(10-14-2021 08:34 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote: (10-13-2021 11:56 PM)CoachMaclid Wrote: (10-13-2021 10:53 PM)Shannon Panther Wrote: I have nothing against Marshall, but Buffalo makes a lot more sense from a viewership perspective.
Then why does Marshall consistently generate higher national TV viewers than anyone in the C-USA, MAC, or Sun Belt?
Also Marshall has a 38,000 seat stadium and deep FB tradition going back 30 years.
For a school with only 7,029 full time undergrads (US DoE school reported data), it does remarkably well with attendance. What helps is a rural identity and lack of local competition and frankly it's not easy to get to (no major airport). This is the classic "townee" support missing from most urban schools. A throwback to the olden days of college football.
But those are also the drawbacks. They fit a regional conference that focuses on tight local markets, not a national brand with reach. There is little growth potential. It's not a high powered private school with mega wealthy alumni dotting various urban centers, it's not a prestigious flagship with a large student body generating loyalty beyond it's locale. And the secondary value of recruiting, both students and athletes just isn't there. Put another way they look very close to their ceiling not their floor. It's kind of the FBS version of the Murray State issue. We can say much the same about USM (9,650 undergrads ... USM is further crippled by a 65% female student makeup, Marshall is only 57%).
App State is larger and in a larger state, but it is also a bit remote and away from the big recruiting zones. It also has a basketball program problem, which is not close to AAC levels, making it hard to see schools like Memphis, Temple, Tulsa, Wichita State or SMU voting in favor of them. They are basically another ECU with less resources.
Where Marshall and Southern Miss fit is in a local market oriented conference, and that would be the SBC, where similar schools like Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, App State, South Alabama, Arkansas State, Louisiana Lafayette and Troy already reside. These are football centric local audience focused schools. And frankly that is where I see them going.
The American is more about national schools (ECU does not fit) in urban centers. And the primary names thrown out fit that model.
The arguments put forward for Marshall and App State could apply to Coastal Carolina, Southern Miss, Troy and Louisiana-Lafayette. But nobody promotes them for the American.