Atlantic Sun Conference

[unalions]

Mar 1, 2023 12:07:25 GMT -6 brandon said:

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?

I think the FBS plan will likely keep any D2s with football from moving up to the ASUN now.

As far as the Big South, I don't think all those small private schools would fit in well with a big public school like UWG.

[brandon]

Now, if the FBS thing does work, I would like to see a strong effort to pull in two programs to the ASUN/WAC...

1-FIU, (ASUN) give the ASUN a football school in Florida... they have natural rivalry with FGCU in non football

2- Bring Hawaii back to the WAC... it would be a good recruiting tool to tell recruits they can play in Miami and Hawaii during their years at whatever school.

[brandon]

Read somewhere that a new Bowl game in Cincinnati may become interested in the ASUN/WAC as a conference to play the MAC in thar game....

[unafied]

Maybe UWG thinks they can dominate the OVC similar to how JSU did. Probably not a bad thought.

What I don't understand is how Valdosta and UWF can remain in the GSC in such a scenario. Just seems like at that point there's nothing left for them. Scheduling will only get more and more difficult. Won't the GSC already be down to just 6 football schools in a couple of years? I'm sure some partnerships with other conferences will be made, but it still sounds like a difficult situation. Of course, it's much more a football problem than anything else.

[unalions]

Mar 1, 2023 12:54:29 GMT -6 unafied said:

Maybe UWG thinks they can dominate the OVC similar to how JSU did. Probably not a bad thought.

What I don't understand is how Valdosta and UWF can remain in the GSC in such a scenario. Just seems like at that point there's nothing left for them. Scheduling will only get more and more difficult. Won't the GSC already be down to just 6 football schools in a couple of years? I'm sure some partnerships with other conferences will be made, but it still sounds like a difficult situation. Of course, it's much more a football problem than anything else.

Scheduling is horrible in the GSC. VSU just released theirs and it's sad. And, yes, the GSC will be down to 6 football schools in 2025 but if UWG leaves? Wow.

I wish the timing of all of this was different. Having those three schools in the ASUN would have made a good FCS conference.

[tuna85]

If'n I wuz Valdosta and UWF, I would look at UNA and history of a little over 30 years ago. Troy jumped, JSU jumped, and we sat on our lily pad. Now we did well on that lily pad for a few years but, over time that decision has cost us.
West Georgia jumps, well don't get caught a settin' on the lily pad Val and Westy F.

[unafied]

I think what's sad about the whole situation is, it shouldn't have to be this way. I know schools grow different ways, but Jacksonville State is still very similar to us and to West Georgia. We all have around the same enrollment, heck, we may now have more than both of them. And yet here our football teams will be in 3 different classifications and basically not able to play each other competitively. It sucks, it's stupid, and it's just another infuriating issue that the NCAA has done little or nothing to help out with over the years.

I won't pretend to know the answer, but I do wonder if we are well past time to just let schools play football wherever they want and let their Olympic sports to remain in a different classification if necessary. I guess Title IX is the biggest roadblock, and I understand its importance. But at the same time, maybe UNA could offer even more sports for women if our football team didn't have to pay to fly to Utah and west Texas for "conference games". Football-only conferences at all levels would also probably save a lot of money, time, and wouldn't force schools to be grouped with teams thousands of miles away for Olympic sports.

I keep thinking the bubble will burst on these super-conferences. If it ever does it'll be interesting to see the fallout.

[unalions]

Mar 2, 2023 8:10:34 GMT -6 unafied said:

I think what's sad about the whole situation is, it shouldn't have to be this way. I know schools grow different ways, but Jacksonville State is still very similar to us and to West Georgia. We all have around the same enrollment, heck, we may now have more than both of them. And yet here our football teams will be in 3 different classifications and basically not able to play each other competitively. It sucks, it's stupid, and it's just another infuriating issue that the NCAA has done little or nothing to help out with over the years.

The oddest part is that UWG has the largest enrollment of the three but is in D2 and Jax State is the smallest and about to be in FBS.

[brandon]

OT kinda...

Does Alabama count UAH and UAB on their enrollment, endowment and budgets or are they separate?

[unalions]

Mar 2, 2023 12:14:46 GMT -6 brandon said:

OT kinda...

Does Alabama count UAH and UAB on their enrollment, endowment and budgets or are they separate?

Separate.

[unafied]

Tea leaves seem to say that the PAC-12 is on the verge of splitting apart. Probably not good for the WACSUN. The BEST scenario for us would be for the PAC to remain together or maybe add a San Diego State and SMU. That keeps the MWC and the American from backfilling much and the crap really rolling downhill.

IF the PAC splits, I think it absorbs most of the current Mountain West. What's left of the MWC almost has to take New Mexico State and UTEP from CUSA and leaves CUSA being forced to pull 2 more from the WACSUN. That would put the whole plan on life support, no matter who the 2 schools are that make the jump. Maybe Missouri State and NDSU go first, but I sort of doubt it.

Actually, the absolute BEST scenario as I'm typing this out would be for the PAC and MWC to merge. I'm just not sure it would happen. There's probably more value in keeping the MWC alive in some form. Value in that autobid, at least. If the two western conferences merged it would give room for the WACSUN to slide right into the open G5 spot. Probably wouldn't be THAT easy, but maybe it would be.

I'm really holding my breath here. I don't want to be a pessimist, but I'm not feeling good about how this all shakes out. I think we need to have OVC and SoCon life boats prepared.

[brandon]

Mar 7, 2023 10:52:42 GMT -6 unafied said:

Tea leaves seem to say that the PAC-12 is on the verge of splitting apart. Probably not good for the WACSUN. The BEST scenario for us would be for the PAC to remain together or maybe add a San Diego State and SMU. That keeps the MWC and the American from backfilling much and the crap really rolling downhill.

IF the PAC splits, I think it absorbs most of the current Mountain West. What's left of the MWC almost has to take New Mexico State and UTEP from CUSA and leaves CUSA being forced to pull 2 more from the WACSUN. That would put the whole plan on life support, no matter who the 2 schools are that make the jump. Maybe Missouri State and NDSU go first, but I sort of doubt it.

Actually, the absolute BEST scenario as I'm typing this out would be for the PAC and MWC to merge. I'm just not sure it would happen. There's probably more value in keeping the MWC alive in some form. Value in that autobid, at least. If the two western conferences merged it would give room for the WACSUN to slide right into the open G5 spot. Probably wouldn't be THAT easy, but maybe it would be.

I'm really holding my breath here. I don't want to be a pessimist, but I'm not feeling good about how this all shakes out. I think we need to have OVC and SoCon life boats prepared.

I think we will be okay...

[brandon]

I'm getting wind that the ASUN could be adding up to 4 football playing schools soon. If it happens, probably be right after the new commissioner actually starts in office.

[unalions]

Mar 12, 2023 10:16:11 GMT -6 brandon said:

I'm getting wind that the ASUN could be adding up to 4 football playing schools soon. If it happens, probably be right after the new commissioner actually starts in office.

This is pretty surprising but very cool news!

[brandon]

Got in a pretty deep conversation with an old friend of mine who used to be an athletic director in a small college about 20 years ago. (Out of respect I will not mention his name.)

We got to talking about UNA, the ASUN and the UAC.


I asked him what he thought about the ASUN, and he said that's where UNA belongs. His explanation was this, UNA can build itself and eventually be a top 3 program in the ASUN.

I asked him what he thought about stability, he says, "How much more stable can it get when every other conference is unstable?"
"Who else is going to leave the ASUN? EKU? UCA? APSU? If they was, they would already be gone. Even if one, or all of them go FBS, UNA still has UNF, FGCU, Stetson, Jacksonville, Queens, Lipscomb, and Bellarmine. They ain't leaving. And football has the UAC, with exception of maybe 1 of them, your safe there."

So in his mind, being an outsider that has been in the "business", he thinks the ASUN and the WAC along with the UAC may very well be one of the more stable conferences in Mid Majors right now. He even said if he was in charge, he would see no reason to add anyone. "Keep what you have, less mouths to feed equal more money per school. The schools that left, especially KSU, just forfeited the money they brought in. Yall get to keep it."

He also said if there is any kind of a merger between the WAC and ASUN for all sports, he could see the WAC Texas schools with football just moving to the ASUN and not the ASUN schools moving to the WAC.

"It would make more geographic sense for the WAC Texas football schools to join the ASUN for all sports. It would increase RPI or whatever they go by these days in Basketball enough to move the ASUN up a few spots and have a better chance at multiple NCAA bids. So don't discount that happening."


I thought it was an eye opening conversation...