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Post by unafied on Oct 8, 2022 5:32:28 GMT -6
Amazing how different FCS looks in the 5 years since we joined. I was really excited about ASUN football when we got EKU, UCA, and of course Jax State. I really thought it could turn into an FCS version of the SEC. Now where do we go? Unless the Gulf South trio move up immediately, we’re likely stuck being affiliated with the WAC teams for the foreseeable future. That’s not quite as bad as the Big South was (IMO), but certainly not exciting.
I wish we could somehow get an invite to the SoCon, but with our recent luck, Chattanooga would probably leave as soon as we got there.
I guess that IF there is a chance CUSA will eventually expand to 12 or 14, we need to start spending money like a drunken sailor and make ourselves attractive enough for a spot there. Because if we don’t, there might not be enough FCS teams left in the southeast for us to be able to fill a schedule.
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Post by unaman on Oct 10, 2022 8:02:36 GMT -6
Is it too late to call GSC and ask to come back (Jk only slightly)... Moving to D-1 is now becoming a very poor decision. ASUN football is falling apart. What is the next move?
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Post by mtc13 on Oct 10, 2022 10:18:58 GMT -6
Is it too late to call GSC and ask to come back (Jk only slightly)... Moving to D-1 is now becoming a very poor decision. ASUN football is falling apart. What is the next move? Merge with the Big South in Football? |
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Post by unaman on Oct 10, 2022 12:15:11 GMT -6
Is it too late to call GSC and ask to come back (Jk only slightly)... Moving to D-1 is now becoming a very poor decision. ASUN football is falling apart. What is the next move? Merge with the Big South in Football? I doubt Big South would want to do any of the ASUN schools any favor since they lost UNA and Kennesaw. UNA needs to be calling the SOCON and OVC and asking for an invite if possible. For the OVC, they may need to ask for forgiveness also. |
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Post by firstandtenn on Oct 10, 2022 13:39:52 GMT -6
From a competitive perspective the OVC is probably the best place for UNA across the board in all sports, but I doubt that move ever happens.
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Post by unalions on Oct 10, 2022 14:22:23 GMT -6
Is it too late to call GSC and ask to come back (Jk only slightly)... Moving to D-1 is now becoming a very poor decision. ASUN football is falling apart. What is the next move? Merge with the Big South in Football? They are already merging their football with the OVC. |
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Post by brandon on Oct 10, 2022 17:10:46 GMT -6
Is it too late to call GSC and ask to come back (Jk only slightly)... Moving to D-1 is now becoming a very poor decision. ASUN football is falling apart. What is the next move? ASUN is getting two new schools... That's all I was told. Don't know who or when it will be announced. (Two football schools that need a new home is Gardner Webb and Charleston Southern) but I have no idea who it is, and they would not tell me. |
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Post by brandon on Jan 22, 2023 14:27:03 GMT -6
ASUN will be down to 11 schools soon.
The announcement of the WAC/ASUN football conference said that 4 high profile schools will join also. So just thinking 2 would go to the WAC and 2 to the ASUN.
So we will probably also get a non football school.
Who is your best guess?
Mine is Tampa.
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Post by unalions on Jan 22, 2023 19:26:38 GMT -6
ASUN will be down to 11 schools soon. The announcement of the WAC/ASUN football conference said that 4 high profile schools will join also. So just thinking 2 would go to the WAC and 2 to the ASUN. So we will probably also get a non football school. Who is your best guess? Mine is Tampa. Tampa would be cool but they are so dang good in several sports in D2! lol. A thorn in the side of many UNA teams in the regionals. The most rumored non-football name would probably be Lincoln Memorial, a former GSC foe. I like their basketball arena. Seats 5k. |
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Post by brandon on Jan 22, 2023 20:20:20 GMT -6
ASUN will be down to 11 schools soon. The announcement of the WAC/ASUN football conference said that 4 high profile schools will join also. So just thinking 2 would go to the WAC and 2 to the ASUN. So we will probably also get a non football school. Who is your best guess? Mine is Tampa. Tampa would be cool but they are so dang good in several sports in D2! lol. A thorn in the side of many UNA teams in the regionals. The most rumored non-football name would probably be Lincoln Memorial, a former GSC foe. I like their basketball arena. Seats 5k. Can't argue... but the ASUN is still more a baseball league... and Tampa.... |
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Post by unafied on Jan 23, 2023 9:03:46 GMT -6
ASUN will be down to 11 schools soon. The announcement of the WAC/ASUN football conference said that 4 high profile schools will join also. So just thinking 2 would go to the WAC and 2 to the ASUN. So we will probably also get a non football school. Who is your best guess? Mine is Tampa. Tampa would be cool but they are so dang good in several sports in D2! lol. A thorn in the side of many UNA teams in the regionals. The most rumored non-football name would probably be Lincoln Memorial, a former GSC foe. I like their basketball arena. Seats 5k. Wow. I'm jealous. That looks like a great arena. I hope some day we can knock out the wall closest to the entrance of Flowers, build seats up to roof, and then somehow connect them to the existing upper seating so that it's a continuous horseshoe on the top. Heck, I just wish we had the attendance needed for that. I'd vote for LMU over Tampa just to keep from saturating the Florida market and allowing that block of schools too much control. If I HAD to guess on the 4 "high-profile" schools, which I'm not sold as being something that will actually happen? Tennessee State is an obvious one. McNeese is another. Then I'd probably say Southeastern Louisiana and Missouri State. At least 3 of these have shown interest in FBS, and the fourth, SELA, has a good football program that would probably want to follow McNeese instead of staying in a weakened Southland. All 4 of those could probably fit into the ASUN without horrible travel issues, though McNeese could fit into the WAC as well. Stephen F. Austin would be the other very likely candidate, possibly over a SELA. Missouri State would be giving up a really good basketball conference in the MVC, but maybe they'd decide FBS football is worth it. |
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Post by brandon on Jan 23, 2023 16:31:11 GMT -6
Tampa would be cool but they are so dang good in several sports in D2! lol. A thorn in the side of many UNA teams in the regionals. The most rumored non-football name would probably be Lincoln Memorial, a former GSC foe. I like their basketball arena. Seats 5k. Wow. I'm jealous. That looks like a great arena. I hope some day we can knock out the wall closest to the entrance of Flowers, build seats up to roof, and then somehow connect them to the existing upper seating so that it's a continuous horseshoe on the top. Heck, I just wish we had the attendance needed for that. I'd vote for LMU over Tampa just to keep from saturating the Florida market and allowing that block of schools too much control. If I HAD to guess on the 4 "high-profile" schools, which I'm not sold as being something that will actually happen? Tennessee State is an obvious one. McNeese is another. Then I'd probably say Southeastern Louisiana and Missouri State. At least 3 of these have shown interest in FBS, and the fourth, SELA, has a good football program that would probably want to follow McNeese instead of staying in a weakened Southland. All 4 of those could probably fit into the ASUN without horrible travel issues, though McNeese could fit into the WAC as well. Stephen F. Austin would be the other very likely candidate, possibly over a SELA. Missouri State would be giving up a really good basketball conference in the MVC, but maybe they'd decide FBS football is worth it. I'm just throwing names out there... (for the 4 football schools.) I'd say they would try to even out WAC and ASUN based on needs and geography. What if the schools was WAC- Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado ASUN- Youngstown State, Chattanooga Youngstown State would not be a bad trip for most of the ASUN not in Florida. And we all know why we want Chattanooga. Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado would bridge the gap between Texas and Utah for the WAC. Anyway, that is my for fun 4 |
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Post by unalions on Jan 23, 2023 22:19:22 GMT -6
Wow. I'm jealous. That looks like a great arena. I hope some day we can knock out the wall closest to the entrance of Flowers, build seats up to roof, and then somehow connect them to the existing upper seating so that it's a continuous horseshoe on the top. Heck, I just wish we had the attendance needed for that. I'd vote for LMU over Tampa just to keep from saturating the Florida market and allowing that block of schools too much control. If I HAD to guess on the 4 "high-profile" schools, which I'm not sold as being something that will actually happen? Tennessee State is an obvious one. McNeese is another. Then I'd probably say Southeastern Louisiana and Missouri State. At least 3 of these have shown interest in FBS, and the fourth, SELA, has a good football program that would probably want to follow McNeese instead of staying in a weakened Southland. All 4 of those could probably fit into the ASUN without horrible travel issues, though McNeese could fit into the WAC as well. Stephen F. Austin would be the other very likely candidate, possibly over a SELA. Missouri State would be giving up a really good basketball conference in the MVC, but maybe they'd decide FBS football is worth it. I'm just throwing names out there... (for the 4 football schools.) I'd say they would try to even out WAC and ASUN based on needs and geography. What if the schools was WAC- Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado ASUN- Youngstown State, Chattanooga Youngstown State would not be a bad trip for most of the ASUN not in Florida. And we all know why we want Chattanooga. Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado would bridge the gap between Texas and Utah for the WAC. Anyway, that is my for fun 4 These four make a lot of sense, actually. Fills out the football conference map nicely. |
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Post by unalions on Mar 1, 2023 11:51:32 GMT -6
From Matt Brown: Specifically, I am told that there is mutual interest in D-II University of West Georgia potentially joining the OVC. The Wolves would address a few potential needs for the OVC. UWG’s main campus, in Carrollton, Georgia, is only about an hour away from former OVC member Jacksonville State. The OVC has never had a full member in Georgia before, but it did previously have schools in Alabama. Moving into Georgia gives OVC coaches and staffers an excuse to visit talent (and student) rich parts of the country, without extending too far out of bus range. West Georgia also sponsors football, helping to bolster the OVC/Big South partnership, giving them a membership buffer in case one of the geographic outlier institutions (like Bryant) decides on other league affiliations in the future. UWG’s enrollment (over 10,000 undergraduates and growing) and institutional profile also broadly fits many of the other schools currently in the OVC. UWG currently sponsors 13 varsity sports and currently plays in D-II’s Gulf South Conference. Their football program has been a regular D-II playoff participant over the last decade. This isn’t a done deal by any means. Reclassifying is a major institutional investment, and that process is longer for public schools that need to bring regents and other stakeholders into the conversation. UWG could decide to stay in D-II. It’s also possible that other conferences could try to convince UWG to join their league instead. I’m told that the ASUN, for example, has also expressed interest, but the ASUN’s current FBS partnership plan with the WAC could be a complicating factor for UWG.For what it’s worth, I am told that UWG’s two most prominent football-playing peers in the Gulf South Conference, West Florida and Valdosta State, are not considered major reclassification candidates in the short term. www.extrapointsmb.com/p/heres-im-hearing-now-midmajor-conference-realignment |
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Post by brandon on Mar 1, 2023 12:07:25 GMT -6
Personally, if FBS is the endgame for the ASUN/WAC programs, then I think West Georgia would be better suited in the Big South. Would change football compared to the OVC, but for all sports I think the Carolinas make more sense for them than the Midwest.
Same goes for VSU and UWF.
Would be nice to get them, but can they feasibly come to the ASUN with the FBS situation looming?
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