(01-04-2013 02:13 PM)PittsburghBucs Wrote:  

(01-04-2013 03:22 AM)One Of The Last Buc Linemen Wrote:  academics dont really play as big of a role with conference affiliations these days as money does. rutgers/maryland move to big 10 wasnt because the big 10 is any smarter than the big east,,,,,,,,,,,its because theyll make million$ every time they play michigan and ohio state in a cbs broadcast fball game. when app state leaves the socon for conf usa or whoever, it will be for bc$ not classwork. belmont didnt join ovc because all those state schools are smarter than the privates in the asun, rather theyre saving probably a mil or $o in travel

these days its all about the green, not the grey (matter)

Lineman, yes, but using that example, it does.

When Pitt and Syracuse bolted for the ACC, West Virginia immediately wanted out of the Big East and went shopping. But despite having a nice athletic program with a good following, WVU was denied membership to the ACC and SEC.

The reason given, and you can scoff at it if you like, was academics. Which had to make all the WVU grads and students feel real good, but the idea was WVU was not a good fit for conferences with Duke or Vanderbilt in them.

Granted, there are other factors, such as TV markets and strength of play, but if it was all about the level of competition, let alone geography, then WVU would be a better fit for the SEC than Missouri.

Where does this leave ETSU? Guys, I keep reading A-10, but look at the conference. ETSU is nothing like the schools in there. It essentially is a conference comprised of northeastern Catholic schools. St. Louis gets in because they are Catholic. ETSU doesn't have anything they would like.

The SoCon? Perhaps, but you have to consider bridges burned and the like. Also, if you were the SoCon, wouldn't you rather have Jacksonville and/or Mercer?

Jacksonville is a larger market. Both have are much farther along the path to restore football than ETSU, which is still at the "we're gonna look into" mode. Both can play basketball in nicer arenas. And both don't have basketball programs in serious regression.

But the bottom line comes out: wouldn't the Furmans, the Woffords, and the Davidsons of the SoCon prefer a small, private school for SoCon membership to replace C of C than a large state university coming across like an ex-girlfriend asking for a favor?

From my own personal tastes-

I don't like the OVC. Just a blah conference that doesn't really appeal to anyone under the age of 55. Most of the other schools are in boring college towns in the central time zone. I see better potential just staying in the A-Sun, winning the A-Sun Tournament every three years for NCAA berths, getting the Florida recruits, and, if football returns, bringing it along slowly as an independent until a real conference switch can be made. Plus, I have to think the OVC is less than receptive to the school that scorned them five years ago.

The Big South isn't a whole lot better, but there's an opportunity to revive football in it. Old rivalries with schools like VMI can be restored, new ones with Radford and UNC-A can be established.

Only problem is that it still isn't where the program was in 2003, and are you really that excited about the possibility of playing VMI again?

It's my opinion that ETSU could have joined the Big South 10 years ago, but the administration knew football would always still be on the table if they joined there and that made the A-Sun that much more desirable, as well as the fact the Florida schools were desirable as rivals with the greater emphasis that would be placed on sports such as tennis at ETSU.

CAA I'm really intrigued by. Really intrigued. ETSU gets into the CAA, and the Bucs aren't restoring themselves to past glories, they are exceeding their past glories.