AppManDG
Heisman
Posts: 6,123
Joined: Aug 2010
Reputation: 308
I Root For: App State
Location: Gastonia, NC
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RE: stAte AD says SBC Will stick at 11 football teams for now.
(05-17-2014 07:53 PM)Eagle22 Wrote: (05-17-2014 11:39 AM)AppManDG Wrote: (05-17-2014 08:01 AM)Eagle22 Wrote: (05-17-2014 07:48 AM)GoAppsGo92 Wrote: (05-17-2014 07:04 AM)AppManDG Wrote: Bring in NMSU for all sports, show Idaho the door, play a round robin schedule and determine a champion the old fashion way.
No NMSU without UMASS. UMASS is an excellent academic school with a top notch reputation and football in better shape than NMSU or Idaho. Not to mention the program investments in talent and facilities currently underway.
I think that's the thinking of the teams in the east. As I posted back in early March, the interest in UMASS would be contigent upon NMSU coming on board in all sports.
The thinking in our neck of the woods is that we can swallow the NMSU addition IF it brings some divisional alignment in the appropriate sports. At least in the minds of Georgia Southern and App State, this would be a step towards a conference championship game.
I can't speak for the App State fans, but here is the reason that a lot of Georgia Southern fans had initial interest in moving toward a CGC. The CGC was part of the 'carrot' lured to us to move to the Sun Belt, and that was being eligible THIS YEAR to participate in a championship game. That may seem inconsequential to the existing members of the Sun Belt, however for teams like Georgia Southern and Appalachian, that was kind of like shoving a fresh, hot Krispy Kreme donut in our face
With the changes, transitions and rule changes, I can now see the rationale for not rushing toward a CGC, but that really provides little 'political' cover to our own AD who had used the CGC eligibility as a calming element to some of our fanbase who were nutted up about having two years of "nothing to play for". So he'll probably hold to that view, and that's fine. He has to balance keeping the constituency happy as well as working with his fellow AD's.
Whatever happens, we'll get past it and more importantly we'll be a solid member that works well with the group. I've made quite a few trips in the past to Idaho, New Mexico and Massachussetts and personally don't give a flip if we're traveling there with regularity as part of this conference. UMASS is bound to get better quickly, Whipple is a damn good coach and will turn them around.
Oh, and as just an aside, I don't think Liberty has ever come CLOSE to having enough support to get in the Sun Belt. Having followed the SoCon for quite a while (20+ years), and interacted with quite a few coaches, AD's and faculty advisors ... they don't really have a place to go out of the Big South. The SoCon definitely isn't interested in them, or they would have added them already.
As for myself and many of the App fans within my circle, moving to FBS is first and foremost about being associated with like minded schools and the opportunity to attract better out of conference games (home & away) within our region. Divisions and a conference championship game were an added benefit, but never the primary attraction for moving. Try as he might, the reality is other than JMU there are no other schools out there Benson can legitimately point to as a travel partner for App. UMass sure as heck isn't. App is on an island. With the exception of Ark State, SB members are an average 3-4 hours closer to Statesboro than Boone. While that might not mean much in terms of teams flying, it is a big disadvantage to the fans who drive to games.
Like some others I think the landscape within the G5 conferences is in for more shake-up in 2014-15. The next CUSA TV contract won't be nearly as lucrative as the present one and some of those folks may rethink their association. It may be in the SB's best interest to sit tight and let everything plays out for a couple of years.
If I gave the impression I thought a CGC was our primary intent for moving, I screwed up . More like the car mats the salesman throws in after the sale .... we definitely weren't content with the direction of the SoCon, and like App wanted to be in a conference with like-minded institutions.
Georgia Southern was flat out fortunate that our former president, Dr. Grube, hung it up after a decade of letting the athletic department mark time on the back burner. Most knew what we were getting when we got a guy from a D2 Minnesota college.
We were very fortunate as well to get a guy in Dr. Keel, that had the experience @ LSU that he did. He understood what he had and gave Sam Baker enough time to get with the program. Baker either lacked the drive or the belief it could be done, perhaps both. Time will tell. Keel had barely enough time to get an AD on board when the WAC implosion accelerated our time line. I only mentioned the CGC because part of what was negotiated was that we (and ASU) would be eligible this year for a conference championship game had there been one, and that is at least one more game to strive for, for fanbases used to post-season play, since we are not BOWL ELIGIBLE this year only.
As for App and travel, JMU makes all the sense in the world, but evidently Alger doesn't have the set that Keel had when he rolled into Statesboro. Keel pretty much said we're going, we're going to do what we have to to get there, get with us or get out. Some of the faculty didn't like it. Some of our local press folks are whining. Some of the fans got turned off. It is what it is. These folks weren't donating much to begin with anyways, some of them complained about having to donate $100 to have a spot in the parking lot 500 feet from the gate.
It's time to grow up. We'll get in the Sun Belt and like I said we'll be equitable partners, CGC or not. The circumstances have been very fluid since we officially announced our move up, and one thing is certain there is always change.
Knowing some GSU folks like I do, I figured that to be the case. We were equally fortunate when Chancellor Peacock took over. He cleaned up the athletic department, created the vision and set the plan in motion to get App into 1-A. It's uncanny how closely App's & GSU's journey to FBS mirror one another. It's gonna be a fun, but bumpy ride!
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