Saturday, December 09, 2006

Bison Stampede


My alma mater, Oklahoma Baptist University, is currently considering adding football to its athletic program. OBU is a school with nearly 1700 undergraduates located in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The school dropped football during World War II due to budget restraints, and never brought it back. The Bison currently compete in the NAIA, and are national powers in men’s and women’s basketball and track.

I believe the addition of football would be a benefit to the university, providing increased enrollment, student retention, donations, and school pride. I have seen the benefits of football in recent years at schools of similar size and mission, and would love to see these things happen at OBU.

Small college football is a totally different animal from the BCS conference schools we see on TV every week. The budgets are much lower, and coaches, more often than not, teach classes during the week. In truth, a 5A high school program in Texas will often have a larger football budget than a small college program. Attending a game in person is similar to attending a high school game. However, athletes, students, alumni, and the community at small schools have the same amount of pride in their programs, and the universities often benefit more than their larger counterparts. Football would benefit OBU in so many ways.

The school is currently studying the addition of football. They are currently taking a survey on their website. Whether you are an alum, a friend of an alum, an interested observer, or someone who is surfing around in blogland and has never heard of the school, please click here and vote for the addition of football.

With our help, Bison football can become a reality in the future.

Thank you!

No comments: