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I am fairly neutral on moving up to D1AA, but there are some hard questions that have not been asked:

1. How is the faculty/staff going to react to spending large amounts of money on athletics when there are many instructional needs that have not been addressed?

2. Is it really feasible to expect Little Rock to support UCA athletics when everyone knows that Little Rock is a Razorback town?

3. How is UCA going to deal with losing men's soccer when this has been one of our premier sports nationally? Independent competition is not a option.

4. Where is the money coming from? This is not a one-time expenditure; it will be year after year.

5. What will happen to the Conway area fan base that we have developed over the years when our closest away game will be about the same as going to Valdosta? When UCA plays Valdosta there we will have maybe 200 fans in the stadium.

6. How successful will our sports like women's basketball be when we have to recruit against all other Division 1 teams? The time where we could recruit a player from Guy or Greenbrier or Bradley will be gone.

7. Where will D1AA football players come from? There are fewer than 20 true D1 players graduating from Arkansas high schools each year and they are recruited by Division 1 teams including U of A, Florida State, etc.

Those are some excellent questions. I'm afraid the answer to each will swing towards the negative.

Should be fine on 6 and 7.

Carone Harris and Ashley Hutchcraft, products of Bradley and Guy, would have served as fine Division I players. The coaching staff at the University of Arkansas thought so, anyway.

Women's basketball will be fine at the D-I level, especially as long as Coach Seals sticks around. Other than UConn and Tennessee there aren't any perennial superpowers in women's hoops and just about anybody can have success. The likes of Old Dominion, SMS, and Western Kentucky have made Final Fours. Obviously you can't expect that kind of success, but you don't have to worry about being a bottom feeder.

As for 7, there isn't any difference in a front-line DII player and a I-AA player. The difference is I-AA has more of that type of player, with their increased scholarships. With UCA being a level ahead of all the GSC schools, it might put them in position to be more appealing to more of the state's players who, right now, all go DII.

You get the same 7 or 8 you would've gotten anyway, then you get 3 or 4 that might've otherwise gone to Tech, and then 1 or 2 that might've opted for UAM, SAU, or OBU. So, you could figure you might get 15 in-state guys each year on average, plus Conque has ties throughout Louisiana and in Texas so you can draw from those places, too.

Plus with the increased role of 7-on-7 football in Arkansas you will continue to see the level of play in the state's high school ranks continue to climb.

Legitimate concerns everywhere else though.

1. How is the faculty/staff going to react to spending large amounts of money on athletics when there are many instructional needs that have not been addressed?

Silly question. Most colleges won't grant you a PhD until they have convinced you that every dollar spent on athletics comes at the cost of your potential raise (which it doesn't it comes at the cost of infrastructure, university presidents are going to spend an extra dollar on bronze plaques with their name on it and the building it is attached to before voluntarily giving raises).

2. Is it really feasible to expect Little Rock to support UCA athletics when everyone knows that Little Rock is a Razorback town?

No. Little Rock is a terrible sports town and not as dyed-in-the-snout Hog as people would love for you to believe. Remember the Hogs hosted THE NUMBER ONE team in the nation and failed to sellout War Memorial back when Hog football was on the ropes. Winning will pull a few fans extra but the Southland won't be confused with one of the elite leagues in football or basketball and if it isn't perceived as "high level" Little Rock won't play along.

3. How is UCA going to deal with losing men's soccer when this has been one of our premier sports nationally? Independent competition is not a option.

Sadly not many will notice.

4. Where is the money coming from? This is not a one-time expenditure; it will be year after year.

It will come from student fees, dorm revenue, cafeteria revenue, etc.

5. What will happen to the Conway area fan base that we have developed over the years when our closest away game will be about the same as going to Valdosta? When UCA plays Valdosta there we will have maybe 200 fans in the stadium.

Traveling fans are nice but every UCA fan who showed up in Searcy for the Harding game but didn't bother to come "home" to UCA on a regular basis meant zip for UCA's bottom line. If the loss of the close games on the road prompts them to travel to Conway even one time more per season its a financial gain.

6. How successful will our sports like women's basketball be when we have to recruit against all other Division 1 teams? The time where we could recruit a player from Guy or Greenbrier or Bradley will be gone.

Don't underestimate the caliber of women's basketball played at the high school level in Arkansas. Arkansas State beat the snot out of two SEC teams (including our local one) and a ranked TCU with players from Mount Pleasant, Pocahontas, and Huntsville.

7. Where will D1AA football players come from? There are fewer than 20 true D1 players graduating from Arkansas high schools each year and they are recruited by Division 1 teams including U of A, Florida State, etc.

Don't worry about I-A caliber players. Worry about I-AA caliber players and there are plenty of them though UCA will need to start recruiting neighboring states more.

Very good point that I hadn't really thought about before.

I'm going to have to totally agree with arkstfan, about all those points!