Future of Sun Belt

[EastHallApp]

Ok, you got me on that one. So, I'd take Florida over Virginia every time.
There are no teams in VA that offer us anything, especially JMU.

By the way, are you on the radio?

Other than a convenient trip. I would take ODU over anybody from Texas likely to be in a conference with us.

And recruiting, at least theoretically. We haven't really targeted the Tidewater for some reason, but it seems a more realistic recruiting target for us than Texas.

[MountaineerChemist10]

I wouldn't be surprised if JMU joins, especially after hosting ESPN College GameDay for one Saturday this past season.

[APPdiesel]

Ok, you got me on that one. So, I'd take Florida over Virginia every time.
There are no teams in VA that offer us anything, especially JMU.

By the way, are you on the radio?

Yes. Nights on 93.3 the Planet out of Greenville, SC.

I've been battling a nasty cold these last few days so I took some time to redraw all G5 conferences into regional leagues, tried to balance the number of teams in each, then compared their average win total from 2015 (obviously just a snap shot) but our south east region would be pretty good. We'd be in with the NC, SC, GA, FL, and AL schools.

twitter.com/DieselOnRadio

[Cincy App]

Much of this will depend on the NCAA ruling in January in regards to championship game deregulation. If the requirement stays at 12 teams then Idaho and NMSU aren't going anywhere. If that is overturned then I'd say both of them will be gone after next year. Some people are worried about not having enough teams if the SB is raided again, but I really don't see enough changes taking place in the next 5 years to drop the conference below 8 teams.

I'd personally be in favor of going to 10 and playing a round robin over keep those two teams. It's crazy to think we will have to play both of them next year.

I prefer a 12-team conference with a league championship game regardless of the NCAA ruling. I much prefer 4 out of conference games (OOC) instead of 3. We would drop to only 3 OOC games if we played in a 10-team league where each team played one another. Right now, our OOC games are more appealing than most of our conference games.

Looking at next years schedule for an example would you rather play Akron/ODU or Arkansas State?

I'm taking the Red Wolves over both of them.

I would rather play ODU over the average Sun Belt team. I probably would rather play them than Ark St. My general point is that I would rather play ODU/ Akron/ UNCC/ Wake/ Marshall/ etc than the average Sun Belt team which includes Idaho, NM State, ULM, etc.

[97grad]

I wouldn't be surprised if JMU joins, especially after hosting ESPN College GameDay for one Saturday this past season.

I don't think it's possible for JMU to communicate that they are not interested in the SBC any more clearly.

[EastHallApp]

Much of this will depend on the NCAA ruling in January in regards to championship game deregulation. If the requirement stays at 12 teams then Idaho and NMSU aren't going anywhere. If that is overturned then I'd say both of them will be gone after next year. Some people are worried about not having enough teams if the SB is raided again, but I really don't see enough changes taking place in the next 5 years to drop the conference below 8 teams.

I'd personally be in favor of going to 10 and playing a round robin over keep those two teams. It's crazy to think we will have to play both of them next year.

I prefer a 12-team conference with a league championship game regardless of the NCAA ruling. I much prefer 4 out of conference games (OOC) instead of 3. We would drop to only 3 OOC games if we played in a 10-team league where each team played one another. Right now, our OOC games are more appealing than most of our conference games.

Looking at next years schedule for an example would you rather play Akron/ODU or Arkansas State?

I'm taking the Red Wolves over both of them.

The SBC could address that with just a little savvy by scheduling all the expected top teams to play each other. Of course you can't predict the results perfectly, but when a league only has 3-4 good teams and several really bad ones, might as well let the front runners sort things out among themselves (plus maximize good games for TV).

I agree with Cincy that four OOC games is preferable at this point.

[Capt. Ed]

I also prefer Ark State to any ODU/Akron. Even Marshall holds no interest for me other than they are generally pretty good and will give us some creditability if we win.

[JTApps1]

Much of this will depend on the NCAA ruling in January in regards to championship game deregulation. If the requirement stays at 12 teams then Idaho and NMSU aren't going anywhere. If that is overturned then I'd say both of them will be gone after next year. Some people are worried about not having enough teams if the SB is raided again, but I really don't see enough changes taking place in the next 5 years to drop the conference below 8 teams.

I'd personally be in favor of going to 10 and playing a round robin over keep those two teams. It's crazy to think we will have to play both of them next year.

I prefer a 12-team conference with a league championship game regardless of the NCAA ruling. I much prefer 4 out of conference games (OOC) instead of 3. We would drop to only 3 OOC games if we played in a 10-team league where each team played one another. Right now, our OOC games are more appealing than most of our conference games.

Looking at next years schedule for an example would you rather play Akron/ODU or Arkansas State?

I'm taking the Red Wolves over both of them.

I would rather play ODU over the average Sun Belt team. I probably would rather play them than Ark St. My general point is that I would rather play ODU/ Akron/ UNCC/ Wake/ Marshall/ etc than the average Sun Belt team which includes Idaho, NM State, ULM, etc.

We wouldn't be giving up teams like Wake and Marshall in place of the conference game, but we would likely gain playing the best team in the conference some years in place of the worst OOC team we will face. We control who we play OOC, but with us not playing all of our conference mates we will miss out on some good teams.

If we could drop Akron and play Ark. State next year I'd do it in a heartbeat. Not because Akron isn't a good program, but we are starting to build a rivalry with Ark. State which is what we need more of in our conference. Also, in going to 10 teams we would drop 2 of the 3 average Sun Belt teams you mentioned that our fans have no interest in playing.

[Cincy App]

We wouldn't be giving up teams like Wake and Marshall in place of the conference game, but we would likely gain playing the best team in the conference some years in place of the worst OOC team we will face. We control who we play OOC, but with us not playing all of our conference mates we will miss out on some good teams.

If we could drop Akron and play Ark. State next year I'd do it in a heartbeat. Not because Akron isn't a good program, but we are starting to build a rivalry with Ark. State which is what we need more of in our conference. Also, in going to 10 teams we would drop 2 of the 3 average Sun Belt teams you mentioned that our fans have no interest in playing.

As EastHallApp suggested, it would make sense for the top Sun Belt teams to play each other. I would rather keep Akron and drop a weaker Sun Belt team from our schedule such as Idaho or NM St. I like to see how we compete with other G5 conference teams. I'm still in favor of 4 OOC games regardless of the number of teams in the Sun Belt. I agree that it is disappointing though that Ark State has dropped from our schedule.

I don't expect the conference to drop either football-only school at this stage since I feel that the Sun Belt is afraid of the next round of conference movements.

[APPdiesel]

We wouldn't be giving up teams like Wake and Marshall in place of the conference game, but we would likely gain playing the best team in the conference some years in place of the worst OOC team we will face. We control who we play OOC, but with us not playing all of our conference mates we will miss out on some good teams.

If we could drop Akron and play Ark. State next year I'd do it in a heartbeat. Not because Akron isn't a good program, but we are starting to build a rivalry with Ark. State which is what we need more of in our conference. Also, in going to 10 teams we would drop 2 of the 3 average Sun Belt teams you mentioned that our fans have no interest in playing.

As EastHallApp suggested, it would make sense for the top Sun Belt teams to play each other. I would rather keep Akron and drop a weaker Sun Belt team from our schedule such as Idaho or NM St. I like to see how we compete with other G5 conference teams. I'm still in favor of 4 OOC games regardless of the number of teams in the Sun Belt. I agree that it is disappointing though that Ark State has dropped from our schedule.

I don't expect the conference to drop either football-only school at this stage since I feel that the Sun Belt is afraid of the next round of conference movements.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe last year UNC and Wake played as an "OOC" game. They are in different ACC divisions and creative scheduling kept that rivalry alive. If we go to two divisions that may not be a bad plan. Of course the league would have to be very forthcoming with their scheduling intentions, but I don't necessarily agree with the logic some of you are following. The Sunbelt is widely considered the weakest G5 league so it behooves us greatly to use those 4 coveted OOC slots every year to play C-USA and MAC teams, ESPECIALLY the ones we recruit against.

twitter.com/DieselOnRadio

[EastHallApp]

Let's also keep in mind when using Akron as an example that that was one of the first home-and-homes we scheduled after the move up, so it was kind of a case of finding anyone who was willing to come to Boone at that point. We're fortunate (or maybe not) that their program has improved enough since then that it's now a relatively appealing intersectional matchup, but going forward I think our more recent OOC contracts are the types we'll try to sign (Wake, Marshall, UNCC, and of course the occasional Miami when the chance presents itself). I wouldn't even think about trading any of those for an extra Sun Belt game.

[Saint3333]

I believe this is the order we signed FBS games after we announced the move to the FBS:

H&H - UMass
H&H - Southern Miss
H&H - ODU
H&H - Arkon
@ UTk
@ UGA
@ Penn St.
New AD and staff (I could be off on this timing)
H&H - Wyoming (when UMass needed to be moved)
H&H - UNCC
H&H - Wake
H&H - Marshall
H&H - Miami

We are trending very well and they have done a heck of a job scheduling.

[APPdiesel]

Let's not kid ourselves, we *LUCKED* out when we got Miami. They had an open date that we were able to fill on very short notice. That part is luck, the actual logistics of the series is where Doug Gillan and Co stepped up. Miami wanted a 2 for 1 and we held firm on a H&H with the first game in Boone. Kudos to our athletic office for standing their ground.

Some side by side comparison shows that we currently share an open date with Virginia and Duke in 2018...both very gettable and attractive H&H opponents.

[EastHallApp]

Let's not kid ourselves, we *LUCKED* out when we got Miami. They had an open date that we were able to fill on very short notice. That part is luck, the actual logistics of the series is where Doug Gillan and Co stepped up. Miami wanted a 2 for 1 and we held firm on a H&H with the first game in Boone. Kudos to our athletic office for standing their ground.

Some side by side comparison shows that we currently share an open date with Virginia and Duke in 2018...both very gettable and attractive H&H opponents.

Luck was certainly part of it, but situations like that aren't all that uncommon. Plus more P5s are scheduling H&Hs with G5s because it's gotten so expensive for them to bring in the G5 for a one-off home game. Several other Sun Belt schools have already benefited from this, no reason we can't too!