Belt relegate these guys and call up JMU or something?

Lose 40-7 to Liberty today and go to 0-4 on the season.

I don’t see a game on their schedule they can win, at best 1-2 wins?

Been FBS since 1994.

Never been ranked.
Never won the conference.
Never won a bowl game.
ONE winning season (8-5) in 2012
ONE bowl appearance (L 45-14 to Ohio)

What exactly is the plan down in Monroe? Go 4-8 in the Sun Belt for eternity?

Whoever their fans are must be the most loyal people on the face of the earth. We as App fans have it so good.

Well, they do have a national championship... and they did beat Bama...

[bigdaddyg]

Can the Sun Belt relegate these guys and call up JMU or something?

Lose 40-7 to Liberty today and go to 0-4 on the season.

I don’t see a game on their schedule they can win, at best 1-2 wins?

Been FBS since 1994.

Never been ranked.
Never won the conference.
Never won a bowl game.
ONE winning season (8-5) in 2012
ONE bowl appearance (L 45-14 to Ohio)

What exactly is the plan down in Monroe? Go 4-8 in the Sun Belt for eternity?

Whoever their fans are must be the most loyal people on the face of the earth. We as App fans have it so good.

Well, they do have a national championship... and they did beat Bama...

NC- 1987
Beat Bama- 2007

Since then zippo. Yes there needs to be relegation in major college football

[AppinVA]

Every league has its Western Carolina. The SEC has Vandy, the Big 12 has Kansas, the MAC has Eastern Michigan, the PAC 12 has...itself, and we have ULM.

[asu1978]

ULM,,,Going against the wind

[ah59396]

Every league has its Western Carolina. The SEC has Vandy, the Big 12 has Kansas, the MAC has Eastern Michigan, the PAC 12 has...itself, and we have ULM.

While I sort of get your point, Vandy had back-to-back 9 win seasons in the last decade with top 25 finishes and went to 5 bowl games in the last decade.

Kansas is a joke but even they went to the Orange Bowl in 2007 (which they won). Kansas also serves the purpose of being the basketball flag carrier for the BIG12.

Eastern Michigan has a cool history but they also suck.


I just don’t get what UL Monroe is working towards. They aren’t like an ODU or even UNCC where they have a large underperforming athletic budget. In fact they are the lowest spender in FBS if I recall.
Monroe isn’t a desirable destination for recruits. It’s not Orlando or Charlotte or Norfolk.
And they have no winning tradition at this point aside from an FCS Championship that happened 35 years ago.

They have had zero success in FBS in over a quarter century now, with no budget.

[NavyApp]

Every league has its Western Carolina. The SEC has Vandy, the Big 12 has Kansas, the MAC has Eastern Michigan, the PAC 12 has...itself, and we have ULM.

While I sort of get your point, Vandy had back-to-back 9 win seasons in the last decade with top 25 finishes and went to 5 bowl games in the last decade.

Kansas is a joke but even they went to the Orange Bowl in 2007 (which they won). Kansas also serves the purpose of being the basketball flag carrier for the BIG12.

Eastern Michigan has a cool history but they also suck.


I just don’t get what UL Monroe is working towards. They aren’t like an ODU or even UNCC where they have a large underperforming athletic budget. In fact they are the lowest spender in FBS if I recall.
Monroe isn’t a desirable destination for recruits. It’s not Orlando or Charlotte or Norfolk.
And they have no winning tradition at this point aside from an FCS Championship that happened 35 years ago.

They have had zero success in FBS in over a quarter century now, with no budget.

Having lived in Norfolk for 5 years recently I can tell you that it is not a draw for anyone. Quite a terrible place.

The rest of your points I agree with though.

[Tatedc]

Every league has its Western Carolina. The SEC has Vandy, the Big 12 has Kansas, the MAC has Eastern Michigan, the PAC 12 has...itself, and we have ULM.

While I sort of get your point, Vandy had back-to-back 9 win seasons in the last decade with top 25 finishes and went to 5 bowl games in the last decade.

Kansas is a joke but even they went to the Orange Bowl in 2007 (which they won). Kansas also serves the purpose of being the basketball flag carrier for the BIG12.

Eastern Michigan has a cool history but they also suck.


I just don’t get what UL Monroe is working towards. They aren’t like an ODU or even UNCC where they have a large underperforming athletic budget. In fact they are the lowest spender in FBS if I recall.
Monroe isn’t a desirable destination for recruits. It’s not Orlando or Charlotte or Norfolk.
And they have no winning tradition at this point aside from an FCS Championship that happened 35 years ago.

They have had zero success in FBS in over a quarter century now, with no budget.

Another interesting note is that McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana and Northwestern State have historically dominated ULM. Throw in LSU, Tulane, La Tech and Louisiana...ULM is the 8th largest program in the state...assuming they are better than the HBCUs. I cant figure out how a team like that was ever promoted to the top level of football.

Its bizarre. While I think there are 20 or so FBS teams that would be better served competing in FCS...ULM is probably the best example in the Sun Belt.

[ah59396]

Every league has its Western Carolina. The SEC has Vandy, the Big 12 has Kansas, the MAC has Eastern Michigan, the PAC 12 has...itself, and we have ULM.

While I sort of get your point, Vandy had back-to-back 9 win seasons in the last decade with top 25 finishes and went to 5 bowl games in the last decade.

Kansas is a joke but even they went to the Orange Bowl in 2007 (which they won). Kansas also serves the purpose of being the basketball flag carrier for the BIG12.

Eastern Michigan has a cool history but they also suck.


I just don’t get what UL Monroe is working towards. They aren’t like an ODU or even UNCC where they have a large underperforming athletic budget. In fact they are the lowest spender in FBS if I recall.
Monroe isn’t a desirable destination for recruits. It’s not Orlando or Charlotte or Norfolk.
And they have no winning tradition at this point aside from an FCS Championship that happened 35 years ago.

They have had zero success in FBS in over a quarter century now, with no budget.

Having lived in Norfolk for 5 years recently I can tell you that it is not a draw for anyone. Quite a terrible place.

The rest of your points I agree with though.

Haha fair enough. Virginia Beach is pretty decent though!

That whole are is such a hodgepodge of mid-sized cities. Strange place.

[ah59396]

Another interesting note is that McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana and Northwestern State have historically dominated ULM. Throw in LSU, Tulane, La Tech and Louisiana...ULM is the 8th largest program in the state...assuming they are better than the HBCUs. I cant figure out how a team like that was ever promoted to the top level of football.

Its bizarre. While I think there are 20 or so FBS teams that would be better served competing in FCS...ULM is probably the best example in the Sun Belt.

They did beat Grambling last year so that’s something. But I’m pretty confident McNeese would hammer them.

I’m obviously going pretty hard on ULM here, it’s not really my intention to just shit on them.

I just don’t get what they are trying to do as a football program. I’d be really curious to know what kind of discussion is had behind closed doors there about the long term direction.

[bigdaddyg]

I know it’s come up several times but I never get the attendance criteria for FBS level. I always thought we didn’t meet the threshold for years. Half the teams in our conference must avenge lower than 15k per game. Why aren’t they dropped?

[Yosef84]

I'm not one who likes to jump on struggling programs and criticize, but the ULM question is valid. Neither the institution nor the success on the field/arena really support an argument for FBS. With the current pandemic creating even larger financial challenges, it's really hard to see the logic in ULM continuing to attempt FBS football. Idaho probably had a bigger up-side but their geography was their fatal flaw but they made the difficult decision. I'm fine with ULM remaining in the conference personally, but I don't really understand what they get out of it or why it's worth it from an institutional perspective.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

It is not just football. ULM tends to bring up the bottom of the Bubas Cup year-in year-out.

[ah59396]

I'm not one who likes to jump on struggling programs and criticize, but the ULM question is valid. Neither the institution nor the success on the field/arena really support an argument for FBS. With the current pandemic creating even larger financial challenges, it's really hard to see the logic in ULM continuing to attempt FBS football. Idaho probably had a bigger up-side but their geography was their fatal flaw but they made the difficult decision. I'm fine with ULM remaining in the conference personally, but I don't really understand what they get out of it or why it's worth it from an institutional perspective.

Yes. All of this. Well said.

[Stonewall]

One more play and they would have beaten the Stink.....

[Scipio]

AppinVA said "Pac 12 has...itself" Right on brotha! Summed it beautifully.

[WASU 93]

One more play and they would have beaten the Stink.....

One more play and Campbell would have beaten them as well.....

[wncapp78]

I watched us lose to them in Monroe in 2017. Drove over from a meeting in Dallas, about a 6 hour drive.

Now that we have remembered the recent past, I generally agree with everything said. There maybe was 3500 at the game on a beautiful Saturday. Monroe and the campus didn’t seem to have much going for it. Baseball stadium was pretty nice. I would expect without doing research that they struggle for enrollment. I would expect the region overall isn’t growing.
I often say I would rather deal with the challenges of growth vs the challenges of economic decline and population loss.
We are blessed.

[APPdiesel]

Can the Sun Belt relegate these guys and call up JMU or something?

Lose 40-7 to Liberty today and go to 0-4 on the season.

I don’t see a game on their schedule they can win, at best 1-2 wins?

Been FBS since 1994.

Never been ranked.
Never won the conference.
Never won a bowl game.
ONE winning season (8-5) in 2012
ONE bowl appearance (L 45-14 to Ohio)

What exactly is the plan down in Monroe? Go 4-8 in the Sun Belt for eternity?

Whoever their fans are must be the most loyal people on the face of the earth. We as App fans have it so good.

Well the world needs ditch diggers too.

[ah59396]

Can the Sun Belt relegate these guys and call up JMU or something?

Lose 40-7 to Liberty today and go to 0-4 on the season.

I don’t see a game on their schedule they can win, at best 1-2 wins?

Been FBS since 1994.

Never been ranked.
Never won the conference.
Never won a bowl game.
ONE winning season (8-5) in 2012
ONE bowl appearance (L 45-14 to Ohio)

What exactly is the plan down in Monroe? Go 4-8 in the Sun Belt for eternity?

Whoever their fans are must be the most loyal people on the face of the earth. We as App fans have it so good.

Well the world needs ditch diggers too.

Sure, someone has to come in last. And if they spent like the rest of the conference I’d be willing to chalk it up to them being the conference doormat. But their budget is less than a large number of FCS teams. It’s middle of the pack in the SOCON.

I mean this is tells me everything I need to know:

Louisiana-Monroe $15,568,952

East Tennessee State $22,766,27
North Carolina Greensboro $18,193,727
Tennessee-Chattanooga $18,193,292
Citadel $16,201,634
Western Carolina $14,882,283

Imagine how insane it would be if the Catamounts moved up to FBS right now. We’d all consider it a foolish decision. And yet Monroe has done it for 30+ seasons.