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RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-26-2018 01:49 PM)TribePride91 Wrote: Towson would be a better fit in the 1st category. They have football and they have too many scholarships for the Patriot League.
I don't know why anyone is complaining. The CAA attendance has been this way for multiple years. Like JMU screaming to be in another conference based on their football success, you have to have a place to go. Until then, Northeastern and Hofstra provide consistently high level basketball programs. Those schools cannot help the fact that their consistent winning programs are not supported by the area fans. The top 4 in attendance in the long past were UNCW(by a wide margin), W&M, JMU, and COC. JMU is absolutely dreadful the last few years in basketball. However, they are as good as anybody in the country in FCS(possibly better than anyone). They have much greater interest in football than basketball. Theoretically, they could be interested again if they starting winning consistently. Dreaming of an ACC, AAC, Atlantic 10 or other invite, is just dreaming. I guess teams could beg to go to Conference USA where ODU is, but that is not an upward move at all. ODU was better off and more successful(at a lower cost) when they played in the CAA. But, they made the move purely for football.
If you look at the success instead of the attendance, UNCW, COC, Hofstra, Northeastern, W&M, and Towson have all have had consistent success since VCU, ODU and GMU left. Delaware and JMU each also won one championship during this time. Thus, only Elon and Drexel can be claimed to not be competitive. Is it only about the attendance or is the competition relevant? Anyone who has gone to Baltimore or Charleston in the last 5 years can tell you the league is pretty good for basketball. Better exposure would help some. I think the exposure was pretty good when the league had the comcast/NBCSN package. While (except for Delaware) the streaming coverage is decent, no one is stumbling onto the CAA right now. We get little to no coverage from either CBS or ESPN, even though we paid for a Cbs sports network game of the week.
But for the Tribe, we have a long standing rivalry with JMU, and a good basketball one with UNCW and Hofstra. I guess if a move were to occur, the Southern is a likely destination. But, the Southern is not a great league, not even close to as good as the CAA currently is. As for the Big South, it is absolutely terrible(usually in the bottom 5 leagues). They are a good partner for 1-2 OOC games each year though for reasonable travel cost(as is the Southern). As far as the hope for at large bids, all mid majors are getting squeezed out. Even the selection committee continues to find ways to stick it to the good mid majors. The CAA can be blamed for this. 2 Final Four trips were not what the NCAA wanted. They want the occasional upset and then go home. Now, the midmajor teams are seeded and placed against each other to try and reduce the possibility of one getting through.
The Big South would take us in a heartbeat. All we have to do is place the call. It's a clear step down, of course, but it's someplace.
Like I said, I don't think UNCW would be the first to leave by any stretch. We're probably among the last that would leave. That's why I titled the thread the way I did, and not "It's time for US to leave the CAA."
The travel is the biggest factor. Ahead of the TV issues, level of competition, attendance, or anything else. It puts a massive strain on our already tiny budget. And we get NOTHING out of it. No recruiting foothold, no chances at marquee wins, and no added relevance. The CAA gives us 18 games to play, which is a lot, and a nice rivalry with Charleston. That's it.
And I doubt we're the only ones complaining about that. Northern schools, at least during baseball and soccer season, do enjoy coming south from time to time. They treat it like a vacation. But for basketball purposes, we don't sell ANY visitor tickets to multiple schools in this league. No one wants to come to Wilmington in the winter. And I doubt they're making the trek to Charleston, much less Elon, either.
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