See this is where we go wrong. I'm by NO MEANS defending the shenanigans pulled by the current caretakers of ETSU athletics. While I do agree with the buzzwords they put out of wanting to put "championship caliber" programs out there, it's the means that they are trying to do it by that I think is a joke (and apparently so does every other university in the nation).
Yes, basketball has had some great runs, I'll never argue that, you can't. ETSU has a pretty nice thing going there, but nobody can say that they have a nationally known sustained winning tradition. Yes, if you mention the Arizona game in the NCAA's, or occasionally Tim Smith, people know who ETSU is, otherwise from a money sport standpoint, ETSU really hasn't been relevant on a national stage. All I've ever wanted to see, and still want to see is for ETSU to finally quit half-assing around with their sports teams, and get the job done. Memphis, and MTSU are getting the job done, I just believe that all four parts of Tennessee could be well represented on a more national stage if ETSU would quit screwing around.
It's sad when the two things to come out of that department that really serve the community well and represent ETSU are media relations and the radio/tv network. What a shame those kids don't get a piece of the scholarship pie that all these foreign athletes get to lose to Belmont.

I agree wholeheartedly.

And we have to ask ourselves at what price is "championship level."

Is ETSU men's hoops really playing at "championship level" when their "regular season champion" would have by all indications finished fourth at best in their old conference?

Ask yourself this- would Vanderbilt fans be happy if they moved to Conference USA?

Hey, Vandy would be able to compete for bowls in football all of the sudden! They would still have a natural in-state rivalry with Memphis!

But would the product be as well received? Might the appeal of Vanderbilt be they are invited to the SEC Ball every year- and if you play at the top level enough even Susan Lucci and Northwestern football eventually come out on top.

That's what we have to ask ourselves as ETSU fans.

Vandy fans aren't happy unless you compare them to Harvard. They are the Northwestern fans of the south. You can buy season tickets there for less than a 100 bucks according to their commercial.
Anyway, I don't think any ETSU fan has been happy with the move, we've beaten that dead horse pretty hard, and being the eternal optimist, a very small part of me does hold out some hope that maybe after five or six years of consistently winning in everything, a conference somewhere will want to take us, even if football isn't back. I just hope nobody here gives up on the football idea, eventually dumb and dumber are going to retire, in which case a REAL president will be brought in who will just say do it, no questions asked.
BTW I wonder how the students are going to feel when they're paying for some garbage Title IX sport like competitive bowling? Of course, they could have Pete Weber sunglasses day at their first match.

The only hope for ETSU of ever getting out of the A-Sun is to have new athletic administration followed by new facilities.