CAA Staying Together

[sarge965]

RPI - wil NOT be going D1 in any other sports

Engineer hockey will remain the only D1 sport - and sadly it is not being funded the way it needs to be

RPI just laid off staff and is looking to save $$$$$

They have created a bit of a mess across the river - They have gotten a ton of money in the last decaded but have over spent on a number of initiatives - (ie the new arts building)

Things are very messy at the institute - they have no plans/desire to go D1 - it is partly a philosophical stance by the RPI admin but I am sure that they do not want to see a D1 athletics budget - including Patriot League Football

[Clickclack]

I think we all know that UA aspires to be a full scholy FCS program....what remains to be flushed out is how we are going to get there and how many years it will take to get there. I've been under the impression for some time now that we DO NOT have the necessary funds to go full scholly. Is this not accurate? If we do have the necessary funds then get out of the NEC ASAP! What is the long term plan staying in the NEC they will NEVER go full scholly.

[jpg_91]

Sorry to come late to the party. Just got back from a weekend in Puerto Rico. I agree that the CAA decision is a blow to UA football but I think it was a longshot at best. I'm not sold on the Big South either. I just don't think that it has any potential to grow UA football because it builds no rivalries outside of SB. I think that we have to face the fact that there just are no opportunities right now in the Northeast. SUNY waited too long to jump to D1 and now they are paying the price. Plus the lack of leadership within SUNY as a whole and UA in particular right now pretty much guarantees us mediocrity. I've gotten mad in the past about the lack of any vision for UA athletics (or at least the perceived lack of vision) but I actually think that the lack of vision is because all roads are blocked. I would love to see UA make the decision to eventually move toward FBS football. I truly believe that the Capital district offers an amazing opportunity for big time college sports. NY could use another FBS team and I believe that with the right marketing you could build a fan base from the surrounding areas all the way down to NYC. I also believe that even though the economy can be used as an excuse to not fund the stadium and other upgrades that the school needs it can also be argued that a tougher economy makes a school like UA way more attractive to families who have kids to send to college. If you grew enrollment by say 6,000 students and invested in building the reputation of the school locally and nationally the dividends could be astronomical. Contact a conference like the MAC. At approximately 24,000 students we would fit there model to a tee. See if they are interested in expanding the conference into NY a bit more. Travel would be no more than the Big South and we would be in an FBS football conference and a better basketball conference. I know Lacrosse would suffer but I'd bet that one of the Northeast conferences would let us be an affiliate member. Plus we would have time to build the stadium since the MAC wouldn't have an opening until 2011 when Temple's football only contract expires.

 

Just my opinion on where we should go even though I know it's a pipe dream.

[mainejeff]

Somehow, some way....we need to get Maine, UNH, UMass, URI, Albany and Stony Brook on the same page. If UMass doesn't plan on ramping up to FBS level football then they should join these schools in forming a new football league. If this happened......maybe, just maybe we could reel in Hofstra, Delaware, and Towson for a 9 team all-sports league. I know that it is a longshot with UMass hoops and the CAA thing.......but this would be a nice all sports league:

 

Maine

UNH

UMass

URI

Albany

Stony Brook

Hofstra

Delaware

Towson

 

9 football programs

6 men's lacrosse programs

8 baseball programs

8 field hockey programs

 

*sigh*

[alum73]

That's also my dream. In Disneyworld, Dreams Come True. Not sure about the Northeast.