(08-10-2015 07:57 AM)msm96wolf Wrote:  I think people will be surprised by the teams willing to play Coastal to get into the SC recruiting area. Just from the ACC I could see Duke, Pitt, Miami and UVA be willing to do a home/home since they only get to visit SC once every 12 years with the ACC.

I'm not sure if people consider our area a recruiting hotbed or not, but I would think for most FBS programs they could draw from a 90 mile radius around Conway (approximately from Wilmington, NC down to Charleston, SC and out to Florence, SC) and would be a nice area for recruiting purposes and an area where no FBS teams have a direct presence.

There is a nice void of FBS teams currently. ECU to the north about 3-4 hours, SC to the west about 2.5 hours, and Georgia Southern to the south about 4 hours. So really could give some other teams a reason to want to have a stronger presence in the area.

I could also see some decent teams (not mega teams) want to try to have a stronger presence not only for recruiting but also booster / alumni engagement. There are a ton of people from Ohio, Pennsylvania, WV, NY, NJ, MD, VA that come within a reasonable drive of the area to live.

I know I'm getting way too far ahead of myself - but I see the things ODU has done and I get big eyed. Please SBC - invite us

(08-10-2015 09:37 AM)rokamortis Wrote:  Please SBC - invite us

I'd bet the farm at this point that this one is a done deed.

Welcome to the Belt CCU.

(08-09-2015 08:33 PM)rokamortis Wrote:  Off topic, but may help you win at sports trivia one day. Coastal is the first NCAA program to visit Cuba since the embargo has been lifted.
Coastal was featured on Sports Center today:

Sightseeing? In Cuba?

Cuba is a recruiting hotbed for baseball.

(08-10-2015 10:55 AM)APPrising Wrote:  Cuba is a recruiting hotbed for baseball.

Cuba, hotbed.......tempting, but no.

Back to topic, but my hunch is that we add one team. While inviting 3 is an option, my guess is the West Schools would prefer the idea of bringing in one All Sports Member and sitting for a while to see if they can convince Missouri State to get a move on.

If that happens, it comes down to EKU and CCU, and everything I have heard indicates that CCU is the preferred candidate of the two.

(08-10-2015 10:55 AM)APPrising Wrote:  Cuba is a recruiting hotbed for baseball.

And Ceeee gars . . .

(08-09-2015 03:18 PM)OsageJ Wrote:  I am beginning to think when APP became a member someone hid all the maps so they thought they could still bus wherever they wanted. They thought UTA was a three hour bus ride and Los Angeles was only 4. First trip to TxSt you could could hear the screams coming down from the mountains. "FLY! You can do that!" They have been scared and crying ever since.

There are fans, not the administration. I'm quite sure App's administration knows what's going on. All of this talk about a travel partner for App is for the other conference schools' benefit--not App's.

(08-09-2015 09:58 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  The seeming need to rush to add a team soon resulted from the messed up basketball schedule. I cannot see how simply adding nmsu for all sports solves it. There are at least 5 schools as I understand who will not vote for simply adding nmsu for all sports and doing nothing else.

And there are 3 or 4 western schools that won't vote to add Coastal or EKU, unless NMSU is brought in.

(08-10-2015 02:54 PM)southernwolf Wrote:  

(08-09-2015 09:58 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  The seeming need to rush to add a team soon resulted from the messed up basketball schedule. I cannot see how simply adding nmsu for all sports solves it. There are at least 5 schools as I understand who will not vote for simply adding nmsu for all sports and doing nothing else.

And there are 3 or 4 western schools that won't vote to add Coastal or EKU, unless NMSU is brought in.

I do not believe that. I think the west blocked eastern teams in prior votes based on the quality of the applicants not geography.

So the obvious move is to go to a 12/14 set up with coastal eku and nmsu brought in and Idaho exited

(08-10-2015 03:06 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  So the obvious move is to go to a 12/14 set up with coastal eku and nmsu brought in and Idaho exited

It's the option I like because I want NMSU in.

I'm not sure it is the obvious move especially if a closer look has the expansion committee unenthusiastic about a candidate.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I would be surprised if NMSU in all sports gets in with no one else but we will see.[/code]

Sounds like the school that actually has a stadium big enough and can fill it with the required # of folks is being shunned by this conference. No one can convince me that leaving LU out of this and going to one of the others mentioned doesn't sound desperate and exclusionary.

After this I hope someone sees the error of the NCAA's independent policy.

If Liberty were a religious school that represented a religion that wasn't in the majority you'd have a better chance raising a stink in today's world.

(08-10-2015 07:15 PM)knucklehead Wrote:  Sounds like the school that actually has a stadium big enough and can fill it with the required # of folks is being shunned by this conference. No one can convince me that leaving LU out of this and going to one of the others mentioned doesn't sound desperate and exclusionary.

After this I hope someone sees the error of the NCAA's independent policy.

Oh it is exclusionary there is no question about that. Every conference is exclusionary unless they have to add warm bodies to survive. Missouri tried hard to get into the Big Ten but the B1G was exclusionary and declined.

Desperate? Liberty and Coastal are 6-6 vs each in football, basketball is 26-28 Liberty and CCU leads 58-34 in baseball.
If taking Coastal would be desperate then so would taking a program that all-time is even with Liberty in two of the three sports that matter most to the Sun Belt membership.

(08-10-2015 08:05 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(08-10-2015 07:15 PM)knucklehead Wrote:  Sounds like the school that actually has a stadium big enough and can fill it with the required # of folks is being shunned by this conference. No one can convince me that leaving LU out of this and going to one of the others mentioned doesn't sound desperate and exclusionary.

After this I hope someone sees the error of the NCAA's independent policy.

Oh it is exclusionary there is no question about that. Every conference is exclusionary unless they have to add warm bodies to survive. Missouri tried hard to get into the Big Ten but the B1G was exclusionary and declined.

Desperate? Liberty and Coastal are 6-6 vs each in football, basketball is 26-28 Liberty and CCU leads 58-34 in baseball.
If taking Coastal would be desperate then so would taking a program that all-time is even with Liberty in two of the three sports that matter most to the Sun Belt membership.

Yeah, the "conference is being exclusionary" is a weak argument. Most conferences reserve the right to not be an open door. Someone tell the Ivy league they can't be selective ... right.

As everyone ignores the stadium and attendance comments.......

(08-10-2015 08:42 PM)knucklehead Wrote:  As everyone ignores the stadium and attendance comments.......

Everyone understands that's the main problem with Coastal. The stadium is too small and the average attendance is less than 15,000 - people aren't ignoring it but realize that these can be rectified. Coastal's president has already said that if invited they will immediately begin the process to expand over 20,000. So the real issue is about the 15,000 average and appears most people are willing to give Coastal the benefit of the doubt there. It still doesn't change Liberty's status though.

(08-10-2015 07:15 PM)knucklehead Wrote:  Sounds like the school that actually has a stadium big enough and can fill it with the required # of folks is being shunned by this conference. No one can convince me that leaving LU out of this and going to one of the others mentioned doesn't sound desperate and exclusionary.

After this I hope someone sees the error of the NCAA's independent policy.

It is absolutely exclusionary. No doubt about that.

It's absolutely not desperate as evidenced that we have options other than Liberty.

After this, I hope Liberty takes a long hard look at itself and tries to understand why it's being excluded. From there, they can decide if they would rather stay true to themselves, or if they are willing to relent on some of their issues in an effort to spread their brand.