Just hired Bill Curry as HC. They start FCS play in 2010, spring practice begins in 2009. Games will be played in the Georgia Dome and they have an enrollment of close to 30K.

I don't see it happening, mostly b/c they don't have a solid conference situation. USF was very fortunate in how they positioned themselves to be part of CUSA in the beginning and that paid off into an eventually BCS conference opportunity. Without meaningful conference affiliation it's not going to happen.

USF basketball kept them in the mix. They were in a solid Metro conference and had the benefit of being associated with a lot of the founding CUSA schools. GaState hoops is most famous for having an elderly Lefty (legend)

The funny part was that georgia state was with USF part of the SBC, until GSU decided to downgrade their program and left the SBC.

There will never be another USF, becasue the perfect storm allowed USF to become a BCS program. The best any new program can expect is to become another FAU, potentially being a Sun Belt, maybe CUSA type team. Unless they break up the BCS, there just isn't going to be enough BCS slots for someone new coming in to grab one.

CyberBull Wrote:I don't see it happening, mostly b/c they don't have a solid conference situation.

They are in the CAA, which is one of the best FCS conferences. Not a bad place to start out.

I expect they'll end up in a new I-A conference which I think will inevitably form in the mid-Atlantic/Southeast with the likes of Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, James Madison, etc.

No, because since the Univ. of Tampa dropped I-A football in the early 1970s', the region had no major college program to support and USF now fits the bill.

Contrast that to Atlanta, heavy on UGA red and black and GT's white and gold. GSU is #3 in the market by default.

DFW HOYA Wrote:No, because since the Univ. of Tampa dropped I-A football in the early 1970s', the region had no major college program to support and USF now fits the bill.

Contrast that to Atlanta, heavy on UGA red and black and GT's white and gold. GSU is #3 in the market by default.

Good point,, plus USF's enrollment dwarfs many a house of higher learning. I think it would prob be pretty cool to party there. What are all of their fans students? UCF seems similar.....

zibby Wrote:They are in the CAA, which is one of the best FCS conferences. Not a bad place to start out.

I expect they'll end up in a new I-A conference which I think will inevitably form in the mid-Atlantic/Southeast with the likes of Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, James Madison, etc.

I agree with you that this might be their best option. There are probably nine or ten teams between the CAA, Southern Conference, and Big South that could reasonably move up together and form a new FBS level league that would probably not be any worse than the Sun Belt. It would certainly be better than what the Sun Belt was when it first started sponsoring football back in 2001.

On the A10 board The Last Minuteman and I discussed this. We seemed to have figured that markets are essential. So a line-up of GaState, Charlotte, James Mad/Old Domin, Temple, UD, Puffalo, and UMass would work. He likes somehow working in UCF and/or Memphis. I could settle for a FIU or FAU.

MichaelSavage Wrote:Just hired Bill Curry as HC. They start FCS play in 2010, spring practice begins in 2009. Games will be played in the Georgia Dome and they have an enrollment of close to 30K.

If they can find a fan base.... Well, it is Atlanta and Atlanta has always supported its teams well ().

Well, see. GSU is part of the CAA. The CAA may make an attempt to move up. Old Dominion is adding a team, too.

DFW HOYA Wrote:No, because since the Univ. of Tampa dropped I-A football in the early 1970s', the region had no major college program to support and USF now fits the bill.

Contrast that to Atlanta, heavy on UGA red and black and GT's white and gold. GSU is #3 in the market by default.

I wouldn't say GSU is #3... I would suggest Auburn or Clemson are number 3. Maybe Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, Alabama, etc...

esayem Wrote:On the A10 board The Last Minuteman and I discussed this. We seemed to have figured that markets are essential. So a line-up of GaState, Charlotte, James Mad/Old Domin, Temple, UD, Puffalo, and UMass would work. He likes somehow working in UCF and/or Memphis. I could settle for a FIU or FAU.

Is this for football too? UD = Dayton?

Dayton doesn't offer scholarships in football today. The team would have remained D-III if the NCAA hadn't mandated that all sports had to be at the same level if you provided football as a sport.

mattsarz Wrote:

esayem Wrote:On the A10 board The Last Minuteman and I discussed this. We seemed to have figured that markets are essential. So a line-up of GaState, Charlotte, James Mad/Old Domin, Temple, UD, Puffalo, and UMass would work. He likes somehow working in UCF and/or Memphis. I could settle for a FIU or FAU.

Is this for football too? UD = Dayton?

Dayton doesn't offer scholarships in football today. The team would have remained D-III if the NCAA hadn't mandated that all sports had to be at the same level if you provided football as a sport.

UD probably means Delaware in this case.

Good call, thanks.

I think Georgia Southern will be 1-A before Georgia State is. I don't see Southern allowing State to pass them by. If there is a new league made up of the power 1-AAs - including JMU, App State, etc - then I would think Georgia Southern would be involved before Georgia State. But we'll see.

I think it will be very interesting to see what happens with both Ga. State and Charlotte in the next 5 to 7 years. I've been saying this for a while - - IF both can get off the ground in a meaningful way - and that's obviously a big IF - then they would be absolutely perfect solutions for the BE.

But alot of things have to happen the right way for that to even be a remote possibility. We'll see... But if I were the BE, I'd keep a close eye on both of those schools.

Ga. State is right next to Ga. Tech (literally). South Florida didn't have the University of Florida on the same street and I agree that conference affiliation was the big advantage of South Florida. It will be very difficult for start ups to "blow up" going forward. Charlotte probably has the best chance because they already play hoops at a high level and has a good fanbase. They have the market they could also support major athletics.

I don't think its the goal of Georgia St. at this point to be at the FBS level. It was for USF, FAU, FIU, USA and UAB because of their primary conferences being FBS conferences.

I'm telling you, the new school with the biggest upside is UTSA. Not Charlotte, Georgia State, USA, etc.

-Schedule to start play in '11 on fast track to 1-A, if every thing goes as planned/approved.
-To play in 65K Alamodome, which will be one of the premier facilities in NCAA.
-Located in football mad San Antonio, with No competition, either NFL or D1 NCAA in the city.
-Large market, 2 million people in SA, same size as Orlando FL metro.
-Large school, closing in on 30K and growing I beleive.
-Strong desire by school to make it happen, and support from local community which passed a hotel tax revenue plan help upgrade athletic facilities.
-In recruiting rich TX, and in the middle of a lot of local talent.
-Downside is they have to compete against a ton of TX schools for local talent.

Also, I believe TX State in San Marcos is trying to move up to 1-A as well, or at least studying it.

Could happen, of course they would have to find a 1-A conf. home whoever would take them, either Sunbelt, WAC, or CUSA.

UTSA might be a good fit for either CUSA or the WAC down the road. What the landscape might look like in 10 years is anybody's guess... In my view, the more 1-A schools, the better.

Means more games to watch!