Liberty to the SBC is picking up steam. Some Flame fans think it is a done deal......not that I believe them.

(04-15-2013 09:07 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Liberty to the SBC is picking up steam. Some Flame fans think it is a done deal......not that I believe them.

If this gets announced this place is going to be

(04-15-2013 09:10 AM)Dukes2004 Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 09:07 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Liberty to the SBC is picking up steam. Some Flame fans think it is a done deal......not that I believe them.

If this gets announced this place is going to be

brace yourself....I would say its going to get worse before it gets better, but I'm not sure it is going to get better. Quite the gamble going on in Godwin hall these days.

SBC will be in Lynchburg this week.

(04-15-2013 09:14 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 09:10 AM)Dukes2004 Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 09:07 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Liberty to the SBC is picking up steam. Some Flame fans think it is a done deal......not that I believe them.

If this gets announced this place is going to be

brace yourself....I would say its going to get worse before it gets better, but I'm not sure it is going to get better. Quite the gamble going on in Godwin hall these days.

If what you say is true, 2004, then that is very disturbing. :

(04-15-2013 09:22 AM)jmusuperfan Wrote:  SBC will be in Lynchburg this week.

Sold.

From The Sunbelt Insider....After Western Kentucky made it official that they will be leaving the Sun Belt Conference for Conference USA in 2014 that left an open spot in the Sun Belt Conference. Commissioner Carl Benson said on Monday that Western Kentucky news was no surprise to him or the Sun Belt Conference, and that they have been preparing for the moment. Now that WKU is gone, Commissioner Benson has been in active talks with several programs and most notably James Madison and Liberty.

On last evening I confirmed that Liberty AD Jeff Barber and Liberty has been in active discussions with the Sun Belt Conference and Commissioner Karl Benson. Today I have learned here at the Insider that Commissioner Benson has acknowledged that there are talks between himself and Liberty at this time. Could Liberty be preparing to accept that invitation if offered- certainly! Liberty has made it known in 2012 through the announcement of their school president that they desire to be at the highest level of competition in college sports.

What makes this possible is that the long rumored James Madison University also located in Virginia was a front runner for the #12 spot as well, may have rejected the invitation to move up to FBS and join the Sun Belt Conference. Many reports and sources have stated that JMU is not interested at this time and not looking to move up to FBS. However, I still say there is still a chance that the Sun Belt Conference may be still lobbying JMU for that number 12 spot while they talk with their back up Liberty.

With all the talk about Liberty, you have many that believe Liberty religious views may not work in the Sun Belt Conference and more so – not welcomed by many.

Well I think we will all find out the answer to these discussions very soon. I don’t think the wait will be pushed back to long, because the schools need to announce before June 1st that they intend to move up to FBS from FCS. If Liberty or James Madison accepts they will play as FCS independents in 2013 and will not be able to compete for any FCS post season games or conference championships. Either school will join the Sun Belt Conference in 2014 as transitional members in football and members in all other sports; they will be able to compete for Sun Belt Conference championships. Football program will not be able to participate in any FBS Bowl games until 2015.

Liberty or James Madison will be a member of the Sun Belt Conference projected eastern division.
Over the past week we have seen the Sun Belt Conference add two FCS powerhouses in Appalachian State and Georgia Southern; the SBC also added two former disbanded WAC football members New Mexico State and Idaho that are now independents and formers members of the Sun Belt Conference as well. All four of these teams will be added on July 1, 2014.

Liberty University is a Christian program that would make an outstanding addition to the Sun Belt Conference in all sports. Liberty is located in Lynchburg, VA (Do the SBC want to expand to Virginia? I’m pretty sure they do for a quality program.) Liberty is located in the 65th media market if that makes any difference, sounds ok to me; Liberty has over 12,000 residential students and over 75,000 online students, 220 Programs of Study with an 968 average APR. Liberty is expected to add a law school and medical school by 2014. There are 26 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans at Liberty.

Is Liberty ready for TV production-YES with a 20,000 seat stadium and is expected to expand to over 25,000 seats; their basketball arena holds 8,000 with a 3-court practice facility. Liberty has 6 NCAA D1 National Champions teams with 35 NCAA Championship appearances and 20 full funded scholarships teams. Not only that, Liberty has that cash to go with it. Who wouldn’t be looking for a program like that?

If Liberty goes to the Sun Belt this week, no one should panic. It's not a big deal as far as we are concerned.

It simply means this:

we are trying to be one of those two teams that CUSA adds. But if we are not chosen, the two that ARE chosen will be from the Sun Belt. And we can simply go to the SB at that time.

(04-15-2013 10:01 AM)atljmualum Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 09:14 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 09:10 AM)Dukes2004 Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 09:07 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Liberty to the SBC is picking up steam. Some Flame fans think it is a done deal......not that I believe them.

If this gets announced this place is going to be

brace yourself....I would say its going to get worse before it gets better, but I'm not sure it is going to get better. Quite the gamble going on in Godwin hall these days.

If what you say is true, 2004, then that is very disturbing. :

Just to be clear, I am not in the "know". I think it is clear that the SBC is moving on from JMU after giving us close to 3 weeks to consider an offer. That means we either aren't moving to FBS, or we're hoping for a CUSA invitation. I guess the SBC could come back to us, but if we decline this time, I can't see us accepting when Liberty is in the fold.

To all of you who will say "we're moving, it is just a matter of time.", I remind you that we can't do anything on our time.....someone has to invite us.

(04-15-2013 10:21 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  If Liberty goes to the Sun Belt this week, no one should panic. It's not a big deal as far as we are concerned.

It simply means this:

we are trying to be one of those two teams that CUSA adds. But if we are not chosen, the two that ARE chosen will be from the Sun Belt. And we can simply go to the SB at that time.

And if CUSA decides to stay at 14? No backfill from SBC, and no more spots in SBC.

It is a huge gamble......and I can't say that I have any confidence in our administration's situational awareness.

(04-15-2013 10:21 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  If Liberty goes to the Sun Belt this week, no one should panic. It's not a big deal as far as we are concerned.

It simply means this:

we are trying to be one of those two teams that CUSA adds. But if we are not chosen, the two that ARE chosen will be from the Sun Belt. And we can simply go to the SB at that time.

lets be "negative" here and assume that the cusa or mac never end up accepting us after liberty joins the sbc and becomes the 4th VA FBS school.
If we don't want to join the sbc today, are we going to be that much more likely to want to join a sbc that has likely lost ULL and Ark State PLUS added liberty? That sounds even more watered down to me. Who's to say liberty won't screw us and always vote against our inclusion in the future sbc?
It sounds like a huge gamble.

yep, it is a gamble. guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes.

if CUSA does expand, I like our chances of getting one of those 2 spots. I think we have more to offer than UL or ASU. And one visit to JMU by CUSA officials will make that abundantly clear.

As a proponent of FBS, I am pretty scared right now. CUSA going to 16 is AT BEST 50/50.....and right now, under my understanding of the new FBS revenue sharing for the Gang of 5, I see no reason for them to go to 16 UNLESS significant travel savings can be had. If an eastern school is added, UAB must move to the west, and they are steadfastly against that.

If CUSA stops focusing on media markets, then we have a lot to offer. So far, there doesn't seem to be anything that indicates that they want to do that.

western kentucky is in a market?

(04-15-2013 10:21 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  If Liberty goes to the Sun Belt this week, no one should panic. It's not a big deal as far as we are concerned.

It simply means this:

we are trying to be one of those two teams that CUSA adds. But if we are not chosen, the two that ARE chosen will be from the Sun Belt. And we can simply go to the SB at that time.

Or perhaps it means that JMU is genuinely not interested in FBS, as our administration has indicated in the past.

(04-15-2013 12:13 PM)rufus Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 10:21 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  If Liberty goes to the Sun Belt this week, no one should panic. It's not a big deal as far as we are concerned.

It simply means this:

we are trying to be one of those two teams that CUSA adds. But if we are not chosen, the two that ARE chosen will be from the Sun Belt. And we can simply go to the SB at that time.

Or perhaps it means that JMU is genuinely not interested in FBS, as our administration has indicated in the past.

If JMU has moved to FBS in 1 month from today, what will you do?

(04-15-2013 12:14 PM)HolyCityDuke Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 12:13 PM)rufus Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 10:21 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  If Liberty goes to the Sun Belt this week, no one should panic. It's not a big deal as far as we are concerned.

It simply means this:

we are trying to be one of those two teams that CUSA adds. But if we are not chosen, the two that ARE chosen will be from the Sun Belt. And we can simply go to the SB at that time.

Or perhaps it means that JMU is genuinely not interested in FBS, as our administration has indicated in the past.

If JMU has moved to FBS in 1 month from today, what will you do?

5/15/13 will be a rough day for the Duke Club if Liberty moves up and we stay silent. I'll fill my pledge....but I know many who won't, no matter how much I implore them.

(04-15-2013 12:14 PM)HolyCityDuke Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 12:13 PM)rufus Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 10:21 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  If Liberty goes to the Sun Belt this week, no one should panic. It's not a big deal as far as we are concerned.

It simply means this:

we are trying to be one of those two teams that CUSA adds. But if we are not chosen, the two that ARE chosen will be from the Sun Belt. And we can simply go to the SB at that time.

Or perhaps it means that JMU is genuinely not interested in FBS, as our administration has indicated in the past.

If JMU has moved to FBS in 1 month from today, what will you do?

Write a check, I suppose.

I just think that people tend to overlook obvious answers. Maybe we're passing on the Sun Belt in hopes of securing a CUSA membership. But after years of hearing "we're happy in FCS" from our admin, isn't it equally likely that we're just happy in FCS? We had a shot at CUSA last year, and walked away. I just don't think GMU's departure was significant enough to change our thinking on FBS.

(04-15-2013 12:19 PM)rufus Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 12:14 PM)HolyCityDuke Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 12:13 PM)rufus Wrote:  

(04-15-2013 10:21 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  If Liberty goes to the Sun Belt this week, no one should panic. It's not a big deal as far as we are concerned.

It simply means this:

we are trying to be one of those two teams that CUSA adds. But if we are not chosen, the two that ARE chosen will be from the Sun Belt. And we can simply go to the SB at that time.

Or perhaps it means that JMU is genuinely not interested in FBS, as our administration has indicated in the past.

If JMU has moved to FBS in 1 month from today, what will you do?

Write a check, I suppose.

I just think that people tend to overlook obvious answers. Maybe we're passing on the Sun Belt in hopes of securing a CUSA membership. But after years of hearing "we're happy in FCS" from our admin, isn't it equally likely that we're just happy in FCS? We had a shot at CUSA last year, and walked away. I just don't think GMU's departure was significant enough to change our thinking on FBS.

Seriously, what will you do? You'll write a check? How much? How much are you willing to wager that JMU will announce a move to FBS in 1 month?

NOTE: I have no inside knowledge on this situation... But from what I've read, it's clear JMU is going FBS VERY soon. I just think rufus has already clouded his thoughts and has convinced himself JMU never wants to move up... Even though JMU's statement says otherwise, in a PC manner.