(08-04-2022 03:48 AM)Sitting bull Wrote:  

(08-04-2022 03:37 AM)andybible1995 Wrote:  

(08-04-2022 02:27 AM)Sitting bull Wrote:  

(08-03-2022 11:58 PM)DawgNBama Wrote:  

(08-03-2022 11:33 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  jcohen42,

Missions are no longer the same nor standards.

Stony Brook, UDel (for out of state), Hofstra (top Business and Wall Street program), Northeastern, Drexel, Elon (more liberal arts, but similar to Davidson in high AI)all have really high AI. Monmouth doesn't, a definite lowering of the bar of admission to the CAA, almost to warm body. Hampton is pretty decent for an HBCU, but that HBCU standards not on CAA standards, not even Monmouth, NC A&T lower. Now you have a Southern Baptist school.

Hampton and NC A&T can be argued was an attempt to cash in on the resurgent funding of HBCUs in the woke movement (they were dying on the limb five years ago). You could excuse that if it got you Howard and helped diversity recruiting. But I suspect all they did was bring on two athletic bricks of cement, not gold.

What I mean is these schools no longer had diddly in common, look like many of those old conferences that shattered, replaced by ones that had more common institutional ground. The CAA IMO has become a lot less stable with this configuration.

Maybe, but maybe it was more of a move against the SoCon. Both Yosef Himself and I speculated that Campbell would be a near ideal fit for the SoCon. Next thing we know, the CAA is scooping them up. I think that the CAA wants to poach the best SoCon schools, and possibly set the Northeast schools adrift or...really challenge the A-10 and the Big East in basketball. The CAA is trying to freeze the SoCon 's options, so that the SoCon cannot expand. Then the CAA will go for the SoCon itself by going after schools like Chattanooga and Furman. That is the CAA's endgame, IMO. Basically, the same thing that the AAC did to the MWC in the state of Texas.

I don’t think the add is focused against the So Con as in some sinister plot. That’s ridiculous. I agree Campbell could have been a decent fit there as well. I’m not sure what the So Cons strategy actually is though it appears to me that the best result for both Big South and So Con is a possible merger at this point.

What would the SoCon have to gain from merging with the Big South? A nineteen team southern based conference is too big at that level. The SoCon could possibly raid the Big South for additional members, but I don't see it happening. They're pretty content with the members they have now.

I also don't see Chattanooga going to the CAA. Chattanooga is more than likely to join the Sunbelt in the FBS should they expand to sixteen teams. Chattanooga had FBS aspirations several years ago, but that opportunity has probably already passed them by. The only school that the SoCon could potentially lose is UNC-Greensboro. They are not a football school, and they are one of the more consistent contenders in the SoCon every year.

As far Gardner Webb and Charleston Southern, I'm surprised the commissioner of the ASUN hasn't called the athletic director of both schools and tried to convince them to join as either affiliates for football,.or as full members, which would get them out of the Big South's merger with the Ohio Valley Conference in football. I'm also surprised the Big South commissioner hasn't called up the athletic director of Queens and convinced them to change course and join the Big South instead of the ASUN.

I don’t think there is any interest now or prior on behalf of the CAA for Chattanooga.

...and I don't think there is any interest now or prior on behalf of Chattanooga for the CAA, nor any SoCon school for the CAA.

Also, why would UNCG leave the ever-improving basketball currently being played in the Southern Conference?