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Post by brandon on Nov 11, 2020 20:29:05 GMT -6
3rd (or greater) party information today.
The ASUN is still wanting football.
They also want to expand to 14-16 schools, separate into divisions.
The conference is in agreement that this will help on travel budgets and be safer in case of another pandemic type situation.
Most, if not all schools invited will have football. Some not all from D2, and not all at the same time, it will be staggered out. .........................................
So my thoughts...
The GSC is dead... at least 2 football schools would have to come from them.
This is plan B from the UAC/ASUN split.
The only way it will work imo is these schools...
West Florida West Georgia Valdosta State JSU Chattanooga
That puts the conference at 14/7. (Assuming no current member starts football, or adds scholarships)
To make divisions worth it, it will need to be 16/9.
Norfolk State has pretty much said they are done with the MEAC (in a very nice way), so we take them for 15.
16 is tricky, we could invite Tennessee State, but I dont think they would want a new conference.
After listening to an interview with Charlston Southerns AD, they dont seem like they want to restrain themselves to a conference of just basically the Carolinas. And they have put plans together to make major renovations to their facilities including expanding the football stadium.
So CSU for 16.
ASUN North Liberty Norfolk State* Bellarmine Lipscomb Chattanooga* UNA* JSU* KSU*
ASUN South West Georgia* Charlston Southern* Valdosta State* West Florida* North Florida JU Stetson FGCU
I could have put KSU in the South and West Georgia in the North, but I figured it would be better to keep West Georgia with Valdosta.
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Post by brandon on Nov 16, 2020 13:41:43 GMT -6
SCOOP: Some potentially interesting baseball news could be on the horizon.
@asunsports Presidents have voted to enter in to a 60-day negotiating period with hopes of adding Eastern Kentucky, Central Arkansas and Jacksonville State to the #ASUN.
Stay tuned. 1:18 PM · Nov 16, 2020·TweetDeck
From Kenndell Roger's on Twitter....
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Post by unafied on Nov 16, 2020 16:44:41 GMT -6
Michael Hebert of the TimesDaily is reporting this now.
I’m pretty surprised, honestly. I didn’t think the ASUN would be able to pull it off. Getting the Gamecocks is just huge for us, I would think, in all sports. Kennesaw has to be happy, too. Eastern Kentucky makes Bellarmine less of an outlier and can obviously have potential for a nice rivalry. And while Central Arkansas is out there a bit by themselves, I’m happy to have them again. Their football program is solid.
And therein lies the question... football. What happens here? If my math is correct, along with recent additions the Big South would now have TWELVE for football. But I don’t think staying in the Big South is the endgame here. I think the ASUN will eventually have football. The new teams make five. Who else can come on board? Do they go after a couple of MEAC schools? Do they finally convince a couple of non-football schools like FGCU to start a team, even with COVID cuts? Or do they bring West Florida up?
I’m really shocked they have seemingly pulled this off, lol. This could change the perception of the ASUN overnight.
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Post by brandon on Nov 16, 2020 16:49:44 GMT -6
Michael Hebert of the TimesDaily is reporting this now. I’m pretty surprised, honestly. I didn’t think the ASUN would be able to pull it off. Getting the Gamecocks is just huge for us, I would think, in all sports. Kennesaw has to be happy, too. Eastern Kentucky makes Bellarmine less of an outlier and can obviously have potential for a nice rivalry. And while Central Arkansas is out there a bit by themselves, I’m happy to have them again. Their football program is solid. And therein lies the question... football. What happens here? If my math is correct, along with recent additions the Big South would now have TWELVE for football. But I don’t think staying in the Big South is the endgame here. I think the ASUN will eventually have football. The new teams make five. Who else can come on board? Do they go after a couple of MEAC schools? Do they finally convince a couple of non-football schools like FGCU to start a team, even with COVID cuts? Or do they bring West Florida up? I’m really shocked they have seemingly pulled this off, lol. This could change the perception of the ASUN overnight. Gumbart said in a recent interview that a few schools in the ASUN is considering adding a sport... maybe its UNF and FGCU with football...? Who knows? But this is awesome...
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Post by unalions on Nov 16, 2020 17:53:02 GMT -6
Very interesting. Here's the incredibly vague press release from the ASUN. ATLANTA, Ga. - Ten months ago the ASUN announced plans to explore a major expansion plan. Despite changing dynamics in conference realignment based on institutional moves over the past six months and the new reality of financial stress from the pandemic, the ASUN continues to lead the discussion on realignment in its footprint. On November 6, the ASUN Presidents' Council confirmed its commitment to multi-school expansion, and approved specific action steps to put the ASUN at the forefront of mid-major conference realignment in the southeast. "The ASUN's goal remains singularly focussed: how can we maximize the opportunities we provide to our student-athletes, our teams, and our member institutions to achieve at the highest level, academically and athletically," stated ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart. "The planning done by our Presidents' Council over the past two years has put us in the proverbial catbird seat," said Gumbart. "We will not comment on specific institutions with which we have had discussions, but we are confident that we will partner with institutions boasting innovative, visionary leadership that will join us in building a more stable, more sustainable, more sensible structure for mid-major collegiate athletics over the next decade." The ASUN welcomes the opportunity to provide additional details to those media parties interested in the ASUN. Media inquiries and interview requests should be directed to Patrick McCoy, ASUN Associate Commissioner for Strategic Communications <patrick.mccoy@asunsports.org> ASUN Conference, Atlanta, Ga. - the only DI conference headquartered in the ATL, our footprint's primary media, sports, business, transportation and cultural hub The ASUN, a Division I conference member of the NCAA, boasts a membership of institutions that share visionary leadership, bold ambition and creative innovation. As a nimble adaptive conference, unafraid to blaze a national pathway for better service to our student-athletes, teams, and institutions, the ASUN has a proud history of firsts, national academic and athletic achievements and a conference culture that walks the walk with its four ASUN Beams. Students First! Rise. Connect. Impact. #ASUNBuilt by Bellarmine (Louisville), FGCU (Fort Myers), Jacksonville (Fla.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville), North Alabama (Florence), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.). asunsports.org/general/2020-21/releases/20201115ri19kb
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Post by unafied on Nov 17, 2020 8:27:58 GMT -6
Haven't seen a ton of reaction to this, but from what I can tell on Twitter, seems people think this is a move for ASUN to eventually sponsor FBS football, in part to please Liberty I would assume. Eastern Kentucky fans especially seem to want to make the jump. I know JSU has been rumored to be considering it over the years, since a lot of their people would like to play Troy again. Couldn't find much reaction out of the Central Arkansas folks, aside from just wondering if this means the Southland is imploding.
I still have plenty of questions myself. I know Gumbart (ASUN commissioner) had said he wants the ASUN to sponsor FCS football. And obviously that can be very close to happening if these three schools join and keep FCS football. But they will still need one more school to hit the NCAA minimum of 6, and honestly, I think 8 would be a safer number in case a school or two does decide to move up. So where would they find more schools? Could they convince the SoCon publics to join - Chattanooga, Western Carolina, and ETSU? I think that would be the absolute best/most logical thing to happen on the football side. Of course, that would make for a total of FIFTEEN schools in all sports. That doesn't seem sustainable. I guess you could try to add one more non-football school (UNC-Greensboro?) and make it sixteen. If that happens the SoCon is gutted, though. And I fear that the SoCon schools would just see themselves moving from a conference controlled by Furman/Wofford/the military schools, to one controlled by Liberty and the Florida privates. Not saying that's true, just saying it's how they could see it.
Honestly I'd like to see Liberty move on to an FBS conference (we know they want to), and then the ASUN bring in as many of the SoCon schools as they can poach. If they can't be convinced, let's just bring up West Florida/West Georgia/Valdosta and move forward with Gulf South 2.0.
Obviously more moves will be coming with this. Should be interesting to see it play out. Is this the "big news" that we all talked about in the other thread?
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Post by brandon on Nov 17, 2020 8:59:55 GMT -6
Haven't seen a ton of reaction to this, but from what I can tell on Twitter, seems people think this is a move for ASUN to eventually sponsor FBS football, in part to please Liberty I would assume. Eastern Kentucky fans especially seem to want to make the jump. I know JSU has been rumored to be considering it over the years, since a lot of their people would like to play Troy again. Couldn't find much reaction out of the Central Arkansas folks, aside from just wondering if this means the Southland is imploding. I still have plenty of questions myself. I know Gumbart (ASUN commissioner) had said he wants the ASUN to sponsor FCS football. And obviously that can be very close to happening if these three schools join and keep FCS football. But they will still need one more school to hit the NCAA minimum of 6, and honestly, I think 8 would be a safer number in case a school or two does decide to move up. So where would they find more schools? Could they convince the SoCon publics to join - Chattanooga, Western Carolina, and ETSU? I think that would be the absolute best/most logical thing to happen on the football side. Of course, that would make for a total of FIFTEEN schools in all sports. That doesn't seem sustainable. I guess you could try to add one more non-football school (UNC-Greensboro?) and make it sixteen. If that happens the SoCon is gutted, though. And I fear that the SoCon schools would just see themselves moving from a conference controlled by Furman/Wofford/the military schools, to one controlled by Liberty and the Florida privates. Not saying that's true, just saying it's how they could see it. Honestly I'd like to see Liberty move on to an FBS conference (we know they want to), and then the ASUN bring in as many of the SoCon schools as they can poach. If they can't be convinced, let's just bring up West Florida/West Georgia/Valdosta and move forward with Gulf South 2.0. Obviously more moves will be coming with this. Should be interesting to see it play out. Is this the "big news" that we all talked about in the other thread? I think having Liberty in conference is the reason people feel this may be an attempt for FBS status. But I would caution you not to get your Hope's up. I have made reasonable good friends with a couple of Liberty alumni, we call each other and have played golf when we are near each other. They are pretty adamant that they want to stay indy in football. The only other conference they may have a slight interest in joining is the A-10(Assuming the impossible dont happen and they go ACC or SEC) they want the BYU type schedule were they can get home and homes with VT and maybe Vandy, and such. And still have a tolerable schedule to make decent bowl games. As to the 3 that may join ASUN, from all indications this is the plan I was told about when the UAC deal was announced, but this is plan B. UAC deal was going to split into 2 conferences. This won't be the case, at least for several years. This will have the ASUN looking at having 16 schools total. I knew about these 3 if you recall previously about who I said would be in the UAC. The rest is basically a ask and see who comes type deal. But it's a good group to ask. The main reason this will not be a FBS venture is because these schools wanted to not only align for travel and what not, but they are tired of the conferences, primarily in the SE, not competing with the MVFC and Big Sky in football. They get 4-6 teams in the playoffs and we got all of our power programs spread among 5 conferences. The ASUN is the only way to get them together. SoCon ain't going to take UNA, JSU, KSU or EKU. Southland may take UNA but not the rest. Big South is more interested in being a Carolina conference primarily. And the CAA is, well the CAA. So the ASUN has the best setup out of all, the better markets, all of Florida, Atl, Louisville, Bham/Huntsville, Nashville. The ASUN is basically in the center of all of these conferences and they dont mind expanding. I fully expect that after the "inaugural" year of the 12, you will see at least Chattanooga and one more in the ASUN. This is the a dream setup in my opinion.
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Post by brandon on Nov 17, 2020 12:30:27 GMT -6
Stetson- not likely to add scholarship.
Gumbart has hinted to a few ASUN schools possibly adding sports...
UNF- studies done for football. FGCU- studies done for football.
I have emailed both ADs in the past, both said the biggest hurdle is the ASUN dont sponsor football. They dont want two different conferences. WELL.... this would remedy that....
Getting interesting.
ROAR LIONS
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Post by brandon on Nov 17, 2020 12:32:42 GMT -6
Also, Bellarmine has considered football while in D2. The D1 move had basically put that on the backburnner, would the addition of EKU put it back into motion?
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Post by brandon on Nov 20, 2020 10:20:52 GMT -6
Just focusing on what is in front of the ASUN (the possibility of adding the 3)
If we add EKU, JSU and UCA, what does this mean for the OVC and Southland?
First the OVC.
They will lose 2 great football members and be down to 7 football schools. I know of 2 schools that have (at least by their fans) that would rather be in the OVC than their current conference. Western Illinois and Indiana State. Both schools fit the footprint well. So regardless, I dont think the OVC has any trouble getting 2 schools.
The Southland
I honestly dont think the Southland schools will move to the WAC. Honestly Why would they? And the Southland dont even have to worry about replacing UCA. They were at 13, this puts them at 12. As it stands, the most they would do is give Tarleton State an associate membership for football.
Now, the ASUN
This will put it at 12, with 5 football(Assuming Stetson dont do something or UNF and FGCU)
The ASUN could stay at 12 no problem, keep on with football in the Big South, that currently would also be at 12. This may force Monmouth and RMU to find better solutions for their football teams.
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Post by unafied on Nov 20, 2020 10:37:59 GMT -6
Just focusing on what is in front of the ASUN (the possibility of adding the 3) If we add EKU, JSU and UCA, what does this mean for the OVC and Southland? First the OVC. They will lose 2 great football members and be down to 7 football schools. I know of 2 schools that have (at least by their fans) that would rather be in the OVC than their current conference. Western Illinois and Indiana State. Both schools fit the footprint well. So regardless, I dont think the OVC has any trouble getting 2 schools. The Southland I honestly dont think the Southland schools will move to the WAC. Honestly Why would they? And the Southland dont even have to worry about replacing UCA. They were at 13, this puts them at 12. As it stands, the most they would do is give Tarleton State an associate membership for football. Now, the ASUN This will put it at 12, with 5 football(Assuming Stetson dont do something or UNF and FGCU) The ASUN could stay at 12 no problem, keep on with football in the Big South, that currently would also be at 12. This may force Monmouth and RMU to find better solutions for their football teams. On the OVC, I saw talk of Western Illinois being interested. They are a school in rough shape financially, and are definitely a long way from competing with the top of the MVFC. The travel in the OVC would be a little better. Youngstown State is probably another that could benefit from getting out of the MVFC. With JSU gone they could be the premier team in the OVC, and again, travel would be a little better. Not sure if there's any interest from them though. The Southland seems to have a good makeup of teams at the moment. Not sure why any of them are looking to leave, even including Central Arkansas. Perhaps there is some friction between schools and/or the conference that we're unaware of. But I agree, this whole idea of a new WAC seems farfetched. Why would those teams leave the Southland? Why would Southern Utah, Northern Colorado, etc., want to leave the Big Sky? Perhaps you sell them on an easier path to the playoffs. That's all I can think of. If the Big South could ditch Monmouth and RMU (simply due to travel reasons), it could actually be a pretty decent football conference with the addition of JSU/UCA/EKU. North Carolina A&T is about to join and they have been a solid program. The geography is a little spread out, but not too terrible. I wouldn't mind staying if we could lose the trips up north.
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Post by brandon on Nov 20, 2020 11:09:34 GMT -6
Just focusing on what is in front of the ASUN (the possibility of adding the 3) If we add EKU, JSU and UCA, what does this mean for the OVC and Southland? First the OVC. They will lose 2 great football members and be down to 7 football schools. I know of 2 schools that have (at least by their fans) that would rather be in the OVC than their current conference. Western Illinois and Indiana State. Both schools fit the footprint well. So regardless, I dont think the OVC has any trouble getting 2 schools. The Southland I honestly dont think the Southland schools will move to the WAC. Honestly Why would they? And the Southland dont even have to worry about replacing UCA. They were at 13, this puts them at 12. As it stands, the most they would do is give Tarleton State an associate membership for football. Now, the ASUN This will put it at 12, with 5 football(Assuming Stetson dont do something or UNF and FGCU) The ASUN could stay at 12 no problem, keep on with football in the Big South, that currently would also be at 12. This may force Monmouth and RMU to find better solutions for their football teams. On the OVC, I saw talk of Western Illinois being interested. They are a school in rough shape financially, and are definitely a long way from competing with the top of the MVFC. The travel in the OVC would be a little better. Youngstown State is probably another that could benefit from getting out of the MVFC. With JSU gone they could be the premier team in the OVC, and again, travel would be a little better. Not sure if there's any interest from them though. The Southland seems to have a good makeup of teams at the moment. Not sure why any of them are looking to leave, even including Central Arkansas. Perhaps there is some friction between schools and/or the conference that we're unaware of. But I agree, this whole idea of a new WAC seems farfetched. Why would those teams leave the Southland? Why would Southern Utah, Northern Colorado, etc., want to leave the Big Sky? Perhaps you sell them on an easier path to the playoffs. That's all I can think of. If the Big South could ditch Monmouth and RMU (simply due to travel reasons), it could actually be a pretty decent football conference with the addition of JSU/UCA/EKU. North Carolina A&T is about to join and they have been a solid program. The geography is a little spread out, but not too terrible. I wouldn't mind staying if we could lose the trips up north. I think UCA looks at it that they probably have more in common with UNA, JSU and EKU. I dont know, just speculation. They were GSC members for a while. Maybe they liked the footprint and the ASUN gives them that and more. I think the Big South with these schools minus Monmouth and RMU will be fun. And travel for football gets relief by having closer games. Potential Big South schedule without Monmouth and RMU @uca Charleston Southern @eku NCA&T @gardner Web Hampton @ksu Campbell @jsu Of course home and away would vary and be the opposite every year.
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Post by brandon on Nov 20, 2020 11:10:37 GMT -6
Hopefully they would put rivalry games as the last game...
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Post by unalions on Nov 20, 2020 16:41:40 GMT -6
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Post by brandon on Nov 20, 2020 17:29:29 GMT -6
I dont think the split will happen... but I'm probably wrong. It would take longer.
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