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Post by unafied on Aug 20, 2017 12:36:11 GMT -6
Good stuff, Brandon. You've obviously done your research.
It sure would be great to have UWG join us in the ASUN in a few years. Really any current GSC team. It would really help to spice up what I feel is a pretty lackluster Big South schedule. The lineup you have above for a future Big South is not too bad.
Question, why would VMI move back to the Big South from the SoCon? It feels like the SoCon is a bit of a step above (at least right now). Or do they feel they have a better chance to compete in the Big South? I've been to their campus. That would be a great road trip if we ever play them. Lexington is a beautiful town.
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Post by brandon on Aug 20, 2017 19:11:42 GMT -6
Good stuff, Brandon. You've obviously done your research. It sure would be great to have UWG join us in the ASUN in a few years. Really any current GSC team. It would really help to spice up what I feel is a pretty lackluster Big South schedule. The lineup you have above for a future Big South is not too bad. Question, why would VMI move back to the Big South from the SoCon? It feels like the SoCon is a bit of a step above (at least right now). Or do they feel they have a better chance to compete in the Big South? I've been to their campus. That would be a great road trip if we ever play them. Lexington is a beautiful town. Well, I think the boosters liked the Big South outside of Liberty and Coastal getting all the attention. Now that they are gone, VMI will basically be equal to the rest of the Big South. As for the A-Sun, I think they would fit in okay. But what 18 to 22 year old don't want to play ball in Florida several times a year? That gets me to this, Chances are that the A-Sun is finally extremely stable, especially if we can invite West Georgia to keep Kennesaw happy. The reason the facilities are down is because it's hard to spend the money if you aren't sure the conference will be there in a few years. But when it is stable, you are going to spend more money and attract better recruits. That being said, we will look at UNA.......we are currently at the bottom of the ladder as far as basketball facilities, probably middle of the pack in baseball, and top in softball. When more money comes in from conference earnings split equal among all schools in the conference, upgraded facilities come. Then with nice facilities and a recruiting tool that Auburn or Alabama or 90% of the SEC use (we will play in Florida a lot) we (and the rest of the conference) will have something big. I see the near future of the A-Sun only slightly behind the power 5 in non football sports. Mainly because of stability and Geography. Give a Big South football lineup with what was mentioned, and I see it as a power FCS conference in just a couple of years. Just when we become eligible for playoffs, the conference will probably have 2 or 3 spots then..... think about it, Charleston Southern almost beat NDSU in Fargo last year, Kennesaw is doing nothing but getting stronger, G.W. is getting better. Add UNA and it will end up a strong conference. Throw in UWG and UWF, I feel it will be better than the SOCON. We just have to support the teams, tickets make money for the program, that goes to facilities. We also need to support the conference(s).
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Post by northalaspectator on Aug 20, 2017 21:52:51 GMT -6
Good stuff, Brandon. You've obviously done your research. It sure would be great to have UWG join us in the ASUN in a few years. Really any current GSC team. It would really help to spice up what I feel is a pretty lackluster Big South schedule. The lineup you have above for a future Big South is not too bad. Question, why would VMI move back to the Big South from the SoCon? It feels like the SoCon is a bit of a step above (at least right now). Or do they feel they have a better chance to compete in the Big South? I've been to their campus. That would be a great road trip if we ever play them. Lexington is a beautiful town. Well, I think the boosters liked the Big South outside of Liberty and Coastal getting all the attention. Now that they are gone, VMI will basically be equal to the rest of the Big South. As for the A-Sun, I think they would fit in okay. But what 18 to 22 year old don't want to play ball in Florida several times a year? That gets me to this, Chances are that the A-Sun is finally extremely stable, especially if we can invite West Georgia to keep Kennesaw happy. The reason the facilities are down is because it's hard to spend the money if you aren't sure the conference will be there in a few years. But when it is stable, you are going to spend more money and attract better recruits. That being said, we will look at UNA.......we are currently at the bottom of the ladder as far as basketball facilities, probably middle of the pack in baseball, and top in softball. When more money comes in from conference earnings split equal among all schools in the conference, upgraded facilities come. Then with nice facilities and a recruiting tool that Auburn or Alabama or 90% of the SEC use (we will play in Florida a lot) we (and the rest of the conference) will have something big. I see the near future of the A-Sun only slightly behind the power 5 in non football sports. Mainly because of stability and Geography. Give a Big South football lineup with what was mentioned, and I see it as a power FCS conference in just a couple of years. Just when we become eligible for playoffs, the conference will probably have 2 or 3 spots then..... think about it, Charleston Southern almost beat NDSU in Fargo last year, Kennesaw is doing nothing but getting stronger, G.W. is getting better. Add UNA and it will end up a strong conference. Throw in UWG and UWF, I feel it will be better than the SOCON. We just have to support the teams, tickets make money for the program, that goes to facilities. We also need to support the conference(s). That's some great thinking and I agree with it for the most part. I believe that the ASUN will invite an non football school, Nova Southeastern. Overall today the ASUN is more stable than the Big South. I believe that the deal with the Big South is temporary and eventually The ASUN will sponsor football.
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Post by unafied on Aug 21, 2017 4:19:39 GMT -6
Well, I think the boosters liked the Big South outside of Liberty and Coastal getting all the attention. Now that they are gone, VMI will basically be equal to the rest of the Big South. As for the A-Sun, I think they would fit in okay. But what 18 to 22 year old don't want to play ball in Florida several times a year? That gets me to this, Chances are that the A-Sun is finally extremely stable, especially if we can invite West Georgia to keep Kennesaw happy. The reason the facilities are down is because it's hard to spend the money if you aren't sure the conference will be there in a few years. But when it is stable, you are going to spend more money and attract better recruits. That being said, we will look at UNA.......we are currently at the bottom of the ladder as far as basketball facilities, probably middle of the pack in baseball, and top in softball. When more money comes in from conference earnings split equal among all schools in the conference, upgraded facilities come. Then with nice facilities and a recruiting tool that Auburn or Alabama or 90% of the SEC use (we will play in Florida a lot) we (and the rest of the conference) will have something big. I see the near future of the A-Sun only slightly behind the power 5 in non football sports. Mainly because of stability and Geography. Give a Big South football lineup with what was mentioned, and I see it as a power FCS conference in just a couple of years. Just when we become eligible for playoffs, the conference will probably have 2 or 3 spots then..... think about it, Charleston Southern almost beat NDSU in Fargo last year, Kennesaw is doing nothing but getting stronger, G.W. is getting better. Add UNA and it will end up a strong conference. Throw in UWG and UWF, I feel it will be better than the SOCON. We just have to support the teams, tickets make money for the program, that goes to facilities. We also need to support the conference(s). That's some great thinking and I agree with it for the most part. I believe that the ASUN will invite an non football school, Nova Southeastern. Overall today the ASUN is more stable than the Big South. I believe that the deal with the Big South is temporary and eventually The ASUN will sponsor football. I'm not too familiar with Nova Southeastern, but I know that in a conference where there are non-football schools you always have to be careful not to upset those members. That being said, I imagine the ASUN does eventually want to sponsor football. I've heard there is interest in starting football programs at both Jacksonville and USC Upstate, if I'm not mistaken. Add that to the talk of Stetson above and you have something. I do think keeping Kennesaw around long-term is very important. With their location I feel they are going to be a power in several sports in the near future. Not that I want them to do THAT well, but it will be good for the conference. Hopefully we can build a good rivalry with them and really get our name out in the Atlanta market, for both recruits and future students.
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Post by unafied on Aug 21, 2017 5:58:44 GMT -6
Speaking of facilities, there's an article in the TimesDaily this morning (or maybe yesterday's paper) about authorities with this planned "Agri-Business Center" preparing to move forward on purchasing land for it. I'm usually pretty skeptical of these projects getting off the ground but this one continues to seem like it will happen. There's even talk in the article about there being a couple of hotels and restaurants interested in the site (which is off Highway 72 east of Florence, near the Indian Springs subdivision). I've said it before, I have no inside connections and don't know anything for sure, but I just can't see UNA wasting the opportunity for a 10,000 seat arena to fall in their lap. Likewise I think the arena will NEED us as a tenant to help keep enough events on the schedule. I do hate the thought of playing a sport like basketball off-campus, since it is very much a "walk-up" sport for students. But at the same time I can't see us ever building another arena on-campus or even investing too much more in Flowers Hall if this project happens. The link to the article: www.timesdaily.com/news/local/land-purchase-on-ag-center-arena-nearing/article_a7d9c729-8511-5a5c-9146-1d9bed471025.html
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Post by brandon on Aug 21, 2017 10:04:35 GMT -6
Well, I think the boosters liked the Big South outside of Liberty and Coastal getting all the attention. Now that they are gone, VMI will basically be equal to the rest of the Big South. As for the A-Sun, I think they would fit in okay. But what 18 to 22 year old don't want to play ball in Florida several times a year? That gets me to this, Chances are that the A-Sun is finally extremely stable, especially if we can invite West Georgia to keep Kennesaw happy. The reason the facilities are down is because it's hard to spend the money if you aren't sure the conference will be there in a few years. But when it is stable, you are going to spend more money and attract better recruits. That being said, we will look at UNA.......we are currently at the bottom of the ladder as far as basketball facilities, probably middle of the pack in baseball, and top in softball. When more money comes in from conference earnings split equal among all schools in the conference, upgraded facilities come. Then with nice facilities and a recruiting tool that Auburn or Alabama or 90% of the SEC use (we will play in Florida a lot) we (and the rest of the conference) will have something big. I see the near future of the A-Sun only slightly behind the power 5 in non football sports. Mainly because of stability and Geography. Give a Big South football lineup with what was mentioned, and I see it as a power FCS conference in just a couple of years. Just when we become eligible for playoffs, the conference will probably have 2 or 3 spots then..... think about it, Charleston Southern almost beat NDSU in Fargo last year, Kennesaw is doing nothing but getting stronger, G.W. is getting better. Add UNA and it will end up a strong conference. Throw in UWG and UWF, I feel it will be better than the SOCON. We just have to support the teams, tickets make money for the program, that goes to facilities. We also need to support the conference(s). That's some great thinking and I agree with it for the most part. I believe that the ASUN will invite an non football school, Nova Southeastern. Overall today the ASUN is more stable than the Big South. I believe that the deal with the Big South is temporary and eventually The ASUN will sponsor football. I don't know about Nova Southeastern, but 2 things come to mind, I think more than UNA was on the radar for the A-Sun with football, the main reason for the collaboration. It's a footprint issue, the Big South needs more football, but like us, all sports is kinda far out. The A-Sun needed schools, but the interest all had football. So I feel like all to get to 10 will have football. (Or at least start football) I think the only way the A-Sun will start football is to have a trade, all non football go to the Big South and all Big South football go to the A-Sun. Or maybe both Jacksonville and Stetson start Scholarship football and FGCU start a program (they have been talking about it) North Florida as well. Then it could look like this- UNA KSU UWG UWF JU SU FGCU NORTH FLORIDA wouldn't be too bad, but they would all have to do it in my opinion for it to work.
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Post by brandon on Nov 15, 2017 13:48:57 GMT -6
A-SUN just lost USC Upstate to the Big South. Looks like the A-Sun will have to find more.
I understand why they left, closer travel, what I don't understand is the D2 mentality by schools in smaller conferences. If you are going to be D1, act like you are. A southern team traveling in the South should not be a big deal, I understand not wanting to travel to New Jersey for conference games but Florida? I could also see Texas being an issue bit they don't do that.
I myself like the opportunity that is provided by playing in a little more spread out conference.
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Post by northalaspectator on Nov 15, 2017 14:15:44 GMT -6
A-SUN just lost USC Upstate to the Big South. Looks like the A-Sun will have to find more. I understand why they left, closer travel, what I don't understand is the D2 mentality by schools in smaller conferences. If you are going to be D1, act like you are. A southern team traveling in the South should not be a big deal, I understand not wanting to travel to New Jersey for conference games but Florida? I could also see Texas being an issue bit they don't do that. I myself like the opportunity that is provided by playing in a little more spread out conference. I had been think that would take place. In the D2.com site on November 1 in the thread OT: D1 Big South Conference Could be in trouble I Posted the following: I think the Big South has a choice regarding football. 1. Move the football away from the main Conference and start a separate Big South Football Conference. (OR) 2. ASUN starts football and the football schools in the Big South move to the ASUN. If this was to take place let South Carolina Upstate and NJIT move to the Big South, Lipscomb move to the Southern Conference. Keep all the Florida Schools hopefully they will start scholarship football. This will give the ASUN 9 Basketball Schools and 5 Football Schools. If the non football schools don’t add football either add another D2 School for football or try to get another D1 School to move from another Conference. Football go a few years without an AQ, maybe one of the schools will be good enough to get an at large bid. That will give the Big South 9 Basketball Schools and it will give that Conference an opening to invite D2 Lincoln Memorial that has been wanting to go D1 since about the time they left the GSC ten years ago
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Post by brandon on Nov 15, 2017 15:46:04 GMT -6
A-SUN just lost USC Upstate to the Big South. Looks like the A-Sun will have to find more. I understand why they left, closer travel, what I don't understand is the D2 mentality by schools in smaller conferences. If you are going to be D1, act like you are. A southern team traveling in the South should not be a big deal, I understand not wanting to travel to New Jersey for conference games but Florida? I could also see Texas being an issue bit they don't do that. I myself like the opportunity that is provided by playing in a little more spread out conference. I had been think that would take place. In the D2.com site on November 1 in the thread OT: D1 Big South Conference Could be in trouble I Posted the following: I think the Big South has a choice regarding football. 1. Move the football away from the main Conference and start a separate Big South Football Conference. (OR) 2. ASUN starts football and the football schools in the Big South move to the ASUN. If this was to take place let South Carolina Upstate and NJIT move to the Big South, Lipscomb move to the Southern Conference. Keep all the Florida Schools hopefully they will start scholarship football. This will give the ASUN 9 Basketball Schools and 5 Football Schools. If the non football schools don’t add football either add another D2 School for football or try to get another D1 School to move from another Conference. Football go a few years without an AQ, maybe one of the schools will be good enough to get an at large bid. That will give the Big South 9 Basketball Schools and it will give that Conference an opening to invite D2 Lincoln Memorial that has been wanting to go D1 since about the time they left the GSC ten years ago I'm thinking there will be a separate football only conference in the near future, like the MVFC. Reason being is it's just tough for a conference that has a lot of non football schools to take care of both sides. Then you would have the Big South football schools and the A-Sun football schools a guarantee home and anyone else in the footprint or general region a home even if they are in another "home" conference.
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Post by brandon on Nov 27, 2017 0:39:59 GMT -6
After some artical searching and an email,
Commissioner Gumbart(A-Sun) says the departure of USC Upstate is not a shock, although unexpected in that nobody was notified until a few hours before the announcement.
Also, USC Upstate and NJIT was travel partners. NJIT, After building a great new arena, that they took out loans for(no donor money what so ever) will probably be in talks with a new conference in their region. That would be the best for them. But nothing mentioned by them, pure speculation, and logic.
I asked if plans for adding a school or two was in the plans, I even mentioned West Florida and Tarleton State, he said that they are focused on the 8 "Core members" at this time. If the 8 see it necessary to add, they would invite, if not then they won't.
He said football is key if they do invite, (is he foreshadowing?) Or is it part of the deal with the Big South?(which I kinda feel like they stuck a knife in the A-Sun back by not saying anything about USC Upstate)
Stetson is wanting to add scholarships in football soon, but no real time line. Have went on record trying to schedule a game with B.Cookman stating "We will need a close rival when we add scholarships."
All and all, he believes that the current 8 (with maybe NJIT the exception, only because of hard travel expenses) is dedicated to making the A-Sun the best conference going forward, and the only schools that will be added will only be to add to the conference for strength not numbers. "If it stays at 8, and it's the best 8, then that's that."
I believe the A-Sun will add 1 possibly 2 just in case of NJIT.
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Post by brandon on Nov 27, 2017 0:55:35 GMT -6
T hat got long so I made another post. Sorry.....
I think if and when they invite someone, it will be more compact, I think the clear choices are UWF, and UWG. Bit I get the feeling UWG isn't going to get an invite, just my gut. Call me Gibbs. Lol.
Tarleton would be a stretch for all, but a big stretch for Florida schools, and NJIT if they are still in. So I give them a 1 out of 5 as to get the invite.
Bama St.? Could they make the leap like Hampton? I would be all for it. They have talked about leaving the SWAC before. 5 out 5 for me.
UWF is a 4 out of 5 just like us, only reason not 5, transition process.
I don't think anyone east of Georgia or North of Tennessee gets an invite, and i think they will have to have football.
I see this
Lipscomb UNA Bama St UWF KSU North Florida Jacksonville Stetson FGCU
I just put that together judging buy the demeanor of the email. You can probably interchange Bama State and Tarleton.
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Post by brandon on Dec 15, 2017 17:05:17 GMT -6
Just thinking about the future of the A-Sun.
After USC Upstate announcement to join the Big South, I instantly started thinking about who would replace them. The longer I think about it, the more I think, maybe we shouldn't replace them for a while.
Think about it, the A-Sun still has an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament, that means that the money that the conference will get from that would only have to be split 8 ways as opposed to 9 or 10. More money for us, and that will go a long way to building and upgrading athletic facilities.
Eventually, the conference needs 10, maybe 11. Why 11? Good question, short answer is NJIT. Who knows when they decide the Southeast is too much of a strain on the program. They may love were they are at and stay, but I would think they are going asap. Could be 2 years, could be 10. But having 11 similarly minded schools in the Southeast could make the conference have that much needed stability.
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Post by northalaspectator on Dec 15, 2017 18:05:43 GMT -6
Just thinking about the future of the A-Sun. After USC Upstate announcement to join the Big South, I instantly started thinking about who would replace them. The longer I think about it, the more I think, maybe we shouldn't replace them for a while. Think about it, the A-Sun still has an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament, that means that the money that the conference will get from that would only have to be split 8 ways as opposed to 9 or 10. More money for us, and that will go a long way to building and upgrading athletic facilities. Eventually, the conference needs 10, maybe 11. Why 11? Good question, short answer is NJIT. Who knows when they decide the Southeast is too much of a strain on the program. They may love were they are at and stay, but I would think they are going asap. Could be 2 years, could be 10. But having 11 similarly minded schools in the Southeast could make the conference have that much needed stability. It doesn’t look like there’ll be any movement in December. I agreed that the A-SUN AQ is OK for now, but what if NJIT or Lipscomb gets an invite to another conference. Right now North Alabama or any D2 school going through the transition process doesn’t help them maintain their AQ. They need a school that is already D1. Also North Alabama isn’t eligible for any of that NCAA money while going through the transition.
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Post by brandon on Dec 15, 2017 19:42:29 GMT -6
Just thinking about the future of the A-Sun. After USC Upstate announcement to join the Big South, I instantly started thinking about who would replace them. The longer I think about it, the more I think, maybe we shouldn't replace them for a while. Think about it, the A-Sun still has an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament, that means that the money that the conference will get from that would only have to be split 8 ways as opposed to 9 or 10. More money for us, and that will go a long way to building and upgrading athletic facilities. Eventually, the conference needs 10, maybe 11. Why 11? Good question, short answer is NJIT. Who knows when they decide the Southeast is too much of a strain on the program. They may love were they are at and stay, but I would think they are going asap. Could be 2 years, could be 10. But having 11 similarly minded schools in the Southeast could make the conference have that much needed stability. It doesn’t look like there’ll be any movement in December. I agreed that the A-SUN AQ is OK for now, but what if NJIT or Lipscomb gets an invite to another conference. Right now North Alabama or any D2 school going through the transition process doesn’t help them maintain their AQ. They need a school that is already D1. Also North Alabama isn’t eligible for any of that NCAA money while going through the transition. I have thought about that too. If no movement to add this year, that means that they are confident nobody is moving any time soon. FGCU AD said that it wasn't a surprise that USC Upstate moved, but the way they did it surprised them. I'm not sure NJIT wants to move, I read were people think they should, but I have never read anyone on their side say that. They may like the fact that they can travel to Florida in the Winter. Same for Lipscomb, I have never read anything saying they want out, just people like us speculate this. 8 is an Ok number, like I said before, but 10 would be better. And the only way I would go to 11 would be the NJIT wildcard. The Comish has gone on record saying that 10 is the optimal number, but now it has to be the right fit, not just add to have 10. So that tells me they have schools in mind, they just are not in a hurry now. And that's a good thing. That means the commissioner and the AD's in the A-Sun are confident that the A-Sun is stable with the current lineup.
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Post by brandon on Dec 15, 2017 19:45:33 GMT -6
I have read were Chicago St. Wants out of the WAC because of travel. And they are considering football. Either way, would the A-Sun consider them or would they consider the A-Sun?
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