Tough year for Appalachian State athletics. Glimpses of promise vs long losing streaks. Major coaching change. Underperforming overall? Or the competition has caught up ? What grade would you give us and why ?

C+ equal weighting

C- weighted towards FB, MBB, and baseball

I feel like it is a combination of a few things. The competition has caught up to us in some sports and we have not caught up to the competition in others. Resources are an issue as well. I know most will justify their grade based on the big three men’s sports but we had some real success and improvement trough some of the non revenue sports. I’d give us a B-/C+

Tennis and CC , Rasslin’ ….

C+ just average overall with a couple decent teams

Stonewall wrote: ↑

Mon May 26, 2025 8:21 am

Tennis and CC , Rasslin’ ….

I would add volleyball and an improved softball effort in with the above.

Headed into the Spring season, we were ranked 3rd in the Bubas Cup standings. Of course, we struggle with Spring sports and will certainly not hold that position. Not doubt, to some degree the weather is a factor in our Spring performance. The biggest drag is golf, while most other Spring programs are middle of the pack...baseball somewhat of drag this year.

https://sunbeltsports.org/sports/2024/1 ... s_cup.aspx

Football F : losing record, no bowl, fired coach.
Wrestling B: very good year, did not win tourney.
Volleyball B: good year, no championship.
Field Hockey B: good year, no championship.
Cross country x2 A: conferences champions Golf: x2 C probably good as we can do x 2.
Track/field x2 C: slight improvement but no championship.

Soccer C+:good year no championship.
Softball C-: up and down finished down no champ
Tennis B: much improved no champ
Basketball x2: both C-(men D+ ladies C)
Baseball: D-: sad, step backwards, beat ourselves with errors, HBP, walks, walks, walks.

Good grades. No scandals. But not really much to cheer about either. No soccer and whether I like it or not , everything revolves around football, basketball and baseball. So, my overall grade is weighted by their performance.

Overall grade D

17-14 with a winning record in SBC does not yield a D to me.

Sweeping JMU and CCU , both of whom I dislike greatly, has to garner extra credit.

C

C- to D+.

If you took all of our sports and compiled a total based on how we finished on a scale how would 24-25 have ranked in terms of say, the last 30ish years? Hopefully that makes sense. I assume there is always some sort of commissioners cup so maybe someone knows. I’m sure there were SOCON years where we finished first. Have we done this in the Belt?

We took a lot of them in the So Con as I recall. Men and women . None in the Belt I don’t believe.

We were third in the Bubas Cup standings headed into the Spring. The last three years in the 14 team league we were 9th, 11th, and 9th in the final standings.

I don’t how important that is to the decision makers. I have been told that in the new era , football and basketball will continue to be the priority with resources being taken from other sports if necessary.

Stonewall wrote: ↑

Tue May 27, 2025 7:55 am

I don’t how important that is to the decision makers. I have been told that in the new era , football and basketball will continue to be the priority with resources being taken from other sports if necessary.

I’ve heard similar.

As they should be.

Obviously those two sports drive the ship and unfortunately nobody would care if we won the Cup based solely on winning titles in Olympic Sports (if that is even possible).

No doubt football success is what drives the interest and support for the athletic program but I'm not a fan of a lopsided or top heavy athletic program. The real loser in this new era are the sports where the athletes really do it for the love of their craft. That's not to say football players aren't out for the love of the game, but they have many other motivating factors beyond playing the game.