Conference Talk

[Clickclack]

How is it that New Yorkers and New Englanders have such a small view geography to think Albany New York is too far away from Buffalo New York or neighboring state Ohio?

 

How far do western teams like San Diego State have to travel? How about the SEC or Hawaii? The northeast conferences expectations are out of whack .

 

Our overall athletic budget is 15million a year. You know what the smallest budget is in the MAC? I'll give you a hint, it's Bowling Green...It's easy to talk about moving up without a dime (relatively speaking) in ones pocket.

[Michigan_Dane]

Stony Brook's budget is $25M last I checked (see below) Higher than a number of MAC schools. Higher than 4 MAC schools to be exact. Higher than another half dozen FBS schools.

 

 

The primary difference between them and us is they've had the revenue boost of a stadium for a decade. Even with such a large budget gap we seem to be beating Stony Brook.

 

Do you disagree? If we are playing Stony Brook why can't we play MAC schools with a SMALLER budget?

 

Delaware at $31M is double our budget and larger than nearly every MAC school. Why can we play Delaware but not Buffalo?

 

Point is the CAA has budgets as large or larger than the MAC. Why not be FBS if it's an option?

 

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/schools/finances/?fullsite=true

 

 

 

[Clickclack]

Stony Brook's budget is $25M last I checked (see below) Higher than a number of MAC schools. Higher than 4 MAC schools to be exact. Higher than another half dozen FBS schools.

 

 

The primary difference between them and us is they've had the revenue boost of a stadium for a decade. Even with such a large budget gap we seem to be beating Stony Brook.

 

Do you disagree? If we are playing Stony Brook why can't we play MAC schools with a SMALLER budget?

 

Delaware at $31M is double our budget and larger than nearly every MAC school. Why can we play Delaware but not Buffalo?

 

Point is the CAA has budgets as large or larger than the MAC. Why not be FBS if it's an option?

 

http://www.usatoday..../?fullsite=true

 

Because money talks and BS walks...If we went into the MAC or even the CAA with our present budget we'd be dead last or second to last in the CAA. To even go into the CAA and compete there we need a significant bump in the order of 5-7mil per. I'd love to move into the MAC or the CAA but funding is a serious concern, I think you'd agree.

Edited March 27, 2014 by Clickclack

[danefan]

Interestingly I'm reading whispers about Buffalo and UMass to the AAC. Good for them if they can make it happen.

[Clickclack]

Interestingly I'm reading whispers about Buffalo and UMass to the AAC. Good for them if they can make it happen.

 

Source? EDIT: Nevermind, found it...

Edited March 27, 2014 by Clickclack

[uofalbany]

And who's staying and who's going in the American as of right now, besides Louisville leaving?

[Clickclack]

I think UA is about as attractive as we'll ever be. Woman 3 straight NCAA appearances, Men 2 straight and a W, Lacrosse, Track, Football new facility and hopefully wins will follow.

 

Would be great if we could strike the iron while it's hot.

[UA'08]

Can't see us moving anywhere,but the CAA for all sports. We don't have a stadium for BCS football. The only other all sports conference is the A10 and that won't happen either.

[Michigan_Dane]

If football could squeeze out 4 to 5 wins this year and the administration lobby's SUNY Central, the MAC etc we might have a shot. The administration and SUNY would need to put up or shut up. Does Zimpher want SUNY Centers to have a higher profile or not?

 

Buffalo got a lot of help getting into the MAC in 1996. I'm sure their budget was tiny in relation to existing members. I'm sure MAC members scoffed at admitting SUNY Buffalo but it eventually worked out.

 

Moving up a conference is rarely easy. That's true for almost every college. Maryland and Rutgers will have a tough time in the Big 10. We're not unique. That said you don't improve if you stay in your comfort zone.

[Michigan_Dane]

An article this morning pegged our budget at $16M. That's up a few million in a short time. I remember $14M as the old number. Stony Brook is $25M. I can't see us not getting there in a few years especially if we expand the stadium. $25M is solidly in MAC territory.

 

The problem as I see it is we don't have Cuomo or Zimpher pandering to Albany like they do for Buffalo. Anything for Buffalo and Nano but Albany.... no help to date.

[UA'08]

If football could squeeze out 4 to 5 wins this year and the administration lobby's SUNY Central, the MAC etc we might have a shot. The administration and SUNY would need to put up or shut up. Does Zimpher want SUNY Centers to have a higher profile or not?

 

Buffalo got a lot of help getting into the MAC in 1996. I'm sure their budget was tiny in relation to existing members. I'm sure MAC members scoffed at admitting SUNY Buffalo but it eventually worked out.

 

Moving up a conference is rarely easy. That's true for almost every college. Maryland and Rutgers will have a tough time in the Big 10. We're not unique. That said you don't improve if you stay in your comfort zone.

How soon are you thinking of moving to FBS maybe I'm misunderstanding you in thinking within the next year or two, which I think is impossible.

[Michigan_Dane]

UB only spent 5 years in FCS before upgrading and only had 1 winning season. Just pointing out the road to FBS doesn't need to take decades. Charlotte and USF skipped FCS all together

[UBBulls]

If football could squeeze out 4 to 5 wins this year and the administration lobby's SUNY Central, the MAC etc we might have a shot. The administration and SUNY would need to put up or shut up. Does Zimpher want SUNY Centers to have a higher profile or not?

 

Buffalo got a lot of help getting into the MAC in 1996. I'm sure their budget was tiny in relation to existing members. I'm sure MAC members scoffed at admitting SUNY Buffalo but it eventually worked out.

 

On budgets, UB's was around $8M overall and MBB was under $800K when we were invited. But In those days it was competitive among MAC budgets. That was up from just a $2M overall budget when UB re-joined D-1.

 

The MAC was on an expansion spree to start football divisions and a title game in '97. UB was announced as a MAC member in spring 1996 (only 5 years after leaving D2) when NIU and Marshall were also announced. UB joined in '98 for all but football, with a waiver requiring stadium expansion to 30K and adding baseball and softball by '99. That was remarkable for the MAC and NCAA. Why did they bend over backwards for UB? Other than gaining funding for UB Stadium in the early 90's for the University Games, SUNY and NYS didn't help UB enter the MAC. Pataki's administration was cutting SUNY funding and students were protesting at that time.

 

The keys were:

- Though athletics didn't have leaders experienced in 1A football, UB had the right relationships and some good fortune. The MAC commish back then was once a UB FB assistant, a former NIU head coach, and was the Mid-Con commish when UB was a member. The 4th paragraph in this story from a former Mid-Con official sums it up well: http://www.theseniorreports.com/lemons.htm

- UB had decades of Major College/D-1 history that included playing MAC teams in football ('62-'70). We played most sports D-1 in the 70's. And even after the SUNY scholarship ban in '77 UB played a few sports at the D-1 level into the '80's, mainly baseball and hockey. Both sports were dropped in '88 when the ban was lifted and UB announced the 'Run to D-1'. So we were no stranger to MAC teams

-UB was invited by unanamous vote among MAC presidents. Commihs Ippoliti praised UB as "bringing a lot to the league," which traditionally has been viewed as an Ohio conference. "We need to expand our perimeters" and UB, he said, will provide the MAC "with a major media market and a national identity that we've never had before."

[UA'08]

There's really no point in moving in football until all the power 5 conferences really separate themselves from the rest of the FBS as people have said in the past. I think CAA is perfect for us football wise right now.

[UA'08]

CAA has a tv deal with nbc sports, but not sure when that expires. If we can get into CAA for all sports do we get the full tv share split?