I didn't want to muck up the other post. It's clear nobody gives a crap about the Heisman.

Initially, I was thinking a one off championship. However as it progressed it made me wonder if...

Same rule applies, All conference champs have shot at the National Championship through the playoffs.

Once you make the choice, your school cannot switch leagues. There is no promotion/relegation due to success on the field and the TV payouts and coverage for your league won't change from the structure below...


Would you rather

be a program habitually competing for and winning National Championships but play in the Sun Belt with our less than great TV contract, playing teams that the unwashed masses know nothing about. You get 4 nationally televised games a year on ESPN2 (3 of them weeknight games), the rest are on regional sports channel and ESPN3. As a FU for your success, the Flagship P5 schools in your state/region refuse to play you. and will actively dodge you as much as they can so your OOC is filled with non-Sexy matchups.

OR

Be a middle of the pack in your favorite P5 conference. You will get bowl eligible thanks to your leagues contract, and produce the occasional major upset but you will never do better than 8-4. Most seasons you are a 7-5, 6-6 type team. You get 8 games on national TV (all on Saturdays but noon kickoffs). Your schedule for all sports is filled with the top schools in your state and region because you are conference mates and your OOC is sexy enough.

If your winning nationals championships that is all that matters. Also if your winning national championships i'm sure the teams in your region would want to play you. SOS could be key for getting into the playoff.

Not that big a deal to not play the instate p5 teams. Just play all the others. Also if you make the playoffs then you'll play against the big boys then if they refuse regular season matchups. Winning is what its all about. Rather be a winner in the SBC than stuck forever as a nobody in the p5.

Hmmmm kinda sounds like the argument made to stay in FCS. Um just forget everything I just said.

Seriously though If your choice is to win the national title a lot or never win anything, ....
Just win baby win.

(05-11-2014 03:13 PM)Pigs N Heat BBQ Wrote:  If your winning nationals championships that is all that matters. Also if your winning national championships i'm sure the teams in your region would want to play you. SOS could be key for getting into the playoff.

Pride trumps strength of schedule in some cases

Suppose, Georgia Southern starts rolling off National titles and it starts to sway some Tshirt fans from UGA or Florida to look at your program. They don't want to play you because you could actually beat them and that would do more damage so they refuse to schedule you

---Arkansas State fans, I know the Pigs refuse to schedule you now, would they consider they consider it if you became a world beater?

If our fans were given the choice of being national contenders but never being able to play UT, A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, or Baylor

or playing in the Big XII and having home games scheduled with all of these teams AND beating them but never getting never doing better than 8-4, I think our fans would take the second choice in a heartbeat.

(05-11-2014 02:51 PM)chrisattsu Wrote:  I didn't want to muck up the other post. It's clear nobody gives a crap about the Heisman.

Initially, I was thinking a one off championship. However as it progressed it made me wonder if...

Same rule applies, All conference champs have shot at the National Championship through the playoffs.

Once you make the choice, your school cannot switch leagues. There is no promotion/relegation due to success on the field and the TV payouts and coverage for your league won't change from the structure below...


Would you rather

be a program habitually competing for and winning National Championships but play in the Sun Belt with our less than great TV contract, playing teams that the unwashed masses know nothing about. You get 4 nationally televised games a year on ESPN2 (3 of them weeknight games), the rest are on regional sports channel and ESPN3. The P5 schools in your state/region refuse to play you because there is no upside for them so your OOC is filled with non-Sexy matchups.

OR

Be a middle of the pack in your favorite P5 confernece. You will get bowl eligible thanks to your leagues contract, and produce the occasional major upset but you will never do better than 8-4. Most seasons you are a 7-5, 6-6 type team. You get 8 games on national TV (all on Saturdays but noon kickoffs). Your schedule for all sports is filled with the top schools in your state and region because you are conference mates and your OOC is sexy enough.

In your scenario, if Texas State wins the SBC, we are in the college football playoffs with a shot at a national championship. While a P5 conference has better revenue and exposure, if an SBC Championship gets an auto bid to the playoffs, then that is the better choice.

The TV exposure and P5 matchups would not be relevant to a playoff appearance in your scenario.

No option for a pony?

So basically you're asking if we'd rather be Boise or Mississippi State?

Simple Answer, both. Get multiple 10+ win seasons and SBC Titles, and then move up and take your lumps.

But I guess if I had to choose, I'd want to move up and take our lumps, even now. We could eventually be a good P5 team. Worth the lumps.

After we beat Michigan a few years ago we could not get a game with a P5 to
save us. Literally took ESPN intervening to get a national game broadcast with
LSU. Then the hurricane was coming so the game had to be changed to a
morning game so that people could evacuate out of town.

Any Georgia Southern fan who says they wouldn't want to see the Eagles in the SEC isn't being honest.

(05-11-2014 03:45 PM)chrisattsu Wrote:  

(05-11-2014 03:13 PM)Pigs N Heat BBQ Wrote:  If your winning nationals championships that is all that matters. Also if your winning national championships i'm sure the teams in your region would want to play you. SOS could be key for getting into the playoff.

Pride trumps strength of schedule in some cases

Suppose, Georgia Southern starts rolling off National titles and it starts to sway some Tshirt fans from UGA or Florida to look at your program. They don't want to play you because you could actually beat them and that would do more damage so they refuse to schedule you

---Arkansas State fans, I know the Pigs refuse to schedule you now, would they consider they consider it if you became a world beater?

They won't play us now because of what they think would happen if we beat them. If we were to be that good it would take a shotgun wedding with at least one shot fired to herd them into the stadium.

(05-11-2014 04:41 PM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  Simple Answer, both. Get multiple 10+ win seasons and SBC Titles, and then move up and take your lumps.

But I guess if I had to choose, I'd want to move up and take our lumps, even now. We could eventually be a good P5 team. Worth the lumps.

That's a preferred scenario, but not what is being asked. You are given 2 futures. One has you being the best team in the nation, but in a limited exposure conference.. The other has you playing in your preferred conference, but forever being mediocre and never winning anything.

Would be tickled to death to be in the Sun Belt winning national championships.
That's what it's all about.

(05-11-2014 04:38 PM)FAUAEPi Wrote:  So basically you're asking if we'd rather be Boise or Mississippi State?

Louisville or Kentucky (up until next year when the move to ACC)
Southern Miss (up until recntly) or Ole Miss
USF or Miami
East Carolina or NC State
Northern Illinois or Illinois/Northwestern

The fans at Arkansas are quick to thump their chest and chant SEC. Over the last two years, (and this upcoming year) they can chant from their living rooms watching stAte play bowl games.

I would rather be winning the SBC, building our program, and strive to make a bigger bowl game every year then go to Birmingham, Memphis or Shreeveport every 3rd or 4th year.

(05-11-2014 05:17 PM)ButlerGSU Wrote:  Any Georgia Southern fan who says they wouldn't want to see the Eagles in the SEC isn't being honest.

If it meant at best 7-5 forever with no real hope of growing and being a conference homecoming game then I will take the other option. I could give a crap less about becoming the next Vandy or am star struck about playing SEC teams. Cant wrap my head around giving up an NC over going 7-5. Also, unlike some GS fans I have not affinity with the other P5 instate teams. thUGA and GT nerd herd can burn to the ground for all I care. There are plenty of other good programs to play OOC within in driving distance.

(05-11-2014 03:45 PM)chrisattsu Wrote:  

(05-11-2014 03:13 PM)Pigs N Heat BBQ Wrote:  If your winning nationals championships that is all that matters. Also if your winning national championships i'm sure the teams in your region would want to play you. SOS could be key for getting into the playoff.

Pride trumps strength of schedule in some cases

Suppose, Georgia Southern starts rolling off National titles and it starts to sway some Tshirt fans from UGA or Florida to look at your program. They don't want to play you because you could actually beat them and that would do more damage so they refuse to schedule you

---Arkansas State fans, I know the Pigs refuse to schedule you now, would they consider they consider it if you became a world beater?

There are a few theories out there that they would change their mind if we became a big enough threat that people actually believed we were the better team, and we were starting to seriously steal fans. However at that point, we'd probably have no reason to schedule them

I really think the only way the two schools ever play would be if the legislature forces it. Unless there is some major disaster or something and the two schools agree to play as a benefit type game. But no one wants that option.

Pretty much it is a scenario where my team would be good enough to beat any team on any given one game scenario, but not good enough to run through the rigors of the SEC, PAC 12, ACC. I happily take the competing for titles, playing one big boy per year in a neutral site game, dominating the conference, and having the college football world's respect. I would also not be opposed to being in the ACC one day. Either option is great.

The fact that this is the Sun Belt and pretty much all the fans support teams that in most cases made a decision to compete in the highest division of football shows what the answer would be. Every team that moves from FCS to FBS makes this same decision just so that they have the opportunity to compete with those biggest schools. Now this same thing can be applied to another split in divisions, and i think most people would decide that we do want to stay with the P5.

My problem with the scenarios you presented is that you're asking if we would want to compete at the highest level with the biggest teams for whatever the biggest teams are competing for, we'd all say yes. However, you also stated that there would never be a chance of us reaching that eventual goal. I think a big reason we want to compete at the level we do, even though we know that we will likely never achieve that goal, is that we still have hope that maybe we will become that team that achieves it, even if the odds are stacked against us and it seems almost impossible. The key is that it technically isn't impossible. I think if we knew that we would never do well ever, we might think twice.

I didn't vote.

I'd vote to stay in the SBC as I hate 12 noon kickoffs! 3:30pm and later kickoffs make for much better tailgating!!