Is it the RIGHT move for W&M to STAY in the CAA? We respond to comments from across social media on the topic (following our article last week), pondering all sides of the issue. Check it out here & let us know what you think!
LET'S GO TRIBE.
Article:
https://wmsportsblog.com/2021/04/22/shou...l_id=13980
Yes
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Lots to consider here! In my mind, we have a couple different angles from which to look at this, one of which is financial: if being Patriot costs less, and we can somehow both keep our revenues level and raise $50M+ from All In, you could argue that going Patriot would be more bang for our buck. I also find, from a competition standpoint, more chances at automatically qualifying for our top competitions is compelling. That all being said, academically, I understand the naysayers - we would be a fish out of water demographically against military schools and somewhat-insular privates. And locationwise, yes, we really lose our in-state partners.
One saying that I think about a lot when it comes to this comes from college admissions, but is still pertinent here: the Ivy League may be the best education around, but it may not be the best for *you*. I've seen firsthand people leave the likes of Princeton to attend one of Virginia's beloved regional schools and actually start thriving. Assuming conference changes are even in the works anytime soon, we need to ask, above all else, what is the best fit for us? Once that's figured out (and it may require a lot of soulsearching), everything else will either fall into place or we'll put them into place ourselves.
In examining the future possibilities for affiliation of Tribe athletics will you continue to explore other options from the CAA? The Big South and Southern Conference should be explored, as well as hybrid possibilities such as the A-10 and another affiliation for football.
IMO, a good conference for W&M athletics does not exist. To that point, the CAA is not any worse than the Patriot, Big South, or Southern, which are conferences that we would be able to immediately compete at or below our current funding level. For purposes of revenue sports, the A-10 is a step up in basketball, and we'd still need the CAA for football. Since changing conferences would require a significant investment of time and resources, we're better served investing that time, energy, and money in the athletic department rather than a marginal change in conference affiliation.
(04-22-2021 08:46 PM)WMInTheBurg Wrote: [ -> ]IMO, a good conference for W&M athletics does not exist. To that point, the CAA is not any worse than the Patriot, Big South, or Southern, which are conferences that we would be able to immediately compete at or below our current funding level. For purposes of revenue sports, the A-10 is a step up in basketball, and we'd still need the CAA for football. Since changing conferences would require a significant investment of time and resources, we're better served investing that time, energy, and money in the athletic department rather than a marginal change in conference affiliation.
I think this is a good way to put it. At the moment, no realistic better option exists for W&M, so we should just focus on being the best in the CAA. If W&M can turn into a consistently strong mid major team with a passionate fanbase, better conference options may become available.
This topic should not be the current focus of The College. We need time for the new AD to get our house in order and determine what are the most pressing priorities!
Why doesn't the SoCon ever come up for W&M in this particular discussion?
(04-23-2021 07:48 AM)solohawks Wrote: [ -> ]Why doesn't the SoCon ever come up for W&M in this particular discussion?
Offhand, I would guess ~85% of the student body and alumni are north of W&M. I think the school likes having games in areas where we recruit students and have alumni bases. The CAA gets us games in Philly, Boston, Long Island, and Baltimore, which is nice. Even the southern schools, Elon (Greensboro-ish), UNCW, and CoC are in pretty big cities where we do have some alumni and fans. It's part of the reason I think Howard would actually be a solid addition to the CAA, W&M (and honestly a lot of the CAA schools) have bases in the DMV area.
VMI is really the only school in the SoCon we could have a rivalry with, and even then we haven't played them anytime recently. While it's not like Hofstra or Northeastern are natural rivals for W&M, the upside of playing in Boston/LI outweighs going to Spartansburg or Cullowhee.
(04-22-2021 06:53 PM)Tribe4SF Wrote: [ -> ]In examining the future possibilities for affiliation of Tribe athletics will you continue to explore other options from the CAA? The Big South and Southern Conference should be explored, as well as hybrid possibilities such as the A-10 and another affiliation for football.
Love the A-10 potential (i.e. Richmond path) -- though not sure it's more realistic than the PL. Will definitely consider that as a next article.
Yes, W&M should stay in the CAA. If we ever win anything meaningful in basketball, maybe a better conference (A10) will want us and we can supplement with CAAF.
PL and SoCon are, for so many stated reasons, bad for W&M. Just cancel the athletic department at that point.
That's my opinion. I appreciate that this is one place where we can discuss and (sometimes) disagree without censorship or some admin throwing a tantrum because someone dare hold a competing thought. That's how people grow.
Enjoy the information sharing and debates.
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(04-23-2021 09:49 PM)Tribal Wrote: [ -> ]Yes, W&M should stay in the CAA. If we ever win anything meaningful in basketball, maybe a better conference (A10) will want us and we can supplement with CAAF.
PL and SoCon are, for so many stated reasons, bad for W&M. Just cancel the athletic department at that point.
That's my opinion. I appreciate that this is one place where we can discuss and (sometimes) disagree without censorship or some admin throwing a tantrum because someone dare hold a competing thought. That's how people grow.
Enjoy the information sharing and debates.
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Sub-posts ftw
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(04-24-2021 06:17 AM)wml33t Wrote: [ -> ] (04-23-2021 09:49 PM)Tribal Wrote: [ -> ]Yes, W&M should stay in the CAA. If we ever win anything meaningful in basketball, maybe a better conference (A10) will want us and we can supplement with CAAF.
PL and SoCon are, for so many stated reasons, bad for W&M. Just cancel the athletic department at that point.
That's my opinion. I appreciate that this is one place where we can discuss and (sometimes) disagree without censorship or some admin throwing a tantrum because someone dare hold a competing thought. That's how people grow.
Enjoy the information sharing and debates.
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Sub-posts ftw
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No open dialog when anything remotely disagreeable is deleted. I left that forum.
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(04-24-2021 07:02 AM)Tribal Wrote: [ -> ] (04-24-2021 06:17 AM)wml33t Wrote: [ -> ] (04-23-2021 09:49 PM)Tribal Wrote: [ -> ]Yes, W&M should stay in the CAA. If we ever win anything meaningful in basketball, maybe a better conference (A10) will want us and we can supplement with CAAF.
PL and SoCon are, for so many stated reasons, bad for W&M. Just cancel the athletic department at that point.
That's my opinion. I appreciate that this is one place where we can discuss and (sometimes) disagree without censorship or some admin throwing a tantrum because someone dare hold a competing thought. That's how people grow.
Enjoy the information sharing and debates.
Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
Sub-posts ftw
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No open dialog when anything remotely disagreeable is deleted. I left that forum.
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I’m re reading my sub to your sub and realizing it wasn’t clearly that I legitimately enjoyed your post. That incident over there was absurd.
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My post was deleted
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The College has always failed to dream big. From basically turning down the ACC w a student/faculty led sit in to protest a larger stadium. Why is the Richmond model so hard to grasp?
Lets quit thinking small.
(04-25-2021 10:57 AM)Tribe757 Wrote: [ -> ]The College has always failed to dream big. From basically turning down the ACC w a student/faculty led sit in to protest a larger stadium. Why is the Richmond model so hard to grasp?
Lets quit thinking small.
Had Huge avoided some very bad decisions, I think she could have moved us toward something better (A10/CAAF). I liked her focus on basketball & football. We need an AD who will be aggressive, maintain integrity, and make low-mid donors feel appreciated.
IMO, anything better than A10/CAAF, as it is now, is a pipe dream. Lofty goal but achievable if we dominate the CAA for a few years.
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(04-22-2021 09:48 PM)wmmii Wrote: [ -> ]This topic should not be the current focus of The College. We need time for the new AD to get our house in order and determine what are the most pressing priorities!
Am trying to figure out what is more important than determining where Tribe athletics can afford to compete, successfully. Section in linked quarterly report entitled "Excellence" worth a read for those who haven't seen.
https://tribeathletics.com/sports/2021/4...eport.aspx
