I thought this was interesting, because it discussed some of the conferences that the ETSU fans and the fans of other A-Sun schools discuss leaving the A-Sun for.

It seems to me, as far as basketball is concerned the A-Sun is no better or worse then the OVC or Big South.

At the same time you can see the writer's ignorance of the A-Sun when they say the A-Sun is "falling" and only cites the reason as being schools that left 3/4 years ago. I would think any type of adverse effects of those schools leaving would have been felt; and if anything maybe the A-Sun "rising" would have been a more accurate evaluation. Considering the probationary period of a couple of A-Sun schools will be ending this coming season.

Anyway, I thought it would be some interesting gum to chew:
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/new/rise-...view-52032

I actually agree with the article. I also blame this on the conference. Though football is not a panacea, I believe if the conference supported it (with a 5 year plan to compete in I-AA scholarship) bigger schools would consider staying.

GaStPanthers makes a good point about Kennesaw and Jacksonville coming off of probation, but in a couple of years these schools will be leaving for bigger conferences too. Mercer, Stetson, and Samford have been the only mainstays in the A-Sun for a long time and now Samford has gone to greener pastures. Any why? Exactly football.

Until the A-Sun either (1) supports football or (2) markets itself as a marque basketball conference larger schools will continue to leave and D II schools will continue to use the A-Sun as a stepping stool.

While it was contemplated by ETSU's administration, there were very few ETSU fans who favored a move to the OVC.

I believe the majority of ETSU fans would favor a move to the SoCon (better conference plus less travel) or the Big South (if ETSU is to be relegated to a low major conference at least join one with less travel).

The vast majority of ETSU fans would prefer a return to the SoCon for a variety of reasons, rivalries, travel, conference standing as a true mid-major, name recognition among TriCities residents of opponents, etc.

BucDoctor Wrote:While it was contemplated by ETSU's administration, there were very few ETSU fans who favored a move to the OVC.

I believe the majority of ETSU fans would favor a move to the SoCon (better conference plus less travel) or the Big South (if ETSU is to be relegated to a low major conference at least join one with less travel).

The vast majority of ETSU fans would prefer a return to the SoCon for a variety of reasons, rivalries, travel, conference standing as a true mid-major, name recognition among TriCities residents of opponents, etc.

Yeah, I think both Kennesaw & ETSU will probably be gone in the next 3-5 years; especially if they start to dominate the conference.

A few things here-

Obviously the A-Sun is in decline. It went from being the 21st best conference to the 29th.

Obviously the Big South is rising. They took G-W from the A-Sun.

Now, will eventually the A-Sun rise? I think so. I believe that Gulf Coast is going to be a good program, for instance.

But historically there is little to believe that the conference will keep its best teams. I think they have a chance because I simply don't see where teams can go, but regardless.

Good point Pitt, that teams can only "move up" when there's an opening. There's not an unlimited amount of space.

I agree that the ASun is currently rising, but that is in large part due to how far it fell with the loss of 4 D1 schools with good tradition, and the addition of 4 DII newbies. Rock Bottom was last year in a sense as you had 4 schools recruiting under the grace period. Now UNF and KSU are out of the grace period recruiting wise, and the conference should start to rise back to the upper half of low majors. I think we could easily see ourselves back in the low 20's by the end of this decade. All it takes is for one school in the conference to get very very good and the rest will play catchup raising the entire level of the conference. I am hoping it is Kennesaw, and believe it will be Kennesaw, but in reality it could be a number of schools. If Belmont could bring in a higher level recruit they could make a move with their system...but that can be difficult to do.

That said-

Doctor- Why do you say ETSU fans were against a return to the OVC?

I don't know of any poll or anything. I know that Bill Meade was in favor of a return (not that he speaks for every fan, but his was a powerful media endorsement). And Brian T. Smith wrote a column in favor of a return.

Many BFFF members were in favor of a return for the obvious reason they felt it was the best chance for football's return.

Now, personally, I wasn't. I felt the schools in the A-Sun have more growth potential than the schools in the OVC. I also feel football can return to ETSU regardless of the conference and that scholarship football in the A-Sun could potentially lead to previously unimaginable things for ETSU, such as the rise UCF enjoyed.

In the OVC you're rather capped as to how far a program can go.

The thing here is, there wasn't much discussion about a potential conference move and it shows how poor the marketing of ETSU is.

Example- on the day one of Paul Stanton's committees met to decide whether or not ETSU should stay in the A-Sun- David Mullins was on the "Morning Monster."

Don Helman asked him specifically about a potential move. Mullins responded with a bunch of mumbo jumbo- "We have to look at the distance of the schools and the RPIs and what is the best fit and . . . "

Six hours later he was in this meeting, voting which way he should go.

He essentially misled not only Helman but all of the Tri-Cities. Why wouldn't Mullins be honest and say "Well, we're actually meeting and discussing that this afternoon?"

Because Stanton told him to keep it under the rug.

WHY? Why wouldn't Stanton want the public at large to discuss OVC vs. A-Sun on the talk shows, in letters to the editor, in barbershops and in bar rooms and on message boards?

That's the best marketing one can get. It beats a thousand billboards or movie theatre trailers. You think the Pittsburgh Steelers sell out every game because they are spoken of in this way in Pittsburgh or because they buy a bunch of billboards that read "BLUE!"

There are no billboards for the Steelers. Don't need 'em- it would be a waste of money.

They do for Pitt, but not the Steelers.

Sure, someone is going to be disapointed at the direction ETSU takes whether they stay or leave, but that's going to happen whether you have open discussion or not.

Paul Stanton would rather have his henchmen lie to the populace of our community than be open with them. He'd rather have a boardroom of Wilsie Bishops decide this without any input on what the community wants.

He might as well have accented the decision to stay in the A-Sun with "Let Them Eat Cake!"

The thing here is, a writer can't say "The A-Sun is rising because it has hit rock bottom."

Okay- North Florida and KSU will be eligible for the NCAAs this year. So what? Does anyone think they'll actually make it?

The fact there is becoming little place for schools to go to that wish to move upwards does not make the A-Sun's situation unique. By this token one would say the Big East is an improving football conference since it is unlikely the Big East would be raided again.

I do actually think there is potential for the A-Sun to grow. As I said, I think the schools in the A-Sun have better chances to grow as they are in population centers and in places that people are moving to. You can't say that about the OVC.

Honestly, don't you think there is more growth potential for the new NCAA schools in the A-Sun than you do SIU-E, which recently announced they'd become Division I by joining the OVC?

Of course.

But does that mean by 2012 the A-Sun is going to be one of the top 15 basketball conferences in the country? I would hardly wager in favor of that!

You guys make some very excellent points. I agree overall that the A-Sun is Shi**y, but can grow if the conference does the right things. I think the conference has to give these schools an incentive to stay in the conference and help the conference get better. And again, I believe that is by marketing itself as a marquee basketball conference and supporting football... Anyway- that is my 2 cents...

I think there is a very good chance that Kennesaw will be in the mix to go to the NCAA's our first year, and I think by the time FGCU is eligible for the NCAA's they will be competing for the title. UNF has a LONNNNNG ways to go, and while Upstate should be a solid program, I don't know if they will be contender year in and year out.

I think starting this year you will start to see a different ASun. Mercer, Kennesaw, Jacksonville, Belmont, and ETSU all have teams in my opinion that could be a very dangerous first round opponent in the NCAA tournament (Kennesaw can't go this year obviously). By the end of next year we will be a rising conference in the pundits eyes...but I can see the framework right now.

KennesawBasketball Wrote:I think there is a very good chance that Kennesaw will be in the mix to go to the NCAA's our first year, and I think by the time FGCU is eligible for the NCAA's they will be competing for the title. UNF has a LONNNNNG ways to go, and while Upstate should be a solid program, I don't know if they will be contender year in and year out.

I think starting this year you will start to see a different ASun. Mercer, Kennesaw, Jacksonville, Belmont, and ETSU all have teams in my opinion that could be a very dangerous first round opponent in the NCAA tournament (Kennesaw can't go this year obviously). By the end of next year we will be a rising conference in the pundits eyes...but I can see the framework right now.

I agree with your assessment, but don't you think conference personnel should do more? Maybe I don't realize what is going on, but I just don't think these guys (and girls) are doing enough. Other than the crappy website there is no promotion of the conference. We need to get on TV, we need to make some noise...

Isn't there a Game of the Week on Sports South or some such station? I'm 99 percent positive there was such a thing last season...unfortunately I guess we don't get it on Bright House here in Florida.

"Low major" sorta sounds like an oxymoron to me. At least jumbo shrimp tastes good.

That double down arrow for the Asun does not help recruiting.

Be interested to see how many arrows up the Socon gets in the mid major review.

There is a "Game of the Week" on Sports South or whatever it is.

Personally, I'd like to see A-Sun baseball on TV.

Baseball is supposed to be the premier sport of the conference and the conference can deliver some nice sized markets.

CWG Wrote:

KennesawBasketball Wrote:I think there is a very good chance that Kennesaw will be in the mix to go to the NCAA's our first year, and I think by the time FGCU is eligible for the NCAA's they will be competing for the title. UNF has a LONNNNNG ways to go, and while Upstate should be a solid program, I don't know if they will be contender year in and year out.

I think starting this year you will start to see a different ASun. Mercer, Kennesaw, Jacksonville, Belmont, and ETSU all have teams in my opinion that could be a very dangerous first round opponent in the NCAA tournament (Kennesaw can't go this year obviously). By the end of next year we will be a rising conference in the pundits eyes...but I can see the framework right now.

I agree with your assessment, but don't you think conference personnel should do more? Maybe I don't realize what is going on, but I just don't think these guys (and girls) are doing enough. Other than the crappy website there is no promotion of the conference. We need to get on TV, we need to make some noise...

Oh I definitely agree that the conference could be doing more the promote the ASun. I think they will as we grow as individual programs. Atleast that is what I would hope for. You don't want to promote a bad product, and to be honest, the ASun is a bad product that is turning itself around. We have some good schools, but we are not yet ready for public scrutiny in my opinion. This will be the year that things start to change in my opinion. Hopefully the conference will capitalize on momentum gained from improved men's basketball programs (the premier sport in the conference since there is no football), and we can start to make some headway in the public's point of view. A win in the NCAA tournament would go a long way, and I think we have some teams that could pull it off....shoot Belmont was close last year to doing it.

Look how much attention the ASUN got for winning those OoC games last year. Now, if we can do that consistently, we will gain alot of credibility, and in the RPI.

ETSUFan1 hit the nail on the head...just win baby. We win enough high profile games, or even better win an NCAA tournament game, and everything will turn around. There isn't a magic formula...just win and the conference will be glad to promote teams, because there will be money at stake if they are able to do it well.