(05-06-2021 09:15 PM)army56mike Wrote:  Only if it’s West Florida..... my opinion only.

Competitively, I'd put Valdosta State up there as well. They'd have the added benefit of somewhat bridging the gap geographically between the Florida schools and KSU/JSU.

The downside with the Blazers is, they historically haven't shown much of a willingness or desire to move up to FCS, let alone FBS. If the ASUN Football schools are on a slow march upward, it makes one wonder if Valdosta would conflict with that plan.

Then there's West Georgia. Competitively, they're not much. A public D-II school in that location *should* be winning championships in every sport on a regular basis. And yet, they're consistently mediocre. Moving up a division certainly won't help.

Geographically, they raise a big question: though they're right in the middle of the footprint, would they be too close to JSU and KSU? On one hand, it looks like a definite yes. But then, they're on the fringe of a metro area of six million people. Atlanta could probably support another FCS program without blinking. FBS? Who knows?

But the biggest issue with UWG boils down to what they'd add to the ASUN. They wouldn't expand the footprint (like UWF) and they wouldn't bridge any gaps (like VSU). They wouldn't bring championship-level athletics, and they wouldn't bring a fiercely devoted fan base. And even though they're technically part of the Atlanta Metro, they're not going to move the dial at all when it comes to media coverage.

So I'd rank these three as follows:

1) West Florida - ABSOLUTELY YES.
2) Valdosta - Yes, with some reservations.
3) West Georgia - I guess so, but sheesh... Are we that desperate?!