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(01-28-2021 09:59 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(01-28-2021 09:46 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  The A10 would be great.
I am still unsure what we offer them beyond dilution of their NCAAT payout - unless VCU is pushing this - which is a good possibility.

I am skeptical of football being able to survive as an Indy though.

1. Very problematic scheduling, which could still cause travel issues.

2. No media contract - even the paltry CUSA media distribution money is better than nothing, AND, we do get on TV some. We will be at the mercy of our opponent, and if we schedule indy vs indy we may not get on TV at all, and that could be as many as 3 games in a season. Lessening our exposure, even if just a little, could cause a ripple effect with recruiting, donations, and potential future scheduling.

3. No CFP payout. The Group of Five got $86 million from the College Football Playoff in 2019 - 70 million of which was divided evenly amount the five leagues

4. No bowl tie-ins. We will likely need to be really good to get a bowl invite.

5. No path to the NY6. And while that seems like an unrealistic goal, it should nevertheless be something we ultimately aspire to. Coastal and Liberty were both close to that level this season and they were not even our peers just a few seasons ago. Additionally, any expansion of the playoffs, or the creation of a G5 playoff, could leave us out in the cold.

UMass is hemorrhaging money in it's football program. With more overall resources than we have there is still talk of falling back to FCS or dropping FB entirely.

1. You are probably right
2. The couple hundred thousand we get is meaningless in a $40M budget. We could probably get that on our own. We could certainly make it up in ticket sales on the basketball side.
3. Not sure exactly how much we get, but it is more significant. Still think that increased basketball money would likely offset it.
4. With the number of bowls out there, I think we would find ourselves in bowls if eligible.
5. We have no path to NY6 or a potential expanded playoff anytime in the near future. Indy would not be the long term goal, but A-10 + Indy probably would present a better position for us to move into a conference (AAC) that allows us to improve basketball and football before we have reached the level of maturity in the football program that might permit us to compete at such a high level.

So, I guess it looks to me like 4 of your 5 points are non issues at this stage for our athletic program. The one point that is an issue is significant, but if a plan can be put in place to mitigate it, then it seems a no brainer to move to A-10 (if invited) and drop football into an Indy alliance if Sunbelt or CUSA are not football only options.

So, I guess I think

In the long run, we'd be on real TV a lot more in the A10 with hoops than football as it is now. The money we save in travel would offset a lot of the CFP money losses. For football media, we'd be able to negotiate our own deal. So perhaps MASN would show some games, LU has their own deal. The only kicker I see is the bowl affiliations or lack there of. That can be remedied.

As far as what we bring to the A10: another high quality upper mid major team, with similar resources, a large market, and a pretty good fanbase when we are good. Plus geographic proximity and a name schools in the A10 are familiar with that would help drive more ticket sales. We'd probably help bolster their appeal to TV as well.