Conference Realignment

[Clickclack]

We've been talking about this for years but it looks like it's finally going to happen. Things are about to get crazy.

 

If only UA had strong leadership...

[Clickclack]

A lot of time sin chaos there is opportunity...lets see if we can force ourselves into the conversation somewhere to improve our lot in D1.

[Dane Pound]

This is pretty nutty right now. I don't know how some of these conferences are going to last but lasting and making sense don't seem to be very important right now.

 

I guess the question is does the Big East become basketball only? Maybe poach some Atlantic 10 teams in the process? That would probably be the most likely thing to impact us. It's a long list of teams that would want those A10 spots.

 

If we stay in the NEC, which wouldn't be the worst thing. I'd like to see UNH and Maine join along with URI. Jack up the scholarship level so we can have a legit shot of someone in the conference winning a national championship some day (preferably us.)

[Dane96]

There is no reason to stay in the NEC. They are not raising scholarships anytime in the near future.

[Dane Pound]

There is no reason to stay in the NEC. They are not raising scholarships anytime in the near future.

 

Maybe there are better options. I just don't see them right now.

[danefan]

There is no reason to stay in the NEC. They are not raising scholarships anytime in the near future.

 

Maybe there are better options. I just don't see them right now.

 

Big South

Coastal Carolina

Gardner-Webb

Charleston Southern

Liberty

Presbyterian

VMI

 

Big North

Stony Brook

Albany

CCSU

Maine

New Hampshire

Fordham

 

Let CCSU into the AEast and let the Big South run the football conference. This is an easy solution that should be achievable in short order. Just takes leadership to get it done. The AEast football schools should be playing in the same league.

[danefan]

BTW, I guarantee SBU has feelers to a lot of FBS conferences right now while we are hoping for a middle of the road FCS conference.

[Dane96]

Danefan. Two things:

 

1. Again, love that idea you have put forth...loved it the day you did it, and I think it is viable and pretty sweet today.

 

2. SBU may have feelers out...and frankly, I get that as your primary point....that they are in position to put feelers out but we are nowhere near that.

 

That said, I am not sure any non Super-16 Conference Affiliation (even of the ilk of the MAC who would prob also extend to 16) is a great place to be. Heck, even the MAC and a newly formed C-USA could be left out in the cold.

 

Personally, I would sit back and wait on this one, except for finding a new FCS home for us...but that has nothing to do with the realignment of FBS right now and more to do with our lack of direction as a general principle. I do think that the Congress will step in at some point and challenge the tax exempt status of the Universities involved. It will be a massively unwieldy argument because I would defend the U's on the grounds that research isn't exactly a non-money making venture as well...and Congress doesn't step in to ensure a level playing field there. Then you have the anti-trust argument that will likely come down (you are shutting us out of your club...and the Networks will tell us (Non-Super 16 schools/former NON-BCS schools) to take a hike with our "lesser known" brand, therefore there is no plausible way for us to start our own football bowl/playoff).

[Clickclack]

BTW, I guarantee SBU has feelers to a lot of FBS conferences right now while we are hoping for a middle of the road FCS conference.

 

Not sure I'm buying that...no question about it, a mediocre athletic program. Football facilities aren't there...basketball, no success to speak of. What exactly do they offer FBS?

 

Are they aggressive, yes! No chance they go FBS...NONE! Maybe in 10 years. No one will want them that's not to say they don't have feelers out.

[danefan]

BTW, I guarantee SBU has feelers to a lot of FBS conferences right now while we are hoping for a middle of the road FCS conference.

 

Not sure I'm buying that...no question about it, a mediocre athletic program. Football facilities aren't there...basketball, no success to speak of. What exactly do they offer FBS?

 

Are they aggressive, yes! No chance they go FBS...NONE! Maybe in 10 years. No one will want them that's not to say they don't have feelers out.

 

They offer a league an AAU university in the NYC media market. Everything else can come in short order. Their stadium can easily be expanded to 25,000. Basketball arena is in the mix as you know and the Nassau Coliseum could be used for any games that required a larger space (its a 45 minute ride, but its an option). What else is needed?

 

And one thing that is very very very clear is that success is not required to make a move to FBS. The MAC is full of teams that were never successful anywhere. Buffalo included.

[Dane96]

Fair points all-around!

[Clickclack]

BTW, I guarantee SBU has feelers to a lot of FBS conferences right now while we are hoping for a middle of the road FCS conference.

 

Not sure I'm buying that...no question about it, a mediocre athletic program. Football facilities aren't there...basketball, no success to speak of. What exactly do they offer FBS?

 

Are they aggressive, yes! No chance they go FBS...NONE! Maybe in 10 years. No one will want them that's not to say they don't have feelers out.

 

They offer a league an AAU university in the NYC media market. Everything else can come in short order. Their stadium can easily be expanded to 25,000. Basketball arena is in the mix as you know and the Nassau Coliseum could be used for any games that required a larger space (its a 45 minute ride, but its an option). What else is needed?

 

And one thing that is very very very clear is that success is not required to make a move to FBS. The MAC is full of teams that were never successful anywhere. Buffalo included.

 

Point taken on the last paragraph...On the rest, you are substantially more bullish on them than I am.

[danefan]

BTW, I guarantee SBU has feelers to a lot of FBS conferences right now while we are hoping for a middle of the road FCS conference.

 

Not sure I'm buying that...no question about it, a mediocre athletic program. Football facilities aren't there...basketball, no success to speak of. What exactly do they offer FBS?

 

Are they aggressive, yes! No chance they go FBS...NONE! Maybe in 10 years. No one will want them that's not to say they don't have feelers out.

 

They offer a league an AAU university in the NYC media market. Everything else can come in short order. Their stadium can easily be expanded to 25,000. Basketball arena is in the mix as you know and the Nassau Coliseum could be used for any games that required a larger space (its a 45 minute ride, but its an option). What else is needed?

 

And one thing that is very very very clear is that success is not required to make a move to FBS. The MAC is full of teams that were never successful anywhere. Buffalo included.

 

Point taken on the last paragraph...On the rest, you are substantially more bullish on them than I am.

 

I am becoming a realist with respect to Stony Brook. They have money and have made a commitment to athletics, unlike UAlbany. Their budget is already in line with MAC schools and they clearly aren't spending to stay in the America East. I think they probably planned on a 10-year transition, but this shuffling will open up opportunities that were not existent 6 months ago.

 

I think you are likely to see three classes of Division I athletics:

 

Tier 1 - 64 BCS schools (4 conferences of 16)

Tier 2 - The rest of the FBS schools (CUSA, MAC, Sunbelt, MWest, A10, etc....) - including new leagues of stronger and committed FCS schools (App State, James Madison, etc...)

Tier 3 - The leftover FCS schools (AEast, Ivy, Patriot, NEC, MAAC, etc...)

 

I think most of the all-sport teams in the Colonial will end up at the FBS level in football now with the addition of teams like App State and Stony Brook.

 

Buffalo and SBU will both end up in Tier 2. Unless we get a change of leadership we will always be in Tier 3.

[Clickclack]

BTW, I guarantee SBU has feelers to a lot of FBS conferences right now while we are hoping for a middle of the road FCS conference.

 

Not sure I'm buying that...no question about it, a mediocre athletic program. Football facilities aren't there...basketball, no success to speak of. What exactly do they offer FBS?

 

Are they aggressive, yes! No chance they go FBS...NONE! Maybe in 10 years. No one will want them that's not to say they don't have feelers out.

 

They offer a league an AAU university in the NYC media market. Everything else can come in short order. Their stadium can easily be expanded to 25,000. Basketball arena is in the mix as you know and the Nassau Coliseum could be used for any games that required a larger space (its a 45 minute ride, but its an option). What else is needed?

 

And one thing that is very very very clear is that success is not required to make a move to FBS. The MAC is full of teams that were never successful anywhere. Buffalo included.

 

Point taken on the last paragraph...On the rest, you are substantially more bullish on them than I am.

 

I am becoming a realist with respect to Stony Brook. They have money and have made a commitment to athletics, unlike UAlbany. Their budget is already in line with MAC schools and they clearly aren't spending to stay in the America East. I think they probably planned on a 10-year transition, but this shuffling will open up opportunities that were not existent 6 months ago.

 

I think you are likely to see three classes of Division I athletics:

 

Tier 1 - 64 BCS schools (4 conferences of 16)

Tier 2 - The rest of the FBS schools (CUSA, MAC, Sunbelt, MWest, A10, etc....) - including new leagues of stronger and committed FCS schools (App State, James Madison, etc...)

Tier 3 - The leftover FCS schools (AEast, Ivy, Patriot, NEC, MAAC, etc...)

 

I think most of the all-sport teams in the Colonial will end up at the FBS level in football now with the addition of teams like App State and Stony Brook.

 

Buffalo and SBU will both end up in Tier 2. Unless we get a change of leadership we will always be in Tier 3.

 

 

I guess we'll see...their overall 2010 athletic budget is 17mil, UA is at 14.5...UNH is at 26 million yet you don't see them going FBS. UA is about to invest 20mil on a brand new football stadium, huge commitment should they actually start digging in Dec. Granted, sometimes we perceive the lack of information coming out of the Athletic Dept as they don't have a plan. Watching closely what's been going on over the last year, I'm starting to gain some measure of trust in Philip. He clearly took over the stadium discussion and scaled it way back to make it more manageable.

 

If next year we open a brand new stadium can you honestly say we are that far off the pace being set by SBU (non FBS)? Hell, our athletic dept is significantly more successful then the Evil Empire being run by Fiore. Truth be told, we don't now what our long term plan is but I find it hard to believe that they are building a new stadium to stay in the NEC and partial scholarships.

[danefan]

BTW, I guarantee SBU has feelers to a lot of FBS conferences right now while we are hoping for a middle of the road FCS conference.

 

Not sure I'm buying that...no question about it, a mediocre athletic program. Football facilities aren't there...basketball, no success to speak of. What exactly do they offer FBS?

 

Are they aggressive, yes! No chance they go FBS...NONE! Maybe in 10 years. No one will want them that's not to say they don't have feelers out.

 

They offer a league an AAU university in the NYC media market. Everything else can come in short order. Their stadium can easily be expanded to 25,000. Basketball arena is in the mix as you know and the Nassau Coliseum could be used for any games that required a larger space (its a 45 minute ride, but its an option). What else is needed?

 

And one thing that is very very very clear is that success is not required to make a move to FBS. The MAC is full of teams that were never successful anywhere. Buffalo included.

 

Point taken on the last paragraph...On the rest, you are substantially more bullish on them than I am.

 

I am becoming a realist with respect to Stony Brook. They have money and have made a commitment to athletics, unlike UAlbany. Their budget is already in line with MAC schools and they clearly aren't spending to stay in the America East. I think they probably planned on a 10-year transition, but this shuffling will open up opportunities that were not existent 6 months ago.

 

I think you are likely to see three classes of Division I athletics:

 

Tier 1 - 64 BCS schools (4 conferences of 16)

Tier 2 - The rest of the FBS schools (CUSA, MAC, Sunbelt, MWest, A10, etc....) - including new leagues of stronger and committed FCS schools (App State, James Madison, etc...)

Tier 3 - The leftover FCS schools (AEast, Ivy, Patriot, NEC, MAAC, etc...)

 

I think most of the all-sport teams in the Colonial will end up at the FBS level in football now with the addition of teams like App State and Stony Brook.

 

Buffalo and SBU will both end up in Tier 2. Unless we get a change of leadership we will always be in Tier 3.

 

 

I guess we'll see...their overall 2010 athletic budget is 17mil, UA is at 14.5...UNH is at 26 million yet you don't see them going FBS. UA is about to invest 20mil on a brand new football stadium, huge commitment should they actually start digging in Dec. Granted, sometimes we perceive the lack of information coming out of the Athletic Dept as they don't have a plan. Watching closely what's been going on over the last year, I'm starting to gain some measure of trust in Philip. He clearly took over the stadium discussion and scaled it way back to make it more manageable.

 

If next year we open a brand new stadium can you honestly say we are that far off the pace being set by SBU (non FBS)? Hell, our athletic dept is significantly more successful then the Evil Empire being run by Fiore. Truth be told, we don't now what our long term plan is but I find it hard to believe that they are building a new stadium to stay in the NEC and partial scholarships.

 

The stadium is a good first step, but without a plan I am not buying anything. A 6,000 seat stadium has many many uses besides a full scholarship football team.

 

IMO, being in the NEC with 6,000 seats is not even close to having 63 scholarships, having 8,500 seats plus expansion plans and playing multiple FBS teams per year.

 

Just an aside -UNH's budget is so high because of Hockey. BTW - SBU's expenses went down in 2010. They were up in the high teens, low 20's prior to last year.