(10-23-2021 06:48 PM)solohawks Wrote: If I were my decision I would add 3 and go to divisions.
Campbell would fill JMU's slot in CAA football and Winthrop and UMBC will allow divisions to be established
North: Northeastern, Hofstra, Drexel, Delaware, Towson, UMBC
South: William and Mary, Elon, Campbell, UNCW, Winthrop, CoC
We have been going backwards consistently in the CAA, and this is the worst iteration of a CAA conference yet. There is nowhere we can land that has any real rivalries or makes me want to watch a game. Adding Campbell and Winthrop doesn't move the needle for me at all. With a new chancellor coming on board, we can park in the CAA for a few more years with some expansion. But it's time to really think about our entire athletic department, what we want it to be and where is the best place to be to make it happen?
Baseball is our best chance to replicate what we are missing in football. We need to create an incredible fan experience with a tailgate atmosphere in the spring. Get the alumni to return and engage the university. A chance to reconnect with old friends and also be a part of some great rivalries. But those games have to be weekend games or it won't work. It's also a lot cheaper to upgrade a baseballl stadium than it is a basketball arena. So which conference would provide the best weekend baseball rivalries for UNCW? The SoCon(#12) AND the Atlantic Sun(#13) are rated hgher than the CAA(#20). Every other conference ahead of these two would be beyond our reach.
Next is basketball. Again, there has got to be a way to create a tailgate type atmosphere before games for fans and alumni to easily gather. The get together in Hanover doesnt' cut it. Have a bonfire, UNCW band playing, cookout. Until we get a new arena or upgrade Trask, we won't have a sufficient indoor area to gather.
Soccer. This is an area where UNCW could become a powerhouse if we put our mind to it. Another outdoor field that could be upgraded far more easily than an indoor arena. Whether we like it or not, a lot more students today played soccer and are fans. We could provide another great fan experience in the fall. This is also a great opportunity to draw in the community which has a huge soccer program in the area and in surrounding areas.
Based on a direction like this, the SoCon or ASUN should be our plan. Right now we are simply reactive in conference affiliation with no idea where we WANT to be. I have no idea if the SoCon would consider a reconsolidation with CofC, but if they would, we could join them. Then we would have UNCW, UNCG, WCU and CofC in the same conference. I'd take those rivalries and games over anything we have in the CAA now or will have in the CAA. And we'd upgrade in baseball immediately with no downturn in basketball or soccer.