(05-02-2012 09:05 PM)PittsburghBucs Wrote:  That said, the CAA is realistically the best conference ETSU could hope to join directly to, if they wish to do so.

I say this for a variety of reasons- location, size of schools, the type of schools they are, size and needs of the conference. Another thing is who has spaces to fill and, what I thought was intriguing, how they would be willing to adopt a school with a relatively new football program. I honestly think that the CAA would be willing to accept ETSU with the promise of reinstating football in the near future, while I could honestly see the SoCon take Coastal Carolina or someone like that ahead of ETSU because their football program is more established.

I think we look a little too much at the future of ETSU athletics being guided by Brian Noland and not enough at it being guided, at least for now, by David Mullins and in the future to whoever the AD may be. Because ultimately it's their department.

I also think a lot of people see Noland as a white knight in shining armor automatically, and that has yet to be determined.

But Brian Noland being from the DC area can't hurt if they were going to join the CAA. And Noland did mention lacrosse in his interview with Kelly Hodge, a sport that the CAA sponsors.

Ask me, and I'd much rather be in the CAA than the SoCon. You can make the Final Four out of the CAA.

I would disagree. Based on what the CAA is now, I would say yes. The only way ETSU could get a look at the CAA is if several schools leave, which will likely happen. If VCU, George Mason, and ODU leave the CAA, it's a terrible conference. No one is getting to the Final Four out of that conference with all the quality teams gone.

If those three schools leave, and I think they will, this is what is left in the CAA -

Delaware
Drexel
Hofstra
James Madison
UNC-W
Northeastern
Towson
William & Mary

That's not a particularly appealing lineup of schools. It's better than the ASun, but it's not going to be a huge leap forward.

(05-03-2012 05:40 AM)Mister Consistency Wrote:  

(05-02-2012 01:41 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  I'm hearing Georgia Southern is set to head to the Sun Belt very soon. I've always thought CofC would be a good fit for the CAA. And would the A10 take Davidson to keep the Charlotte market in play after UNC-Charlotte leaves?

I would be very, VERY shocked if the A10 invited Davidson. If they can't get VCU and George Mason, I think they'd just roll with 13 teams (plus Butler, minus Charlotte and Temple) and a 24-game conference schedule.

There is no way Davidson gets an invite. Davidson has a quality basketball program, but the rest of the programs are not funded very well for the SoCon, much less the A10. Basketball would struggle in that league as well. They'd have to really increase their budget to compete in the A10.

(05-04-2012 09:20 AM)PittsburghBucs Wrote:  IF IF IF-

Football hadn't of been dropped.

IF IF IF-

Instead of a softball, soccer field (which would have been irrelevant because ETSU would not have had to have started a men's soccer program if they hadn't of dropped football), and half-constructed baseball field and instead have built a new arena with the money used for those facilities

IF IF IF-

Not a new arena, then a refurbished Dome that had full capacity (12,000)

Would ETSU be looking at being one of the teams invited into C-USA today?

They might have to build a new yard for football to get such an invite due to the rule necessitating 15,000 fans a year attendance for Division I-A (or FBS, or whatever they call it now).

Fine.

IF IF IF

ETSU and Science Hill could have worked together in this scenario to build an outdoor football stadium with 20,000 seats or so that could be used alternatively for other sports (soccer if needed to add the program to go C-USA, possibly baseball, etc.) . . . . .

Conference USA? No. Would we be in play for conference movement, probably. ETSU football would not only have to have remained, it would have had to vastly improve if ETSU was going to get a look from an FBS conference. Don't forget a huge problem for ETSU moving up to a more significant conference is location. Conferences pay attention to media markets when they look at prospective members. It's just not an attractive market in the Tri-Cities. That can be made up for with outstanding programs, but ETSU has never been at that level. Even with basketball in its heyday, they won one NCAA tournament game. Look at the schools the A10 is looking at adding/added - Butler, VCU, George Mason. All of them have Sweet 16 appearances, with Butler having several. All of them have a Final Four appearance and Butler of course has two title game appearances. Basketball is ETSU's flagship sport and we've never made a post-season run. Ever. Even if we had football still, we weren't any good at it. Who/what to blame isn't so much the issue as the simple fact that our football program would not be attractive today. We need to win, win, win in something to get a look from a better conference.

Also, as a side note about Conference USA, they are strong across the board athletically. Top 10 bball RPI, baseball teams in the college world series, soccer teams in the college cup, Sweet 16's for tennis, multiple bids for sports like volleyball. Contrary to the opinion of several on this board, we need to be solid in all sports across the board if we are to be attractive to potential conference suitors.

(05-05-2012 09:09 AM)LetsgoBucs Wrote:  

(05-02-2012 09:05 PM)PittsburghBucs Wrote:  That said, the CAA is realistically the best conference ETSU could hope to join directly to, if they wish to do so.

I say this for a variety of reasons- location, size of schools, the type of schools they are, size and needs of the conference. Another thing is who has spaces to fill and, what I thought was intriguing, how they would be willing to adopt a school with a relatively new football program. I honestly think that the CAA would be willing to accept ETSU with the promise of reinstating football in the near future, while I could honestly see the SoCon take Coastal Carolina or someone like that ahead of ETSU because their football program is more established.

I think we look a little too much at the future of ETSU athletics being guided by Brian Noland and not enough at it being guided, at least for now, by David Mullins and in the future to whoever the AD may be. Because ultimately it's their department.

I also think a lot of people see Noland as a white knight in shining armor automatically, and that has yet to be determined.

But Brian Noland being from the DC area can't hurt if they were going to join the CAA. And Noland did mention lacrosse in his interview with Kelly Hodge, a sport that the CAA sponsors.

Ask me, and I'd much rather be in the CAA than the SoCon. You can make the Final Four out of the CAA.

I would disagree. Based on what the CAA is now, I would say yes. The only way ETSU could get a look at the CAA is if several schools leave, which will likely happen. If VCU, George Mason, and ODU leave the CAA, it's a terrible conference. No one is getting to the Final Four out of that conference with all the quality teams gone.

If those three schools leave, and I think they will, this is what is left in the CAA -

Delaware
Drexel
Hofstra
James Madison
UNC-W
Northeastern
Towson
William & Mary

That's not a particularly appealing lineup of schools. It's better than the ASun, but it's not going to be a huge leap forward.

That's a good point.

Still, can you imagine if ETSU had decided 10 years ago to put money into a new arena and their football program and less about winning remedial championships and softball fields?

They could be looking at a move to such a conference.

Let's Go- The thing about this is that C-USA just brought in Texas-San Antonio. Yes, I realize that's becauase of the San Antonio market. But they've had football for, what, two seconds?

They also just added Louisiana Tech. Ruston is suddenly bigger than the Tri-Cities?

Trust me, I get what you're saying. But I'm enough of an optimist that I think a Top 100 TV market (92); a bigger TV market than Waco (Baylor), Baton Rouge (LSU) and El Paso (UTEP), could be attractive for a conference wishing to add members.

As far as competition, I'm not saying it isn't going to help ETSU to have strong teams to move up, if they wish to.

But how strong, overall, is Florida International, Louisiana Tech, Charlotte, Texas San-Antonio and North Texas? Did these teams go to the Final Four last year and I missed it? Were they nationally ranked in football? Is Conference USA suddenly putting priority on swimming or something?

Look, I understand it is unrealistic for ETSU to think they will be Southern California in athletics overnight.

But is it really that unrealistic that they can be as attractive athletically as the above five schools that joined C-USA yesterday?

You know, 10 years ago ETSU asked the C-USA about membership. They told them to build new facilities, but instead of building them for community benefit they built them for the needs of the smaller sports.

Ten years later, under this athletic model, ETSU is in a lesser conference and isn't even being sniffed at in the conference transition game. Additionally, the facilities built (soccer, softball, and baseball) solidify their A-Sun membership.

Look at the schools who were invited. You're telling me if ETSU hadn't of focused on a new arena and a new football stadium 10 years ago that couldn't have been them?

Paul Stanton gave that cliche about "I'd like to be remembered as someone who did what was best for the institution" when asked about how he thought he'd be remembered when it came to dropping football.

Obviously, he didn't.

Nope. Not without more money and more wins on the field.

ETSU + D-1 football by 2013 = instant admission to the WAC

99.99999% unlikely it will happen. (O.K., 100% unlikely) But, it would definitely be a change from the A-Sun.

A lot of schools are bailing from the WAC to go to the Big-12, Big East, etc. If I understand correctly, after the 2013 season, the WAC will be reduced to Idaho and New Mexico State. If the WAC doesn't fold, it WILL be shopping for quick members. Maybe they'd be thrilled to have us even without a current football program? Maybe ETSU can be to the WAC what NKU is to the A-Sun?

How about those Buccaneers vs. Vandals . . . or Buccaneers vs. Lobos cross-continental matchups!

Might be better off in the A-Sun.

This is the calm before another conference musical chairs storm. We heard weeks ago that Noland was looking at other conferences (which i think was/is legit). I said I thought the CAA was out of the question then, but it sounds like ODU to CUSA and VCU and GMU to the A10 are real possibilities. If these things happen AND APP and CofC say no (again), then maybe the CAA (albeit a weaker CAA) looks our way. Nonetheless, there should be bonafide opportunities for us to move up in the very near future.

Found this comparison between CAA and A10 basketball team's yearly expenses. Anyone know what our basketball budget is? I assume no where near the lowest teams of each league.

Expenses comparison

Here is a comparison of men's basketball expenses of CAA and Atlantic 10 schools for the 2010-11 school year:

COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

School


Expenses

1. VCU


$3,221,519

2. George Mason


$2,435,191

3. Old Dominion


$2,417,397

4. Drexel


$2,166,954

5. Northeastern


$2,103,657

6. Hofstra


$2,062,389

7. James Madison


$1,966,210

8. UNC Wilmington


$1,741,679

9. Delaware


$1,645,175

10. Towson


$1,499,505

11. William and Mary


$1,483,793

12. Georgia State


$1,292,139

ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE

School


Expenses

1. Richmond


$4,056,940

2. Xavier


$3,929,624

3. Dayton


$3,810,320

4. George Wash.


$3,480,829

5. Fordham


$3,154,182

6. Temple


$3,089,270

7. Saint Joseph's


$3,020,790

8. Saint Louis


$2,951,352

9. Duquesne


$2,928,573

10. Rhode Island


2,816,066

11. Massachusetts


$2,806,835

12. La Salle


$2,364,336

13. Charlotte


$2,275,714

14. St. Bonaventure


$1,592,420

Source: U.S. Department of Education

Note: For 2013-14, Georgia State joins Sun Belt Conference, Temple joins Big East Conference, Charlotte joins Conference USA, Butler (men's basketball expenses of $3,541,122) joins the A-10.