This is unbelievable to me. Has our administration turned down a Sun Belt offer?
This writer has been known to have contacts with Benson, the Sun Belt commissioner.
If we are no longer a top candidate then it seems we have turned the SB down.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... r-sun-belt

GoApps70 wrote:This is unbelievable to me. Has our administration turned down a Sun Belt offer?
This writer has been known to have contacts with Benson, the Sun Belt commissioner.
If we are no longer a top candidate then it seems we have turned the SB down.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... r-sun-belt

I can't express how angry I am about even the possibility of this happening. Charlie Cobb should be burned at the stake if he in fact messed this up.

ASU athletics are dead if CBS is not mistaken.

Idaho, New Mexico State and Georgia Southern are among the Sun Belt list of schools to replace Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic, CBSSports.com has learned.

deep breaths people.

This blog post says nothing except what is bolded right there.......read the rest of it....he sights no person saying that these teams were the leaders....they're just obvious candidates. He has no real information that wasn't available to anyone with a computer....he just needed a blog post.

Gonzo wrote:

GoApps70 wrote:This is unbelievable to me. Has our administration turned down a Sun Belt offer?
This writer has been known to have contacts with Benson, the Sun Belt commissioner.
If we are no longer a top candidate then it seems we have turned the SB down.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... r-sun-belt

I can't express how angry I am about even the possibility of this happening. Charlie Cobb should be burned at the stake if he in fact fucked this up.

ASU athletics are dead if CBS is not mistaken.

Read the article, man. Read it. It does not say that those three schools are going to the Sunbelt, it says they are among those on the list.

When someone makes a statement like that, they would write up all the names if they were being considered. Saw what it said, but it makes a certain statement. Would have to think that we would be mentioned if we were being considered, especially if the writer is trying to increase his viewership of his articles.

I just have the feeling that Cobb declined an offer because he's still holding out for CUSA. The man would ride CUSA's dick off a cliff if we let him.

I'm sticking to my guns from this spring. I don't care how much flak I got on the MMB. If Cobb can't close this deal, fire him and find someone that can.

GoApps70 wrote:When someone makes a statement like that, they would write up all the names if they were being considered. Saw what it said, but it makes a certain statement. Would have to think that we would be mentioned if we were being considered, especially if the writer is trying to increase his viewership of his articles.

He's no different than anyone else making statements except that his is the only one on the internet that doesn't mention App State. I can't find where he has any links to SBC or any inside information. He doesn't even imply that he has inside information.

If Benson didn't mention us as a candidate then you can be pretty sure that we have turned down the Sun Belt.
I see very little reason to try to turn this any other way.
I know they wanted into CUSA, when ECU was there, but this is ridiculous. CUSA has already announced even who they will take when they lose two more teams - WKU and NMSU, so surely Charlie Cobb isn't putting his head in a hole and still thinking that we are magically going to get an invite to CUSA now!

This really burns.

Simmer down guys, these are blogs not sports reporting. This guy just happens to have his blog on CBSSports.com. It's not that much different from TDog and BigC writing on here. In fact, their blogs are more indepth than this one. I really don't think there will be any announcement until the all of the schools in consideration are done with the playoffs and that may not happen until January. Although I think an announcement would come after the semis even if we or GSU are involved.

Let's just be a little patient and remember what's important right now before we go all GONZO about this.

GoApps70 wrote:If Benson didn't mention us as a candidate then you can be pretty sure that we have turned down the Sun Belt.
I see very little reason to try to turn this any other way.
I know they wanted into CUSA, when ECU was there, but this is ridiculous. CUSA has already announced even who they will take when they lose two more teams - WKU and NMSU, so surely Charlie Cobb isn't putting his head in a hole and still thinking that we are magically going to get an invite to CUSA now!

This really burns.

Where did Benson not mention us that he mentioned those three? Where did Benson mention anyone? Have you even read the article? Most of the article is about CUSA, not Sunbelt. Nearly all of the quotes are from the commissioner of CUSA.

This is a random blog writer from the middle of Kansas. Why are you putting so much weight on what he DIDN'T say?

GoApps70 wrote:If Benson didn't mention us as a candidate then you can be pretty sure that we have turned down the Sun Belt.
I see very little reason to try to turn this any other way.
I know they wanted into CUSA, when ECU was there, but this is ridiculous. CUSA has already announced even who they will take when they lose two more teams - WKU and NMSU, so surely Charlie Cobb isn't putting his head in a hole and still thinking that we are magically going to get an invite to CUSA now!

This really burns.

Benson hasnt mentioned any candidates yet. All Benson had mentioned is that they are going to announce in a couple of weeks, he wants teams that fit the footprint(IDAHO NMSU dont) and he is likely going to dip into the fcs(IDAHO and NMSU aren't). This is an opinion piece by a guy who probably lives out West somewhere.

goapps93 wrote:Simmer down guys, these are blogs not sports reporting. This guy just happens to have his blog on CBSSports.com. It's not that much different from TDog and BigC writing on here. In fact, their blogs are more indepth than this one. I really don't think there will be any announcement until the all of the schools in consideration are done with the playoffs and that may not happen until January. Although I think an announcement would come after the semis even if we or GSU are involved.

Let's just be a little patient and remember what's important right now before we go all GONZO about this.

If everyone went Gonzo about App, we'd have the best fanbase in the nation

Hope he turned down both of them at this point.

Sorry, just simply can't get excited about the Sun Belt. It's beating a dead horse, but I'd really hate to see ASU football go the way of Marshall, riding off into mediocrity.

asug8 wrote:Sorry, just simply can't get excited about the Sun Belt. It's beating a dead horse, but I'd really hate to see ASU football go the way of Marshall, riding off into mediocrity.

Yep, same here. And with ECU gone from CUSA I currently feel it has become more SB-like.

We are not in the position to turn them down. CUSA is not going to expand to 32 teams. FCS is a sinking ship and at least with the Sun Belt we have a chance to keep up with all the other non-BCS FBS schools in our region. Otherwise we are sunk.

asug8 wrote:Sorry, just simply can't get excited about the Sun Belt. It's beating a dead horse, but I'd really hate to see ASU football go the way of Marshall, riding off into mediocrity.

You want to see mediocrity, what until every FBS school in the region gets the BCS leftovers and we are left only with their scraps. Gotta look at the big picture long term.

asug8 wrote:Sorry, just simply can't get excited about the Sun Belt. It's beating a dead horse, but I'd really hate to see ASU football go the way of Marshall, riding off into mediocrity.

You have an incredibly distorted view of SoCon football if you don't think the SBC is leaps and bounds ahead in every way.

I understand loving the playoffs and old rivalries, I feel the same way, but if your primary problem with playing in the SBC is the fact that they're a bunch of no name teams, I suggest you do a little research on national recognition of SBC vs SoCon schools. 90% of college football fans would agree that FBS mediocrity>FCS prowess.

And last I checked, Marshal did very well in the MAC when they moved, is doing fine in CUSA and gets to host in-state foe, WVU every other year or so. Just to name a few tangible advantages in your all-too-common comparison.

asug8 wrote:Sorry, just simply can't get excited about the Sun Belt. It's beating a dead horse, but I'd really hate to see ASU football go the way of Marshall, riding off into mediocrity.

In the sunbelt I doubt we would be mediocre. Secondly the Socon especially without Ga South would put us into obscurity. I prefer mediocrity to obscurity. Even though I doubt we would be mediocre. ULM beat Arkansas took Aururn to Overtime. There is big time football being played in the Sunbelt.

A few of the Sun Belt fans have said Dodd is not a reliable SBC source. He has previously mentioned Jacksonville State and Liberty as options as well, so I am not putting too much stock into this. Plus, he only stated that NMSU, Idaho and GSU are three of the candidates, not that anyone else has withdrawn from consideration.

That being said, this would be the absolute worst-case scenario for Appalachian. Staying in the SoCon while our only true rival goes FBS would be brutal. I understand the concerns about being a small fish in the big FBS pond but staying put in a version of the SoCon minus GSU with Mercer as the most likely replacement would be absolutely devastating.

If going to the Sun Belt would be mediocrity, a GSU-less SoCon would be purgatory.