The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

We have wooed and been thinking for awhile about where ODU would wind up. Now that they are in the sun belt, have we finally found our home? Do you think we get uprooted again? I for one, unless the ACC calls, think we need to stay for awhile and get those rivals we always wanted. Are you happy with this deal???

(11-11-2021 10:01 AM)jaybird44 Wrote:  We have wooed and been thinking for awhile about where ODU would wind up. Now that they are in the sun belt, have we finally found our home? Do you think we get uprooted again? I for one, unless the ACC calls, think we need to stay for awhile and get those rivals we always wanted. Are you happy with this deal???

We're here for awhile but this isn't our last stop. College football is ever evolving. None of us would have thought we'd be this far advanced (new stadium/FBS ) when we kicked off in 2009 vs Chowan. It would be nice to have a conference title and a few more bowl trophys at this point.

I think most of these are teams we will be with for the long haul, whether its called the SB or something else. Id still like to be in a conference with ECU, Temple, Navy and Charlotte at some point, but I can envision a time where ECU and Charlotte could possibly join the SB. Id also love to be in a conference with VCU again. But if the SB can improve basketball (and ODU, MU and JMU joining will do that) Im satisfied. Especially if the SB will move the basketball tourney around some so we can reasonably attend every few years. (Maybe Myrtle Beach?) So, I think as ODU fans we need to settle in and accept that we will likely be here for a long while. If upgrades happen, it will be from teams moving to us, not us moving to them. Just my opinion.

I think we will be here for a while, too. I'm very excited about the Sun Belt and think it's nearly perfect for us and we should commit to raising ourselves and our peers- but even if we table that for a moment, I don't see where we would go.

In terms of P5, we are really only in the footprint of the SEC and the ACC. Even if we suddenly became a ranked program with R1 status and massive amounts of money, the SEC sure doesn't need more members, and I'm not sure the ACC would welcome a third Virginia school. We are so far from the sort of status that would make either of them take interest. The next closest P5 would be the Big 10 which has Maryland, but we'd have to be really something special. The Big 12 is a free-for-all and can take their pick- there are quite a few schools in line ahead of us.

As for the G5 ... MAC no. Conference USA we just left. MW has no need to extend to Virginia. And the AAC ... really only has a few things going for it. It has a lot of big schools, with a lot of money commitment and with the purportedly better media deal. However, they just accepted 6 schools from CUSA, 5 of which we didn't like playing. They might lose even more of the attractive schools we'd like. It's hard to say where that conference will be in 5 years.

Meanwhile the Sun Belt has a lot of teams we have history with. A great community that has welcomed us, and a lot of schools that fit with us and where we are as a program. It has a lot better regionality and natural rivals, and high strength of football, baseball, soccer. Possibly the top G5 in all three come 2023. Basketball might be the big sufferer, but has improved with the 4 additions. Athletic departments appear to be hungry, and the growing Sun Belt brand will bleed positively into everyone's basketball.

If we work hard, we really could rise together and turn THIS into the "P6", and I'm excited about the prospect. We've always been scrappy underdogs climbing up, I'd say it suits me fine.

I do think we could see some movement once the P5 officially break away, but who knows when that will happen. If it did, I could potentially see the whole G5 reshuffle with equal payouts and media deals for the entire division. If that were to happen, some amalgamation of the SB, AAC and A10 would be perfect for us. I doubt I live long enough to see us in something similar to the P5, so I dont even consider that. Then again, I remember when ODU was a much bigger sports brand than UCF. But as it stands, Im happy in the belt and think it has potential. And we need to stay here for a while.

My 20 year prediction is the ACC gets decapitated. Big Ten scoops up the academically elite mid Atlantic schools. SEC takes the football blue bloods in the south.

UNC, UVA, maybe more go Big Ten. FSU, Clemson, etc. go SEC.

VT and NC State and the leftovers don’t fit either profile and have to call up … Idk. Charlotte, ECU… Navy? Maybe us or JMU.

Point being, opportunities will continue to arise. Realignment will never stop as long as media contracts exist.

For now I feel 10x more comfortable about SBC than I ever did in CUSA. We should feel at home here for a long while.

The future of college football and realignment will largely depend on if the sentient robots that eventually take power over us enjoy the sport or not.

(11-11-2021 11:49 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  The future of college football and realignment will largely depend on if the sentient robots that eventually take power over us enjoy the sport or not.

They are already in power we just don't know it yet. Just take a look at congress.

NCAA FBS Football will eventually become two divisions, semi-pro and farm league. With stipends and new transfer rules, It's almost there now.

(11-11-2021 10:39 AM)ODU-Z8 Wrote:  I think we will be here for a while, too. I'm very excited about the Sun Belt and think it's nearly perfect for us and we should commit to raising ourselves and our peers- but even if we table that for a moment, I don't see where we would go.

In terms of P5, we are really only in the footprint of the SEC and the ACC. Even if we suddenly became a ranked program with R1 status and massive amounts of money, the SEC sure doesn't need more members, and I'm not sure the ACC would welcome a third Virginia school. We are so far from the sort of status that would make either of them take interest. The next closest P5 would be the Big 10 which has Maryland, but we'd have to be really something special. The Big 12 is a free-for-all and can take their pick- there are quite a few schools in line ahead of us.

As for the G5 ... MAC no. Conference USA we just left. MW has no need to extend to Virginia. And the AAC ... really only has a few things going for it. It has a lot of big schools, with a lot of money commitment and with the purportedly better media deal. However, they just accepted 6 schools from CUSA, 5 of which we didn't like playing. They might lose even more of the attractive schools we'd like. It's hard to say where that conference will be in 5 years.

Meanwhile the Sun Belt has a lot of teams we have history with. A great community that has welcomed us, and a lot of schools that fit with us and where we are as a program. It has a lot better regionality and natural rivals, and high strength of football, baseball, soccer. Possibly the top G5 in all three come 2023. Basketball might be the big sufferer, but has improved with the 4 additions. Athletic departments appear to be hungry, and the growing Sun Belt brand will bleed positively into everyone's basketball.

If we work hard, we really could rise together and turn THIS into the "P6", and I'm excited about the prospect. We've always been scrappy underdogs climbing up, I'd say it suits me fine.

I agree with your conclusion as it also suits me just fine. I also agree with almost everything else in your post, but I have to ask: Why would the ACC not welcome a third Virginia school? The conference already has four schools in North Carolina, so what is special or concerning about a third school in Virginia?

Let’s say that, over the next 5-10 years, all 5 of the P5 conferences eventually go to 16 teams each. The SEC has already made that commitment by adding Oklahoma and Texas.

How many slots would there be if the other 4 go to 16 teams? The Big12 lost 2, but will add 4 more, to get them to 12. So they could add 4 more. B1G is at 14, so there’s 2 more slots. The ACC likewise (or 1, if ND takes a spot). And the PAC12 would have to add 4. So that’s a max of 12 G5 teams that could enter the P5, if all conferences go to 16 each.

So there will probably be opportunities. But at some point the P5 conferences will stop growing. I doubt any of them go beyond 16, but that possibility has been discussed. If the P5 promotions dry up, the next best thing is for a G5 conference to grow strong enough to be considered at the P5 level. The elite of college football will not easily accept a G5 conference as one of their own, but it could happen someday. There may be opportunities if the playoff is expanded to 12 teams.

The AAC has tried to make that claim for themselves (We’re P6!). They’ve been close a few years (more ranked teams in a year than some P5s), but really the opportunity exists for any of the G5 conferences to improve enough to make that claim.

There was a time when the Sun Belt was furthest from that, but now looks poised to make a serious run for the title of best G5. I think this is our best opportunity to move into the upper echelon. Not by trying to get that coveted invitation to a P5, but to make our conference good enough to get the same recognition as a P5. This would probably take 15-20 years.

I think we all see that change is going to be the new norm. Alliances are much more fluid than they used to be thanks to the all mighty dollar and ESPN. My only recommendation is that we not go onto the Sun Belt boards and immediately talk about who we should add and breaking off into an East Coast league. That would go over like a fart in church.

(11-11-2021 01:16 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  I agree with your conclusion as it also suits me just fine. I also agree with almost everything else in your post, but I have to ask: Why would the ACC not welcome a third Virginia school? The conference already has four schools in North Carolina, so what is special or concerning about a third school in Virginia?

Hmm, that's a good point. I guess there's hope someday! I wouldn't be surprised if they're grandfathered in, though, and in the modern era, UVA and VTech wouldn't appreciate us and might try to block our entry. That's purely a theory.

(11-11-2021 02:55 PM)ODU-Z8 Wrote:  

(11-11-2021 01:16 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  I agree with your conclusion as it also suits me just fine. I also agree with almost everything else in your post, but I have to ask: Why would the ACC not welcome a third Virginia school? The conference already has four schools in North Carolina, so what is special or concerning about a third school in Virginia?

Hmm, that's a good point. I guess there's hope someday! I wouldn't be surprised if they're grandfathered in, though, and in the modern era, UVA and VTech wouldn't appreciate us and might try to block our entry. That's purely a theory.

Gotcha. Hopefully, some time in the future, we (or others) will have the opportunity to discuss the possibility of the Monarchs joining the ACC as a meaningful, current issue.

No. I think football is a slowly dying sport and ESPN is a slowly dying brand. At some point market forces will take it in another direction.


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(11-11-2021 02:05 PM)Maryland Monarch Wrote:  I think we all see that change is going to be the new norm. Alliances are much more fluid than they used to be thanks to the all mighty dollar and ESPN. My only recommendation is that we not go onto the Sun Belt boards and immediately talk about who we should add and breaking off into an East Coast league. That would go over like a fart in church.

Prefer a Turd in a punch bowl!

(11-11-2021 08:08 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  No. I think football is a slowly dying sport and ESPN is a slowly dying brand. At some point market forces will take it in another direction.


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Based

(11-11-2021 08:08 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  No. I think football is a slowly dying sport and ESPN is a slowly dying brand. At some point market forces will take it in another direction.


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Both of these trends are driving the present football consolidation. As the trends accelerate so will consolidation.

(11-11-2021 11:49 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  The future of college football and realignment will largely depend on if the sentient robots that eventually take power over us enjoy the sport or not.

Maybe, but the Zhat Vash are making every effort to eliminate sentient AI.

I still think changes are ahead. I still think we are not a regional as we should be.
The West Teams should be in a different conference.
It would be gold if we added UAB, Charlotte, ECU.
Marshall, ODU, JMU, ECU, Charlotte, App State, W KY, MTSU, Coastal Carolina, Ga. State, Ga Southern, UAB, Troy, S. Alabama
That would be a great conference. Regional. Filled with rivalries. Great travel.
I'd throw Liberty in but not sure who I'd take out. And they are going to be fine wherever they are.