ODU AD wants to blow up CUSA

[Saint3333]

AAC isn’t taking App or JMU. Maybe if we get a NY6 game or two, but still then it would be football only.

[ah59396]

You want regional...It's very simple...

Conference ________

North Division

Western Kentucky
Marshall
ODU
Charlotte
Appalachian State
Middle Tennessee State

South Division

Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Coastal Carolina
Troy
FIU
FAU

D.G. would have to push for us to play Georgia Southern every year similar to Bama and Tennessee who play every year.

Leaving JMU out. I feel they're aiming for UConn's spot in the AAC. Wouldn't mind adding them to the
out of conference schedule occasionally.

The AAC will never add JMU.

The AAC will either add us, some variation of UAB/Charlotte/ODU/Ga State, or look west and take Boise, BYU and Air Force to go to 14 and give them travel partners.

JMU gives them nothing they want. They want prestige and the appearance of a Power conference. Adding an FCS team doesn’t do that. Adding those western teams bolsters their image and cripples their only G5 conference competitor.

JMU also adds nothing for AAC basketball. They are worse than we are on the hard court.

AAC might not want them, but JMU feels that's where they belong. I agree, it will likely never happen, but they have some pompous "people that matter" in Harrisonburg (Met a few a couple years back when App played JMU in Harrisonburg for basketball). The campus itself is growing like crazy and I know at one point a couple years ago they were close to Top 50 for all Division 1 when it came to athletic revenue. They're on a high horse and if AAC doesn't come calling they might go the Independent route.

For the record I hate everything about JMU other than the memories I have from partying there back in the day. That school knew how to throw a good party, and had one hell of a ratio.

I don’t have an opinion of JMU really. However what a couple of their loud mouth boosters believe (I’ve seen some of what you’re referring to online) and what is the reality are two different things.

As citro noted above, JMU wanted to skip the internship and hold out for a management position. They have extremely shortsighted leadership that say “well if we join the SunBelt we won’t win the FBS National Championship in 2021”. I’m glad we have leadership that sees the forest for the trees.

[moonshine]

Even with their nice looking budget, JMU to the AAC isn’t happening unless they reduce their subsidy quite significantly due to VA law.

Of the options presented, #3 to the AAC is a no-brainer for App, even if football only, but far fetched at this point. The AAC would most likely want a market in a new state and looking in the East only:
-ODU for tidewater, decent Bball and close to ECU (travel partner)
-UAB former CUSA foe with decent Bball and new state that bridges conference
-GaST for ATL market/recruiting, decent b-ball and new state that bridges conference
-UNCC to a lesser extent for CLT market/recruiting but AAC already in NC

Out west the AAC would probably take AFA, Boise, SDSU and/or CSU to kill off MWC.

For me personally, I choose #1 option if DG can keep the department treading water through Covid because I’m (Tom) petty. I like our conference peers and they gave us our FBS opportunity. App has taken off and helped elevate the conference (SEC-Lite) to #3 in the G pecking order. As nice as it would be for the traveling fans to share a conference with Marsha, UNC-C and ODU, all of which have made it on to the OOC schedule, CUSA East had their chance to choose App when we were moving up and they chose wrong. Now I have no desire to help those programs who turned their noses up, let them continue free falling and figure out their own mess.

[ah59396]

AAC isn’t taking App or JMU. Maybe if we get a NY6 game or two, but still then it would be football only.

I agree, it’s very unlikely. We will need to do very well these next couple years in football if we want a shot because they wouldn’t be adding us for any other reason aside from that.

If I had to bet money I’d expect them to end up with that west coalition BYU/Boise/Airforce.

[appst89]

You want regional...It's very simple...

Conference ________

North Division

Western Kentucky
Marshall
ODU
Charlotte
Appalachian State
Middle Tennessee State

South Division

Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Coastal Carolina
Troy
FIU
FAU

D.G. would have to push for us to play Georgia Southern every year similar to Bama and Tennessee who play every year.

Leaving JMU out. I feel they're aiming for UConn's spot in the AAC. Wouldn't mind adding them to the
out of conference schedule occasionally.

The AAC will never add JMU.

The AAC will either add us, some variation of UAB/Charlotte/ODU/Ga State, or look west and take Boise, BYU and Air Force to go to 14 and give them travel partners.

JMU gives them nothing they want. They want prestige and the appearance of a Power conference. Adding an FCS team doesn’t do that. Adding those western teams bolsters their image and cripples their only G5 conference competitor.

JMU also adds nothing for AAC basketball. They are worse than we are on the hard court.

AAC might not want them, but JMU feels that's where they belong. I agree, it will likely never happen, but they have some pompous "people that matter" in Harrisonburg (Met a few a couple years back when App played JMU in Harrisonburg for basketball). The campus itself is growing like crazy and I know at one point a couple years ago they were close to Top 50 for all Division 1 when it came to athletic revenue. They're on a high horse and if AAC doesn't come calling they might go the Independent route.

For the record I hate everything about JMU other than the memories I have from partying there back in the day. That school knew how to throw a good party, and had one hell of a ratio.

I read recently that JMU athletics is 78% subsidized by student fees. They are spending a ton of money, but where is it coming from? I believe App is somewhere in the 50%-55% range and that is still too much.


I read their board a little the other day. They not only believe they will be included in any realignment, but that they will be engineering which teams they are in a league with. There's an awful lot of hubris over there for an FCS team in need of a home.

[AppSt94]

We are a long way away from getting an AAC invite under the current parameters. We have infrastructure issues, both App related, and the town of Boone that need to be solved before we are a contender.

[AppStFan1]

Okay, not exactly. Just practicing my clickbait skills.

But this is an interesting article:

https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/vp-s ... story.html



This horse has been beat to death, however I do feel the COVID crisis is accelerating an inevitability. CUSA, MAC and the Sunbelt all are facing some harsh budgeting realities.

CUSA and Sunbelt have fairy large geographic footprints that are costly and the MAC is just a bunch of dying rust belt schools.

Realignment is coming and short of just listing out a made up conference I’ll just ask a question.

Which would you prefer and why?


1. Everything stays the same. Everyone makes it through okay, all conferences play in 2020 and moving forward for the foreseeable future. We continue to dominate the SunBelt, always in the conversation for being ranked. But almost exclusively end up in New Orleans, Montgomery and Mobile for bowl games. For like the next decade.

2. COVID accelerates realignment. We end up in some geographic Frankenstein of CUSA/SunBelt/MAC, possibly an FCS or two. The conference we are in probably has a tighter footprint but may also look a lot like a hybrid FCS SOCON of 1995 with some newbies. Does the overall strength of the conference improve? Hard to say.

3. We sneak into the ever elusive 12th AAC spot. Increased prestige but at a real risk/cost. Much better competition on a weekly basis. And every team we face has more money, more established stadiums/facilities and are just generally larger schools.

For now I would say 2 as well but I think we could grow and fit in the AAC well. The money would improve.

I'm not sure if ECU would do this but this makes sense and is strong than the 1990s SoCon from the middle to the bottom for sure. I think Charlotte, Liberty, South Alabama, and CCU are stronger than Elon, VMI, WCU, ETSU, UTC, etc are.

North
App St
Charlotte
East Carolina
Liberty
Marshall
Old Dominion

South
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Middle Tenn St
South Alabama
Troy

I honestly think a couple of these schools may end up needing to drop down to FCS but they are big enough in enrollment that I think they would be able to sustain staying.

I have a feeling that if a regional alignment like the one you proposed came to be...JMU would be there in the North with us.

Yes I think it would be JMU instead of ECU. That is just what I would want. I would take ECU and JMU instead of Liberty. I think we need to be with either JMU or Liberty but don't have to be with both. Could end up with both though and I would not complain. Both have very good facilities and we all know JMU can be dangerous.

[AppStFan1]

We are a long way away from getting an AAC invite under the current parameters. We have infrastructure issues, both App related, and the town of Boone that need to be solved before we are a contender.

We definitely do but wonder how long it would take. My guess is we realign with a combo of the best from CUSA and SBC and need to show we can dominate before the AAC invites us. However, I guess if AAC loses 4 schools in all this and they decide to go get the best G5 schools from SBC and CUSA that they can to replace the powers they lost in football that we would be in discussion.

I know for a fact that Gillin wants to get us in AAC eventually but I'm not sure we can keep him that long. Could we fix those issues within 5-6 years?

[AppSt94]

We need a bigger donor base, more donor money, and Boone needs some updates to infrastructure to accommodate the needs of more. So you speculate that the AAC May lose some teams that we could get an invite. So I will ask you this. If they were to lose, say, Houston, Memphis, UCF and Cincinnati, is it still the Holy Grail of the G5’s? I contend that it would not.

[ah59396]

We need a bigger donor base, more donor money, and Boone needs some updates to infrastructure to accommodate the needs of more. So you speculate that the AAC May lose some teams that we could get an invite. So I will ask you this. If they were to lose, say, Houston, Memphis, UCF and Cincinnati, is it still the Holy Grail of the G5’s? I contend that it would not.

Ask Marshall. They left the MAC for a CUSA in 2005. The same year CUSA watched Cincinnati, Louisville, Army, USF and TCU jump ship. Houston and ECU stuck around a bit longer.

Go read the Marshall board, they want out of CUSA so badly that half of them want to rejoin the MAC and slowly fade into irrelevance.

The AAC without the 4 above would be a lot less exciting. ECU, SMU, Navy and USF would be fun I suppose.

We are kind of in a weird place right now.

[appfanjj]

You could add UCF to the “fun” list. Best AAC program in my opinion.

[T-Dog]

We are a long way away from getting an AAC invite under the current parameters. We have infrastructure issues, both App related, and the town of Boone that need to be solved before we are a contender.

I think the Boone-based infrastructure issues are overstated. The past hotel issues are not as big as they were just a few years ago.

Is Boone the smallest FBS town/city in FBS?

One issue, the airport one, is not getting solved in our generation.

321 widening to four lanes going up the Blowing Rock escarpment helps out. As will the sports facilities at App 105 being completed.

[AppSt94]

We are a long way away from getting an AAC invite under the current parameters. We have infrastructure issues, both App related, and the town of Boone that need to be solved before we are a contender.

I think the Boone-based infrastructure issues are overstated. The past hotel issues are not as big as they were just a few years ago.

Is Boone the smallest FBS town/city in FBS?

One issue, the airport one, is not getting solved in our generation.

321 widening to four lanes going up the Blowing Rock escarpment helps out. As will the sports facilities at App 105 being completed.

Boone is pretty similar to Pullman, WA., so it is possible. I spoke to some people who are probably some of the people that you spoke with and was told that there were hurdles for both App and Boone to overcome. I don’t disagree with you, just pointing out what I was told. The bottom line is that we need more donor money and season ticket holders.

[APPdiesel]

I’ve read enough AAC and CUSA message board threads to know they (AAC fans) don’t give a damn about App and the notion that half of Marshall fans want back into the MAC is patently false. A lot of Marshall fans want to be associated with App but don’t necessarily want to join the Sunbelt to do it. AAC fans want either a home run with BYU or Boise or want to stay put in football and add one Olympic sports member.

[citroknight]

You want regional...It's very simple...

Conference ________

North Division

Western Kentucky
Marshall
ODU
Charlotte
Appalachian State
Middle Tennessee State

South Division

Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Coastal Carolina
Troy
FIU
FAU

D.G. would have to push for us to play Georgia Southern every year similar to Bama and Tennessee who play every year.

Leaving JMU out. I feel they're aiming for UConn's spot in the AAC. Wouldn't mind adding them to the
out of conference schedule occasionally.

The AAC will never add JMU.

The AAC will either add us, some variation of UAB/Charlotte/ODU/Ga State, or look west and take Boise, BYU and Air Force to go to 14 and give them travel partners.

JMU gives them nothing they want. They want prestige and the appearance of a Power conference. Adding an FCS team doesn’t do that. Adding those western teams bolsters their image and cripples their only G5 conference competitor.

JMU also adds nothing for AAC basketball. They are worse than we are on the hard court.

JMU has potential, spends money, and is geographically somewhere that makes sense.

That being said, if they truly wanted to make their case for the AAC, they should have joined either the SBC or CUSA when they had a chance. That would give an audition for how they would build on their FCS success and translate it to FBS. Aka, what App has done.

But no way is the AAC taking the risk or image hit of adding an FCS team.

Citro,

Serious question but if the other G5’s were to consolidate into regional conferences, could the AAC exist in the vacuum without joining in? They have differentiated themselves from the othes with budgets but would that change if the well runs considerably slower?

Great question.

I think if the money remains more or less in tact after UConn's departure, the AAC will probably exist in a vacuum. Same with the Mountain West. Although for the MW it's a mixture of making more than the other non-AAC G5s (though not quite AAC level money) but also because geographically the MW teams already are in the best regional fit. Probably the only teams that could benefit joining would be NMST and UTEP but I don't think the MW wants or needs either of those.

The AAC has a pretty similar footprint to CUSA, from Texas to Florida to the Mid-Atlantic. But with the money being world's apart, it's tough to see any reason for leaving this in place of regional G5s since I can't imagine the cost savings outweighing what the AAC brings in. It would probably be a no brainier if the top of the AAC were all in the same region, but it seems like the best teams and markets are pretty evenly spread out in the conference.

[ah59396]

I’ve read enough AAC and CUSA message board threads to know they (AAC fans) don’t give a damn about App and the notion that half of Marshall fans want back into the MAC is patently false. A lot of Marshall fans want to be associated with App but don’t necessarily want to join the Sunbelt to do it. AAC fans want either a home run with BYU or Boise or want to stay put in football and add one Olympic sports member.

Marshall has an 8 page thread going on herdfans right now debating the merits of going back to the MAC

[Stonewall]

He mentions the possibility of no 20-21 season . How do you pay your coaches who are under contract? Your debt service? Your scholarships? Under that scenario most colleges would have to scrap their athletic programs , rather than take a year off as he suggests. We’ve already taken a big hit , all of us,and it’s still to played out but I see us kicking off against MSU as scheduled in front of a smaller crowd by choice rather than mandate.

[AppinVA]

I’ve read enough AAC and CUSA message board threads to know they (AAC fans) don’t give a damn about App and the notion that half of Marshall fans want back into the MAC is patently false. A lot of Marshall fans want to be associated with App but don’t necessarily want to join the Sunbelt to do it. AAC fans want either a home run with BYU or Boise or want to stay put in football and add one Olympic sports member.

Marshall has an 8 page thread going on herdfans right now debating the merits of going back to the MAC

In fairness (without looking at it), all it takes is one hard-head debating every nuance — down to comma placement — to turn a thread into eight pages.

[spacemonkey]

I am fine in the conference we are in and I would be fine if we realigned more regional but the bowl separation is what is holding the separation of AAC and the other G5’s. My biggest wish is we would get with a group that paid up for conference commissioner that talked a lot and promoted our conference like the rest of the world was missing out and got very creative to MARKET like we belonged. I do believe we are doing the best we can and I am grateful for what we have but the G5’s cannot give away our best teams to their sixth and seven teams. We have to find a way to make our champ vs another G5 Champ relevant in a bowl game. We can’t settle for that game meaning nothing. I think we need an agreement between The following states to play a southern football championship. 4 highest rated teams from the following states. teams from the following states. Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Missipi, Texas. Followed by a championship game between those two. Make it an invitational from all Bowl eligible teams. Something like this. We cheapen ourselves by letting our best play their FIfth best. NAME it something and promote it like it matters. (Not G5 championship.). I would call it the Southern Invitational. I would talk crap about teams that would not accept the invitation. Invite UNC and call them scared when they would not accept. “These are the teams that were invited but they did not think they could make it through to the championship.” Say it enough and people will believe. “The best teams from the south were invited these were the teams brave enough to show up.”

[SayYesToTheRock]

The best (realistic) thing that can come out of this is more emphasis on regional scheduling alliances.

When it comes to G5 OOC, App should be playing several of:

• ECU

• Charlotte

• ODU

• Marshall

• WKU

• MTSU

Every year. There's no excuse not to.