After learning more about the troubles at Grambling State everyday, it appears this is time for the larger HBCUs from each conference to create a new conference and let the remaining teams downgrade to DII.

The new conference should include:

Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Hampton
Howard
Jackson State
North Carolina A&T
North Carolina Central
Southern
Prairie View A&M
South Carolina State
Texas Southern

Do to the financials required to stay at FCS these schools should merge and drop to DII

Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Alcorn State
Arkansas - Pine Bluff
Delaware State
Grambling State
Mississippi Valley State
Morgan State
Norfolk State
Savannah State


This arrangement will help all the schools.

Time for Grambling to start cancelling scholarships... you do not pull a wild cat strike in college.

IMO the kids at Grambling had a legitimate grievance, and their actions put that into the spotlight. They'll get some response from this move too, which is all they wanted...

(10-20-2013 10:59 AM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Time for Grambling to start cancelling scholarships... you do not pull a wild cat strike in college.

Can't. Grambling won't meet the minimum financial aid requirements for Division I.

(10-20-2013 11:46 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(10-20-2013 10:59 AM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Time for Grambling to start cancelling scholarships... you do not pull a wild cat strike in college.

Can't. Grambling won't meet the minimum financial aid requirements for Division I.

Does that mean immediate demotion to DII?

(10-20-2013 11:52 AM)FloridaJag Wrote:  

(10-20-2013 11:46 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(10-20-2013 10:59 AM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Time for Grambling to start cancelling scholarships... you do not pull a wild cat strike in college.

Can't. Grambling won't meet the minimum financial aid requirements for Division I.

Does that mean immediate demotion to DII?

The only precedent I am aware of was Tulsa many years ago (still in the Valley as I recall). They were caught not taking enough kids to enough track meets to count women's track. All sports were declared ineligible for post-season for the year and had to be compliant the next year.

(10-20-2013 11:52 AM)FloridaJag Wrote:  

(10-20-2013 11:46 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(10-20-2013 10:59 AM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Time for Grambling to start cancelling scholarships... you do not pull a wild cat strike in college.

Can't. Grambling won't meet the minimum financial aid requirements for Division I.

Does that mean immediate demotion to DII?

Don't recall the specific bylaw, but I seem to recall most bylaws like that involve a probationary period to set things right.

(10-20-2013 11:21 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  IMO the kids at Grambling had a legitimate grievance, and their actions put that into the spotlight. They'll get some response from this move too, which is all they wanted...

Agreed. This wasn't primadonna stuff.

The MEAC is better off now, but a defection from America East could cause the MEAC to lose several members. The MEAC doesn't need to split its once NCAA unit 13 ways anyway.

I'm not sure why the SWAC plays a nine-game round robin schedule in football, especially when it has a conference championship game. Perhaps dropping back to say, seven conference games, might allow for an extra paycheck game for the schools that need it, and actually increase interest in the championship game since it won't automatically be a rematch.

The Louisiana and Mississippi schools will always be a contraction risk, but those schools will probably never close simply because of the politics of closing any school, much less an HBCU.

The SWAC plays the 9-game conference schedule because we have the worst commissioner in collegiate sports.

(10-20-2013 10:56 AM)FloridaJag Wrote:  After learning more about the troubles at Grambling State everyday, it appears this is time for the larger HBCUs from each conference to create a new conference and let the remaining teams downgrade to DII.

The new conference should include:

Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Hampton
Howard
Jackson State
North Carolina A&T
North Carolina Central
Southern
Prairie View A&M
South Carolina State
Texas Southern

Do to the financials required to stay at FCS these schools should merge and drop to DII

Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Alcorn State
Arkansas - Pine Bluff
Delaware State
Grambling State
Mississippi Valley State
Morgan State
Norfolk State
Savannah State


This arrangement will help all the schools.

If you seperating the schools on size then how is Bethune-Cookman grouped with the larger schools? Howard and NC Central has two of the smallest athletic budgets in the MEAC so you sure you want them up there at the top? How are we grouped with the D2s when we have the largest athletic budgets in the SWAC and facilities we're in better shape than anyone in the SWAC or MEAC. Prairie View has the budget but does not have the facilities and to this point has not shown the commitment to improve those facilities. Just tell me about your method of selecting who goes where if you were the commish. What about SC State? Where would they go? Or Tennessee State?

Tennessee State plays in the OVC. I presume the invitation to the SWAC is still on the table, but I doubt TSU ever accepts it.

(10-20-2013 02:22 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  Tennessee State plays in the OVC. I presume the invitation to the SWAC is still on the table, but I doubt TSU ever accepts it.

No way TSU ever comes to the SWAC. TSU is very close along with some Eastern division SWAC schools to receiving a MEAC invite.

(10-20-2013 01:32 PM)GreenHornet33 Wrote:  

(10-20-2013 10:56 AM)FloridaJag Wrote:  After learning more about the troubles at Grambling State everyday, it appears this is time for the larger HBCUs from each conference to create a new conference and let the remaining teams downgrade to DII.

The new conference should include:

Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Hampton
Howard
Jackson State
North Carolina A&T
North Carolina Central
Southern
Prairie View A&M
South Carolina State
Texas Southern

Do to the financials required to stay at FCS these schools should merge and drop to DII

Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Alcorn State
Arkansas - Pine Bluff
Delaware State
Grambling State
Mississippi Valley State
Morgan State
Norfolk State
Savannah State


This arrangement will help all the schools.

If you seperating the schools on size then how is Bethune-Cookman grouped with the larger schools? Howard and NC Central has two of the smallest athletic budgets in the MEAC so you sure you want them up there at the top? How are we grouped with the D2s when we have the largest athletic budgets in the SWAC and facilities we're in better shape than anyone in the SWAC or MEAC. Prairie View has the budget but does not have the facilities and to this point has not shown the commitment to improve those facilities. Just tell me about your method of selecting who goes where if you were the commish. What about SC State? Where would they go? Or Tennessee State?

My basic selection was size of enrollment and alumni. I do not understand the question about SC State because I have South Carolina State listed. I added Bethune Cookman due to bias...hint "Floridajag"

Both Alabama State and Alabama A&M have been stuck on at enrollments of 5,000 students for several years and I do not see that jumping.

(10-20-2013 10:59 AM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  Time for Grambling to start cancelling scholarships... you do not pull a wild cat strike in college.

You do when your safety and health is in danger. Which it was

Alabama State just built a stadium that is nicer than many mid-major FBS stadiums. They won't be moving down.

I just looked up some of the endowments for the schools mentioned...

Howard - 460 mil
Hampton - 193 mil
Alabama A&M - 119 mil
---
Florida A&M - 88 mil
Alabama State - 78 mil
Prairie View A&M - 47 mil
Texas Southern - 40 mil
Tennessee State - 37 mil
Bethune Cookman - 34 mil
---
Maryland Eastern Shore - 25 mil
NC A&T - 24 mil
Norfolk State - 23 mil
Delaware State - 21 mil
Morgan State - 20 mil
NC Central - 20 mil
---
Jackson State - 12 mil
Alcorn State - 10 mil
Southern - 9.6 mil
South Carolina State - 5 mil
Grambling State - 4.5 mil
Savannah State - 2.5 mil
Arkansas Pine-Bluff - 1.6 mil
---
Mississippi Valley State - N/A
Coppin State - N/A

In theory the most able conference would be...

Beth-Cook
Florida A&M
Hampton
Howard
Maryland Eastern Shore

Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Prairie View A&M
Tennessee State
Texas Southern

Schools simply don't willingly downgrade to a lower division in this day and age because the money you'd save in expenses is relatively small while the drop in revenue is relatively large. To the extent that a football program like Grambling's is in the trouble, it would drop football altogether over moving down to Division II. The money from a conference's NCAA Tournament basketball bid is more than enough to justify fighting to stay at the Division I level.

(10-20-2013 01:32 PM)GreenHornet33 Wrote:  

(10-20-2013 10:56 AM)FloridaJag Wrote:  After learning more about the troubles at Grambling State everyday, it appears this is time for the larger HBCUs from each conference to create a new conference and let the remaining teams downgrade to DII.

The new conference should include:

Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Hampton
Howard
Jackson State
North Carolina A&T
North Carolina Central
Southern
Prairie View A&M
South Carolina State
Texas Southern

Do to the financials required to stay at FCS these schools should merge and drop to DII

Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Alcorn State
Arkansas - Pine Bluff
Delaware State
Grambling State
Mississippi Valley State
Morgan State
Norfolk State
Savannah State


This arrangement will help all the schools.

If you seperating the schools on size then how is Bethune-Cookman grouped with the larger schools? Howard and NC Central has two of the smallest athletic budgets in the MEAC so you sure you want them up there at the top? How are we grouped with the D2s when we have the largest athletic budgets in the SWAC and facilities we're in better shape than anyone in the SWAC or MEAC. Prairie View has the budget but does not have the facilities and to this point has not shown the commitment to improve those facilities. Just tell me about your method of selecting who goes where if you were the commish. What about SC State? Where would they go? Or Tennessee State?

All of this. I would change.

MWAC east
Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Hampton
Howard
South Carolina State
North Carolina A&T

West
Tennessee State
Southern
Alabama State
Texas Southern
Prairie View A&M
Jackson State


SEAC east
Morgan State
Norfolk State
Savannah State
North Carolina Central
Delaware State

south
Alabama A&M
Alcorn State
Arkansas - Pine Bluff
Grambling State
Mississippi Valley State

The problem is that the big schools have pressure from the small schools not to leave them behind.

SWAC and MEAC are not going to merge/realign/whatever. They're going to remain as-is, and people who care about the individual schools will now (as a result of the Grambling incident) dig a little deeper in order to help them overcome some of the financial obstacles in the way.