OPINION / EDUCATION
The talk of Texas State potentially winning the Sun Belt and qualifying for the newly expanded College Football Playoff has jumped from the Maroon and Golden corners of the internet all the way to grace the silver screen.
The spotlight does not get any bigger than when the voice of college football himself puts the Bobcats in a favorable light.
Rece Davis, the host of ESPN College Gameday, talked about the Bobcats as his favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference.
“Watch out for Texas State,” Davis said on the College Gameday Podcast alongside Pete Thamel. “I have them as my potential Group of Five [pick]. They have G.J. Kinne, [JMU] quarterback Jordan McCloud running the show there.”
But he wasn’t the only one to favor the Bobcats.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott also spoke about the Bobcats in a favorable manner during the Republican National Convention.
“They won their first bowl game,” Abbott said. “They are a great team [and have a] great coach.”
Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, having the Texas Governor acknowledge Texas State in the same breath as Texas and Texas A&M is a major deal.
Same can be said about Rece Davis jumping into the Bobcat’s corner.
Davis is the host of one of the most recognizable football pre shows in the nation that garners millions of viewers. Acknowledging Texas State is a boost, letting people outside of the Lone Star State know that the university exists, and they should start paying attention. The new publicity reminds me of the statement that football is the “front porch” of the university, which was cited many times as a reason to invest in the Drive to FBS.
Needless to say, Texas State has officially entered the national spotlight for potentially the first time in the history of the football program.
While Texas State has been on the skirts on national television, mainly the 2005 team’s run to the FCS Semifinals with all their playoff games being broadcasted on ESPN affiliates, this is the first time the Bobcats have been a focus in the conversation at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, which is the highest level of college football.
If the Bobcats are to meet the expectations that have been laid out in front of them, Texas State could trigger what is known as the Flutie Effect, which has the potential to change the university as a whole.
The Flutie Effect is when a university sees an increase in fame due to the success of a sports team. The origin of the Flutie Effect traces back to 1984 when Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie won the Heisman and led the Eagles to a 10-2 record, including beating the Miami Hurricanes on a buzzer-beating hail mary pass.
After the season, Boston College saw a surge in enrollment and put the university in the mainstream.
Perhaps the more recent famous examples are Appalachian State and Boise State.
App State, who at the time was still FCS, pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in college football history when the Mountaineers defeated the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines during the 2007 season. App State’s enrollment has been claimed to jump by 17% following the season.
Boise State finished the season with a 13-0 record in 2006, which culminated in the stunning 43-42 win over the Big 12 champion Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl. The Broncos used a last second hook and lateral play to tie the game with
Colton McWilliams Sports Editor
