The Sun Belt has stated as its eventual goal: 12 FB members, 2 conferences, a Conference Championship Game. Say for the sake of argument that the Belt will be PROACTIVE, not REACTIVE in meeting its goals. Let's say that the conference loses no more members, that ALL the Presidents are backing the picks of the Commish... You're the Commish, who do we take that gets us to the stated goals, adds to strengthening the overall perception of the conference, and resides within the Belts stated footprint (TX-east)?

every day we leave App State out there without an SBC invite, is another day I want to scream at the computer screen.

I'd go with:

App - strong program, strong fan base, added a name team to the conference. Someone that can probably be competitive very quickly, and would actually be somewhat of a draw for the rest of the conference. Adds a new state and another bus trip for quite a few of the SBC teams.

JMU - The easy answer is Georgia Southern (which I would be fine with), but if I had my choice, I'd add James Madison. Great road trip, gets us into Virginia, another strong FCS program. I got lost on the JMU campus while driving 81 and was impressed with the facilities.

SBC East - MT, WKU, FAU, APP, GSU, JMU
SBC West - Troy, USA, ULL, ULM, ASU, TxSt.

I'm with you Doug.

(05-11-2012 09:26 PM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  JMU - The easy answer is Georgia Southern (which I would be fine with), but if I had my choice, I'd add James Madison. Great road trip, gets us into Virginia, another strong FCS program. I got lost on the JMU campus while driving 81 and was impressed with the facilities.

I agree. James Madison has a great looking stadium and it has been recently expanded. JMU is a big university and their campus is beautiful. If I were commish I'd send them an invitation on their band alone, the Marching Royal Dukes are amazing!

Anyways, I'd go with App State, Southern, or JMU.

App. State, Ga. Southern, Oral Roberts (Olympic sports), College of Charelston (Olympic sports)

(05-11-2012 09:51 PM)bluephi1914 Wrote:  App. State, Ga. Southern, Oral Roberts (Olympic sports), College of Charelston (Olympic sports)

Ugggghhhhhhhhhhh!

(05-11-2012 09:53 PM)panama Wrote:  

(05-11-2012 09:51 PM)bluephi1914 Wrote:  App. State, Ga. Southern, Oral Roberts (Olympic sports), College of Charelston (Olympic sports)

Ugggghhhhhhhhhhh!

I second that.

(05-11-2012 09:51 PM)bluephi1914 Wrote:  Oral Roberts (Olympic sports), College of Charelston (Olympic sports)

Oral Roberts? do they make toothbrushes?

(05-11-2012 09:56 PM)troy4ever21 Wrote:  

(05-11-2012 09:53 PM)panama Wrote:  

(05-11-2012 09:51 PM)bluephi1914 Wrote:  App. State, Ga. Southern, Oral Roberts (Olympic sports), College of Charelston (Olympic sports)

Ugggghhhhhhhhhhh!

I 2nd that.

I 3rd it...

(05-11-2012 10:00 PM)mtsufan561 Wrote:  I 3rd it...

Ha, caught me before I could change it.

(05-11-2012 10:02 PM)troy4ever21 Wrote:  

(05-11-2012 10:00 PM)mtsufan561 Wrote:  I 3rd it...

Ha, caught me before I could change it.

haha

The choices are limited:

App State is the obvious first choice. Georgia Southern has issues, but they are crazy and can get through hard times. They bring an automatic rivalry with App State and Georgia State that will get heated and ultimately get noticed. Especially in an age where a lot of schools are losing old rivalries.

For the future...you have to start working on Missouri State. That means concentrating on basketball, getting RPI up, and getting NCAA slots. Missouri is a large state with plenty of room for an FBS program.

We also can't leave Texas State out in the boonies forever. That probably means you have to start working with Lamar or somebody to get them ready.

Also...if they are doing everything I say then the Belt schools can all sign over a Grant of Rights to guarantee stability.

(05-11-2012 09:57 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  

(05-11-2012 09:51 PM)bluephi1914 Wrote:  Oral Roberts (Olympic sports), College of Charelston (Olympic sports)

Oral Roberts
City: Tulsa, OK
Population: 937k in metro area
Market Size: 59 DMA
Airport: International
Basketball (5 year average): 21.2 wins, 12 losses
Baseball (4 year average): 39 wins, 19.5 losses

College of Charleston
City: Chareston, SC
Population: 659k in metro area
Market Size: 65 DMA
Airport: International
Basketball (5 year average): 22 wins, 12.2 losses
Baseball (4 year average): 39.25 wins, 20.75 losses

bluephi I think you are all alone in wanting Oral Roberts and CoC. they just aren't attractive enough.

(05-11-2012 10:37 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  bluephi I think you are all alone in wanting Oral Roberts and CoC. they just aren't attractive enough.

I do not know why. Both have solid attendance and win. JMU is not leaving the CAA to come to the SBC. ORU and CoC are very viable options for our current purposes. They both improve our basketball and baseball.

no thanks. the ONLY Division 1-AA teams I am interested in are App State and Georgia Southern. I'd pass on anyone else from that level of play, period.

(05-11-2012 10:48 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  no thanks. the ONLY Division 1-AA teams I am interested in are App State and Georgia Southern. I'd pass on anyone else from that level of play, period.

The others that might be appropriate are not ready yet. The Belt ought to embrace it's history of FCS call-ups and be a resource for those programs we are interested in moving up.

Lamar, Sam Houston, SFA, Missouri State, maybe Southern Illinois.

When we identify those, we ought to be trying to schedule them if we schedule FCS opponents and if they are agreeable to increase our fan bases familiarity with them.

(05-11-2012 10:48 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  no thanks. the ONLY Division 1-AA teams I am interested in are App State and Georgia Southern. I'd pass on anyone else from that level of play, period.

I agree on App and Southern, but CoC is a good non-football program. Not to mention you could pick a worse area than Charleston to visit. If travel partner considerations weren't an issue for newly added Texas State, I'd sure as hell take them over UTA.