(06-12-2020 02:44 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(06-12-2020 10:47 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  As for how to make that happen today. I don't think it's possible. Maybe a Northeastern block but not a completely Northeastern based conference.

Realistically. And I use that word very loosely. You could have these schools as a Northeastern block-

Army (football only)
UConn (football only)
UMass (football only)
Buffalo
Delaware (FCS move up)
James Madison (FCS move up, close, northern VA)

Unless the AAC took a big monetary hit I don't see Temple or Navy leaving to join this group. Fans from those schools would know better than me though.

Army would ban all guns before joining that conference.

Why do you think that?

(06-12-2020 10:05 AM)TerryD Wrote:  I grew up across the Pa. line, 25 miles from Morgantown, WV.

Lots of family and friends attended WVU.

In no way, shape or form is Morgantown, Northern West Virginia or the WV Panhandle "Southern".

It is not "Midwestern" either. Nobody would confuse Morgantown with Ames, Iowa or Champaign, Illinois.

It is mostly just like Western Pennsylvania. It gravitates towards Pittsburgh.

Almost as if it was in "Northern Appalachia".

A Northeast only conference doesn't work for FB recruiting.

That is why we don't see it at the G5 level. Even when the BE had FB it included some non-Northeast schools.

(06-12-2020 08:56 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote:  

(06-12-2020 09:47 AM)esayem Wrote:  Again? There has never been a northeastern FBS conference.

There are 9 or 10 northeastern teams, depending on if you count West Virginia as northeast. Personally, I don’t think of West Virginia as the northeast.

Three are Independent.

Two are in the Big 10.

Three are in the ACC.

One is in the American.


Seems to me the ACC is the preeminent northeastern conference.

Buffalo, Umass, BC, Cuse, UConn, Army, Rutgers, Temple, PSU, Pitt, Navy, Maryland, WVU is 13. I-95 corridor is the northeast.

I forgot Buffalo, but I’m not counting Maryland or Navy.

Maryland is mostly northeastern influence with a small southern influence in Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore.

It'd certainly be nice to have a Northeastern FBS conference, say, something with a core of BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, Temple, Penn State, Pitt, Maryland, and WVU (the last two being at least peripherally Northeastern). Of course, that's quite implausible at this point. The closest we might get is if the Big Ten and SEC were to divvy up the ACC sometime after the GoR expires, although none of the potential adds really meet Big Ten standards. Pitt is AAU but redundant with Penn State already dominating the same market. And neither Boston College nor Syracuse are AAU. But if the Big Ten were to bite on all three, perhaps as a means of enticing Notre Dame to join, then you might see some grouping of BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, Penn State, Pitt, and Maryland. West Virginia and Temple are pretty much out of the question, though.

That said, if we set reality aside, I'm in favor of a "Greater Northeast" conference that would include the 8 schools mentioned above as well as 2, 4, 6, or all of the following: Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Miami-FL.

The northeast needs good football programs first.

(06-13-2020 10:00 AM)shere khan Wrote:  The northeast needs good football programs first.

This is certainly a fair point. Penn State would dominate, with perhaps WVU offering the most in the way of competition, assuming they'd be included.

As others have stated, the single biggest issue is that college football just doesn't matter enough in the Northeast to make a P-level conference financially viable. That, more than anything else, was always the problem. Penn State's the only "anchor" type program, and they were always going to eventually choose Ohio State and Michigan over BC and Syracuse.

At the G-level, Temple, Buffalo, and Navy are all reasonably content with their current affiliations. I suppose I could see Navy one day being an independent again, but it doesn't seem imminent or anything. Meanwhile, the three northeastern independents all have wildly different Olympics goals and all three like their current (well, for UConn, almost-current) conference affiliations.

The most I could see happening any time in the kind-of-near future would be the east coast CUSA/SB schools forming their own conference and having the three northeastern independents as a block of affiliates. Even then, that's not a northeastern conference.

(06-13-2020 10:05 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(06-13-2020 10:00 AM)shere khan Wrote:  The northeast needs good football programs first.

This is certainly a fair point. Penn State would dominate, with perhaps WVU offering the most in the way of competition, assuming they'd be included.

NFL players:

Temple: 28
WVU: 25

We'd probably do better than you think.

(06-13-2020 11:43 AM)JHG722 Wrote:  

(06-13-2020 10:05 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(06-13-2020 10:00 AM)shere khan Wrote:  The northeast needs good football programs first.

This is certainly a fair point. Penn State would dominate, with perhaps WVU offering the most in the way of competition, assuming they'd be included.

NFL players:

Temple: 28
WVU: 25

We'd probably do better than you think.

All-time Temple FB record vs. Northeast schools

Opponent: Temple Wins-Temple Losses-Ties
Boston College: 7-29-2
Maryland: 3-7-0
Penn State: 4-40-1
Pittsburgh: 7-27-1
Rutgers: 15-20-0
Syracuse: 10-26-1
West Virginia: 12-24-0
TOTAL: 58-173-5

No offense against Temple, as I have a soft spot for them, but I think these numbers are more relevant than any marginal edge in number of NFL players produced.

(06-12-2020 06:27 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(06-12-2020 11:28 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  Boston College
Syracuse
Maryland
Rutgers
West Virginia
Pittsburgh
Penn State
Buffalo
Stony Brook
Delaware
Army
Navy
UConn
UMass

This is close to a northeast.

Temple belongs on that list, but Stony Brook and Delaware don't unless they move from FCS to FBS, and if they're on the list, Villanova would belong on the list as well.

Historically, the closest there has ever been to a FBS type of northeast affiliation, other than the original Big East, may have been back in the 1930s - 1970s, when most of those teams were frequently playing one another as independents.

Added them for academics as R1. Temple and Cincinnati could work as well. The service academies are special.

Bogg, which is more likely:

1) Navy goes Independent
2) Army to AAC

(06-13-2020 01:34 PM)Erictelevision Wrote:  Bogg, which is more likely:

1) Navy goes Independent
2) Army to AAC

I mean, I've got no special insight there. It seems like Army could be the AAC's 12th if they wanted it, so it depends almost entirely on the two ADs and what they prefer. I don't think Navy's looking at the exits though. Maybe if the Big 12 blows up and then backfills with western AAC teams, but not now.

(06-13-2020 08:05 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  A Northeast only conference doesn't work for FB recruiting.

That is why we don't see it at the G5 level. Even when the BE had FB it included some non-Northeast schools.

It only looked outside the Northeast because half of its schools (UConn, Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova) were playing football below the I-A level. Different conversation if they were all playing together.

(06-13-2020 01:57 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(06-13-2020 01:34 PM)Erictelevision Wrote:  Bogg, which is more likely:

1) Navy goes Independent
2) Army to AAC

I mean, I've got no special insight there. It seems like Army could be the AAC's 12th if they wanted it, so it depends almost entirely on the two ADs and what they prefer. I don't think Navy's looking at the exits though. Maybe if the Big 12 blows up and then backfills with western AAC teams, but not now.

Army left C-USA because of the travel cost for football, and will not join AAC. They would join a northeast conference for all sports if they could.

(06-13-2020 04:02 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  

(06-13-2020 08:05 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  A Northeast only conference doesn't work for FB recruiting.

That is why we don't see it at the G5 level. Even when the BE had FB it included some non-Northeast schools.

It only looked outside the Northeast because half of its schools (UConn, Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova) were playing football below the I-A level. Different conversation if they were all playing together.

Seton Hall's football program folded after the 1981 season:

https://shupirates.com/sports/2016/7/10/...-html.aspx

The only way a Northeast conference was going to survive and thrive is if Penn State and Notre Dame were the anchors of that conference, along with Miami.

That was never going to happen and it didn't. End.

(06-13-2020 10:32 PM)TerryD Wrote:  The only way a Northeast conference was going to survive and thrive is if Penn State and Notre Dame were the anchors of that conference, along with Miami.

That was never going to happen and it didn't. End.

Well, that's sort of the thing, isn't it? The only way a Northeast conference would work is if it was anchored by programs outside the Northeast. I'm not even sure to what extent that's actually a Northeast conference.

I think the following 6 schools could form the foundation of a northeast conference based on undergraduate enrollment and proximity:

(1) UConn
(2) Rutgers
(3) Temple
(4) Penn State
(5) Maryland
(6) West Virginia

Add the following 3 smaller schools to get to 9:

(7) Boston College
(8) Syracuse
(9) Pittsburgh

To round up to 12, I'd invite the following 3 schools on the condition they upgrade their football facilities:

(10) UMass
(11) Delaware
(12) William and Mary or James Madison

I'd drop Delaware and W&M/JMU if George Mason and VCU both started up football programs.