I believe it can due to presence of Furman, Wofford, the Citadel, VMI, Mercer, and Samford. Not too sure on WCU's academics, but they are a part of the UNC system, so that has to count for something!!!! I'm also not sure on ETSU's or UTC's academics either. Are they really high or average?? Would they object to academic standards being raised to Ivy League or Patriot League standards??

(01-28-2022 12:52 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I believe it can due to presence of Furman, Wofford, the Citadel, VMI, Mercer, and Samford. Not too sure on WCU's academics, but they are a part of the UNC system, so that has to count for something!!!! I'm also not sure on ETSU's or UTC's academics either. Are they really high or average?? Would they object to academic standards being raised to Ivy League or Patriot League standards??

I don't know if this answers your question... but..

Best colleges - US News rankings:
-Western Carolina University is ranked #21 in Regional Universities South.
-East Tennessee State University is ranked #288 in National Universities.
-University of Tennessee--Chattanooga is ranked #299-#391 in National Universities.

No

The Magnolia Conference was proposed with elite southern private schools in major-ish cities in the 1950's and 1960's. Its proposed membership was SMU, Rice, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Emory, and Duke,All except Emory are FBS schools today, so those FCS schools wouldn't even really be a spiritual successor to the Magnolia conference concept.

The closest thing we have to that that today would be the AAC's western division which will have small but elite private schools like SMU, Rice, Tulane, and Tulsa within the division.

(01-28-2022 12:52 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I believe it can due to presence of Furman, Wofford, the Citadel, VMI, Mercer, and Samford. Not too sure on WCU's academics, but they are a part of the UNC system, so that has to count for something!!!! I'm also not sure on ETSU's or UTC's academics either. Are they really high or average?? Would they object to academic standards being raised to Ivy League or Patriot League standards??

IMO, the Magnolia Conference needs to be southern, as well as schools with small to mid-size enrollment. The SoCon does real well in those two criteria.

Like the Ivy and Patriot, it would also have to be private institutions with elite academic reputations. As you state, the SoCon has both public & private universities. Academics is where the disconnect occurs. None of the SoCon are competing against the Ivy for students. Maybe 1 or 2 SoCon schools have academic reputations comparable to the Patriot.

The new AAC West with Rice, Navy, Tulane and SMU is the better fit for Magnolia status. Having Navy in both the Patriot and AAC-West also helps.

Will Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Channel carry the games?

(01-28-2022 12:38 PM)Wahoowa84 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 12:52 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I believe it can due to presence of Furman, Wofford, the Citadel, VMI, Mercer, and Samford. Not too sure on WCU's academics, but they are a part of the UNC system, so that has to count for something!!!! I'm also not sure on ETSU's or UTC's academics either. Are they really high or average?? Would they object to academic standards being raised to Ivy League or Patriot League standards??

IMO, the Magnolia Conference needs to be southern, as well as schools with small to mid-size enrollment. The SoCon does real well in those two criteria.

Like the Ivy and Patriot, it would also have to be private institutions with elite academic reputations. As you state, the SoCon has both public & private universities. Academics is where the disconnect occurs. None of the SoCon are competing against the Ivy for students. Maybe 1 or 2 SoCon schools have academic reputations comparable to the Patriot.

The new AAC West with Rice, Navy, Tulane and SMU is the better fit for Magnolia status. Having Navy in both the Patriot and AAC-West also helps.

Plus Tulsa.

Not with a $2M exit fee for the schools that don’t fit the Magnolia profile—UTC, ETSU, WCU, & UNCG.

If you wanted a baby magnolia conference:

William & Mary
VMI
Elon
Furman
Wofford
Col of Charleston*
Citadel
Mercer
Samford
Belmont*

Richmond (fb only)

(01-28-2022 06:03 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Not with a $2M exit fee for the schools that don’t fit the Magnolia profile—UTC, ETSU, WCU, & UNCG.

If you wanted a baby magnolia conference:

William & Mary
VMI
Elon
Furman
Wofford
Col of Charleston*
Citadel
Mercer
Samford
Belmont*

Richmond (fb only)

I think you add Trinity and Sewanee (Univeristy of the South).

(01-28-2022 11:31 AM)Cruhawk Wrote:  The Magnolia Conference was proposed with elite southern private schools in major-ish cities in the 1950's and 1960's. Its proposed membership was SMU, Rice, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Emory, and Duke,All except Emory are FBS schools today, so those FCS schools wouldn't even really be a spiritual successor to the Magnolia conference concept.

The closest thing we have to that that today would be the AAC's western division which will have small but elite private schools like SMU, Rice, Tulane, and Tulsa within the division.

The Magnolia Conference will start here if these schools, plus Vanderbilt and the ACC private schools, collectively decide against the player payments happening in the SEC, BIG, and Big 12.

(01-29-2022 08:48 AM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 11:31 AM)Cruhawk Wrote:  The Magnolia Conference was proposed with elite southern private schools in major-ish cities in the 1950's and 1960's. Its proposed membership was SMU, Rice, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Emory, and Duke,All except Emory are FBS schools today, so those FCS schools wouldn't even really be a spiritual successor to the Magnolia conference concept.

The closest thing we have to that that today would be the AAC's western division which will have small but elite private schools like SMU, Rice, Tulane, and Tulsa within the division.

The Magnolia Conference will start here if these schools, plus Vanderbilt and the ACC private schools, collectively decide against the player payments happening in the SEC, BIG, and Big 12.

Actually, and I meant to mention this earlier, but you could add the AAC privates to the SoCin privates and the small military schools (Citadel and VMI), and have a very nice Magnolia League