(01-31-2018 10:47 PM)Tribe2011 Wrote:  

(01-31-2018 08:53 PM)Sitting bull Wrote:  

(01-31-2018 07:23 PM)Tribe2011 Wrote:  Would love nothing more than to de-emphasize (or cut) football and go all in on basketball. If we did this, there's no reason we couldn't be a competitive A-10 program assuming WM is supportive of basketball as an institution. It would be an outstanding and best possible move for the school as a whole, bringing us a lot of new publicity and attention without sacrificing academics or our integrity.

I also recognize reality and the fact that there is zero chance this happens. Short of putting basketball over football, we would not consistently compete in the A-10.

Please stop. This is nonsense.

Why do people think that giving up football suddenly turns you into a basketball powerhouse? Why would you even consider risking that?

It certainly wouldn't automatically. Didn't say we'd be a powerhouse, but that if we did things right and funded at the appropriate level we could be a competent A-10 program that can make the tourney every number of years.

When you say "risking that" - I believe the football program in this day and age at this level gives us less as a school than a solid basketball program would, both from a national visibility perspective, giving students and alumni something more to root for, and inspiring loyalty to and passion for WM. I don't think we lose a ton in today's world by de-emphasizing football - the vast majority of younger alumni (who weren't around decades ago for the days we were competitive on a more national level) care little about the football program, but the basketball program has potential to be competitive on a truly national level if done right (while the football program will always be minor league at best).

That's just me, and certainly others would disagree. I probably would feel differently if I had experienced the years where we competed with UVA and Tech and now power 5 schools. But those days are gone and aren't coming back. In basketball, they can.

Sorry to snap at your first response. I lived through a similar angle discussed in the 70s. The discussion then was - drop football and we could become a "Georgetown". It was a horrible trade off then and remains so now.

I still don't see the logic in how dropping the most popular sport at the College to the benefit of basketball, particularly if the upside is an almost sidestep to the A10, a league that is full of basketball only schools, none that I would think W&M would want to inspire to be.

Football brings thousands to campus On Fall weekends. We have a rich tradition. We have some of the best facilities in FCS. You just don't throw that away. It was decades in the building.

Basketball has prospered in the new CAA, much of that from just getting some sunshine in the new CAA and away from the VCUs and GMUs of the world.

We are in a good spot. Unless we are talking the ACC, there's no better option out there than the CAA.