Game discussion

[BTK2000]

Ill add something that I experienced today to the conversation. I was doing a phone interview for an internship and the interviewer saw App State take a ranked TN to the wire on national TV last month. For all I know she knew nothing about App other than they play "serious" football and seemed to have more respect for the university because of that.

when people learn you are an App fan or alumni, what is the first thing they associate with the school? Its the The Michigan game (the first one) and this year its Miami coming to KBS or the Tennessee nail bitter. People familiar with the school may think of other things but I'm thinking of the everyday non-football fan. Even though the big house win came while App was still FCS, the national exposure it created is comparable to what App gets on a more regular basis in the FBS. App has played 3 times this year on a nation-wide network (ESPN, ESPN2, SECnetwork) and will play again on the U in Statesboro. The Old Dominion game was even a regional broadcast and so far the Akron game is the only one I have had to watch on my computer. I also wouldn't be surprised if something happens with the Troy game assuming it will decide the conference champion. Would 4 nationally televised games have happened in the FCS? No, I would still be fumbling with an HDMI cable from the computer and hoping the WiFi could handle the App/GaSO stream. Instead I'm watching that game on ESPNU this year and like every other black and blue game since the move. Yeah it'd be fun to beat furple or El-Cid while bragging to your friends that went to school there but not a soul outside of the SoCon cared. Most people just knew the P5 stomping App received because thats all that was on TV. I wasn't in school here when the NCs happened but even I didn't think they were a big deal until I became a student here. While we as App fans realize the importance and respect they deserve, I would gamble few outside the world of FCS care.

In my opinion, good FBS football teams add more value to a school. I don't know anything about Boise State as a school but I assume its a good one since they have a good football team. I will assume the same for just about any school I see winning on TV. If they have the resources to compete in FBS football, they must be a solid university. While this is not always the case, a winning FBS football team makes a school more valuable because seeing them win on TV is the average persons first, and often only, impression of a university.

If app had stayed in the FCS I would still be about to graduate from a really good school while having plenty of good memories and friends from my time here. On the flip side, because App is in the FBS, I still have all of those things plus an HR coordinator on the other side of the country in Utah, told me about watching an Appalachian State football game.

[EastHallApp]

You're right about that appbio91, my own brother (an NC State grad), who's lived in California for the last 30 years wasn't even aware of our 3 time national championship run.

To be fair, I live 10 minutes from Carter-Finley and I'm not aware of any championships State has won in the last 30 years either.

[WVAPPeer]

You're right about that appbio91, my own brother (an NC State grad), who's lived in California for the last 30 years wasn't even aware of our 3 time national championship run.

To be fair, I live 10 minutes from Carter-Finley and I'm not aware of any championships State has won in the last 30 years either.

Now that is funny!!!

[bigdaddyg]

You're right about that appbio91, my own brother (an NC State grad), who's lived in California for the last 30 years wasn't even aware of our 3 time national championship run.

To be fair, I live 10 minutes from Carter-Finley and I'm not aware of any championships State has won in the last 30 years either.

Now that is funny!!!

Read it a couple of times..agree, that is funny

[Rick83]

Keep in mind this stupid discussion started because we are good. Also no I am not kidding. I was at all three NC games and attended our first bowl game. The bowl game was our championship game in 2015. Nobody cares about any bowl game not played on NYE or NYD outside of the fan base. Tell me who cares about what most people think is a D2 NC. And don't tell me you never had to explain to someone the difference between D2 and FCS. The NC's were gold to us but nobody else gave a rats ass.

You're right about that appbio91, my own brother (an NC State grad), who's lived in California for the last 30 years wasn't even aware of our 3 time national championship run.

You guys talk much?

Ha...I have a lot of brothers and apparently can't keep them all updated...another brother and his wife (both WCU grads) were at the house pulling for the Mountaineers several times during that run...

[MtnDevil95]

I find it interesting to talk to people from all over and see their reaction when I tell them I graduated from App State. My brother-in-law in Vancouver had heard of of App State football because of the Michigan game, and has become a follower since I started dating and then married his sister (hah). My wife grew up in Regina Saskatchewan Canada, and thanks to Ed Gainey, Armanti Edwards and some super fly black and gold plaid pajama pants, there's a growing group of App State merchandise wearing fans in the Canadian plains.

My personal efforts at expanding out fan base to other parts of the continent have been made much easier with the move to FBS and more exposure on ESPN family of networks and playing CFP contending programs.

[AppOrange]

In my opinion the Sun Belt was a perfect transition-to-FBS conference for us...plus we were able to move up with Georgia Southern so we have a built in rival from the start {I love to hate those guys}. Winning begats winning so if we moved to a stronger conference and had losing seasons, fan support would wane and it could take a while to build it back up. With the Sun Belt we're going to be an annual challenger for the conference championship and the program will build with continued national exposure. I doubt the Sun Belt will be a forever thing but it's fun to learn about other teams and watch our guys beat up on them...I've been following the Mountaineers since 1979 and was ready for us to make a change. I don't miss Wofford, Furman, WCU et al..at all...and I'm really proud of our team on how successfully they've made the step up to FBS.

this all day long

[hotrod2001]

I was pleasantly happy to watch the ULL game and not hear a single mention of the Michigan win during the broadcast. It was a good thing at the time but we're 10 years removed from it happening, and am glad some people in the media are focusing on the now and not that one single moment.

[bigdaddyg]

I was pleasantly happy to watch the ULL game and not hear a single mention of the Michigan win during the broadcast. It was a good thing at the time but we're 10 years removed from it happening, and am glad some people in the media are focusing on the now and not that one single moment.

Typically only gets mentioned when we play a P5

[App1990]

BTK2000
There are many reasons why we should have moved to G5, but the argument that it helps academic reputation is definitely not one of them. It's a horrible myth that won't go away. People that need to know for hiring, admission, placement, etc. don't fall for this. If they do, they should be fired before making bad decisions. For instance, Boise State has an awful academic reputation. Employer would hire someone from Davidson or W&M before they'd hire someone from Boise State. And they'd hire someone from Columbia before they'd hire someone from Alabama. You were interviewed because of the academic standing of Appalachian, not because of the football team. Increased visibility doesn't equal increased reputation.

There are plenty of top-notch universities without big-time football (e.g., Georgetown, Princeton, Yale, CalTech, MIT, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Penn, Cornell, William & Mary, Tuffs, NYU, etc.). Many argue that not having football is a signal of high academic quality. And actually, 10 of the 12 top universities (academically) in the country do NOT have a FBS football program. Only Duke and Stanford have programs. Also, the Sun Belt we joined is a few steps below the SoCon we left in terms of academic reputation. At the time of our departure, nearly all of the old SoCon universities were ranked well ahead of the Sun Belt universities (only UNCG and GeoSou were ranked as low as the Sun Belt universities). Athletically, we may have moved to more similar universities, but academically, we moved to a group well below our standing (GeoSou moved to similar academics).

So there really isn't a relationship. There is good univ at all levels of football, and there are bad ones at all levels of football. The spot where it matters though is in G5. P5 has the money to be self-sufficient. FCS, D2, etc. have generally decided to not keep up with the Jones. G5 is really no-man's land. It doesn't have the money but wants to keep up with P5. The programs must take money from academics (directly or indirectly) to cover the operating losses. We do pretty well because we take it indirectly, and it's only covering about 65% of the cost. Some take funds directly from the university budget to pay for up to 85%, which can be $20-30 million per year. It's a tough balance to strike. We want football, but sometimes we have to decide to keep tuition low, fund internships and study abroad programs, offer enough classes, employ better faculty, have better instructional/research facilities, etc. I'm proud of how we do it, but the pressures to be stupid are there. So it is something for us to be vigilant about.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

BTK2000
There are many reasons why we should have moved to G5, but the argument that it helps academic reputation is definitely not one of them. It's a horrible myth that won't go away. People that need to know for hiring, admission, placement, etc. don't fall for this.

There are plenty of top-notch universities without big-time football (e.g., Georgetown, Princeton, Yale, CalTech, MIT, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Penn, Cornell, William & Mary, Tuffs, NYU, etc.). Many argue that not having football is a signal of high academic quality. And actually, 10 of the 12 top universities (academically) in the country do NOT have a FBS football program. Only Duke and

This needs to be posted every once in a while (with an edit for Tuffs, which is Tufts). Well said.

[hotrod2001]

BTK2000
There are many reasons why we should have moved to G5, but the argument that it helps academic reputation is definitely not one of them. It's a horrible myth that won't go away. People that need to know for hiring, admission, placement, etc. don't fall for this. If they do, they should be fired before making bad decisions. For instance, Boise State has an awful academic reputation. Employer would hire someone from Davidson or W&M before they'd hire someone from Boise State. And they'd hire someone from Columbia before they'd hire someone from Alabama. You were interviewed because of the academic standing of Appalachian, not because of the football team. Increased visibility doesn't equal increased reputation.

There are plenty of top-notch universities without big-time football (e.g., Georgetown, Princeton, Yale, CalTech, MIT, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Penn, Cornell, William & Mary, Tuffs, NYU, etc.). Many argue that not having football is a signal of high academic quality. And actually, 10 of the 12 top universities (academically) in the country do NOT have a FBS football program. Only Duke and Stanford have programs. Also, the Sun Belt we joined is a few steps below the SoCon we left in terms of academic reputation. At the time of our departure, nearly all of the old SoCon universities were ranked well ahead of the Sun Belt universities (only UNCG and GeoSou were ranked as low as the Sun Belt universities). Athletically, we may have moved to more similar universities, but academically, we moved to a group well below our standing (GeoSou moved to similar academics).

So there really isn't a relationship. There is good univ at all levels of football, and there are bad ones at all levels of football. The spot where it matters though is in G5. P5 has the money to be self-sufficient. FCS, D2, etc. have generally decided to not keep up with the Jones. G5 is really no-man's land. It doesn't have the money but wants to keep up with P5. The programs must take money from academics (directly or indirectly) to cover the operating losses. We do pretty well because we take it indirectly, and it's only covering about 65% of the cost. Some take funds directly from the university budget to pay for up to 85%, which can be $20-30 million per year. It's a tough balance to strike. We want football, but sometimes we have to decide to keep tuition low, fund internships and study abroad programs, offer enough classes, employ better faculty, have better instructional/research facilities, etc. I'm proud of how we do it, but the pressures to be stupid are there. So it is something for us to be vigilant about.

I look at it as a way to improve our brand recognition. When you now say you went to Appalachian State, people don't ask where that is, because they already know (not to mention it has greatly reduced the amount of "Appalaychun" mispronouncing. My wife can attest too, her alma mater joined the Big East a few seasons ago and now whenever she mentions where she went to school people have already heard of it instead of having to explain every time like she used to.

[skjellyfetti]

This tweet reminded of this thread.

"20 minutes until the biggest SoCon game in four years gets going at Johnson-Hagood "

... and half of the stadium is empty. And, a Saturday afternoon game.

[AppOrange]

This tweet reminded of this thread.

"20 minutes until the biggest SoCon game in four years gets going at Johnson-Hagood "

... and half of the stadium is empty. And, a Saturday afternoon game.

Man that is sad, we used to bring great crowds down there

[The Rock]

Realistically, the bottom line is:
If you aren't a P5 conference, people outside your fan base aren't going to care.
No nuetral person in the state of Georgia thinks "Awesome! Can't wait to watch the Georgia State game today" They pull for UGA.
Do we get better recognition and air time now than when we were in the SoCon? Yes.
Rivalries? Maybe, maybe not...yet. I think the "rivalries" from the SoCon came from the close proximities of the schools. With the Sunbelt being more spread out, we don't have it, but after a few years of L's going both ways, new rivalries will be formed. I foresee GSUx2, troy, Ark. state, plus the addition of coastal becoming new rivals.
It's easy to get caught up about not getting the respect or recognition we think we deserve, but just keep cheering for our team no matter who we are playing and at what level. We may never be in a P5 conference, and play at the "highest level" but that don't change our love for the school and there is nowhere else I want to be on a fall Saturday than at App State

[WataugaMan]

This tweet reminded of this thread.

"20 minutes until the biggest SoCon game in four years gets going at Johnson-Hagood "

... and half of the stadium is empty. And, a Saturday afternoon game.

To be fair, I'd say another 15 to 20 people showed up after that pic was snapped. It was 20 minutes before kickoff.

[SpeedkingATL]

This tweet reminded of this thread.

"20 minutes until the biggest SoCon game in four years gets going at Johnson-Hagood "

... and half of the stadium is empty. And, a Saturday afternoon game.

I always traveled to the Citadel games as it was a great way to combine a great golf weekend and football. Those App/Citdog games were usually well attended. I have been to many App games at UTC where the home side looked every bit that bad.
Hard to believe that few people in attendance at that game, unless a lot of locals were still cleaning up after the hurricane. UTC never traveled well.

[AppGrad78]

Announced attendance was 14,590.

[Saint3333]

So announced attendance isn't good and actual attendance was awful. Sounds like a GA St. game which is now the floor for our conference mates.

[ASU84]

This tweet reminded of this thread.

"20 minutes until the biggest SoCon game in four years gets going at Johnson-Hagood "

... and half of the stadium is empty. And, a Saturday afternoon game.

I always traveled to the Citadel games as it was a great way to combine a great golf weekend and football. Those App/Citdog games were usually well attended. I have been to many App games at UTC where the home side looked every bit that bad.
Hard to believe that few people in attendance at that game, unless a lot of locals were still cleaning up after the hurricane. UTC never traveled well.

They don't even travel well to a home game.