u/18_YTC1

Proximity matters the most in these cases. When it comes to proximity, Dayton covers the Midwest and East regions very well. it could only ever be rivalled geographically to schools and 1st/2nd round locations by a school near Wester Kentucky University. A Texas based mid major would work very well in this case as Texas is geographically friendly to the South, partially to the Midwest, and the southwestern schools especially Californian.

Texas State or North Texas would work as the latter has almost 10K seating, is an AAC school, and is in Dallas while Texas State has 10K seating (could also benefit from an immediate facelift from ncaa funding), is a Pac-12 school, and San Marcos is between San Antonio and Austin, as well as overall connected in the Texas Triangle.

Finally, a location west of Texas Tech would close any gap on the west coast even if playing in the Cascades/Pacific Northwest. The Pit at the University of New Mexico has 2K more seats that Dayton at 15k and gauging fan interest here, The Pit seems like a really popular location. The Lobos are in the Mountain West which was a multi bid conference previously and still probably can show its stuff even after the Pac-12 getting some of its schools.

just a thought I had but I feel if we haven’t figured out teleportation and Mars travel takes 6-9 months, then farming on the moon will probably advance HEAVILY/be the sole outer earth system as even when it comes to living, calendars w/ the Moon can sync w/ earth unlike Mars and Earth. I could see Mars travel being phased out the same way Venus studies were when the Soviet Union collapsed. just a matter of keeping funding for travel dedicated to a more realistic cause. not saying Mars travel is bad at all and I wish for a couple more Venus studies too, imagine if we didn’t have them right? I do think we’re a long ways off from Mars colonization but any interest in it (so long as it’s ethical and similar to Antarctica being shared) is good interest