I don't think we're a school that could really make it work at the FBS level, but I hope we start to take a look and consider if the CAA really makes sense for any of the schools involved.

(10-20-2021 03:25 PM)Tribe2011 Wrote:  And there goes the last other VA member of the CAA:

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/14...9450950657

This is long overdue. JMU should have moved with App State years ago.

And there is no FBS option that looks appealing to me. The CAA has good schools, regionally close and up the seaboard. We should invest ourselves to work to make this a conference in our best image.

The question should be who if anyone would we best support to backfill if the CAA wanted. I personally would push for Furman.

Cue the W&M to Patriot League rants


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It just sucks because there isn't a good option. The CAA is a terrible conference full of disconnected schools no one cares about. But so are CUSA or the SBC. And the PL has good connections among its members but is even less relevant than the CAA. At this point I think we should just focus on basketball finding a landing spot and be happy playing UR and an ACC team each year (and Delaware if they stick around).

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IMO, the only way a Patriot League move makes sense is if the CAA completely calls it quits. In this scenario, I'm assuming we'd be part of a group of former CAA schools that would elevate the Patriot League. If not, then JMU leaves and we continue on in the CAA. They have been on a different level in football, and they continue to be bad at basketball, 2021 preseason rankings notwithstanding. No other sports really matter when it comes to conferences. It makes a lot of sense for them to join back up with ODU, JMU is a lot more similar to them than they are to most of the CAA schools.

I’m old enough to remember when Marshall was I-AA and JMU was a FCS cupcake. ODU didn’t even play football back then. Those were good times. Now, the Sunbelt East is about to be JMU/ODU/Marshall/App St/Georgia So/Georgia St/Coastal Carolina. Sounds pretty good to me. We get to play Towson and Elon. Who’s laughing now?

(10-20-2021 07:50 PM)Tribester Wrote:  Now, the Sunbelt East is about to be JMU/ODU/Marshall/App St/Georgia So/Georgia St/Coastal Carolina. Sounds pretty good to me.

But does it though? I hate playing Towson too but Coastal Carolina is just Towson in Conway, SC.

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Should JMU leave, I would prefer we try to create an all-sports league with the remaining CAA football schools and anyone from the Patriot who cares to joins.

Competing against the 5 basketball only CAA schools is not sustainable in the long run. And providing a football home for UR and Villanova is basically a free gift to them.

I realize that any realignment runs the risk of losing an AQ and the idea of W&M spearheading such a realignment is laughable given our past history but still.

I guess I am suggesting the steal the Albanys and Stony Brooks and even Maines to replace the basketball only and football only schools:

W&M
Delaware
Towson
Elon
Albany
Stony Brook
Maine
New Hampshire

Sure…who would be interested in a road trip to Myrtle Beach in November. Watch some football, play some golf, hit the outlets. Would much prefer the road trip to Cracktown instead.

Well I didn't know it had an outlet mall

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I would like to see us join a league that had teams along the seaboard, Charleston up to say NYC, and a football arm that would include Delaware, Villanova, Elon, Towson and Richmond.

If JMU leaves…IF….we just do what we did when GMU, ga state, ODU, and VCU left, we find So Con - like schools who also want to take a step up and invite them. VMI and UNCG or some other program. The CAA is weaker now thn it was 15 years ago and it’ll only weaken over the coming years. It’s not a big deal as we haven’t been at the top of either of the 2 big sports for the better part of a decade. May actually be a good thing.

Look at it this way: for every JMU that goes FBS, there are a handful of schools looking to fire up competitive programs (Mercer, Campbell, and Merrimack)


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Invite Furman as an all sports member

(10-20-2021 08:43 PM)Tribal Wrote:  If JMU leaves…IF….we just do what we did when GMU, ga state, ODU, and VCU left, we find So Con - like schools who also want to take a step up and invite them. VMI and UNCG or some other program. The CAA is weaker now thn it was 15 years ago and it’ll only weaken over the coming years. It’s not a big deal as we haven’t been at the top of either of the 2 big sports for the better part of a decade. May actually be a good thing.

Look at it this way: for every JMU that goes FBS, there are a handful of schools looking to fire up competitive programs (Mercer, Campbell, and Merrimack)


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Quoting this post as it aligns the closest with my thoughts.

I'm chalking this up, honestly, as no huge deal. Does it hurt the profile of CAA football? Sure. But JMU has been operating on another level than the rest of the CAA, let alone us, for quite some time now.

It stinks to lose our last in-state conference mate, but I'm not sure that's as big of a deal as when we lost 3 in one swoop.

I think chicken-littling this situation for now is way overkill. If other programs start leaving the CAA, sure...

I think we all know that college sports is going to change a LOT over the next several years. Count me as one of those that thinks being in bottom tier FBS conferences may be the worst possible spot.

(10-20-2021 07:27 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  It just sucks because there isn't a good option. The CAA is a terrible conference full of disconnected schools no one cares about. But so are CUSA or the SBC. And the PL has good connections among its members but is even less relevant than the CAA. At this point I think we should just focus on basketball finding a landing spot and be happy playing UR and an ACC team each year (and Delaware if they stick around).

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James Carville once famously said if there was reincarnation he would want to come back as the bond market because you can intimidate anyone. I remain persuaded that if Mr. Carville had worked in college athletics, he would want to come back as the auto-bid rule.

I hope Brian Mann gets started in terms of what our exit strategy may look like. I personally don't think the CAA is bad, but the commissioner certainly is mailing it in. I would much prefer a conference closer to Williamsburg. I think it would be ideal to be in a conference with teams like Hampton, NSU, NC A&T, VMI, and others that are no more than a 3 hour drive. Rivalries would emerge quickly.

JMU may have been playing in a different league than us in football for a while but not in basketball. These things are cyclical and all it takes is a good QB drought to bring a team back to the pack.

In my opinion, JMU is an athletic peer institution, just like ODU. I realize we are not in a position right now to even think about FBS, but I would love to see us grow to 10-12K undergrads and at least be able to consider rejoining our peers if a spot were to open somewhere or if an East Coast football conference were ever to come to fruition. It is abundantly clear we are in the 3rd tier of football but unlike UR or Villanova, who are very clear that athletic decisions are made for basketball, we seem to still value football more. If we want to continue that thinking, we need to play teams our students and graduates view as athletic peers. It will require more student fee money and more students. If we want to de-emphasize sports all together and have 4-5K become the norm for fans at football games, then by all means lets join the Patriot. I am not suggesting that a future move to FBS will have any monetary benefits but we lose money now and will at the FBS level, but at least our students and alums will recognize some of the teams we are playing and hopefully come to the games. I guess I can dream.

Not excited about the prospects of future CAA partners or other conferences (Patriot etc), but our goal should be to follow JMUs process. That is, invest in athletic facilities, fund scholarships and hope that some level of sustained success makes us attractive for the next major realignment between G5/FCS. As every nickel and dime school jumps to G5, this will inevitably happen.

Interesting article from HERO Sports: Pondering a CAA without JMU

https://herosports.com/fcs-football-jmu-fbs-caa-dsds/

(10-21-2021 11:47 AM)billymac Wrote:  Interesting article from HERO Sports: Pondering a CAA without JMU

https://herosports.com/fcs-football-jmu-fbs-caa-dsds/

This is the relevant quote for W&M from that article, IMO:

Quote:Via multiple national reports from Yahoo! Sports and The Athletic this week, the Sun Belt and C-USA are checking the “wanting” box for James Madison.

As conversations between the Harrisonburg bunch and those conferences are alleged, Yeager, the self-described FCS advocate, reminds the football world of traditions that matter.

“The excitement that you have when you’re [your team is] playing the alma mater of another guy in your office three cubicles down, and your neighbor’s [alma mater] and stuff like that, it brings something. When you’re playing a steady diet of people you can’t find with a map, it starts eroding your programs. If you’re playing football on every night of the week to be on TV for really no real money, eventually, you start to lose the foundational support for your program. Your attendance starts going down. ‘We were on TV!’ Everybody’s on TV.”

Concluded Yeager, “When Maine and New Hampshire play, people care. When Delaware and Villanova play, people care. When William & Mary, Richmond, and JMU tangle, people care. When you’re playing ‘St. Mary’s of the Swamp,’ people aren’t gonna care.”

ODU can confirm that last paragraph. They're playing programs people have heard of and still the fanbase stopped caring, relatively speaking.