(09-23-2021 06:24 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-22-2021 09:09 PM)sctvman Wrote:  Yup. Northeastern hosted Michigan State only a few years ago. Definitely not a small time gym. Their women’s gym (and where they played men’s games last season) is like a HS gym, but not Matthews.

Whenever UNCW started their athletic department in D1 back in the 70s, you guys would have been a SoCon fit if football had been included from the start like Western Carolina, but Wilmington was such a different area back then and UNCW didn’t go over 5,000 students until the early 80s.

Western Carolina was in the SoCon from the beginning because they chose the football path. I don’t know the history, but having football could have been a gold mine for UNCW even in the 80s. There was no D1 between Citadel/Baptist College and Hampton Roads other than East Carolina until Coastal went in I think 1985 or 1986.

The entire path of the university could have been different had UNCW started with a football program.

I don't think much would have changed for us if we had football the entire time except we would be a SoCon stalwart instead of a CAA stalwart.

Unless we had captured lightening in a bottle I don't see an opportunity for us to ever be FBS had we been a football school. We would likely be in a position similar to Western Carolina

As a non-football school, the minds of UNCW alumni and students have become so limited. All this nonsense about what we couldn't have been, what we can't be, what we can't do. You're comparing UNCW to....WCU? Are you kidding? Do you realize the BOG lumped WCU, Elizabeth State and UNC Pembroke into the same category of "Promise Schools" with practically free tuition because they couldn't recruit students? Do you realize that UNCW is the fastest growing school in the UNC system?

UNCW remained a doormat school due to a complete lack of vision by Chancellors and the preference of UNCW faculty to "coast on the coast". They don't want to work, they just want to go to the beach all day. The first Chancellor in the history of UNCW to set a course of UNCW being a powerhouse university was Sarterelli. And look how much has been accomplished since he arrived. He's done more in the past 6 years to grow this university and set it on a path to being a R1 school with doctorate programs, engineering, and STEM programs than every other Chancellor combined.

If you see yourself as lesser, you'll be lesser.

(09-23-2021 07:04 AM)82hawk Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 06:24 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-22-2021 09:09 PM)sctvman Wrote:  Yup. Northeastern hosted Michigan State only a few years ago. Definitely not a small time gym. Their women’s gym (and where they played men’s games last season) is like a HS gym, but not Matthews.

Whenever UNCW started their athletic department in D1 back in the 70s, you guys would have been a SoCon fit if football had been included from the start like Western Carolina, but Wilmington was such a different area back then and UNCW didn’t go over 5,000 students until the early 80s.

Western Carolina was in the SoCon from the beginning because they chose the football path. I don’t know the history, but having football could have been a gold mine for UNCW even in the 80s. There was no D1 between Citadel/Baptist College and Hampton Roads other than East Carolina until Coastal went in I think 1985 or 1986.

The entire path of the university could have been different had UNCW started with a football program.

I don't think much would have changed for us if we had football the entire time except we would be a SoCon stalwart instead of a CAA stalwart.

Unless we had captured lightening in a bottle I don't see an opportunity for us to ever be FBS had we been a football school. We would likely be in a position similar to Western Carolina

As a non-football school, the minds of UNCW alumni and students have become so limited. All this nonsense about what we couldn't have been, what we can't be, what we can't do. You're comparing UNCW to....WCU? Are you kidding? Do you realize the BOG lumped WCU, Elizabeth State and UNC Pembroke into the same category of "Promise Schools" with practically free tuition because they couldn't recruit students? Do you realize that UNCW is the fastest growing school in the UNC system?

UNCW remained a doormat school due to a complete lack of vision by Chancellors and the preference of UNCW faculty to "coast on the coast". They don't want to work, they just want to go to the beach all day. The first Chancellor in the history of UNCW to set a course of UNCW being a powerhouse university was Sarterelli. And look how much has been accomplished since the arrived. He's done more in the past 6 years to grow this university and set it on a path to being a R1 schools with doctorate programs, engineering, and STEM programs than every other Chancellor combined.

If you see yourself as lesser, you'll be lesser.

I was talking about in terms of athletics not complete university stature.

If we had football the entire time we would be a SoCon public football stalwart similar to WCU and Chattanooga instead of a basketball stalwart in the CAA.

I don't see how we could have gotten up to FBS like ECU. Coastal was incredibly fortunate with timing and circumstance that allowed them to make the jump

What I think hurt the most was the UNC system, for years, not allowing UNCW to grow with masters and doctors programs. We sat under their thumb, unable to get approval to start such programs. That has, in return, stunted money coming back from wealthier alumni that masters and doctors programs produce.

(09-23-2021 07:18 AM)SEA33HAWK Wrote:  What I think hurt the most was the UNC system, for years, not allowing UNCW to grow with masters and doctors programs. We sat under their thumb, unable to get approval to start such programs. That has, in return, stunted money coming back from wealthier alumni that masters and doctors programs produce.

This is true and now it has changed a quite a bit . Saying that the faculty at UNCW is/was lazy and just want to hangout at the beach is about as silly as you can get . These people are professionals and most of the departments at UNCW are very well regarded-not Harvard but certainly not a school of slackers hanging out at the Wits End .
Football will require a monster amount of cash upfront and I have no clue who might step up with that kind of money but it is entirely possible .

(09-23-2021 07:10 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 07:04 AM)82hawk Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 06:24 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-22-2021 09:09 PM)sctvman Wrote:  Yup. Northeastern hosted Michigan State only a few years ago. Definitely not a small time gym. Their women’s gym (and where they played men’s games last season) is like a HS gym, but not Matthews.

Whenever UNCW started their athletic department in D1 back in the 70s, you guys would have been a SoCon fit if football had been included from the start like Western Carolina, but Wilmington was such a different area back then and UNCW didn’t go over 5,000 students until the early 80s.

Western Carolina was in the SoCon from the beginning because they chose the football path. I don’t know the history, but having football could have been a gold mine for UNCW even in the 80s. There was no D1 between Citadel/Baptist College and Hampton Roads other than East Carolina until Coastal went in I think 1985 or 1986.

The entire path of the university could have been different had UNCW started with a football program.

I don't think much would have changed for us if we had football the entire time except we would be a SoCon stalwart instead of a CAA stalwart.

Unless we had captured lightening in a bottle I don't see an opportunity for us to ever be FBS had we been a football school. We would likely be in a position similar to Western Carolina

As a non-football school, the minds of UNCW alumni and students have become so limited. All this nonsense about what we couldn't have been, what we can't be, what we can't do. You're comparing UNCW to....WCU? Are you kidding? Do you realize the BOG lumped WCU, Elizabeth State and UNC Pembroke into the same category of "Promise Schools" with practically free tuition because they couldn't recruit students? Do you realize that UNCW is the fastest growing school in the UNC system?

UNCW remained a doormat school due to a complete lack of vision by Chancellors and the preference of UNCW faculty to "coast on the coast". They don't want to work, they just want to go to the beach all day. The first Chancellor in the history of UNCW to set a course of UNCW being a powerhouse university was Sarterelli. And look how much has been accomplished since the arrived. He's done more in the past 6 years to grow this university and set it on a path to being a R1 schools with doctorate programs, engineering, and STEM programs than every other Chancellor combined.

If you see yourself as lesser, you'll be lesser.

I was talking about in terms of athletics not complete university stature.

If we had football the entire time we would be a SoCon public football stalwart similar to WCU and Chattanooga instead of a basketball stalwart in the CAA.

I don't see how we could have gotten up to FBS like ECU. Coastal was incredibly fortunate with timing and circumstance that allowed them to make the jump

That's just ridiculous. Why wouldn't we have been able to make the FBS jump after 20+ years of FCS in the SoCon? Do you believe we'd have been a bottom feeder program? We'd have facilities, we'd have a student population and alumni base bigger than practically any SoCon school now or then. And who knows what our student growth would have been WITH football? Every presumption you make about what could have been reveals your negative bias towards UNCW

2011- 13,000 students
2021 - 18,000 students

(09-23-2021 08:44 AM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 07:18 AM)SEA33HAWK Wrote:  What I think hurt the most was the UNC system, for years, not allowing UNCW to grow with masters and doctors programs. We sat under their thumb, unable to get approval to start such programs. That has, in return, stunted money coming back from wealthier alumni that masters and doctors programs produce.

This is true and now it has changed a quite a bit . Saying that the faculty at UNCW is/was lazy and just want to hangout at the beach is about as silly as you can get . These people are professionals and most of the departments at UNCW are very well regarded-not Harvard but certainly not a school of slackers hanging out at the Wits End .
Football will require a monster amount of cash upfront and I have no clue who might step up with that kind of money but it is entirely possible .

Research = Work. I've seen and heard the complaints first hand. It isn't ridiculous. Faculty senate leader refused a dedicated parking spot because his car was never there. We have a bunch of long term faculty who were coasting to retirement at the beach, then along came Zito and he demanded they work. They pushed back against him from day 1 for that reason.

We may not start with the best of everything to start, but getting started is the key, not having the best of everything. I think you'd be stunned by the financial commitments that would come if UNCW asked for donations to start up football.

(09-23-2021 09:16 AM)82hawk Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 07:10 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 07:04 AM)82hawk Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 06:24 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-22-2021 09:09 PM)sctvman Wrote:  Yup. Northeastern hosted Michigan State only a few years ago. Definitely not a small time gym. Their women’s gym (and where they played men’s games last season) is like a HS gym, but not Matthews.

Whenever UNCW started their athletic department in D1 back in the 70s, you guys would have been a SoCon fit if football had been included from the start like Western Carolina, but Wilmington was such a different area back then and UNCW didn’t go over 5,000 students until the early 80s.

Western Carolina was in the SoCon from the beginning because they chose the football path. I don’t know the history, but having football could have been a gold mine for UNCW even in the 80s. There was no D1 between Citadel/Baptist College and Hampton Roads other than East Carolina until Coastal went in I think 1985 or 1986.

The entire path of the university could have been different had UNCW started with a football program.

I don't think much would have changed for us if we had football the entire time except we would be a SoCon stalwart instead of a CAA stalwart.

Unless we had captured lightening in a bottle I don't see an opportunity for us to ever be FBS had we been a football school. We would likely be in a position similar to Western Carolina

As a non-football school, the minds of UNCW alumni and students have become so limited. All this nonsense about what we couldn't have been, what we can't be, what we can't do. You're comparing UNCW to....WCU? Are you kidding? Do you realize the BOG lumped WCU, Elizabeth State and UNC Pembroke into the same category of "Promise Schools" with practically free tuition because they couldn't recruit students? Do you realize that UNCW is the fastest growing school in the UNC system?

UNCW remained a doormat school due to a complete lack of vision by Chancellors and the preference of UNCW faculty to "coast on the coast". They don't want to work, they just want to go to the beach all day. The first Chancellor in the history of UNCW to set a course of UNCW being a powerhouse university was Sarterelli. And look how much has been accomplished since the arrived. He's done more in the past 6 years to grow this university and set it on a path to being a R1 schools with doctorate programs, engineering, and STEM programs than every other Chancellor combined.

If you see yourself as lesser, you'll be lesser.

I was talking about in terms of athletics not complete university stature.

If we had football the entire time we would be a SoCon public football stalwart similar to WCU and Chattanooga instead of a basketball stalwart in the CAA.

I don't see how we could have gotten up to FBS like ECU. Coastal was incredibly fortunate with timing and circumstance that allowed them to make the jump

That's just ridiculous. Why wouldn't we have been able to make the FBS jump after 20+ years of FCS in the SoCon? Do you believe we'd have been a bottom feeder program? We'd have facilities, we'd have a student population and alumni base bigger than practically any SoCon school now or then. And who knows what our student growth would have been WITH football? Every presumption you make about what could have been reveals your negative bias towards UNCW

2011- 13,000 students
2021 - 18,000 students

Negative bias towards UNCW? Please

Every presumption I have made relates to the environment of schools that have upgraded to 1A/FBS since 1AA was formed. You need an invite to to upgrade.

When do you propose we would have upgraded to FBS? App didnt upgrade until 2014 and they were about as best case scenario as you get for an FCS program.

There are 4 public FCS schools that have upgraded to FBS with a student body of less than 15,000

ULM
Coastal Carolina
Louisiana Tech
Marshall

Marshall and La Tech have football programs dating back to the early 1900's. La Tech upgraded in 1989 and Marshall upgraded in 1997. Even under a best case scenario, I don't see us upgrading that early UNLESS football so was successful and the desire to compete and be on the same level as ECU was so strong that we were willing to go all in on football independence and also find a suitable conference for our other sports who was ok with us being 1A in football (the TAAC being most likely, the predecessor to the Atlantic Sun) . It would have been incredibly difficult and huge gamble. Our administration has never been risk takers but Leutze was there at that time, so its possible. No clue how he would have felt about football.

ULM is barely a 1A/FBS program and maintains the distinction simply to keep up with rivals Louisiana and Louisiana Tech. They abandoned the Southland (Texas/Louisiana version of the SoCon) and did what I suggested above. They struggle to this day to stay afloat but yes they are 1A/FBS

Our best bet at ever upgrading would have been to be ready and willing like Coastal Carolina was when the Sunbelt was looking for a 12th team when JMU turned them down this past decade. If we had been ready and willing like Coastal was then perhaps we could have gotten that Sunbelt invite instead of them. That is the best opportunity for us that I see for us to be FBS with a student body that at the time was at our under 15,000.

Again no bias, just a realization of history FBS football.

(09-23-2021 09:23 AM)82hawk Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 08:44 AM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 07:18 AM)SEA33HAWK Wrote:  What I think hurt the most was the UNC system, for years, not allowing UNCW to grow with masters and doctors programs. We sat under their thumb, unable to get approval to start such programs. That has, in return, stunted money coming back from wealthier alumni that masters and doctors programs produce.

This is true and now it has changed a quite a bit . Saying that the faculty at UNCW is/was lazy and just want to hangout at the beach is about as silly as you can get . These people are professionals and most of the departments at UNCW are very well regarded-not Harvard but certainly not a school of slackers hanging out at the Wits End .
Football will require a monster amount of cash upfront and I have no clue who might step up with that kind of money but it is entirely possible .

Research = Work. I've seen and heard the complaints first hand. It isn't ridiculous. Faculty senate leader refused a dedicated parking spot because his car was never there. We have a bunch of long term faculty who were coasting to retirement at the beach, then along came Zito and he demanded they work. They pushed back against him from day 1 for that reason.

We may not start with the best of everything to start, but getting started is the key, not having the best of everything. I think you'd be stunned by the financial commitments that would come if UNCW asked for donations to start up football.

I've seen and heard what ? It's beyond ridiculous to make such an absurd statement with no evidence other than "I heard". Literally every big operation will have some people who "coast" -but that is not the case for the entire university and you know that . UNCW is a solid university and has been for a long time .
I am ready to be stunned and see some football on Saturdays in Wilmington ! But first maybe those same big timers can back a scoreboard that works for the baseball team .

(09-23-2021 12:06 PM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 09:23 AM)82hawk Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 08:44 AM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 07:18 AM)SEA33HAWK Wrote:  What I think hurt the most was the UNC system, for years, not allowing UNCW to grow with masters and doctors programs. We sat under their thumb, unable to get approval to start such programs. That has, in return, stunted money coming back from wealthier alumni that masters and doctors programs produce.

This is true and now it has changed a quite a bit . Saying that the faculty at UNCW is/was lazy and just want to hangout at the beach is about as silly as you can get . These people are professionals and most of the departments at UNCW are very well regarded-not Harvard but certainly not a school of slackers hanging out at the Wits End .
Football will require a monster amount of cash upfront and I have no clue who might step up with that kind of money but it is entirely possible .

Research = Work. I've seen and heard the complaints first hand. It isn't ridiculous. Faculty senate leader refused a dedicated parking spot because his car was never there. We have a bunch of long term faculty who were coasting to retirement at the beach, then along came Zito and he demanded they work. They pushed back against him from day 1 for that reason.

We may not start with the best of everything to start, but getting started is the key, not having the best of everything. I think you'd be stunned by the financial commitments that would come if UNCW asked for donations to start up football.

I've seen and heard what ? It's beyond ridiculous to make such an absurd statement with no evidence other than "I heard". Literally every big operation will have some people who "coast" -but that is not the case for the entire university and you know that . UNCW is a solid university and has been for a long time .
I am ready to be stunned and see some football on Saturdays in Wilmington ! But first maybe those same big timers can back a scoreboard that works for the baseball team .

College football brings donors and donations that college baseball doesn't. It also brings in far more ticket sales, merchandise sales, and alumni support. No other sport touches it. It's the missing ingredient at UNCW, and we finally have the student population and student fees to make it happen.

As far as the desire for our faculty to put in the work to become researchers? I know what I know. And when I say "I've heard", it's not just a random discussion here and there.

(09-21-2021 03:10 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-21-2021 02:52 PM)70shawk Wrote:  As I recall, the ASun has an elaborate concept/plan to add a bunch of schools, then split itself into two conferences - one that plays football and one that doesn't - each of which would have an automatic bid. If their commissioner has laid out a vision of what that might look like after all of the pieces are put into place , leadership at UNCW , Charleston, and whoever else, might be seeing a future that we are not yet able to see.

Interesting developments...

Any conference splitting and new auto bids for mid and lower major conference raises and eyebrow to me.

The $$ conferences do not want any more auto bids so Im incredibly skeptical of that portion of his plan

https://collegead.com/asun-expansion-plan/


According to the conference release, the chronological steps in the plan are:

ASUN Conference expands to 20 members (by June 2023)

The ASUN transfers rights to the ASUN name and marks to the CCSA

The ASUN 7 join the CCSA (July 1, 2023)

The CCSA adopts the ASUN name as a multisport conference

The remaining ASUN members adopt the name United Athletic Conference

(09-23-2021 01:29 PM)70shawk Wrote:  

(09-21-2021 03:10 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-21-2021 02:52 PM)70shawk Wrote:  As I recall, the ASun has an elaborate concept/plan to add a bunch of schools, then split itself into two conferences - one that plays football and one that doesn't - each of which would have an automatic bid. If their commissioner has laid out a vision of what that might look like after all of the pieces are put into place , leadership at UNCW , Charleston, and whoever else, might be seeing a future that we are not yet able to see.

Interesting developments...

Any conference splitting and new auto bids for mid and lower major conference raises and eyebrow to me.

The $$ conferences do not want any more auto bids so Im incredibly skeptical of that portion of his plan

https://collegead.com/asun-expansion-plan/


According to the conference release, the chronological steps in the plan are:

ASUN Conference expands to 20 members (by June 2023)

The ASUN transfers rights to the ASUN name and marks to the CCSA

The ASUN 7 join the CCSA (July 1, 2023)

The CCSA adopts the ASUN name as a multisport conference

The remaining ASUN members adopt the name United Athletic Conference

I wish them luck. I don't see the big boys allowing a 33rd auto bid

If you dig through the NCAA manual it shows you must be a core conference to get an NCAA basketball auto bid. To become a core conference the other member conferences have to vote you in after your conference has been a multisport conference for 8 years

The argument it appears they are going with is that the CCSA, UNCW's old Beach volleyball conference, in 2023 will be multisport conference with 8 years tenure because it has been playing multiple sports, beach volleyball and swimming, since 2015. Since it meets the 8 year multisport rule it should be a core conference and get an automatic basketball bid.

I don't think that argument is going to fly.

(09-23-2021 12:37 PM)82hawk Wrote:  College football brings donors and donations that college baseball doesn't. It also brings in far more ticket sales, merchandise sales, and alumni support. No other sport touches it. It's the missing ingredient at UNCW, and we finally have the student population and student fees to make it happen.

On the bold, no one ever argued otherwise. But that's not a legitimate reason to take a giant dump on baseball by deciding to add football while we don't even have a working scoreboard and our stadium isn't currently a candidate to host a Regional without improvements. It's our best sport and it doesn't cost much at all to run things because of all the work they do to raise money internally. It deserves our administration's support.

And football is not the lone "missing ingredient". It's one of several missing ingredients, and I want us to get those before we add the last one. The other big ingredient is getting back to a high level of consistent success in basketball.

Get baseball a new scoreboard and closer to Regional-ready, and maybe then you can talk to me about writing some checks to support a football program at UNCW.

(09-23-2021 02:29 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 01:29 PM)70shawk Wrote:  

(09-21-2021 03:10 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-21-2021 02:52 PM)70shawk Wrote:  As I recall, the ASun has an elaborate concept/plan to add a bunch of schools, then split itself into two conferences - one that plays football and one that doesn't - each of which would have an automatic bid. If their commissioner has laid out a vision of what that might look like after all of the pieces are put into place , leadership at UNCW , Charleston, and whoever else, might be seeing a future that we are not yet able to see.

Interesting developments...

Any conference splitting and new auto bids for mid and lower major conference raises and eyebrow to me.

The $$ conferences do not want any more auto bids so Im incredibly skeptical of that portion of his plan

https://collegead.com/asun-expansion-plan/


According to the conference release, the chronological steps in the plan are:

ASUN Conference expands to 20 members (by June 2023)

The ASUN transfers rights to the ASUN name and marks to the CCSA

The ASUN 7 join the CCSA (July 1, 2023)

The CCSA adopts the ASUN name as a multisport conference

The remaining ASUN members adopt the name United Athletic Conference

I wish them luck. I don't see the big boys allowing a 33rd auto bid

If you dig through the NCAA manual it shows you must be a core conference to get an NCAA basketball auto bid. To become a core conference the other member conferences have to vote you in after your conference has been a multisport conference for 8 years

The argument it appears they are going with is that the CCSA, UNCW's old Beach volleyball conference, in 2023 will be multisport conference with 8 years tenure because it has been playing multiple sports, beach volleyball and swimming, since 2015. Since it meets the 8 year multisport rule it should be a core conference and get an automatic basketball bid.

I don't think that argument is going to fly.

You're probably correct.

"They say" that Power 5 conference commissioners were present when Jehovah handed down the autobid rule to Moses. It's etched in stone and resides in a vault at NCAA headquarters, although it's rumored that Jay Bilas has a replica kept at ESPN.

Less commonly understood is that those who would dare to object to the autobid rule are of course consigned to double secret probation such that future employment in college athletics becomes extremely difficult and promotion to higher profile conferences or schools is impossible. This stricture held true even during the depths of a global pandemic when college athletic budgets were under enormous stress and media reports surfaced that some employed in college athletics mustered the courage to state the obvious -- that the geography of some college athletic conferences made little sense under normal circumstances and no sense when finances were severely reduced. Some even made noises, albeit temporarily, about reorganizing along more logical geographic/travel friendly lines. They quickly realized they'd forgotten the tablet in the vault and returned to more important endeavors such as figuring out which sports to cut.

Those conference commissioners, such as the one employed by the CAA, with the good sense to remain quiet about issues over their head like the autobid rule are of course allowed to serve with distinction and evidently have de facto tenure.

(09-23-2021 02:51 PM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(09-23-2021 12:37 PM)82hawk Wrote:  College football brings donors and donations that college baseball doesn't. It also brings in far more ticket sales, merchandise sales, and alumni support. No other sport touches it. It's the missing ingredient at UNCW, and we finally have the student population and student fees to make it happen.

On the bold, no one ever argued otherwise. But that's not a legitimate reason to take a giant dump on baseball by deciding to add football while we don't even have a working scoreboard and our stadium isn't currently a candidate to host a Regional without improvements. It's our best sport and it doesn't cost much at all to run things because of all the work they do to raise money internally. It deserves our administration's support.

And football is not the lone "missing ingredient". It's one of several missing ingredients, and I want us to get those before we add the last one. The other big ingredient is getting back to a high level of consistent success in basketball.

Get baseball a new scoreboard and closer to Regional-ready, and maybe then you can talk to me about writing some checks to support a football program at UNCW.

Spot on my friend, he continues to ignore the real problem, start up costs. But don't worry, big donors could possibly step up

I can't believe we would seriously think about adding Queens in Charlotte when Winthrop is right there if we wanted a team in that neck of the woods

(09-30-2021 01:50 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

I can't believe we would seriously think about adding Queens in Charlotte when Winthrop is right there if we wanted a team in that neck of the woods

Queens???

So the idea is that UNCW is too good to join Winthrop in the Big South, but it's okay to instead add Queens to the CAA?

(09-30-2021 03:43 PM)70shawk Wrote:  

(09-30-2021 01:50 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

I can't believe we would seriously think about adding Queens in Charlotte when Winthrop is right there if we wanted a team in that neck of the woods

Queens???

So the idea is that UNCW is too good to join Winthrop in the Big South, but it's okay to instead add Queens to the CAA?

We're too good for both. 1670 students. We have that many students in our business school alone. Does indicate an add from the South though.

Queens is in the best neighborhood in Charlotte and is landlocked. Their athletic facilities, other than their gym, are several miles away in a public park. They've moved their baseball field several times because it's hard to find a field close to Myers Park that's available for practice and games.

Their gym is new, but might not be up to D1 standards. Queens has a decent endowment for such a small school.

I've taken a little ride through our athletic schedules recently. And there are a suprising numnber of teams from the ASUN that have popped up on our schedule we haven't really played before.

I also don't see the ASUN splitting into two conferences, each with autobids, as prohibitive to the NCAA. One of those confrences won't have football, so there is no additional autobid in football. At most, there is an additional autobid in basketball and other sports that have NCAA tournament bids. But how many of those are there, and what real difference does it make revenue or expense wise?

Plus, there is a really good chance that defections from the CAA will result in that conference becoming defunct. That may be why the CAA is looking at a ridiculous additon like Queens college though. It would be attractive to Queens to join an existing conference with an auto bid in place. But what in the worls will the conference look like, membership wise, if Queens comes on board? Is the CAA that confident that nobody has a place to go, or that the ASUN plan can't succeed?

At this point, the ASUN certainly seems like our best non-football option. With the Chancellor leaving next June, there won't be any movement of UNCW until well after that time period. There is also a good chance that Bass retires as AD soon after a new chancellor is hired. I doubt he leaves the spot open before the new chancellor is in place.

(09-30-2021 01:50 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

I hope this is a joke. If that is the approach the CAA is going to take with this shift, I am not sure there is a single school in this conference that would be happy with that direction. Now, I am all for ambitious schools moving up divisions, but that jump is typically to a low major then mid major etc. Does the CAA even consider itself a mid major anymore if we are considering the likes of Queens? Maddening.