I disagree. Tulane once filled up 80,000 seat Tulane Stadium back in the day (granted, I'm too young to remember, most of the knowledge I have from the "good ole days" is second-hand). But the powers that be at Tulane, in all their academian wisdom, decided to de-emphasize sports and get out of the SEC. It was the worst decision Tulane has ever made, and now even the most hard core Green Wave fans will admit that. They regret it. You are right, the commitment isn't there. And you don't win in this business unless you commit to spending the money and securing the talent necessary. A large factor is, like I mentioned, academics on campus who view a good sports program as a threat to academic excellence. Until that viewpoint changes, schools like Vanderbilt and Tulane will continue to wallow in mediocrity. I actually agree with some points Dr. Cowen has made in his arguments, and I long for the day the BCS is trashed in favor of a 16 or 32 team playoff system to determine a REAL national champion. But if and when that day comes, it won't make a bit of difference for Tulane. They will continue to stink up the field because they aren't willing to commit to excellence and make the effort and pay the price necessary to build an outstanding athletic program.
One of the biggest problems with Tulane's attendance at games is the number of local alumni is diminishing. When Tulane USED to put that many people in the stands is when Tulane was a local school. Now they have so to speak "Priced themselves out of the area" and have mostly out of state students. Know where these out of state students go after graduation, back out of state. That make it very hard to develop a fan base to drive a program. Trust me I am not defending Tulane, I don't think they even belong in C-USA, but there is NO WAY they can recruit or compete at a D-1 level without local support. And in an area where LSU football (Thank goodness) comes before all else, it's not gonna happen.
1. Tulane and Georgia Tech will never be readmitted to the SEC. Tech has already tried. They left the league for selfish reasons and they can stay out. 2. Vanderbilt isn't going anywhere, they are just cutting costs. 3. If Vandy left we would have to replace them with a school that doesn't mind getting beaten regularly for 60 years. There are already too many powerhouse teams in the SEC. We beat up on each other and hurt everybody's chances of going undeafeated and contending for the NC. We don't need any more contenders in the SEC, we could use a couple more patsies like Vandy.
I live in Big 12 country (shoot me). THere is a school in these parts who mirrors Vandy with half of the academics. It rhymes with Gaylor. Gaylor will be out of the Big 12 in the next 5 years. Vandy needs to move on. THere needs to be 2 tiers - 1 for mega-conferences and 1 for CUSA level types that can still play for a NC, their own NC.
