(04-19-2020 02:02 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote: (04-19-2020 01:51 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote: (04-19-2020 01:38 PM)HyperDuke Wrote: I’m down.
Curious to hear from Marshall fans to see if my take on Ohio U being a rival/travel partner is intriguing or meaningful to them and if (knowing Ohio U and the Mac) they think Ohio U would prefer a conference like this or if they would rather continue to play schools in the rust belt. If no Ohio U I think Coastal would do it and they aren’t that much of an outlier geographically just don’t have a natural travel partner/rival IMO.
Simply asking the question: Why would Ohio have an interest? Their travel would significantly increase when they have to travel to GA Southern. Only the schools with pain that this shakeup will help alleviate will show interest.
Yep I agree and trust the Marshall fan's opinion. I like Ohio U from a JMU perspective but the new league would be lateral for them and they are a charter member of the MAC. I personally think this new conference would be more successful than the MAC on and off the field due to the relative fan interest and area of the country though.
I kind of like the 10 of JMU, ODU, Charlotte, App, Marshall, Coastal, Ga State, Georgia Southern, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee
The footprint north to south east to west is no greater than 700 miles- MAC's claim to fame is 600 miles.
I also like the balance in terms of school locations
-Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky
-2 metropolitan areas (Charlotte and Atlanta)
- 2 coastal cities (Myrtle Beach and Norfolk)
-6 rural areas with proximity to markets like Nashville, Richmond and Washington DC.
-5 former CUSA schools, 4 Former Sun Belt schools and 1 FCS move up with the largest budget of them all.
From a JMU perspective just in terms of travel/cost
longest road trips in the CAA today (Olympic sports) 501 miles Charleston, 571 miles Boston
longest road trips in the CAA today (Football) 700+ Maine
longest road trips in the proposed conference all sports 537 Middle Tenn, 573 WKU, 538 Ga Southern, 531 Ga State