1. The ASUN doesn’t NEED to expand.
2. The ASUN has stated there were no D2 targets.
3. Things change.

Some Names to Throw Out as Targets:
Alabama-Huntsville
Bethune-Cookman
Coppin St.
Delaware St.
Florida Tech
Francis Marion
Howard
Lincoln Memorial
Morgan St.
NCCU
Norfolk St.
North Georgia
Nova Southeastern
S.C. State
Tampa
Thomas Jefferson
UMES
UNC Pembroke
Valdosta St.
West Florida

I like Tampa as a D-II call-up.

I might see Augusta, North Georgia, Valdosta State. West Georgia and Columbus State move to D1 if the other small public and private schools bow out of D2 to NAIA. They be way too big for that level.

Valdosta State would be a great add, but I kinda get the sense they like the big fish, small pond thing they have going on

If there’s no D2 targets, Bethune-Cookman will be ASun’s newest member. Keeps geography tight for schools who’ll be in the league for the long haul.

Personally my ranking would be:
1. Bethune- solid baseball program, good following, already D1.
2. West Florida- very strong all around D2 program, probably looking to move up.
3. Nova SE- huge enrollment, gets in SEFL footprint.
4. Valdosta State- powerhouse all around in D2, question is whether they’d move up.
5/6. Florida Southern, Tampa- solid D2 programs, former rivals of FGCU and UNF.

I’ll reach out to my Valdosta State connection and see if they’ve have had any change of heart.

ASUN has shown it’s not opposed to expanding it’s boundary (Bellarmine, Liberty). That being said, I think the two most stable and established D1 candidates are Howard and NCCU. I think of the D2 programs West Florida, Nova Southeastern, and North Georgia look good. I think Bethune-Cookman is low hanging fruit and would more readily accept an ASUN invite based on the current situation.

According to past history probably no one as long there is 9 members.

Bethune - football to the Big South
Unless the ASUN plans on sponsoring football by 2026 no D2 call-ups with football.

You don’t want to overload the Big South will extra football affiliates.

Non-Football- Nova Southeastern, North Georgia, Francis Marion. Tampa, Florida Southern.

If do decide to sponsor football-
D2 - West Florida
D2 - Valdosta State - as long as the current AD is in Valdosta there will be no interest. He has been there almost 30 years and he is in his early 60’s
So he could be retiring soon.
D2 - West Georgia - That is if they can get community support.
D2 - Tuskegee

After the D2 have gone through the Transition then add Jacksonville State.

Big South Football will be...
Kennesaw St.
Monmouth
N.C. A&T
North Alabama
Hampton
Robert Morris
Chuck South
Campbell
Gardner Webb

That’s a pretty good conference. There is room for 1-3 more teams. With the partnership between ASUN and Big South, they could take a few folks that’ll play other sports with us.

(06-13-2020 12:39 PM)army56mike Wrote:  Big South Football will be...
Kennesaw St.
Monmouth
N.C. A&T
North Alabama
Hampton
Robert Morris
Chuck South
Campbell
Gardner Webb

That’s a pretty good conference. There is room for 1-3 more teams. With the partnership between ASUN and Big South, they could take a few folks that’ll play other sports with us.

Those need to be closer to UNA and KSU, or it makes already bad travel worse.

Nobody in their right might thinks Liberty will stay long in the ASUN; they are the definition of a short timer; the ASUN is not the destination conference for the Flames. You also have to think Lipscomb and North Alabama would be the OVC choice should they lose a school (say Tennessee State or Murray State). But these moves look to be down the road a bit, and 9 schools is enough.

Bethune-Cookman is thrown about, but is that really much of a fit besides the map? To me that looks like a "break glass" emergency choice, a sign of panic. But then again, NJIT was sort of that too. Frankly B-C is better off in the MEAC and playing a couple games against SWAC schools to fill the schedule (certainly FAMU rivalry will continue), so why would they want to switch?

I think you stand pat. But you do evaluate and work with D-II schools exploring D-I within your existing footprint of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, maybe the right school in Tennessee, Mississippi or South Carolina. What you are looking for is somebody who will help hoops and has a good attendance. Frankly nobody in D-II, in the South, is close to Bellarmine who average 1,769. The only one I found above 1,000 (barely) was Francis Marion, a rather small public liberal Arts school with 2,900 undergrads and a minuscule $25M endowment, hardly D-I material. There are some schools who on paper look large enough, but with low interest. West Georgia, North Georgia, West Florida, Florida Tech, Alabama-Huntsville, Valdosta State all look like better targets. But even these are just 6,000 to 8,000 students and don't get much Basketball support -- the sport the ASUN cares most about.

You have to be careful. Right now, none of the above looks best.

I think you

(06-13-2020 01:59 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Nobody in their right might thinks Liberty will stay long in the ASUN; they are the definition of a short timer; the ASUN is not the destination conference for the Flames. You also have to think Lipscomb and North Alabama would be the OVC choice should they lose a school (say Tennessee State or Murray State). But these moves look to be down the road a bit, and 9 schools is enough.

Bethune-Cookman is thrown about, but is that really much of a fit besides the map? To me that looks like a "break glass" emergency choice, a sign of panic. But then again, NJIT was sort of that too. Frankly B-C is better off in the MEAC and playing a couple games against SWAC schools to fill the schedule (certainly FAMU rivalry will continue), so why would they want to switch?

I think you stand pat. But you do evaluate and work with D-II schools exploring D-I within your existing footprint of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, maybe the right school in Tennessee, Mississippi or South Carolina. What you are looking for is somebody who will help hoops and has a good attendance. Frankly nobody in D-II, in the South, is close to Bellarmine who average 1,769. The only one I found above 1,000 (barely) was Francis Marion, a rather small public liberal Arts school with 2,900 undergrads and a minuscule $25M endowment, hardly D-I material. There are some schools who on paper look large enough, but with low interest. West Georgia, North Georgia, West Florida, Florida Tech, Alabama-Huntsville, Valdosta State all look like better targets. But even these are just 6,000 to 8,000 students and don't get much Basketball support -- the sport the ASUN cares most about.

You have to be careful. Right now, none of the above looks best.

I think you

What do you think is the realistic reach conference for Liberty?
And which today's Cancel Culture running rampant is that even a realistic option? I'm surprised the school is still around given the Communist climate.

(06-13-2020 06:53 PM)Scoochpooch1 Wrote:  

(06-13-2020 01:59 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Nobody in their right might thinks Liberty will stay long in the ASUN; they are the definition of a short timer; the ASUN is not the destination conference for the Flames. You also have to think Lipscomb and North Alabama would be the OVC choice should they lose a school (say Tennessee State or Murray State). But these moves look to be down the road a bit, and 9 schools is enough.

Bethune-Cookman is thrown about, but is that really much of a fit besides the map? To me that looks like a "break glass" emergency choice, a sign of panic. But then again, NJIT was sort of that too. Frankly B-C is better off in the MEAC and playing a couple games against SWAC schools to fill the schedule (certainly FAMU rivalry will continue), so why would they want to switch?

I think you stand pat. But you do evaluate and work with D-II schools exploring D-I within your existing footprint of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, maybe the right school in Tennessee, Mississippi or South Carolina. What you are looking for is somebody who will help hoops and has a good attendance. Frankly nobody in D-II, in the South, is close to Bellarmine who average 1,769. The only one I found above 1,000 (barely) was Francis Marion, a rather small public liberal Arts school with 2,900 undergrads and a minuscule $25M endowment, hardly D-I material. There are some schools who on paper look large enough, but with low interest. West Georgia, North Georgia, West Florida, Florida Tech, Alabama-Huntsville, Valdosta State all look like better targets. But even these are just 6,000 to 8,000 students and don't get much Basketball support -- the sport the ASUN cares most about.

You have to be careful. Right now, none of the above looks best.

I think you

What do you think is the realistic reach conference for Liberty?
And which today's Cancel Culture running rampant is that even a realistic option? I'm surprised the school is still around given the Communist climate.

Liberty would need a major reshuffling of CUSA and the Sun Belt into 2 or 3 basically new conferences. That's unlikely, but that's what they'd need.

And Liberty is unpopular enough with administrators and faculty--that's why they never got a CUSA / Sun Belt invite in the first place.

But Liberty still qualifies as a flight risk because they don't really fit in the ASUN. Which means they'll leave at pretty much the first opportunity.

Bethune actually fits the ASUN pretty well. Of course there’s the fact that they practically an Uber ride away from 3 of the conference’s members, but they’re also perennially good in baseball which happens to be the sport that the ASUN cares most about. In the world of college baseball, the ASUN is considered a mid major, much like the A10 or CUSA in basketball. The ASUN almost always gets multiple bids into the baseball tournament and has even had teams host regionals in the past. Any school that helps to bolster the sport and is in the footprint essentially fits the profile.

Another big plus for Bethune in the ASun is they could play Big South football and continue games with A&T and Hampton plus FAMU non conference.

I think this would be a win win for both parties

If D2 implodes with a lot of small schools downgrading to a lower level, closing or dropping sports? I could see D1 go 1A and 1AA in all sports to make room for the larger schools. 1-AA could be lower to 12 sports, 1A 14 sports and FBS 16 sports. 1-AA in all sports could be like the new D2 division but under the label of D1. It would add more schools to be schedule to save on travel cost.

(06-13-2020 09:06 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  It would add more schools to be schedule to save on travel cost.

You are obsessed with upgrading schools to save on travel costs. I've started a thread where I'm tracking how much schools save on travel by switching conferences. https://csnbbs.com/thread-901084.html

I have two data points so far. UMKC expects to save $1M per year by subsituting Summit League bus trips for WAC plane trips. And Northern Kentucky saved $250,000 on travel in the Horizon League over the Atlantic Sun.

You cannot save THAT much money on travel costs.

Give B-C a call just to gauge their interests. Realistically, they need to be looking at the bigger D2 schools in FL, GA, and AL. If the ASUN is ever going to be stable they need to establish a footprint.

Every school the ASun has added over the last 15 years or so has fit two categories: Division 2, or a D1 with a problem.

It’s been proven that location is just about everything. That’s why NJIT is gone. That’s why a school with near zero success like USC Upstate left. So if you’re the ASun you better establish a footprint and get the best possible in that range. If they don’t keep adding teams, the conference will fail before too long. Right now the glass is leaking and they keep just pouring more water in without fixing the leak. Bellarmine hasn’t even arrived and more teams are gone.

North Georgia
West Georgia
Augusta St

That gives the ASUN a solid FL-GA footprint with some periphery schools.