Why did the CAA state that they couldn't meet Georgia State's immediate timeline for FBS?

Rumors about Toledo, Akron, Ohio, Buffalo moving to CUSA make no sense without a massive TV contract increase.

A Texas-Louisiana based CUSA just doesn't make sense for East Carolina and Marshall without a much better TV contract.

The new CAA is a stronger basketball league than CUSA

So the CAA invites Ohio, Akron, Toledo, Buffalo, UMass, E Carolina, Marshall, and FAU (or W Ky or M Tennessee) plus Charlotte as full members and becomes an FBS league.

CAA loses George Mason, Va Commonwealth to A10.
CAA loses UNC-Wilmington to Southern Conference

Not wanting to remain in a football priority league, Hofstra and Northeastern also bolt for A10.

CAA membership is now:

UMass
Buffalo
Akron
Toledo
Ohio
Marshall
E Carolina
FAU
Drexel
Towson St
William & Mary
Delaware - move to FBS later
James Madison - moves to FBS when CAA receives FBS status
Old Dominion - moves to FBS when CAA receives FBS status
Charlotte - moves to FBS later

America East takes over administration of CAA FCS league.

Drexel and Towson St are now the schools that don't quite fit and maybe consider America East in all sports, but likely stay just to take advantage of basketball relationships and to maintain markets in Baltimore and Philadelphia (beyond Delaware staying). William & Mary stays but places football in America East.


This new CAA would likely be on par or better with the new CUSA.

New pecking order among sub-BCS conferences (including both football and basketball):

CAA
MWC
CUSA
Sunbelt
MAC
WAC (if it survives)

(04-17-2012 07:30 PM)panama Wrote:  

Not sure which part of it you're laughing at, but the entire idea is pretty funny.

OK.....realignment ideas have officially......

(04-17-2012 06:57 PM)NoDak Wrote:  Why did the CAA state that they couldn't meet Georgia State's immediate timeline for FBS?

Rumors about Toledo, Akron, Ohio, Buffalo moving to CUSA make no sense without a massive TV contract increase.

A Texas-Louisiana based CUSA just doesn't make sense for East Carolina and Marshall without a much better TV contract.

The new CAA is a stronger basketball league than CUSA

So the CAA invites Ohio, Akron, Toledo, Buffalo, UMass, E Carolina, Marshall, and FAU (or W Ky or M Tennessee) plus Charlotte as full members and becomes an FBS league.

CAA loses George Mason, Va Commonwealth to A10.
CAA loses UNC-Wilmington to Southern Conference

Not wanting to remain in a football priority league, Hofstra and Northeastern also bolt for A10.

CAA membership is now:

UMass
Buffalo
Akron
Toledo
Ohio
Marshall
E Carolina
FAU
Drexel
Towson St
William & Mary
Delaware - move to FBS later
James Madison - moves to FBS when CAA receives FBS status
Old Dominion - moves to FBS when CAA receives FBS status
Charlotte - moves to FBS later

America East takes over administration of CAA FCS league.

Drexel and Towson St are now the schools that don't quite fit and maybe consider America East in all sports, but likely stay just to take advantage of basketball relationships and to maintain markets in Baltimore and Philadelphia (beyond Delaware staying). William & Mary stays but places football in America East.


This new CAA would likely be on par or better with the new CUSA.

New pecking order among sub-BCS conferences (including both football and basketball):

CAA
MWC
CUSA
Sunbelt
MAC
WAC (if it survives)

The whole thing is outlandish, but there is no way that the SoCon adds UNC-Wilmington. 1st, they add nothing. 2nd, they aren't a small private school.

BUT I HAVE A BETTER IDEA!
let's take a random assortment of division 3 schools, move them up to FBS, and then invite Florida, UGA, Alabama, Tennessee and also Idaho to join them! It'll be perfect!

I know for a fact that Georgia Southern AD was in a meeting about forming a new FBS conference with a few of these schools, also including Jax St and Liberty, but I think it's a pipe dream at best.

(04-17-2012 06:57 PM)NoDak Wrote:  CAA membership is now:

UMass
Buffalo
Akron
Toledo
Ohio
Marshall
E Carolina
FAU
Drexel
Towson St
William & Mary
Delaware - move to FBS later
James Madison - moves to FBS when CAA receives FBS status
Old Dominion - moves to FBS when CAA receives FBS status
Charlotte - moves to FBS later

It looks like we've officially reached the unexplored border of Bizarro World.

Contrary to what FCS fans tell you most of them are considered FCS for a REASON. And those reasons include under 10k attendance, less than 20k football stadium capacity, not having had a program for 30 years, just sucking, lack of student and community interest.

(04-18-2012 11:22 AM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  Contrary to what FCS fans tell you most of them are considered FCS for a REASON. And those reasons include under 10k attendance, less than 20k football stadium capacity, not having had a program for 30 years, just sucking, lack of student and community interest.

Um there are some like that but I'm know Old Dominion, Delaware, App St, Georgia Southern, JMU, Montana, Sam Houston, Eastern Washington, Montana St, and North Dakota St. that can beat WAC, MAC and Sunbelt teams any given sunday but for one reason or another can't move up for various reasons.

(04-18-2012 06:24 PM)Old Dominion Navy Wrote:  

(04-18-2012 11:22 AM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  Contrary to what FCS fans tell you most of them are considered FCS for a REASON. And those reasons include under 10k attendance, less than 20k football stadium capacity, not having had a program for 30 years, just sucking, lack of student and community interest.

Um there are some like that but I'm know Old Dominion, Delaware, App St, Georgia Southern, JMU, Montana, Sam Houston, Eastern Washington, Montana St, and North Dakota St. that can beat WAC, MAC and Sunbelt teams any given sunday but for one reason or another can't move up for various reasons.

Sure, a FCS program can beat a FBS program. I think 4 did last year. But there's a huge difference between doing that once every four or five years (while playing one FBS team per year) and having to play 10 FBS games per year. Former FCS powerhouses like Marshall, Western Kentucky, Louisiana-Monroe, Arkansas State, etc. have all found out that its a bit different on the other side of the fence.

Old Dominion? Great fan support, good basketball, history with some of our teams. The only reason ODU can't move up is that they aren't asking to move up. I'd love to see ODU and Charlotte back in the Belt. And the Basketball wouldn't be much worse than the CAA without VCU and GMU. But that window may be closing fast. You'd need a new stadium, but I think you guys can swing it.

We didn't like how you left the Belt, but its been about 20 years since then.

I know, many at ODU think that CUSA is gonna come calling some day. But if CUSA expands again, its going to be because it got raided again. And there are only 3 schools that make CUSA better than the Belt (ECU, USM, and Tulsa). And if they lose one or two of those, which is the only reason they would look at a FCS school, then whats the point of waiting for a bid from a conference that isn't going to be any better than the 'Belt at the next go round. Why not try to move up now to the 'Belt? It certainly would put ODU in a much better position in the future.

Are you guys working on a MAC bid with JMU? That might make sense for you guys.

Is the CAA even going to exist in any beneficial form for ODU in 2 years? GMU and VCU are going to the A-10. JMU is probably headed to the MAC. And a bunch of small FCS football schools with bad basketball is heading into the CAA. At some point Drexel is going to look around and bolt for a no-football league. Do you guys think you're in play for the A-10? From what I'm seeing over at the A-10 boards, I'm not seeing much play for you guys.

The interesting thing about ODU is that either the AD is really tight lipped or they aren't doing anything to look after ODU's position in this.

ODU is a valuable product. They have value. But that value will surely be diminished if they stay in the CAA. You aren't getting CUSA. Its either MAC, SBC, or watch everyone else jump over you in football and watch your basketball product wither in whats left of the CAA.

Back in December ODU's AD Wood Selig stated that he was in a meeting with other FCS teams in NYC to investigate the formation of a new FBS football only conference. So I know we are looking at options.

Edit: deleted here-say

(04-18-2012 08:20 PM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Back in December ODU's AD Wood Selig stated that he was in a meeting with other FCS teams in NYC to investigate the formation of a new FBS football only conference. So I know we are looking at options, even thinking out of the box. At the Final Four an informal invite from the MAC was extended. The biggest concern would be the lost of our regional rivals and the additional travel cost.

So ODU is looking at the MAC with JMU. That makes sense. I think you're going to lose these regional rivals anyway. The only team in Virginia that looks likely to want to stay in the CAA is William and Mary.

(04-18-2012 08:20 PM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Back in December ODU's AD Wood Selig stated that he was in a meeting with other FCS teams in NYC to investigate the formation of a new FBS football only conference. So I know we are looking at options, even thinking out of the box. At the Final Four an informal invite from the MAC was extended. The biggest concern would be the lost of our regional rivals and the additional travel cost.

Where did you hear that from?

A new FBS conference is almost impossible to form from scratch, due to the lengthy time frame that the NCAA requires to recognize a new conference. These very rules are causing major headaches with the Alliance options: reorganizing an existing league is really the only viable option in the short term.

For a new eastern FBS conference to materialize, there are really only two options:

1) Expansion of the WAC, with a division for eastern teams - later split off the east
2) A non-FBS conference providing the shell to add 8 existing FBS teams.

This thread has given a lot of people laughs, but, some serious questions for East Carolina and Marshall remain (as well as UMass, and MAC schools with higher aspirations)

How is East Carolina helped by continued affiliation in a gutted CUSA? No more Memphis, Houston, UCF, SMU. A league of Rice, UNT, Tulsa, UTEP, Tulane, La Tech, UAB, and USM is going to help ECU? Hardly. HOw does playing in front of 10,000 at Rice or Tulane or Birmingham help ECU? A: It does nothing but harm ECU. A league of Buffalo, Ohio, Toledo, Akron, Marshall, UMass, FAU is already practically already on par with CUSA and actually has more potential. ECU likely one day will gain a Big East football only bid. A new CAA would accomodate ECU: CUSA wouldn't. CUSA offers one real football school, USM, and several academic institutions: Rice, Tulane, and Tulsa. But none of those institutions help ECU build upon an already solid fanbase in NC or establish real regional rivals.

How is Marshall helped by continued affiliation in CUSA? Unless Charlotte, Old Dominion, W Kentucky, Middle Tennessee are added, it really isn't helped. Marshall's alumni are along the Atlantic Coast (VA/NC/SC)and Ohio River corridor, not in Texas / La. CUSA has to jettison UTEP to even have a chance of being a reasonable league for Marshall.

Buffalo / UMAss : Both would much rather be in an eastern FBS league than the MAC.

Ohio, Akron, Toledo have legitimate FBS aspirations. Contrasts those programs with Bowling Green, Kent St, Ball State, and E Mich, which, God love them, just don't have the foundations to be any more than glorified FCS programs at the FBS level.

James Madison, Old Dominion, Charlotte, Delaware as a group are preferrable to the schools CUSA will be adding.

Long term, the new CUSA just doesn't offer any upside to East Carolina and Marshall other than the chance to move elsewhere someday.

What if the MAC did take JMU, ODU, UDel, App St, along with UMass you would have a pretty good start for a more Eastern FBS division. JMU is spending about $30mil and ODU is over $32mil/yr, both large public schools with good fan bases.

(04-18-2012 08:25 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(04-18-2012 08:20 PM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Back in December ODU's AD Wood Selig stated that he was in a meeting with other FCS teams in NYC to investigate the formation of a new FBS football only conference. So I know we are looking at options, even thinking out of the box. At the Final Four an informal invite from the MAC was extended. The biggest concern would be the lost of our regional rivals and the additional travel cost.

So ODU is looking at the MAC with JMU. That makes sense. I think you're going to lose these regional rivals anyway. The only team in Virginia that looks likely to want to stay in the CAA is William and Mary.

If it comes down to it, W&M will end up in the Patriot League.

Georgia State gets roasted for moving up and now the entire conference is "hoping" to make a move. It keeps getting better by the day.

(04-18-2012 10:43 PM)Sluggo13 Wrote:  Georgia State gets roasted for moving up and now the entire conference is "hoping" to make a move. It keeps getting better by the day.

Georgia State made the right move.

(04-18-2012 10:16 PM)AtlanticLeague Wrote:  

(04-18-2012 08:25 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(04-18-2012 08:20 PM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Back in December ODU's AD Wood Selig stated that he was in a meeting with other FCS teams in NYC to investigate the formation of a new FBS football only conference. So I know we are looking at options, even thinking out of the box. At the Final Four an informal invite from the MAC was extended. The biggest concern would be the lost of our regional rivals and the additional travel cost.

So ODU is looking at the MAC with JMU. That makes sense. I think you're going to lose these regional rivals anyway. The only team in Virginia that looks likely to want to stay in the CAA is William and Mary.

If it comes down to it, W&M will end up in the Patriot League.

I doubt that W&M lands in the Patriot if the CAA implodes. Patriot doesn't allow for the full allotment of scholarships in the FCS, and W&M is consistently a good team and I don't think they'd sacrifice that. I think it'd be more likely that they'd go SoCon before the Patriot if leaving the CAA.