We should have a sticky thread that details why App State moved so we can stop having these conversations.AppinVA wrote:Amen. I don't believe we fought to get to where we are, just to willingly go back to where we were. We may end up there, but I want to fight it every step of the way --not lead the parade.AtlAppMan wrote:The G5 voluntarily splitting off and holding their own playoff is a terrible idea. That would basically be a repeat of the D1-A/AA split and we all know how that played out. That would be the shortest path to irrelevancy the G5 could ever take.
The best thing for the G5 future is for CFP to expand to 8 and guarantee one spot for the best G5 team.
The App State brand went from being a solid FCS/SoCon program in 2004 and evolved into something greater by the end of the Armanti era. It was clear that our status, brand equity and football program had outgrown where we started but didn't have a perfect place to land (still don't, IMO).
We don't (and will never) belong in the ACC, SEC or any P5 program but a case could be made as early as 2008 that we were CUSA/Sun Belt/MAC material (in football, anyway).
That said, while App State was evolving, so was the rest of college football. P5 schools got more exposure and power to the point a clear distinction between G5 and P5 was made... NEVERTHELESS, G5 schools were still "technically" still lumped in with the P5 schools.
As the SEC whispered about wanting to make its own rules and the BIG 10 muttered about not wanting to mess around with FCS schools anymore, it became more clear that eventually the conferences of the programs that made the real money (20 or 30 programs in the P5) would one day be pushed to the limit and leave the rest of college football out to dry.
In other words, the P5 would either push the NCAA to allow it to do what it wants or they would simply leave the NCAA and take their money with them. When "that" happened, the G5 would need to decide how to proceed or hope and pray the P5 schools be merciful... but a G5 "downgrade" was and is inevitable.
So App State was faced with a decision... Stay FCS, continue to compete in the playoffs in a really cool and traditional Southern Conference with a solid fan base and up and down years as time goes on (admittedly not a bad option). The downside being that the FCS would soon be relegated to D2 status when the next seismic shift occured. Or attempt to maintain football excellence and move up to an entirely different level of competition with better athletes, better coaches, better opponents and a bigger payoff potential (another pretty cool option). The downside being a smaller fish in a bigger, more competitive pond, a whacky regional conference setup that makes it much harder to travel to away games and... no playoffs (yet

App State moved in order to claim their spot among the G5 schools. That will not change. No matter what the P5 does, we will never be a SoCon/FCS level program again.
We did not move to compete with for a P5 title with the Alabamas, Virginia Techs and Georgias of the world. It was never part of the plan. It will never be part of any plan.
We are where we're supposed to be and I'll be that in the next 5 years or so we'll be in a better geographical conference setup.