(10-10-2021 07:27 AM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  

(10-09-2021 08:45 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(10-09-2021 08:31 PM)HighlandsApp Wrote:  

(10-09-2021 06:26 PM)herdfan129 Wrote:  

(10-09-2021 05:55 PM)HighlandsApp Wrote:  Even if the AAC expanded to 16 I'm not so sure Marshall would get an invite.

Demographics are not in Marshall's favor. The University student population is shrank from 16,500 in the early 2000s to 12,800 today and the entire state's population is shrinking greater than any other state in the union.

That coupled with a relatively small athletic budget currently doesn't paint a rosy picture unfortunately even with all of the success they've had.

Marshall is closer in proximity to six MAC schools then it's closest CUSA schools and ODU/Middle Tennessee/WKU.

Marshall really fits in with the MAC schools the best.

LOL...we have a shot to get in if they expand by four to 12 teams....we would definitely get in if they expanded to 16 teams (don't see this happening.)

As for the last part, we are NOTHING like the MAC schools. We are on the Ohio border, but we consider ourselves a southern school. We do not have any sort of cultural things in common with the MAC schools.

Like more than half of the MAC schools, Marshall has 20 years of declining enrollment and is located in a dying state.

Just because the MAC schools have culture doesn't mean that Marshall doesn't fit in.

Highlands,

I am excited about the idea of adding Southern Miss to the Sun Belt.

But let's not have a double standard. Mississippi suffers from the same ills West Virginia does. Poor state. Declining population. Lots of problems. Frankly, Louisiana and Arkansas have similar problems: population loss or just teeny tiny growth. I don't know what enrollment trends are at USM, but what does it matter? This is about cultural fit regardless of market or state size or population growth.

Herdfan129 is a troll. None of that means Marshall would be a bad fit for the Belt.

There are also NINE times the NFL players from Mississippi than there are from West Virginia, so it’s a recruitable state. This graphic is a couple years old but you get the point.


Here is a tweet from 2020 season of the top 10:

I'm not taking the time to look up the rosters, but I'm sure Marshall and WVU both recruit heavily in nearby Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as in Florida, just like everyone else east of the Rockies.

This map serves a much better argument for taking Florida Arlantic or UTSA than it does for either Southern Miss or Marshall. I say that is beside the point. Let's go for who best fits the conference, first and foremost.