(04-22-2014 12:17 PM)BucSinceTheSixties Wrote:  

(12-07-2013 12:02 AM)Buccaneerlover Wrote:  Found this one interesting. If EKU goes, does the OVC finally give North Alabama a shot?


http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2...ck_check=1

How about Belmont to the Horizon League? It's already happened for their Men's Soccer program:

http://csnbbs.com/thread-687107.html


Upon further "investigation," they also have agreed to out-of-conference scheduling for Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Baseball, Softball, and Women's Soccer:

http://belmontbruins.com/sports/m-soccer...04217eacrq


Is a conference move about 1 or 2 years away for them? If so, should ETSU athletics angle to fill their spot in the OVC? Or, will the SoCon's RPI raise high enough in that time that an OVC jump wouldn't really be a move up?

ETSU on the coat tails of Belmont…[bucdoctor hangs head in shame then ]

For some stupid reason, I think that the current administration believes that the Southern is preferred over the OVC.

(04-22-2014 06:45 PM)etsubuc Wrote:  For some stupid reason, I think that the current administration believes that the Southern is preferred over the OVC.

I don't think it's stupid. The OVC is currently stronger, but I do like that I can make almost every away game. That is certainly not the case in the OVC.

(04-22-2014 07:11 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  

(04-22-2014 06:45 PM)etsubuc Wrote:  For some stupid reason, I think that the current administration believes that the Southern is preferred over the OVC.

I don't think it's stupid. The OVC is currently stronger, but I do like that I can make almost every away game. That is certainly not the case in the OVC.

This is about more than athletics. Will ETSU have more exposure/have more potential students from Western NC and Greeneville/Spartinburg or Missouri, Southern Illinois or Eastern Illinois?

Much bigger picture here than just athletics.

(04-22-2014 07:53 PM)BucDoctor Wrote:  

(04-22-2014 07:11 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  

(04-22-2014 06:45 PM)etsubuc Wrote:  For some stupid reason, I think that the current administration believes that the Southern is preferred over the OVC.

I don't think it's stupid. The OVC is currently stronger, but I do like that I can make almost every away game. That is certainly not the case in the OVC.

This is about more than athletics. Will ETSU have more exposure/have more potential students from Western NC and Greeneville/Spartinburg or Missouri, Southern Illinois or Eastern Illinois?

Much bigger picture here than just athletics.

We have a winner

We need to have more exposure in Missouri and Illinois. The more students ETSU can get from outside the immediate 2-3 hour radius, the stronger the university.

(04-22-2014 07:11 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  

(04-22-2014 06:45 PM)etsubuc Wrote:  For some stupid reason, I think that the current administration believes that the Southern is preferred over the OVC.

I don't think it's stupid. The OVC is currently stronger, but I do like that I can make almost every away game. That is certainly not the case in the OVC.

But is that what's best for ETSU athletics? More convenient sure, and the savings in travel is probably substantial but it's the home schedule and overall strength of opponents that really makes a difference. We have an uninterested/non-existent fanbase. We have to play games, particularly at home, that people care about to really build the fanbase back and most importantly not get handed 16 seeds when/if we make the dance. As things stand, with Davidson, App State, and CoC gone the only team likely to move the dial in the SOCON is UTC.

I`m also a firm believer that iron sharpens iron. The better teams we play, the better we have to be ourselves to beat them.

(04-22-2014 09:54 PM)etsubuc Wrote:  We need to have more exposure in Missouri and Illinois. The more students ETSU can get from outside the immediate 2-3 hour radius, the stronger the university.

Okay, with all the universities around Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Arkansas, and middle/western Tennessee, those few students, which is largely farmland aren't coming to northeast Tennessee for school.
Have you ever been to Cape Girardeau/Sikeston or any of these other places?
From an enrollment, travel and budget perspective, ETSU is where it should be. And selfishly that sucks for me, I'd love to see ETSU making multiple trips out here and having the conference basketball tourney local, but it's not what's best for the school as a whole.
Besides, ETSU still makes ZERO EFFORT to recruit this way? Notice the one in state city missing on the caravan? The sports tour goes to Chattanooga, Atlanta, Charlotte, etc... yet they don't make the four hour trek to the state capitol, where they could've probably even recruiting a former Miss Johnson City and WJHL alum to emcee the event and get extra press coverage, not to mention that the smartest county in the state is here (five juniors in Williamson County aced the last ACT given).

The OVC would be a great option, I'm not denying that, but as it stands, they aren't looking for schools. Plus, I'd say they are t very happy with us considering we turned them down a few years ago. The smartest move would have been to move to the OVC with Belmont and Lipscomb a while back, but we had dumb and dumber running the show. Anything is better than the ASUN from a fans perspective. If the opportunity to move to the OVC comes about again, it should be considered. As it stands now though, I think we've made a positive move.

(04-23-2014 10:03 AM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  The OVC would be a great option, I'm not denying that, but as it stands, they aren't looking for schools. Plus, I'd say they are t very happy with us considering we turned them down a few years ago. The smartest move would have been to move to the OVC with Belmont and Lipscomb a while back, but we had dumb and dumber running the show. Anything is better than the ASUN from a fans perspective. If the opportunity to move to the OVC comes about again, it should be considered. As it stands now though, I think we've made a positive move.

People are failing to realize that EKU is looking to leave as well, so that would leave Morehead State as ETSU's closest opponent and that's only for basketball/Olympic sports. Even if EKU left, I could see them begging for North Alabama to finally make the jump. The OVC really seems to be more interested in Midwestern expansion and not east.

(04-23-2014 10:17 AM)Buccaneerlover Wrote:  The OVC really seems to be more interested in Midwestern expansion and not east.

NKU

Below (in blue) is what a UIC fan posted at http://csnbbs.com/thread-687107.html. With regards to his last statement (bolded), is there a chance (sometime down the road) of ETSU moving into the Horizon League as Belmont's travel partner? Or, would they go after someone more centrally located like a Murray State or Morehead? It would definitely be a move up for the Bucs, however. According to CBS Sports, the Southern Conference is ranked as the #30 RPI of 33 D-1 conferences, OVC is #24, A-Sun is #23, and the Horizon League is #14. CBS's listing can be found here: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketba...conference


The affiliation agreement most definitely has future implications for the rest of Belmont's sports team. This is a trial run to see if the Horizon League is a good fit for Belmont and vice versa. They will have ample opportunity to play multiple HL teams at multiple HL venues to get a feel for HL play and travel. Men's basketball will play 6 Horizon League teams in home/home games over a 4 year period. Belmont will play other HL teams in WBB, Baseball, Softball and Women's Soccer.

The Horizon League is also looking to bring in a southern partner for Belmont.



Here are the current Horizon League members as listed on their wiki page. Competition wise, I think ETSU would fit right in. Logistically speaking, though, it might be A-Sun-ish in nature . . . except with all the schools being north from us instead of south. Would it be worth the extra travel expense to be in a #14 RPI rank conference instead of #23, #24, or #30?

Full members:
Cleveland State University
University of Detroit Mercy
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Oakland University
University of Illinois at Chicago
Valparaiso University
Wright State University
Youngstown State University

Affiliate member:
Belmont University

I just looked at the CBS Sports RPI rankings again and noticed that the Colonial Conference is ranked #15. Geographically, that would be the best fit for making a big move up in RPI. But, supposing an invite from the Colonial never comes, my question still stands as would the Horizon League's high RPI ranking be attractive enough to leadership at ETSU to increase travel expense (again)? Eh, it's all just pie-in-the-sky speculation . . .

I suggest ETSU get their fan base back..return to the days of a minimum small crowd is 5000 and a big one is a sellout with fire marshal restrictions removed. Then a move in conference would be possible. It's happened before and can happen again....but unfortunately it may require some personnel changes in the men's basketball department.

Respectfully, I do not see us ever seeing a time that 5,000 is a minimum crowd again. Even with a successful team and community support, 5,000 is a very good crowd for this area- which many have pointed out are not that supportive of sports and ETSU in general

Win and they will come.

the question i would ask is - why another move? is the SoCon a conference of peer institutions? Is the OVC a conference of peer institutions (they would at least have 4 other schools in the same system - Tennessee Board of Regents). Is the Hoizon a conference of peer institutions (obviously they do not have football which would have to be a pretty big issue with the start-up of the program)? I would begin at that point and then move forward. Not sure any of them make a big difference competitively. Could make a fairly compelling argument that the SoCon is the weakest of the ones mentioned above. However, having said that - not sure there is a much if any difference in the revenue generated by any of those conferences. At that point one starts looking pretty hard at expenses and sport/championship offerings.

(04-24-2014 07:40 AM)etsubuc Wrote:  Respectfully, I do not see us ever seeing a time that 5,000 is a minimum crowd again. Even with a successful team and community support, 5,000 is a very good crowd for this area- which many have pointed out are not that supportive of sports and ETSU in general

Well we won't so long as that is the prevailing consensus. You really believe the demographics have changed that much that it is impossible for ETSU to host big crowds on a regular basis?

It would take ETSU being in the top 10 in the country to get crowds like that. As much of an ETSU as I am, I do not think that is probable. And I think that realistic goals are more healthy than pretending that it is. If we are a Belmont type team, i see that as a success. And I do not think with that level of success in the Southern Conference we would have crowds near 5,000 on a regular basis.

(04-24-2014 12:04 AM)BucSinceTheSixties Wrote:  

(04-23-2014 10:17 AM)Buccaneerlover Wrote:  The OVC really seems to be more interested in Midwestern expansion and not east.

NKU

A football school is trying to leave. They need to replace the football part of it.