Yes he did

Brilliant move. Both conferences can claim an AQ going forward.

Hum Tarleton State is left out.

(02-22-2021 11:04 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Brilliant move. Both conferences can claim an AQ going forward.

Hum Tarleton State is left out.

It's only the schools moving and not part of a AQ conference I think. Both Dixie State and Talerton state aren't a part of it. Even if they were they are ineligible for the playoffs anyway.

(02-16-2021 03:57 PM)AZcats Wrote:  

(02-16-2021 07:31 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  There are talk on D2 forums that West Georgia, Valdosta State and West Florida could be interested in joining the ASun. West Georgia needs to add 2 men's sports and one women's sports. Men's tracvk and men's tennis can be coached by the women's coach without hiring a new coach, and the volleyball coach can coach beach volleyball for the women's. Valdosta State can do the same with men's tennis. They could add both men and women's wrestling, beach volleyball and 1 other women sports. West Florida is set at 15 with 7/8. They seemed to be interested because of former rivals of Jacksonville State, North Alabama, UCA and interested in when North Florida will add football. With Kennesaw State already there, you tend to get a tight knit football there. They are the larger schools that could make the jump.

Wow, you didn't even copy from that thread correctly. And that thread is absolutely not saying what you claim. The West Florida posters are all saying they want to stay in D2.

Most all D-II posters say they want to stay, then they go D-I and are all about D-I, ending up here.

(02-23-2021 12:38 AM)46566 Wrote:  

(02-22-2021 11:04 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Brilliant move. Both conferences can claim an AQ going forward.

Hum Tarleton State is left out.

It's only the schools moving and not part of a AQ conference I think. Both Dixie State and Talerton state aren't a part of it. Even if they were they are ineligible for the playoffs anyway.

They MIGHT be in the schedule though? It doesn't say they aren't, anyway.

Why would they be included? It would give the AQ7 8 "conference" games, 4 home 4 away.

(02-23-2021 02:29 AM)Fresno St. Alum Wrote:  

(02-16-2021 03:57 PM)AZcats Wrote:  

(02-16-2021 07:31 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  There are talk on D2 forums that West Georgia, Valdosta State and West Florida could be interested in joining the ASun. West Georgia needs to add 2 men's sports and one women's sports. Men's tracvk and men's tennis can be coached by the women's coach without hiring a new coach, and the volleyball coach can coach beach volleyball for the women's. Valdosta State can do the same with men's tennis. They could add both men and women's wrestling, beach volleyball and 1 other women sports. West Florida is set at 15 with 7/8. They seemed to be interested because of former rivals of Jacksonville State, North Alabama, UCA and interested in when North Florida will add football. With Kennesaw State already there, you tend to get a tight knit football there. They are the larger schools that could make the jump.

Wow, you didn't even copy from that thread correctly. And that thread is absolutely not saying what you claim. The West Florida posters are all saying they want to stay in D2.

Most all D-II posters say they want to stay, then they go D-I and are all about D-I, ending up here.

UWF is a hard one to figure out. If this A-Sun thing really gets off the ground, I can see UWF inquiring possibly. They definitely make more sense than UAH, which has never had football to the best of my knowledge, and with the A-Sun wanting to be a football league.

UWF would need a bigger stadium. I think they only hold like 5,000 fans.

I'm pretty sure they could pull it off too, considering how the state of Florida is looking a lot better financially than states of New York & California. Since they have some $$'s to play with, I could see that.

I still don't understand why you go to these lengths when the best of those seven teams would absolutely get an at large in 100% of seasons.

(02-22-2021 11:04 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Brilliant move. Both conferences can claim an AQ going forward.

Hum Tarleton State is left out.

ATLANTA, Ga. – The ASUN Conference and Western Athletic Conference have agreed on a one-year Football scheduling alliance for the 2021 fall football season. Presented as the ASUN-WAC Challenge, the agreement will allow for seven institutions--three ASUN members and four WAC members--to be eligible for an automatic qualification into the 2021 NCAA FCS Playoffs.

"The ASUN and WAC are proud to be building opportunities for our student-athletes to compete at the highest level," stated ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart. "This partnership provides teams in both leagues a path to an automatic bid and elevates the ASUN and WAC to a new level of competition. We look forward to creating more innovative ways to promote ASUN Football as an NCAA FCS league in 2021 and beyond."

The alliance will feature Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State from the ASUN Conference and Abilene Christian, Lamar University, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin from the WAC. ASUN members Kennesaw State and North Alabama will continue to participate in the Big South Conference for the 2021 season, while WAC members Dixie State and Tarleton will participate in the joint schedule but will not be eligible for the group's AQ due to their status as NCAA Division I reclassifying institutions. WAC member New Mexico State will continue as an FBS Independent. ASUN member Liberty will continue as an FBS Independent. ASUN member Stetson will continue to play in the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League.

The seven schools, known as the AQ7, will play a single round-robin, with each institution having three home contests and three road contests. The home team will be responsible for officials, control media rights and game broadcast inventory. The team with the highest winning percentage among AQ7 games shall receive the automatic qualification to the FCS playoffs. In addition, a trophy will be presented to the conference that has the highest winning percentage against the other conference.

ASUN-WAC Challenge Schedule Dates
Sept. 25, 2021
Sam Houston at Central Arkansas
Abilene Christian at Lamar

Oct. 2, 2021
Central Arkansas at Abilene Christian
Tarleton at Eastern Kentucky - #
Sam Houston at Stephen F. Austin

Oct. 9, 2021
Abilene Christian at Eastern Kentucky
Stephen F. Austin at Jacksonville State
Lamar at Sam Houston

Oct. 16, 2021
Lamar at Abilene Christian
Eastern Kentucky at Central Arkansas
Tarleton at Dixie State - #

Oct. 23, 2021
Central Arkansas at Lamar
Stephen F. Austin at Dixie State - #
Jacksonville State at Sam Houston

Oct. 30, 2021
Abilene Christian at Stephen F. Austin
Central Arkansas at Jacksonville State
Lamar at Eastern Kentucky
Sam Houston at Tarleton - #

Nov. 6, 2021
Abilene Christian at Jacksonville State
Dixie State at Sam Houston
Eastern Kentucky at Stephen F. Austin
Lamar at Tarleton - #

Nov. 13, 2021
Tarleton at Abilene Christian - #
Stephen F. Austin at Central Arkansas
Eastern Kentucky at Sam Houston
Jacksonville State at Lamar

Nov. 20, 2021
Sam Houston at Abilene Christian
Central Arkansas at Tarleton - #
Jacksonville State at Eastern Kentucky
Stephen F. Austin at Lamar

# - Contests against Dixie State and Tarleton do not count towards alliance win percentage

(02-23-2021 11:05 AM)CarlSmithCenter Wrote:  

(02-22-2021 11:04 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Brilliant move. Both conferences can claim an AQ going forward.

Hum Tarleton State is left out.

ATLANTA, Ga. – The ASUN Conference and Western Athletic Conference have agreed on a one-year Football scheduling alliance for the 2021 fall football season. Presented as the ASUN-WAC Challenge, the agreement will allow for seven institutions--three ASUN members and four WAC members--to be eligible for an automatic qualification into the 2021 NCAA FCS Playoffs.

"The ASUN and WAC are proud to be building opportunities for our student-athletes to compete at the highest level," stated ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart. "This partnership provides teams in both leagues a path to an automatic bid and elevates the ASUN and WAC to a new level of competition. We look forward to creating more innovative ways to promote ASUN Football as an NCAA FCS league in 2021 and beyond."

The alliance will feature Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State from the ASUN Conference and Abilene Christian, Lamar University, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin from the WAC. ASUN members Kennesaw State and North Alabama will continue to participate in the Big South Conference for the 2021 season, while WAC members Dixie State and Tarleton will participate in the joint schedule but will not be eligible for the group's AQ due to their status as NCAA Division I reclassifying institutions. WAC member New Mexico State will continue as an FBS Independent. ASUN member Liberty will continue as an FBS Independent. ASUN member Stetson will continue to play in the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League.

The seven schools, known as the AQ7, will play a single round-robin, with each institution having three home contests and three road contests. The home team will be responsible for officials, control media rights and game broadcast inventory. The team with the highest winning percentage among AQ7 games shall receive the automatic qualification to the FCS playoffs. In addition, a trophy will be presented to the conference that has the highest winning percentage against the other conference.

ASUN-WAC Challenge Schedule Dates
Sept. 25, 2021
Sam Houston at Central Arkansas
Abilene Christian at Lamar

Oct. 2, 2021
Central Arkansas at Abilene Christian
Tarleton at Eastern Kentucky - #
Sam Houston at Stephen F. Austin

Oct. 9, 2021
Abilene Christian at Eastern Kentucky
Stephen F. Austin at Jacksonville State
Lamar at Sam Houston

Oct. 16, 2021
Lamar at Abilene Christian
Eastern Kentucky at Central Arkansas
Tarleton at Dixie State - #

Oct. 23, 2021
Central Arkansas at Lamar
Stephen F. Austin at Dixie State - #
Jacksonville State at Sam Houston

Oct. 30, 2021
Abilene Christian at Stephen F. Austin
Central Arkansas at Jacksonville State
Lamar at Eastern Kentucky
Sam Houston at Tarleton - #

Nov. 6, 2021
Abilene Christian at Jacksonville State
Dixie State at Sam Houston
Eastern Kentucky at Stephen F. Austin
Lamar at Tarleton - #

Nov. 13, 2021
Tarleton at Abilene Christian - #
Stephen F. Austin at Central Arkansas
Eastern Kentucky at Sam Houston
Jacksonville State at Lamar

Nov. 20, 2021
Sam Houston at Abilene Christian
Central Arkansas at Tarleton - #
Jacksonville State at Eastern Kentucky
Stephen F. Austin at Lamar

# - Contests against Dixie State and Tarleton do not count towards alliance win percentage

This is so awesome I love when conferences think outside the box and make moves. Never thought we'd see WAC football again.

This doesn't really wind up meaning anything, but I wonder what the conference will be called this year? Will they just call it the AQ7 Conference? Or will they play under the WAC or ASUN moniker?

(02-23-2021 11:42 AM)TDenverFan Wrote:  This doesn't really wind up meaning anything, but I wonder what the conference will be called this year? Will they just call it the AQ7 Conference? Or will they play under the WAC or ASUN moniker?

Next year they will compete under their own separate conference banners—the WAC has 7 fb teams lined up; the ASUN still needs to find at least 1 more.

So instead of going through 17 pages. What is required for the ASUN to become FBS Conference? I mean could they not add UCONN and UMASS as football in plans to move up to FBS. Liberty could join if the decided to give up Independent. I just was curious what the rules would be.

(02-23-2021 11:56 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(02-23-2021 11:42 AM)TDenverFan Wrote:  This doesn't really wind up meaning anything, but I wonder what the conference will be called this year? Will they just call it the AQ7 Conference? Or will they play under the WAC or ASUN moniker?

Next year they will compete under their own separate conference banners—the WAC has 7 fb teams lined up; the ASUN still needs to find at least 1 more.

I think we each get to wear the ASUN or WAC patch. Just not sure what name to find the standings. FBSchedules has the three of us broken out into the ASUN.

(02-23-2021 12:52 PM)msm96wolf Wrote:  So instead of going through 17 pages. What is required for the ASUN to become FBS Conference? I mean could they not add UCONN and UMASS as football in plans to move up to FBS. Liberty could join if the decided to give up Independent. I just was curious what the rules would be.

At the press conference today, the ASUN commissioner addressed this point, but in a nutshell, the ASUN will allow each school to follow its own path as to what level of football they play at. There will be no pressure from the conference for any school to pursue a particular division.

-------
In other words, the ASUN will not be moving to FBS (my opinion) as a conference.

They want the ASUN to be the "best" FCS conference in the nation, according to Ted (what Ted said). Stetson is ok for non-scholarship football, Liberty is free to pursue its own was as an FBS independent, all schools in the ASUN are free to pursue a football path of their own liking.

(02-23-2021 01:21 PM)EKUSteve Wrote:  

(02-23-2021 11:56 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(02-23-2021 11:42 AM)TDenverFan Wrote:  This doesn't really wind up meaning anything, but I wonder what the conference will be called this year? Will they just call it the AQ7 Conference? Or will they play under the WAC or ASUN moniker?

Next year they will compete under their own separate conference banners—the WAC has 7 fb teams lined up; the ASUN still needs to find at least 1 more.

I think we each get to wear the ASUN or WAC patch. Just not sure what name to find the standings. FBSchedules has the three of us broken out into the ASUN.

Yeah, that was more my question. It's purely a bookkeeping type of thing, but I'm a sucker for those type of oddities. The WAC/ASUN one year conference has to have a name for the purpose of historical records, and in a few years it will be nothing more than a wikipedia footnote/fun fact.

(02-23-2021 12:52 PM)msm96wolf Wrote:  So instead of going through 17 pages. What is required for the ASUN to become FBS Conference?

Short answer: A miracle of one sort or another.

Quote:I mean could they not add UCONN and UMASS as football in plans to move up to FBS. Liberty could join if the decided to give up Independent. I just was curious what the rules would be.

To be an FBS conference under the current rules, you need 8 FBS schools who play all sports in the conference. (All sports here means womens' and mens' basketball and football, you can play women's golf or whatever in another league and nobody cares.)

So you'd need a bunch of current FBS schools to join up, for no credible reason. Miracle.

Arguably, under the rules, you could have a bunch of teams declare themselves FBS candidates, play each other and claim that it's an FBS schedule, so now we're FBS teams in an FBS conference.

That might work under the rules, especially given some precedents from UTSA or Texas STate's transitions (their 2012 schedule was way out of compliance with FBS scheduling rules, but nobody said boo). But I don't expect it to actually work out that way--The Powers That Be will have their say.

Or, a different miracle could happen, and the existing FBS conferences decide that having the WAC and/or ASUN join FBS would be cool and good and fun, because otherwise there'd be a lawsuit.

No current plans to move the conference to FBS.

(02-23-2021 01:21 PM)EKUSteve Wrote:  

(02-23-2021 11:56 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(02-23-2021 11:42 AM)TDenverFan Wrote:  This doesn't really wind up meaning anything, but I wonder what the conference will be called this year? Will they just call it the AQ7 Conference? Or will they play under the WAC or ASUN moniker?

Next year they will compete under their own separate conference banners—the WAC has 7 fb teams lined up; the ASUN still needs to find at least 1 more.

I think we each get to wear the ASUN or WAC patch. Just not sure what name to find the standings. FBSchedules has the three of us broken out into the ASUN.

It would be cool if they could come up with a "WAC-ASUN Challenge" logo, but it needs to look better than this placeholder.