What happens to the CAA when JMU leaves now for Conference USA to replace UAB?
W&M would be the only Virginia team left in the conference.
What if Delaware decides to join the MAC and replace UMass?
Would we make Albany & Stony Brook full members then to replace JMU/Delaware?
What if Charleston & Elon don't want to be in the new America East 2.0 and leave the CAA too?
Would we leave the dumpster fire that would be left and join our academic peers in the PATRIOT?!?
The ramifications of what took place in Birmingham today could eventually trickle down to Williamsburg "tomorrow".

My biggest concern with the current CAA is that there are only 5 full football playing members. If Madison and Delaware leave we're stuck with Towson and Elon.

OMG, here we go again. What if cows start flying south for the winter? Will we have to pay double for milk during winter months?

Here's a great look at what happened during the last big shakeup for those who don't remember: http://shadesof48.com/more-emails-a-insi...n-efforts/ (As I side note, I have no idea what happened to this blog but wish they would return, their coverage was great)

It indicates that Hofstra has resisted adding Stony Brook as an all-sports member. This seems shortsighted on their part, and for lack of a better word, dumb. Both Albany and Stony Brook should be added as all-sports members yesterday.

Other schools in the mix back then that could still be in play now: Fairfield, Furman, Hampton, UNC Greensboro. None of these prospects, other than maybe Furman, excite me. But if this is the kind of quality the CAA can attract, I would throw in VMI, Wofford, Charleston Southern, and Coastal Carolina as well.

In my dreams I would build a Virginia Basketball Conference consisting of WM, Richmond, VCU, JMU, GMU, ODU, VMI, Hampton, Norfolk State, Radford, Liberty, and Longwood. Not holding my breath.

I don't think JMU is all that likely to move up. Go on the CUSA forum here, and they really aren't getting a ton of thought as an addition

(12-03-2014 12:49 AM)TDenverFan Wrote:  I don't think JMU is all that likely to move up. Go on the CUSA forum here, and they really aren't getting a ton of thought as an addition

You mean fans of CUSA teams aren't desperate to make trips to Harrisonburg to watch their team play?

(12-02-2014 10:20 PM)Tribester Wrote:  What happens to the CAA when JMU leaves now for Conference USA to replace UAB?
W&M would be the only Virginia team left in the conference.
What if Delaware decides to join the MAC and replace UMass?
Would we make Albany & Stony Brook full members then to replace JMU/Delaware?
What if Charleston & Elon don't want to be in the new America East 2.0 and leave the CAA too?
Would we leave the dumpster fire that would be left and join our academic peers in the PATRIOT?!?
The ramifications of what took place in Birmingham today could eventually trickle down to Williamsburg "tomorrow".

It can be argued that with the addition of Delaware, Hofstra, Drexel and Towson, that the CAA is already America East 2.0.

Hofstra needs to come to its senses re: Stony Brook. The SoCon is weaker. So, the Patriot is the fall-back option.

The JMU fan base seems to have checked out of the CAA, and longs to follow ODU. Who knows what Delaware is doing because their football program is not what it used to be.

The fallout continues, but that second level of football ... the G5 ... is turning into an expensive proposition. I still would like to see the CAA go up as a group in football (I know the NCAA rules prohibit it, but the NCAA is weak right now), and contain their costs per conference rules.

Failing that, I would approach GW, Harvard, UPenn, Lehigh, and Fordham, and start making the case / inroads for an academic / athletic / research / TV network merger of W&M, Richmond, GW, Delaware, Fordham, UMass, the Ivies, and the Patriots.... an East Coast academic superconference. I know that this is next to impossible, and the key is the Ivies, but Harvard wants to ramp up, and Penn is in the dumps in hoops ... so maybe there's a chance. The Patriots will follow the Ivies' lead, and then one can create a superconferences on the East Coast of elite academic schools that play "true" D-1 football and hoops. Richmond, GW, and Fordham would join this in a heartbeat.

Even if the Ivies and Patriots don't want to expand, if one gets them to play by the same rules as W&M, then the Patriot becomes a very nice option for W&M, especially if the OOC schedules are dotted with Ivy schools playing ramped up hoops and football, along with traditional in-state rivals.

But, if the Ivies and Patriot don't want to "play ball", W&M has to make the CAA work and survive.

Good grief. What an asinine thread (again).

CAA looks pretty good to me now - and still with plenty of entry options.

You could write this stuff on any conference in the country outside the Ivy and BCS.

(12-03-2014 09:42 AM)Sitting bull Wrote:  Good grief. What an asinine thread (again).

CAA looks pretty good to me now - and still with plenty of entry options.

You could write this stuff on any conference in the country outside the Ivy and BCS.

Agreed. The alarmists are always at the ready with new speculation about the demise of the CAA. Even the SOCON has survived after suffering significant losses. I hope we continue to bolster the CAA, but it remains pretty strong.

(12-02-2014 11:04 PM)A Quest Called Tribe Wrote:  Here's a great look at what happened during the last big shakeup for those who don't remember: http://shadesof48.com/more-emails-a-insi...n-efforts/ (As I side note, I have no idea what happened to this blog but wish they would return, their coverage was great)

It indicates that Hofstra has resisted adding Stony Brook as an all-sports member. This seems shortsighted on their part, and for lack of a better word, dumb. Both Albany and Stony Brook should be added as all-sports members yesterday.

Other schools in the mix back then that could still be in play now: Fairfield, Furman, Hampton, UNC Greensboro. None of these prospects, other than maybe Furman, excite me. But if this is the kind of quality the CAA can attract, I would throw in VMI, Wofford, Charleston Southern, and Coastal Carolina as well.

In my dreams I would build a Virginia Basketball Conference consisting of WM, Richmond, VCU, JMU, GMU, ODU, VMI, Hampton, Norfolk State, Radford, Liberty, and Longwood. Not holding my breath.

Yea a voice of reason on the board with the VBC; but why not the Virginia Athletic conference?

I like the CAA as is. Obviously, we can all create dream conferences, but from a realistic standpoint the CAA will carry on as is, and won't be adding UR/GWU/GMU/ODU/whoever anytime soon. I like the CAA more than the Patriot. If something major happens, maybe that'll change. But for now, I'm content with the CAA over the PAtriot

I continue to believe that, eventually, we will join the Patriot League. It may take up to five years, but the continued deterioration of the old CAA we once enjoyed that may accelerate again if JMU departs makes the Patriot collection of strong academic institutions more and more attractive.

Let us not forget that Army and Navy belong to the Patriot in all sports but football; added to solid colleges like Lehigh, Fordham, Bucknell, and Holy Cross, etc. this is pretty decent company. And much more in keeping with a school like W&M compared to the reshuffled
CAA.

Playing Army and Navy in all sports but football would also create lots of interest in the
heavily military Tidewater area.

(12-03-2014 12:25 PM)BigTribe Wrote:  I continue to believe that, eventually, we will join the Patriot League. It may take up to five years, but the continued deterioration of the old CAA we once enjoyed that may accelerate again if JMU departs makes the Patriot collection of strong academic institutions more and more attractive.

Let us not forget that Army and Navy belong to the Patriot in all sports but football; added to solid colleges like Lehigh, Fordham, Bucknell, and Holy Cross, etc. this is pretty decent company. And much more in keeping with a school like W&M compared to the reshuffled
CAA.

Playing Army and Navy in all sports but football would also create lots of interest in the
heavily military Tidewater area.

An awful lot will have to happen in five years for this to be a good move. Fordham is a football only member. Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell, Holy Cross and Colgate (the full members who play football) have very little in common with W&M other than undergraduate selectivity.

(12-03-2014 12:25 PM)BigTribe Wrote:  I continue to believe that, eventually, we will join the Patriot League. It may take up to five years, but the continued deterioration of the old CAA we once enjoyed that may accelerate again if JMU departs makes the Patriot collection of strong academic institutions more and more attractive.

Let us not forget that Army and Navy belong to the Patriot in all sports but football; added to solid colleges like Lehigh, Fordham, Bucknell, and Holy Cross, etc. this is pretty decent company. And much more in keeping with a school like W&M compared to the reshuffled CAA.

Playing Army and Navy in all sports but football would also create lots of interest in the heavily military Tidewater area.

[quote
In my dreams I would build a Virginia Basketball Conference consisting of WM, Richmond, VCU, JMU, GMU, ODU, VMI, Hampton, Norfolk State, Radford, Liberty, and Longwood. Not holding my breath.
[/quote]

Yea a voice of reason on the board with the VBC; but why not the Virginia Athletic conference?
[/quote]

That dream existed and it was called the CAA several years ago.

It's like herding cats, you are not going to keep that many schools in the same neighborhood together long. All of them will look for ways to shift up to higher ground. In the CAA, that started with UR to the A-10.

Personally, as long as we play some OOC, I see no big deal with how many local schools are in our conference. We are a national university and like UVA, exist very well in a conference with a larger footprint.

(12-03-2014 11:15 AM)TDenverFan Wrote:  I like the CAA as is. Obviously, we can all create dream conferences, but from a realistic standpoint the CAA will carry on as is, and won't be adding UR/GWU/GMU/ODU/whoever anytime soon. I like the CAA more than the Patriot. If something major happens, maybe that'll change. But for now, I'm content with the CAA over the PAtriot

By a mile, agreed.

All of this talk again generated by an unlikely scenario involving one member (though we have all known I think it's just a matter of time). We have 5 to 10 decent candidates who would step up to take that slot.

I doubt this changes anything for JMU. I have a feeling that we're not going anywhere until FBS figures out the G5 mess.

(12-04-2014 09:23 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  I doubt this changes anything for JMU. I have a feeling that we're not going anywhere until FBS figures out the G5 mess.

I think your admin feels a sense of relief by what happened in Birmingham. Like, "See...THIS is why we didn't move up." Liberty has more money than they can count and only football matters to them. They'll take the bait. As you said, JMU, I think, will stay put until the dust clears. That's good for the CAA.

It is also the only responsible decision for JMU.

(12-04-2014 09:45 AM)Tribal Wrote:  

(12-04-2014 09:23 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  I doubt this changes anything for JMU. I have a feeling that we're not going anywhere until FBS figures out the G5 mess.

I think your admin feels a sense of relief by what happened in Birmingham. Like, "See...THIS is why we didn't move up." Liberty has more money than they can count and only football matters to them. They'll take the bait. As you said, JMU, I think, will stay put until the dust clears. That's good for the CAA.

Liberty may get a shot, but as you said, they have blank checks until the online education federal funding crackdown occurs (it is coming) and shuts off that spigot. They would be wise to start preparing for that, as it was only 10 years ago that they were nearly bankrupt and done.

JMU isn't worried about becoming UAB. We're totally different institutions. We just want to move when the time is right. You shouldn't buy a home if you don't know who your neighbors will be.

Our AD told me last year (when we declined the SBC) that a lot of FBS teams were going to be hurting. You can pick out another 10-20 G5 schools that have low support, and are throwing $$$ hand over fist, for no appreciable return. The day of reckoning is coming.