(12-01-2011 04:05 PM)MT FAN Wrote: belittle the Sun Belt conference teams, fanbases, and facilities. Reading their boards many of them think their teams and facilities our better than ours. They also would rather stay 1AA than move to the Sun Belt if invited. I don't understand their line of thinking. Are they really that naive to believe that their "stuff" is better or are they just saying it?
I do think many of the FCS fans, true or not, think that after one or two winning seasons in the FCS they could simply jump to the FBS and win the SBC Championship, especially if they had the same number of scholarships.
The reason for this is media perception in my mind. The Media talks down about the SBC all season long and some FCS fans read into this thinking that they are better.
There has only been one Dominant FCS team to make the jump and that was Marshall. Every other teams has been middle of the pack for the most part. Boise and WKU were prime examples of this, each having won only one Championship at the FCS level.
FCS success has very little to do with success in the FBS but if a team makes the jump in the middle of a dynasty run like Georgia Southern had in 98-2001 and App State had from 05-08 then it would give them a much better boost.
Personally, I think GSU could make the jump next season and come pretty close to a .500 record over the first two seasons. Our facilities and athletic budget is too low to sustain the level of support it would require but I think we could find a way to make it and stay competitive.
There is a core group of GSU fans that do not want to make the jump because they enjoy winning and enjoy the playoff experience and the chance at a national championship. Many of them would change their mind if the FBS went to a 8-16 team playoff format where the SBC/MAC conferences got auto bids for the conference champions.
I would love to see GSU make the jump (With App State) and start playing Troy and MTSU again every year but sadly I know we are barely in the top 10 of most SBC fans list and I could assume the commish as well. Maybe in the next 10 years, with a new Athletic Director for GSU and after our stadium expansion in a couple of years we'll get an offer, but i'm not expecting one and I will love and support my team either way.