Not sure whether this article has already been posted here, as I've been here sporadically in the last 2-3 months, but the link below is a pretty good read on the trials and tribulations of being a G5, more specifically, C-USA and Sun Belt.

http://m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal...nment.aspx

For those who'd rather not read the whole thing, I included the 3 graphics below to give you an idea of the direction the piece was taking with regard to proposed solutions to the decreasing media revenue and increasing travel costs our schools are dealing with.

The floor is yours...

The only positive I can say about this map is that according to it the junior college in Monroe has dropped FBS football.

A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

(01-10-2017 08:58 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

And what teams should make up that third?

(01-10-2017 09:03 PM)StAteRedWolf Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 08:58 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

And what teams should make up that third?

Start with those that have attendance averages less than 18k for 3 consecutive years. Growing the G5 team total makes things worse, not better. Makes it easier for ESPN/P5 to justify a split and also waters down the CFP money per team.

(01-10-2017 08:31 PM)RonBurgundy Wrote:  The only positive I can say about this map is that according to it the junior college in Monroe has dropped FBS football.

Yup.

Some decent articles in this link.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/special-r...010617_BIZ

Nos. 1 & 3 in particular are worth the read.

Quote:On a warm November Saturday in Boca Raton, 5,843 people turned out to see Florida Atlantic University play its final home football game of the year. With 80 percent of the seats empty, it was the Owls’ smallest audience since the team jumped to college football’s top division in 2005.

In 2011, FAU opened a new, $70 million stadium. The team sold an average of 17,565 tickets per game, earning $1.3 million in sales. This year attendance fell to a ten-year low of 10,073, and ticket revenue has fallen as well.

(01-10-2017 09:21 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:03 PM)StAteRedWolf Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 08:58 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

And what teams should make up that third?

Start with those that have attendance averages less than 18k for 3 consecutive years. Growing the G5 team total makes things worse, not better. Makes it easier for ESPN/P5 to justify a split and also waters down the CFP money per team.

Well damn I guess the two time CUSA champion in football has to go back to the OVC, shucks!

(01-11-2017 08:34 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:21 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:03 PM)StAteRedWolf Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 08:58 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

And what teams should make up that third?

Start with those that have attendance averages less than 18k for 3 consecutive years. Growing the G5 team total makes things worse, not better. Makes it easier for ESPN/P5 to justify a split and also waters down the CFP money per team.

Well damn I guess the two time CUSA champion in football has to go back to the OVC, shucks!

As the old saying goes, if you can't beat them change the rules so they can't play

(01-10-2017 09:21 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:03 PM)StAteRedWolf Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 08:58 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

And what teams should make up that third?

Start with those that have attendance averages less than 18k for 3 consecutive years. Growing the G5 team total makes things worse, not better. Makes it easier for ESPN/P5 to justify a split and also waters down the CFP money per team.

If you do it for football then it should happen for basketball too, say under 3K attendance. Creating a strong basketball conference and getting those NCAA credits are equally as important.

(01-11-2017 08:50 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(01-11-2017 08:34 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:21 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:03 PM)StAteRedWolf Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 08:58 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

And what teams should make up that third?

Start with those that have attendance averages less than 18k for 3 consecutive years. Growing the G5 team total makes things worse, not better. Makes it easier for ESPN/P5 to justify a split and also waters down the CFP money per team.

Well damn I guess the two time CUSA champion in football has to go back to the OVC, shucks!

As the old saying goes, if you can't beat them change the rules so they can't play

According to NCAA, this is what appears to be the rule for attendance:
"Average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all home football contests over a rolling two-year period. [Bylaw 20.9.9.3]"

My point is I'd rather my school be in a conference that has teams that have decent to good fan draw. Teams that have a few good years that can't get any fan interest will have trouble sustaining that level of play over time.

https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files...8%2014.pdf

(01-11-2017 09:46 AM)wh49er Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:21 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:03 PM)StAteRedWolf Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 08:58 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

And what teams should make up that third?

Start with those that have attendance averages less than 18k for 3 consecutive years. Growing the G5 team total makes things worse, not better. Makes it easier for ESPN/P5 to justify a split and also waters down the CFP money per team.

If you do it for football then it should happen for basketball too, say under 3K attendance. Creating a strong basketball conference and getting those NCAA credits are equally as important.

Agreed. I know USM has terrible basketball attendance, but if there was a requirement for 3k or greater attendance, I think there would be better investment in that program and more people would attend games. Basically, what that rule would do for USM in basketball is what 18k rule would do for some other schools in football.

I'm not trying to offend any fans of schools that have low football attendance, I just wish there were more of you supporting your team.

If you have a FBS team that has DII attendance, you are no good to the conference you are in.

Why would you put Arkansas State in with Texas schools over 500 miles away when Louisiana Lafayette is less than half the distance?

(01-11-2017 10:04 AM)AppManDG Wrote:  Why would you put Arkansas State in with Texas schools over 500 miles away when Louisiana Lafayette is less than half the distance?

One reason is there are 5 Texas FBS schools so you need a single school to create a 6-team division. Picking any other team to finish off the Texas division means spitting other schools from their in-state rivals. The second reason is there are historical reasons that teaming an Arkansas school with a bevy of Texas schools might offer some appeal to those who fondly remember the SWC.

(01-11-2017 09:46 AM)wh49er Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:21 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:03 PM)StAteRedWolf Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 08:58 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

And what teams should make up that third?

Start with those that have attendance averages less than 18k for 3 consecutive years. Growing the G5 team total makes things worse, not better. Makes it easier for ESPN/P5 to justify a split and also waters down the CFP money per team.

If you do it for football then it should happen for basketball too, say under 3K attendance. Creating a strong basketball conference and getting those NCAA credits are equally as important.

I can live with that.

Cheers!

I agree with the idea that if the smaller schools in G5 want to survive at the FBS level than they should all look at the MAC format of regionalism. Tighter knit conferences that can breed rivalries by proximity. The media companies are already paying them very little so it's not like CUSA makes that much more than the Sun Belt for their to be a real divide.

The AAC is clearly higher than the other 3 eastern G5 conferences so they wouldn't take part. The MAC is already regionally set up and could maybe add 2 schools down the road to slightly expand their footprint. The MWC is alone out in the west as the lone western G5.

A regional realignment would make the most sense for CUSA and the Sun Belt. How you would split them up is up to the schools themselves but making 2-3 conferences would be the best idea.

(01-11-2017 09:46 AM)wh49er Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:21 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 09:03 PM)StAteRedWolf Wrote:  

(01-10-2017 08:58 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  A 3rd of these teams either should stay FCS or drop down to FCS. I don't see the positive in taking 2 bad conferences and creating 2 worse conferences. Sure travel is easier, but now people will not travel because of the competition.

And what teams should make up that third?

Start with those that have attendance averages less than 18k for 3 consecutive years. Growing the G5 team total makes things worse, not better. Makes it easier for ESPN/P5 to justify a split and also waters down the CFP money per team.

If you do it for football then it should happen for basketball too, say under 3K attendance. Creating a strong basketball conference and getting those NCAA credits are equally as important.

Certainly second in the sports pecking order, but I wouldn't say equally important. Football is, and probably always will be, the bread winner, and that's by a long shot.

(01-11-2017 12:47 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote:  I agree with the idea that if the smaller schools in G5 want to survive at the FBS level than they should all look at the MAC format of regionalism. Tighter knit conferences that can breed rivalries by proximity. The media companies are already paying them very little so it's not like CUSA makes that much more than the Sun Belt for their to be a real divide.

The AAC is clearly higher than the other 3 eastern G5 conferences so they wouldn't take part. The MAC is already regionally set up and could maybe add 2 schools down the road to slightly expand their footprint. The MWC is alone out in the west as the lone western G5.

A regional realignment would make the most sense for CUSA and the Sun Belt. How you would split them up is up to the schools themselves but making 2-3 conferences would be the best idea.

You may be making my point why this isn't a good idea. Top to bottom, the MAC isn't a very good conference. They are in the middle of the B10 recruiting area and don't get a lot of exposure outside their small region for recruiting. So, they compete against a lot of teams in their own conference for the same players. Taking the SBC and CUSA and splitting and then having 2 conferences in SEC territory could have the same result. Less exposure and same conference members competing for same recruits.

(01-11-2017 12:47 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote:  I agree with the idea that if the smaller schools in G5 want to survive at the FBS level than they should all look at the MAC format of regionalism. Tighter knit conferences that can breed rivalries by proximity. The media companies are already paying them very little so it's not like CUSA makes that much more than the Sun Belt for their to be a real divide.

The AAC is clearly higher than the other 3 eastern G5 conferences so they wouldn't take part. The MAC is already regionally set up and could maybe add 2 schools down the road to slightly expand their footprint. The MWC is alone out in the west as the lone western G5.

A regional realignment would make the most sense for CUSA and the Sun Belt. How you would split them up is up to the schools themselves but making 2-3 conferences would be the best idea.

Depends on how the next AAC contract pans out. If there is no value to being in a big spread out conference---then the AAC's current spread out nature makes alot less sense. Could be changes there as well.

(01-11-2017 04:57 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(01-11-2017 12:47 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote:  I agree with the idea that if the smaller schools in G5 want to survive at the FBS level than they should all look at the MAC format of regionalism. Tighter knit conferences that can breed rivalries by proximity. The media companies are already paying them very little so it's not like CUSA makes that much more than the Sun Belt for their to be a real divide.

The AAC is clearly higher than the other 3 eastern G5 conferences so they wouldn't take part. The MAC is already regionally set up and could maybe add 2 schools down the road to slightly expand their footprint. The MWC is alone out in the west as the lone western G5.

A regional realignment would make the most sense for CUSA and the Sun Belt. How you would split them up is up to the schools themselves but making 2-3 conferences would be the best idea.

You may be making my point why this isn't a good idea. Top to bottom, the MAC isn't a very good conference. They are in the middle of the B10 recruiting area and don't get a lot of exposure outside their small region for recruiting. So, they compete against a lot of teams in their own conference for the same players. Taking the SBC and CUSA and splitting and then having 2 conferences in SEC territory could have the same result. Less exposure and same conference members competing for same recruits.

Thats already the situation in the south. Those schools are already competing with the SEC, ACC and now teams from the other conference who is recruiting in their territory.

Ticket sales would increase if fans from conference rivals can drive to most away games. Marshall for example would get more fans to their games playing teams in VA and NC instead of MS, LA and TX. The TV deals are almost the same so they would stand to make more money going regional. Ticket sales are what they can tap into to help make up for a lack of TV money. Thats without even bringing up how regional rivalries keeps travel costs down for olympic sports. Using Marshall as an example once again because why not, they would be sending their baseball, volleyball etc teams to VA, KY and NC which would mostly be bus trips instead of flights to TX, LA and MS.

I'm a firm believer that regionalism and familiarity breeds rivalries. Rivalries drive ticket sales. Not just in FB but BBall as well.

To clarify, I a Rutgers fan wished we were in a regional northeastern conference made up of:

Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse, Pitt, PSU, Navy, Army, Maryland, WVU, Temple, BC and Buffalo.