http://middletennessee.scout.com/2/1070926.html

(05-10-2011 02:12 PM)MT FAN Wrote:  http://middletennessee.scout.com/2/1070926.html

When asked if he was in favor of expansion, Chris Massaro said, “Of course, but it has to be to everyone's economic advantage and one that will add to the perception and strength of the league.

However, these will not be decisions made by the athletic directors in the Sun Belt. Our presidents will handle any possible expansion.

Excellent interview. Thanks for posting.

Good read; thanks for sharing . .

(05-10-2011 02:20 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  

(05-10-2011 02:12 PM)MT FAN Wrote:  http://middletennessee.scout.com/2/1070926.html

When asked if he was in favor of expansion, Chris Massaro said, “Of course, but it has to be to everyone's economic advantage and one that will add to the perception and strength of the league.

However, these will not be decisions made by the athletic directors in the Sun Belt. Our presidents will handle any possible expansion.

Interesting....exactly the same thing I posted yesterday. He knows the SunBelt's biggest problem is the dead weight in the conference that has not improved in 5 years and the perception that the SunBelt is the undisputed worst conference in football. He knows that the SunBelt does not need a top 15 media market at this point, but teams that can win on the field, win big out of conference games, improve the perception of the conference which will improve recruiting for most of the schools. Unfortunately perception is reality and the SB desperately needs to start winning on the field. I think the SB was slowly moving in the right direction, but last year was a step back.

Add App State and Ga Southern. Two storied programs that will not be afraid at all to go after the big boys and start winning some ball games. ga Southern would be the 3rd FBS program in GA and would rake in the talent as the state of GA has the best ratio of FBS signees per FBS school. That is over 160 FBS prospects for GA and Ga Tech who will typically only sign 35 of these at most per year. Instead of these prospects going to CUSA, BE, Big 10 schools some would go to Ga Southern which would help the Sun Belt as a conference. All this Missouri State, UTSA, Texas State talk would just adding be more dead weight. 3 programs that have proven zero on the field. Talk about a gamble.

(05-10-2011 08:20 PM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  Add App State and Ga Southern. Two storied programs that will not be afraid at all to go after the big boys and start winning some ball games. ga Southern would be the 3rd FBS program in GA and would rake in the talent as the state of GA has the best ratio of FBS signees per FBS school. That is over 160 FBS prospects for GA and Ga Tech who will typically only sign 35 of these at most per year. Instead of these prospects going to CUSA, BE, Big 10 schools some would go to Ga Southern which would help the Sun Belt as a conference. All this Missouri State, UTSA, Texas State talk would just adding be more dead weight. 3 programs that have proven zero on the field. Talk about a gamble.

Possibly Appy St, but I'm sure we're not worthy of Ga Southern.

(05-10-2011 08:28 PM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  

(05-10-2011 08:20 PM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  Add App State and Ga Southern. Two storied programs that will not be afraid at all to go after the big boys and start winning some ball games. ga Southern would be the 3rd FBS program in GA and would rake in the talent as the state of GA has the best ratio of FBS signees per FBS school. That is over 160 FBS prospects for GA and Ga Tech who will typically only sign 35 of these at most per year. Instead of these prospects going to CUSA, BE, Big 10 schools some would go to Ga Southern which would help the Sun Belt as a conference. All this Missouri State, UTSA, Texas State talk would just adding be more dead weight. 3 programs that have proven zero on the field. Talk about a gamble.

Possibly Appy St, but I'm sure we're not worthy of Ga Southern.

App State and Ga Southern would rank 1st and 3rd in attendance in the Sun Belt based on last year's regular season average. If there were any kind of bounce from playing FBS football you could probably add a couple of thousand to each. Adding both schools would increase the SunBelt's division 1 national title total from 2 to 11.

(05-10-2011 08:33 PM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  

(05-10-2011 08:28 PM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  

(05-10-2011 08:20 PM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  Add App State and Ga Southern. Two storied programs that will not be afraid at all to go after the big boys and start winning some ball games. ga Southern would be the 3rd FBS program in GA and would rake in the talent as the state of GA has the best ratio of FBS signees per FBS school. That is over 160 FBS prospects for GA and Ga Tech who will typically only sign 35 of these at most per year. Instead of these prospects going to CUSA, BE, Big 10 schools some would go to Ga Southern which would help the Sun Belt as a conference. All this Missouri State, UTSA, Texas State talk would just adding be more dead weight. 3 programs that have proven zero on the field. Talk about a gamble.

Possibly Appy St, but I'm sure we're not worthy of Ga Southern.

App State and Ga Southern would rank 1st and 3rd in attendance in the Sun Belt based on last year's regular season average. If there were any kind of bounce from playing FBS football you could probably add a couple of thousand to each. Adding both schools would increase the SunBelt's division 1 national title total from 2 to 11.

For the last time, the Sunbelt is not adding Georgia St, GSU or Appy St. The Sunbelt is a stable conference with 10 FBS football members starting in 2012, there is no need to rush to expand.

The BE will drive the expansion bus when/if they make a move. Once that happens you will see a shift in CUSA and the Belt. More than likely you will see teams swap conferences for a better geographical fit. But until then can we please lay off of the GSU, App St, Lamar, Tx St, UTSA, La Tech or any other wannabe Belt member.

(05-10-2011 08:33 PM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  App State and Ga Southern would rank 1st and 3rd in attendance in the Sun Belt based on last year's regular season average.

As of right now maybe. But the first few years, you'll see some growing pains associated with playing a tougher schedule, causing your win/loss ratio to go down. The rule is, as win/loss declines, so does attendance.

You've lost 9 FCS games in the last two years. While that might equate to being on par with what we already have, we're looking to strengthen our league, not keep it coasting a long. You've said Georgia Southern is back, and on the rise, and that may be the case. But as a conference, we can't afford to take a gamble on a team that hasn't exactly blown the doors off their FCS opponents.

We can't take a risk on what could turn out to be a a bright future for a pretty good FCS football program. We need established results. 9 FCS losses in two years is not established results. The league needs to strengthen what it has, not add to the status quo.

Truth be told, whether you agree or not, Georgia Southern would not help the perception of our league. Georgia Southern is a hot name only in FCS circles. Appalachian State is the only FCS football team that would improve the perception of the league, and four years later they're still on cloud nine from the Michigan win. And whether they deserve it or not isn't the issue, the fact remains that that win and their string of championships have skyrocketed their reputation. They are the lone execption in FCS football.

Some say the reputation of Georgia Southern is on par with our league. And I'll answer this; as stated before, the goal is to strengthen our league, not to prolong a period of coasting.

Having lost to so many FCS teams over the years tell me that Georgia Southern would be at best doppleganger for a team we already have; a clone that would act to thin out the revenue distribution even further.

I don't know anything about GSU but I do like Appy St. I think we have the ability to add teams that have a market and a winning history. Appy St doesn't have the market but the campus is in such a beautiful area that I think they would be a good addition when you consider their program is a winner. I don't think GSU brings that much of either from what I've seen here and there. Could be wrong though.

(05-10-2011 08:33 PM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  

(05-10-2011 08:28 PM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  

(05-10-2011 08:20 PM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  Add App State and Ga Southern. Two storied programs that will not be afraid at all to go after the big boys and start winning some ball games. ga Southern would be the 3rd FBS program in GA and would rake in the talent as the state of GA has the best ratio of FBS signees per FBS school. That is over 160 FBS prospects for GA and Ga Tech who will typically only sign 35 of these at most per year. Instead of these prospects going to CUSA, BE, Big 10 schools some would go to Ga Southern which would help the Sun Belt as a conference. All this Missouri State, UTSA, Texas State talk would just adding be more dead weight. 3 programs that have proven zero on the field. Talk about a gamble.

Possibly Appy St, but I'm sure we're not worthy of Ga Southern.

App State and Ga Southern would rank 1st and 3rd in attendance in the Sun Belt based on last year's regular season average. If there were any kind of bounce from playing FBS football you could probably add a couple of thousand to each. Adding both schools would increase the SunBelt's division 1 national title total from 2 to 11.

I'm curious how much GSU charged for its tickets or whether it had a bunch of promotional give-aways. stAte in the past has shown a 29K attendance/tickets sold with a $3 per ticket Sonic promotion. I ain't buying that GSU would be top 3 in Sun Belt if they were getting their ass beat by Sun Belt teams regularly.

The problem is we will never know. It's all conjecture. I think GSU would be fine if they joined but I thought that about WKU too so...