Didn't know exactly where to put this, but this summarizes the MAC response to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MAC eliminating and scaling back postseason tournaments

Found that article interesting, might be a blueprint for other conferences.

An article in my local paper, spoke of how the UTC AD was planning on limiting sports teams non conference travel to a 150 mile radius of the campus. Except for pre-existing contracts.

Southern Conference cutting costs for athletics during 2020-21 season



https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/s...192720002/

Bowling Green eliminates baseball.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/bow...r-BB1493KX

Mercer president:

“The Southern Conference continues to be served well by its tight geographic footprint.”

(05-16-2020 11:16 AM)Buc66 Wrote:  Mercer president:

“The Southern Conference continues to be served well by its tight geographic footprint.”

Absolutely true!

Glad we're not in the Sun Belt right about now.

Furman maybe cutting their baseball program.

Furman is cutting baseball and men's lacrosse.

A SoCon school cutting baseball. Wow.

(05-18-2020 03:09 PM)etsuBucsFan1988 Wrote:  Furman maybe cutting their baseball program.

We’ll see if the alumni and fanbase let this hold up. It’s 11.7 scholarships spread over a max of 27 players. Each scholarship must be at least 25%. Roster max 35. That means if the roster goes to 28-30, most of the players and/or their families are paying all or a lot of their own way, and tuition there isn’t cheap. Does that make sense? Even if they cut scholarships to 5, you’d think they could hold a team together and pull off a 30 game schedule. Like us, they host a lot of home games early in the season due to weather, and their only travel very easily could be 4 conference road trips next spring. You’d think they could actually make money, or at least break even.

Softball is 12 scholarships max. So ditto. You’d think they would cut both baseball and softball by 5-6 scholarships, field teams with shortened schedules and limited travel, and actually make money overall.

Must be something else going on here. It has a flavor of Ronald Beller torching ETSU baseball in the early 1980’s to add women’s gymnastics.

(05-18-2020 04:43 PM)Buckyball Wrote:  

(05-18-2020 03:09 PM)etsuBucsFan1988 Wrote:  Furman maybe cutting their baseball program.

We’ll see if the alumni and fanbase let this hold up. It’s 11.7 scholarships spread over a max of 27 players. Each scholarship must be at least 25%. Roster max 35. That means if the roster goes to 28-30, most of the players and/or their families are paying all or a lot of their own way, and tuition there isn’t cheap. Does that make sense? Even if they cut scholarships to 5, you’d think they could hold a team together and pull off a 30 game schedule. Like us, they host a lot of home games early in the season due to weather, and their only travel very easily could be 4 conference road trips next spring. You’d think they could actually make money, or at least break even.

Softball is 12 scholarships max. So ditto. You’d think they would cut both baseball and softball by 5-6 scholarships, field teams with shortened schedules and limited travel, and actually make money overall.

Must be something else going on here. It has a flavor of Ronald Beller torching ETSU baseball in the early 1980’s to add women’s gymnastics.

Agreed. They could be something else going on as the sport is not that expensive from a SoCon perspective.

(05-18-2020 06:57 PM)bucfan81 Wrote:  

(05-18-2020 04:43 PM)Buckyball Wrote:  

(05-18-2020 03:09 PM)etsuBucsFan1988 Wrote:  Furman maybe cutting their baseball program.

We’ll see if the alumni and fanbase let this hold up. It’s 11.7 scholarships spread over a max of 27 players. Each scholarship must be at least 25%. Roster max 35. That means if the roster goes to 28-30, most of the players and/or their families are paying all or a lot of their own way, and tuition there isn’t cheap. Does that make sense? Even if they cut scholarships to 5, you’d think they could hold a team together and pull off a 30 game schedule. Like us, they host a lot of home games early in the season due to weather, and their only travel very easily could be 4 conference road trips next spring. You’d think they could actually make money, or at least break even.

Softball is 12 scholarships max. So ditto. You’d think they would cut both baseball and softball by 5-6 scholarships, field teams with shortened schedules and limited travel, and actually make money overall.

Must be something else going on here. It has a flavor of Ronald Beller torching ETSU baseball in the early 1980’s to add women’s gymnastics.

Agreed. They could be something else going on as the sport is not that expensive from a SoCon perspective.

Furman's total cost of attendance is $67,000. Parents of players not receiving full scholarships may no longer see the value and may not be willing to pay (particularly parents who have seen decreases in income or losses of jobs). This phenomenon is going to play out all across the NCAA and the privates with high cost of attendance are particularly vulnerable.

(05-16-2020 07:07 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  Glad we're not in the Sun Belt right about now.

So far, no SB schools have cut sports, but the MAC, which easily has the tightest conference footprint of all 10 FBS conferences, and is even tighter geographically than the SoCon, has two schools who have cut sports. Travel costs are real, but schools who managed their overall expenses well prior to this crisis will suffer the least. Bowling Green, Akron, and very sadly Furman are examples of how tight conference geography isn't everything.

Also, the SB is indeed spread out, but the eastern division isn't any more spread out than the SoCon is. That helps. It isn't like C-USA, which stretches west to El Paso (minutes from Mexico and New Mexico), south to Miami, east to Norfolk, and north to Huntington, WV. The SB's extremes are central Texas in the west/south, Boone, NC, in the north, and Conway, SC in the east. It's not perfect, but I am very pleased App moved to FBS... My hope is for basically the eastern schools of both leagues to merge as a new league and for the western schools to do the same, not just for travel savings, but also for regional rivalry opportunities.

Anyway, I definitely hope ETSU doesn't have to drop any sports. I'm sad about Furman. I had a good friend in high school who went there on a baseball scholarship a while back. Hate it for him and all the people involved in both sports that were cut.

BTW, you guys had a great team in hoops this year. Probably would have picked ETSU for the Sweet 16 in a world with no COVID.

(05-19-2020 02:10 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(05-16-2020 07:07 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  Glad we're not in the Sun Belt right about now.

So far, no SB schools have cut sports, but the MAC, which easily has the tightest conference footprint of all 10 FBS conferences, and is even tighter geographically than the SoCon, has two schools who have cut sports. Travel costs are real, but schools who managed their overall expenses well prior to this crisis will suffer the least. Bowling Green, Akron, and very sadly Furman are examples of how tight conference geography isn't everything.

Also, the SB is indeed spread out, but the eastern division isn't any more spread out than the SoCon is. That helps. It isn't like C-USA, which stretches west to El Paso (minutes from Mexico and New Mexico), south to Miami, east to Norfolk, and north to Huntington, WV. The SB's extremes are central Texas in the west/south, Boone, NC, in the north, and Conway, SC in the east. It's not perfect, but I am very pleased App moved to FBS... My hope is for basically the eastern schools of both leagues to merge as a new league and for the western schools to do the same, not just for travel savings, but also for regional rivalry opportunities.

Anyway, I definitely hope ETSU doesn't have to drop any sports. I'm sad about Furman. I had a good friend in high school who went there on a baseball scholarship a while back. Hate it for him and all the people involved in both sports that were cut.

BTW, you guys had a great team in hoops this year. Probably would have picked ETSU for the Sweet 16 in a world with no COVID.

This is such a simple solution I just dont understand how it hasnt been done yet. I guess there are some egos involved.

Also, most on this board would love for ETSU to be in the Sun Belt. Especially if the above realignment ever happened.

(05-19-2020 07:03 AM)brock20 Wrote:  

(05-19-2020 02:10 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(05-16-2020 07:07 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  Glad we're not in the Sun Belt right about now.

So far, no SB schools have cut sports, but the MAC, which easily has the tightest conference footprint of all 10 FBS conferences, and is even tighter geographically than the SoCon, has two schools who have cut sports. Travel costs are real, but schools who managed their overall expenses well prior to this crisis will suffer the least. Bowling Green, Akron, and very sadly Furman are examples of how tight conference geography isn't everything.

Also, the SB is indeed spread out, but the eastern division isn't any more spread out than the SoCon is. That helps. It isn't like C-USA, which stretches west to El Paso (minutes from Mexico and New Mexico), south to Miami, east to Norfolk, and north to Huntington, WV. The SB's extremes are central Texas in the west/south, Boone, NC, in the north, and Conway, SC in the east. It's not perfect, but I am very pleased App moved to FBS... My hope is for basically the eastern schools of both leagues to merge as a new league and for the western schools to do the same, not just for travel savings, but also for regional rivalry opportunities.

Anyway, I definitely hope ETSU doesn't have to drop any sports. I'm sad about Furman. I had a good friend in high school who went there on a baseball scholarship a while back. Hate it for him and all the people involved in both sports that were cut.

BTW, you guys had a great team in hoops this year. Probably would have picked ETSU for the Sweet 16 in a world with no COVID.

This is such a simple solution I just dont understand how it hasnt been done yet. I guess there are some egos involved.

Also, most on this board would love for ETSU to be in the Sun Belt. Especially if the above realignment ever happened.

No one knows at this time, of course, how college athletics will look. The financial consequences of this thing are yet to be seen. Could be that there will be some major restructuring purely out of economic necessity and survival.

(05-19-2020 02:10 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(05-16-2020 07:07 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  Glad we're not in the Sun Belt right about now.

So far, no SB schools have cut sports, but the MAC, which easily has the tightest conference footprint of all 10 FBS conferences, and is even tighter geographically than the SoCon, has two schools who have cut sports. Travel costs are real, but schools who managed their overall expenses well prior to this crisis will suffer the least. Bowling Green, Akron, and very sadly Furman are examples of how tight conference geography isn't everything.

Also, the SB is indeed spread out, but the eastern division isn't any more spread out than the SoCon is. That helps. It isn't like C-USA, which stretches west to El Paso (minutes from Mexico and New Mexico), south to Miami, east to Norfolk, and north to Huntington, WV. The SB's extremes are central Texas in the west/south, Boone, NC, in the north, and Conway, SC in the east. It's not perfect, but I am very pleased App moved to FBS... My hope is for basically the eastern schools of both leagues to merge as a new league and for the western schools to do the same, not just for travel savings, but also for regional rivalry opportunities.

Anyway, I definitely hope ETSU doesn't have to drop any sports. I'm sad about Furman. I had a good friend in high school who went there on a baseball scholarship a while back. Hate it for him and all the people involved in both sports that were cut.

BTW, you guys had a great team in hoops this year. Probably would have picked ETSU for the Sweet 16 in a world with no COVID.

If you took the Sun Belt East-Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Troy, and Coastal Carolina
I would look to add 5 out of South Alabama, Central Florida, South Florida, East Carolina, James Madison, Marshall, UAB, Florida Atlantic, Western Kentucky, Charlotte, Middle TN, FIU, Old Dominion, Chattanooga, ETSU, Murray State.
Then if you needed to add 2 for basketball -Charleston,UNC-G, Florida Gulf Coast

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...r-reports/

Appalachian State has cut men's soccer, men's tennis, and men's indoor track and field. But they can afford a NASCAR?

(05-26-2020 03:04 PM)etsuBucsFan1988 Wrote:  Appalachian State has cut men's soccer, men's tennis, and men's indoor track and field. But they can afford a NASCAR?

They didnt pay for that.

(05-26-2020 03:04 PM)etsuBucsFan1988 Wrote:  Appalachian State has cut men's soccer, men's tennis, and men's indoor track and field. But they can afford a NASCAR?

Joe Gibbs has two grandsons playing football at App. Free exposure as such there is for 2nd level auto racing taking place at an empty track.