Old Dominion and Georgia State have a ways to go before they're allowed to move to FBS, esayem, let alone Charlotte, so no need to trouble the AD yet. :) Everyone is going to sit back and watch for a couple years regardless.

It seems like Delaware is content with being a FCS bigshot. If I recall correctly, they actually make money at that level. If that's so, they have no reason to upgrade.

Wouldn't UMass make money in the MAC as a football only? I'm sure Army and Navy as OOC foes would get some fans in the stadium. BC could be scheduled, I know they play on the road against MAC schools. Rhode Island, UNH, and Northeastern could always be there for a regional game. Maybe even UConn would play you guys 2 for 1.

I hope people realize that what I was suggesting was that the CAA keep all 14 football members, plus add 4 more football members, and run what would essentially be two separate conferences but both under the CAA name. That is a superconference. With the recent Fordham rumblings, I am starting to wonder if a Fordham for Drexel "trade" with the A-10 might not look good to both leagues, the real world unlikeliness of it notwithstanding. Fordham would get into a scholarship football conference, Hofstra would gain a local rival as they have recently been talking about, and Drexel would get into a league that focuses on basketball first and features a lot more local opponents.

CAA ORIGINAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE (9)
Northeastern / Fordham
Hofstra / Delaware
Towson / James Madison
William & Mary / Old Dominion
Georgia State
MEMBERS WITH NO FOOTBALL (3): George Mason, VCU, and UNC Wilmington

CAA AFFILIATE FOOTBALL CONFERENCE (9)
Maine (basketball in AEC) / New Hampshire (basketball in AEC)
Massachusetts (basketball in A-10) / Rhode Island (basketball in A-10)
Albany (basketball in AEC) / Stony Brook (basketball in AEC)
Villanova (basketball in Big East)
Richmond (basketball in A-10) / UNC Charlotte (basketball in A-10)

Only games within the two respective CAA football conferences would be considered league games. Any crossover games would be considered non-conference affairs. The CAA would make sure that Villanova and Delaware are permanent crossover opponents so that being in different "leagues" does not affect their longstanding rivalry. It would be very easy to plug in two crossover games for each school every year and no one would ever have to worry about non-conference scheduling again. Both sides would have automatic bids to the FCS playoffs and the CAA would get the marketing impact that comes with being in charge of all 18 teams rather than just half of them.

A-10 AFTER THE TRADE (14)
Massachusetts (football in CAA-2) / Rhode Island (football in CAA-2)
St. Bonaventure (non-football) / Duquesne (football in NEC)
Drexel (non-football) / Temple (football in MAC)
St. Joseph's (non-football) / LaSalle (non-football)
George Washington (non-football) / Richmond (football in CAA-2)
UNC Charlotte (football in CAA-2) / St. Louis (non-football)
Dayton (football in PFL) / Xavier (non-football)

While losing Fordham would take away a small share of the New York market, to be honest, the Rams do not get that much notice here anyway. The effect of replacing them with an additional sliver of the Philadelphia market is probably a no-win-no-lose type of situation. Furthermore, if Fordham really wants to leave, there is nothing the A-10 can do to stop them from walking so, if it happens amicably, everybody could walk away with smiles on their faces. This idea is probably more easily "executable" than my previous idea of the CAA trying to grab Charlotte so it ought to at least be worth some exploration by the people running both leagues. It is also only minimally disruptive.

(05-19-2009 11:50 AM)Krocker Krapp Wrote:  I hope people realize that what I was suggesting was that the CAA keep all 14 football members, plus add 4 more football members, and run what would essentially be two separate conferences but both under the CAA name. That is a superconference. With the recent Fordham rumblings, I am starting to wonder if a Fordham for Drexel "trade" with the A-10 might not look good to both leagues, the real world unlikeliness of it notwithstanding. Fordham would get into a scholarship football conference, Hofstra would gain a local rival as they have recently been talking about, and Drexel would get into a league that focuses on basketball first and features a lot more local opponents.

CAA ORIGINAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE (9)
Northeastern / Fordham
Hofstra / Delaware
Towson / James Madison
William & Mary / Old Dominion
Georgia State
MEMBERS WITH NO FOOTBALL (3): George Mason, VCU, and UNC Wilmington

CAA AFFILIATE FOOTBALL CONFERENCE (9)
Maine (basketball in AEC) / New Hampshire (basketball in AEC)
Massachusetts (basketball in A-10) / Rhode Island (basketball in A-10)
Albany (basketball in AEC) / Stony Brook (basketball in AEC)
Villanova (basketball in Big East)
Richmond (basketball in A-10) / UNC Charlotte (basketball in A-10)

Only games within the two respective CAA football conferences would be considered league games. Any crossover games would be considered non-conference affairs. The CAA would make sure that Villanova and Delaware are permanent crossover opponents so that being in different "leagues" does not affect their longstanding rivalry. It would be very easy to plug in two crossover games for each school every year and no one would ever have to worry about non-conference scheduling again. Both sides would have automatic bids to the FCS playoffs and the CAA would get the marketing impact that comes with being in charge of all 18 teams rather than just half of them.

A-10 AFTER THE TRADE (14)
Massachusetts (football in CAA-2) / Rhode Island (football in CAA-2)
St. Bonaventure (non-football) / Duquesne (football in NEC)
Drexel (non-football) / Temple (football in MAC)
St. Joseph's (non-football) / LaSalle (non-football)
George Washington (non-football) / Richmond (football in CAA-2)
UNC Charlotte (football in CAA-2) / St. Louis (non-football)
Dayton (football in PFL) / Xavier (non-football)

While losing Fordham would take away a small share of the New York market, to be honest, the Rams do not get that much notice here anyway. The effect of replacing them with an additional sliver of the Philadelphia market is probably a no-win-no-lose type of situation. Furthermore, if Fordham really wants to leave, there is nothing the A-10 can do to stop them from walking so, if it happens amicably, everybody could walk away with smiles on their faces. This idea is probably more easily "executable" than my previous idea of the CAA trying to grab Charlotte so it ought to at least be worth some exploration by the people running both leagues. It is also only minimally disruptive.

From my perspective as a Charlotte fan and FSL holder, while I have no problem being in the CAA or Big South as a football only member, playing Independent would have several advantages including pushing our stated goal of moving to FBS as soon as possible. Finacially FCS football will not be sustainable for us past 6 years. For the finances to work we will have to be playing FBS football within our first decade. If being forced to fill out a full schedule of OOC's forces the administration's weak hands then I'm all for it.

Maybe if Fordham wants to upgrade they could join the BE has a FB only member...... Bring on the kittens

(05-19-2009 09:31 PM)gosports1 Wrote:  Maybe if Fordham wants to upgrade they could join the BE has a FB only member...... Bring on the kittens

Haha, they could play at Yankee Stadium like the days of yore.

The majority here are quite sure they want to leave the PL once we go scholie. I will admit at the very least we need to offer scholies (one only has to look at last Saturday's loss to URI, a team we used to beat) in order to be be competative in the FCS. The question would then become;
Where would we realisitcally go if we leave the PL?

The economy is in bad shape, not marketing, not drawing STADIUM, and nothing but faith, we have already sold 25% of the FSL.

sounds really good to me . . . they should restart it .

What are Charlotte's options for it's sports programs. The A-10 provides the 49ers the opportunity play in DC, Philly, NYC, Boston, Pitt, Cincy, Dayton, & St Louis. That should be fertile recruiting grounds, but we have only two players from the North East. The average BB seating capacity for the A-10 is 7,621, the CAA average is 6,110, & the Southern is 5,500.

For football the average seating capacity is CAA 15,757 & The Southern is 15,444.