SBC Definitely Expanding for 2014 Season

[Gonzo]

Hap I got that feeling this past offseason, but they have been extremely tight-lipped this past football season through now.

I wouldn't be surprised either way at this point.

I would say 50-50. I agree things have changed. Of course, they have been tight-lipped about the move in general.

You may be right but I really don't see the BOT voting no if we get an invite. It will be tough to explain how GSU could pull it off financially and we can't.

Travel won't be as much an issue for them in the SBC as will be for us.

I put together the one way miles from Statesboro and Boone to each of the eight SBC football playing schools for 2013. From Statesboro it totals 4510 and from Boone it is 5069. I don't think an extra 1118 round trip miles is a big deal.

I agree. Way too marginal a difference to be a primary reason we would get left out, from our perspective and especially the conference's. Geography is a double-edged sword too. We're an outlier, but we bring a new state to market the conference.

[TheMoody1]

Troy on Tuesday announced a road/home football deal with Duke for 2013 and 2014.

I like this quote from end of article. If Dook is willing to do this with Troy, surely they will do home and home with APP.

Not necessarily - Duke may be using the old "playing in our recruiting footprint" card to get into the eyes of some Alabama talent. Go down there, put on a good showing, show off the fancy Nike duds and such, and maybe sway a kid who would otherwise attend a lower-level SEC school.

I think the main point is that SBC schools can and do get home games with BCS schools. I couldn't care less if we ever play DOOK.

[hapapp]

Hap I got that feeling this past offseason, but they have been extremely tight-lipped this past football season through now.

I wouldn't be surprised either way at this point.

I would say 50-50. I agree things have changed. Of course, they have been tight-lipped about the move in general.

You may be right but I really don't see the BOT voting no if we get an invite. It will be tough to explain how GSU could pull it off financially and we can't.

Travel won't be as much an issue for them in the SBC as will be for us.

I put together the one way miles from Statesboro and Boone to each of the eight SBC football playing schools for 2013. From Statesboro it totals 4510 and from Boone it is 5069. I don't think an extra 1118 round trip miles is a big deal.

Interesting research. Sometimes perception doesn't match reality. Georgia seems to be closer to the footprint than we do. My guess the loss of WKU complicates that a bit. Of course, we will be playing more than just football.

[JTApps1]

In terms of $$$ it would be best if we could join as a football only member for the time being, and then if the conference adds more teams in the east at a later date become a full member. I'm guessing the SoCon would kick us out for the remaining sports so we would probably have to look to the Big South or possibly CAA. Not sure if the Sun Belt is looking for football only members though.

[Saint3333]

I may be in the minority but I would not trade Sun Belt football for Big South all other sports.

I would prefer Sun Belt football and CAA all other sports to Sun Belt all sports though. Just don't think CAA would take us without football.

[firemoose]

What is happening today won’t be the same as tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, or possibly even 4 or 5 years from now. This situation is fluid and will remain so for a while to come. There could be anything from status quo, to three D-1 subdivisions, to 5 or 6 new regional conferences, to an NFL Collegiate Development League with a new D-1 under it and current, smaller FCS schools as D-2, to who the heck knows.

If we take a Sun Belt or any other conference invite anytime between now and June 1st it’s doubtful, playing the percentages, that it will stay the same conference. There is just too much money and too many egos involved for the groupings, as they are today, to stay this way. And the wildcard is the NCAA and their well-earned reputation for stepping in and mucking things up. My biggest worry is if we don’t move somewhere if/when offered that we might wind up left in the SoCon playing D-2 football. If offered I believe we should go, so at least we are on a more level playing field with the other FBS teams around us and then see where and how the situation develops. It might be harder for a while but those other FBS schools would be faced with the same problems and situations we would be in money and travel wise and would have to shake things out to make it all work. I just don’t want to be the puppy standing out in the rain who can’t get in the doggie door because someone in the house has locked it up.

[T-Dog]

When Cobb called the Sun Belt "a glorified FCS conference" two years ago, it was because of the previous leadership had a holier-than-though attitude about move-ups even though the entire conference was move-ups and the members weren't investing that much in football to get better, thus making such a move unfeasible. Now things have changed with new leadership, members making strides in football and most importantly, wanting a more eastern footprint. The Sun Belt is a lot more attractive now than before.

Also, since last summer, it should have been apparent that App was going to be in the SoCon for the 2013-14 season. So even though we've been going through this roller coaster since late September 2010 and some of us are tired of it, we're going to have to wait a little bit longer.

What has/does suggest that? This time table leads one to believe that 2013 will be our transition year*.

We'll still be in the SoCon for all sports, but ineligible for the NCAA playoffs and technically an FCS Independent in football.

The big worry here is that if we don't get a Sun Belt invite before June 1st, then we couldn't join in all sports for 2014 since football would be two years instead of one away from FBS eligibility.

The ODU situation was interesting. They declared they were going FBS before June 1st, but didn't file for it and pushed back their transition a year. Georgia State was technically an FCS Independent this past season and will be an FBS Independent in 2013. The CAA had bylaws preventing any departing program from winning a conference title and voted to uphold them. The Socon has no such bylaws and would take a 3/4ths vote to approve it.

If ASU decided to push back the transition one year to have a chance at the playoffs, then we would be NCAA playoff eligible in 2013, an FCS Indy in 2014, an FBS Indy in 2015 (could still play a Sun Belt schedule but not be eligible for titles) and FBS bowl/playoff eligible in 2016 if again, we don't use a waiver.

One thing that will have to be addressed if a move is made is wrestling and men's soccer since the Sun Belt doesn't offer those sports.

[kiddbrewer]

I pretty sure they announced in May of 2012.

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt ... 8142.story

I've been trying to find it, but so far no luck, but what I am looking for is the statement from the University stating that their official date of filing for reclassification would be after the deadline of June 1. Whether they wanted to compete one more year in the FCS playoffs or that was a decision by C-USA, I'm not sure, nor do I recall .

They will not start their transition year until next season, which meant they played with 63 scholarships this past season. I have found that officially, they start year 1 transition in 2013 and as of today, they will be eligible to play for C-USA team championships in 2014.

I'll keep looking for that statement.

[ASUMountaineer]

I hope you're right, but I keep thinking about how Cobb dissed the SunBelt last year. Benson and the others making the decisions may leave us out.

I don't buy that. They're job is to make the SBC the most viable and profitable they possibly can. A comment 2 years ago by an AD that may or may not be at the institution long term will hardly make a difference if they identify ASU as one of the two best additions for the conference.

[AppAttack]

If we get an invite before June 1st, I'm mixed on whether to sit out the playoffs or not. On one hand, it would be beneficial to begin the transition as soon as possible. On the other hand, it would be nice to prevent NDSU from tying our 3-peat. We'll see what happens.

[AppinVA]

If we get an invite before June 1st, I'm mixed on whether to sit out the playoffs or not. On one hand, it would be beneficial to begin the transition as soon as possible. On the other hand, it would be nice to prevent NDSU from tying our 3-peat. We'll see what happens.

Let them tie us at three. I really couldn't care. Until they get four, all they can do is no better than we already have. Kind of like when JMU beat a ranked Virginia Tech. All they did was do something we already did when we beat Michigan.

[Kgfish]

When Cobb called the Sun Belt "a glorified FCS conference" two years ago, it was because of the previous leadership had a holier-than-though attitude about move-ups even though the entire conference was move-ups and the members weren't investing that much in football to get better, thus making such a move unfeasible. Now things have changed with new leadership, members making strides in football and most importantly, wanting a more eastern footprint. The Sun Belt is a lot more attractive now than before.

Also, since last summer, it should have been apparent that App was going to be in the SoCon for the 2013-14 season. So even though we've been going through this roller coaster since late September 2010 and some of us are tired of it, we're going to have to wait a little bit longer.

TDog Cobb dissed the SB because he thought we had a CUSA invite in the bag.

[AppAttack]

If we get an invite before June 1st, I'm mixed on whether to sit out the playoffs or not. On one hand, it would be beneficial to begin the transition as soon as possible. On the other hand, it would be nice to prevent NDSU from tying our 3-peat. We'll see what happens.

Let them tie us at three. I really couldn't care. Until they get four, all they can do is no better than we already have. Kind of like when JMU beat a ranked Virginia Tech. All they did was do something we already did when we beat Michigan.

How can you not care? That's something we could have forever. I'm still very proud of that accomplishment. If they get three, they can get four. But transitioning up as smoothly as possible is also important. Hence my dilemma. That's all I'm saying.

[AppAttack]

I hope you're right, but I keep thinking about how Cobb dissed the SunBelt last year. Benson and the others making the decisions may leave us out.

I don't buy that. They're job is to make the SBC the most viable and profitable they possibly can. A comment 2 years ago by an AD that may or may not be at the institution long term will hardly make a difference if they identify ASU as one of the two best additions for the conference.

Of course it should be THEIR job, I'm just concerned they may not do it. For some reason I thought it was last Spring after Benson took over that Cobb made that stupid comment.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

When Cobb called the Sun Belt "a glorified FCS conference" two years ago, it was because of the previous leadership had a holier-than-though attitude about move-ups even though the entire conference was move-ups and the members weren't investing that much in football to get better, thus making such a move unfeasible. Now things have changed with new leadership, members making strides in football and most importantly, wanting a more eastern footprint. The Sun Belt is a lot more attractive now than before.

Also, since last summer, it should have been apparent that App was going to be in the SoCon for the 2013-14 season. So even though we've been going through this roller coaster since late September 2010 and some of us are tired of it, we're going to have to wait a little bit longer.

What has/does suggest that? This time table leads one to believe that 2013 will be our transition year*.

We'll still be in the SoCon for all sports, but ineligible for the NCAA playoffs and technically an FCS Independent in football.

The big worry here is that if we don't get a Sun Belt invite before June 1st, then we couldn't join in all sports for 2014 since football would be two years instead of one away from FBS eligibility.

The ODU situation was interesting. They declared they were going FBS before June 1st, but didn't file for it and pushed back their transition a year. Georgia State was technically an FCS Independent this past season and will be an FBS Independent in 2013. The CAA had bylaws preventing any departing program from winning a conference title and voted to uphold them. The Socon has no such bylaws and would take a 3/4ths vote to approve it.

If ASU decided to push back the transition one year to have a chance at the playoffs, then we would be NCAA playoff eligible in 2013, an FCS Indy in 2014, an FBS Indy in 2015 (could still play a Sun Belt schedule but not be eligible for titles) and FBS bowl/playoff eligible in 2016 if again, we don't use a waiver.

One thing that will have to be addressed if a move is made is wrestling and men's soccer since the Sun Belt doesn't offer those sports.

The SoCon needs all the wrestling schools it can take since so few SoCon schools have wrestling. They added SIU-E last year and they are title eligible this year. If they can bring in a team that far away, they can keep us around for that one sport-unless they get really pissing, and VMI is in the SoCon for wrestling. Though VMI moved down a bit when they left, so the hard feelings may not be there as it might be with us. But with 8 WRES teams, and only 4 multi-sport members I think we have a wrestling home in the SoCon as long as we like. Men's soccer could be the same situation, though not as severe in the number of SoCon schools not playing men's soccer.

[Rekdiver]

Davidson UncG and CofC have no football So why can't we be in for all but football?

[Saint3333]

Look no further than ETSU. CofC is leaving for the CAA.

[AppinVA]

If we get an invite before June 1st, I'm mixed on whether to sit out the playoffs or not. On one hand, it would be beneficial to begin the transition as soon as possible. On the other hand, it would be nice to prevent NDSU from tying our 3-peat. We'll see what happens.

Let them tie us at three. I really couldn't care. Until they get four, all they can do is no better than we already have. Kind of like when JMU beat a ranked Virginia Tech. All they did was do something we already did when we beat Michigan.

How can you not care? That's something we could have forever. I'm still very proud of that accomplishment. If they get three, they can get four. But transitioning up as smoothly as possible is also important. Hence my dilemma. That's all I'm saying.

I didn't say I don't care about what we did. I do. Great stuff. I just don't care what they do. If they win three in a row, great for them. We did it first, and that's all that matters to me. Heck, if we have moved on, and they get back to the NC game, I'll be pull for them. Other than Mount Union, they'll be the only other program that knows what it takes to win three straight playoff championships.

[ASUMountaineer]

I hope you're right, but I keep thinking about how Cobb dissed the SunBelt last year. Benson and the others making the decisions may leave us out.

I don't buy that. They're job is to make the SBC the most viable and profitable they possibly can. A comment 2 years ago by an AD that may or may not be at the institution long term will hardly make a difference if they identify ASU as one of the two best additions for the conference.

Of course it should be THEIR job, I'm just concerned they may not do it. For some reason I thought it was last Spring after Benson took over that Cobb made that stupid comment.

I don't have any concern over that. If the SB decides not to offer ASU it will be for one of two reasons: 1) we would not accept the offer or 2) they feel that another institution makes their conference better. Something petty like that would be career suicide for these guys. I think it's ridiculous to think they would be vindictive over something like that. If so, they would not sign a deal with ESPN given the crap the talking-heads there spew about the SB.

With that said, I'm quite confident Cobb's comments came before the previous commissioner stepped down.

[Deano]

Why would we not be eligible for the playoff? ODU was eligible this last year during their transition, they just could not win the auto bid.


ODU announced after the June 1 deadline. They were declared ineligible for the CAA autobid though.


I pretty sure they announced in May of 2012.

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt ... 8142.story


You are correct, they did announce it in May, but it doesn't matter when it was announced it matters when the paperwork was submitted as in the case for ODU, announcing you are moving up early helps with recruiting.