http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sport.../19976291/

"Finances play a huge factor in it — not only scholarship dollars, but infrastructure and all the trainers and equipment and strength staff and coaching staff," said Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield, whose Mountaineers beat the Cajuns 35-16 on Nov. 22.

"The dollars are huge. That's got to be there."You've got to have support from your fans and your alumni base and obviously your administration. If you're wavering in any of that, you certainly don't need to be moving.

"With Florida Atlantic, FIU, Middle Tennessee, North Texas and Western Kentucky all bolting the Sun Belt for Conference USA over the last few years as part of an onslaught of conference realignment, the SBC responded in part by first adding Georgia State and Texas State and later adding traditional FCS football powers Georgia Southern and Appalachian State.Georgia Southern, which UL didn't play this season due to unbalanced Sun Belt scheduling, won six I-AA national titles from 1985 through 2000.Appalachian State won three straight I-AA/ FCS national championships under longtime coach Jerry Moore from 2005-07, and is famed for beating then-No. 5 Michigan in 2007.

Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth, for one, had no doubt whatsoever that those two programs could succeed on the field in the Sun Belt.He was right, as Georgia Southern went 9-3 overall including 8-0 in SBC play and Appalachian State went 7-5 overall including 6-0 in their final six Sun Belt games of 2014.

"I knew coming into the year that (Appalachian State) and Georgia Southern were gonna be outstanding teams," Hudspeth said late last month. "Two teams that have been winning games a long time, with a lot of tradition."After also adding New Mexico State and Idaho out of the football-defunct WAC for football only, the Sun Belt, however, stopped there for now.

It has intentionally held off on adding a 12th football-playing member.Interest in SBC membership from Liberty — currently an FCS program wanting to move up, but without an FBS conference landing spot — has been shot down by a majority of presidents from Sun Belt schools, despite the Flames' deep financial resources.The fit, evidently, isn't quite right.The flip side is that James Madison did receive Sun Belt consideration, but the Dukes — with the SBC being their only avenue to FBS at the time — opted earlier this year to remain at the FCS level.Missouri State and Eastern Kentucky also have contemplated moves up to FBS and have been labeled potential eventual Sun Belt invitees.SBC presidents have shied away from programs deemed not-quite ready to make the leap, however, preferring to defer any membership addition rather than making a decision they'd later regret.Expansion, in fact, wasn't even formally discussed at their most-recent fall meeting.

Finding the finances
getting from 'C' level (Championship) to the B floor (Bowl) really is a move fraught with potential peril.Just ask UAB, which until this month played games at Birmingham's ancient Legion Field.According to the school in explaining its decision to drop football, "UAB already subsidizes $20 million of the roughly $30 million annual Athletic Department operating budget, which is the fifth largest budget and subsidy in Conference USA."That equates to a $100 million existing subsidy from UAB to the Athletic Department in the next five years.

In the new NCAA landscape over that same time period, the difference in scenarios in which UAB eliminates football or maintains a competitive Conference USA program is an additional $49 million. After those first five years, operating costs would only continue to increase."UAB administration cited "many challenges given the rapidly evolving NCAA landscape and soaring operating costs, which place extreme pressure and a growing financial burden on programs like UAB's," and said "costs are continuously spiraling upwards driven by cost-of-attendance payments to players, meals, equipment, facilities, coaches, travel and more."Still, others have successfully jumped.It's in large part because they properly prepared to do so, and — unlike UAB — have supportive administrations.

Satterfield cited three feasibility studies before Appalachian State decided to go.The Mountaineers looked closely at everyone from Boise State (which moved up from I-AA in 1996) and Marshall (1997) to Troy (2001) and Western Kentucky (2008)."There's a lot to it," Satterfield said."A lot of the teams that have made the jump over the last 15 years, we certainly looked at some of the things they have done and the pitfalls they may have (faced).

"Ultimately, with infrastructure in place and donations up, the decision to take the program's scope from regional to national made sense.Besides, Satterfield added, "We've done about all you can do at that (FCS) level."Upgrading the roster Beyond financial matters, and facilities, hurdles on the player front must be addressed and eventually overcome.

"Two years ago we weren't Division I quite yet, and I feel like our talent wasn't quite there," South Alabama head coach Joey Jones said. "Probably last year was much closer."This year?South Alabama, which did not even play football games in 2008, is going bowling.The 6-6 Jaguars were invited last Wednesday to the new Montgomery, Ala.-based Camellia Bowl, one of three primary Sun Belt-affiliated bowls along with the New Orleans Bowl, which 8-4 UL will play in for a fourth straight year, and the GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, which 7-5 Arkansas State will play in for a fourth straight year.

Texas State played in the FCS Southland Conference from 1987-2010 and as an independent in 2011.The Bobcats went 4-8 in the WAC in 2012, 6-2 as a first-year Sun Belt member last season and 7-5 this season under ex-Alabama and ex-Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione."Our first year (2011) we were neither fish nor fowl. We were in transition. We weren't FCS; we weren't FBS," Franchione said. "There was no hope for postseason, and that was unusual.

"Then went to the WAC — first time with 12 straight FBS games. That year was like, 'Whoa, there's another one coming this week.' You had to get used to the change of speed at that level, the change of physicality of that level."Roster issues, however, made that problematic.

"When I arrived at Texas State, I thought we played in an 6-foot-and-under league," Franchione said. "We didn't have the size required to play FBS football, and we needed more athletic ability, more speed."It takes time to continue to upgrade your roster to the level of player you need to play in this conference and to play FBS football on a week-in, week-out basis."So Texas State gradually upgraded talent, trying to get bigger, stronger and faster.Striking a balanceA transitioning program, however, must be quite careful with how it goes about upgrading talent."It's (about) making sure you have the plan in place to have the balance in your classes, and have the right numbers,

" Georgia State coach Trent Miles said in New Orleans. "When you're FCS, you're at 63 (scholarships). That's your max. When you go to FBS, you can go up to 85 — but you're still gonna graduate players."So, you've got to be able to manage how you're going to balance those classes. … You don't want 27 seniors and six sophomores."So," the Panthers coach added, "you've got to be able to give enough scholarships (to high school seniors) and maybe mix in some junior-college players to balance that out, so you're not getting devastated by graduations."Non-scholarship walks-on players must be worked in too."You've got to be smart on how you do it," said Miles, who coached previously at FCS Indiana State.It's all easier said than done.The Panthers — founded in 2010 as an FCS independent under ex-Georgia Tech, ex-Alabama and ex-Kentucky head coach Bill Curry — played for the first time at the FBS level as a Sun Belt newcomer in 2013."You realize some of the guys are gonna be 'Man, this guy can play in the Sun Belt with ease,' then there will be somewhere you say, 'Well, we've got to get bigger,'" Miles said of the sub-FBS roster he inherited.Some ex-FCS programs handle that reality easier than others.

"You take the (Appalachian) States and the Georgia Southerns of the world out of the FCS and you put them in mid-major conferences … and they'll compete with anybody," Miles said.Not everyone, however, can.Georgia State went 0-12 in 2013 and went 1-11 this season, beating only Abilene Christian, which is moving up from NCAA Division II to FCS football."For us, really, it started with recruiting," Appalachian State's Satterfield said back in July. "We were at 63 scholarships, and now you're moving up to 85 — and we're still not there."We've got more depth now. But they're young. … So, that's gonna be the biggest issue, I think, is to try build our team, and get some depth, and get those guys schooled up in a fast process."Longer-term Sun Belt/FBS-member programs like 2013 co-champs UL and Arkansas State, Satterfield suggested, have a built-in advantage."They've been recruiting for a long time," he said."(In the FCS Southern Conference), there's gonna be some talent there. But (in the Sun Belt), there's gonna be at least one or two players on every team that's gonna be an NFL-worthy type player and extremely talented. To me, you've just got a little bit more of it than what we had where we came from in the SoCon.

."Leveling the playing field
As long as finances are stabilized and facilities are sufficient, Georgia State's Miles is convinced that with reasonable transition time FCS call-ups can compete with just about any FBS program.That became the case, he suggests, when the NCAA dropped the limit on football scholarships to 105 to 85 in the early 1990s."It kind of leveled it our a little bit, and the landscape of college football changed a little bit," Miles said. "I think that's why you see a few more upsets, and you see an (Appalachian) State going to a Michigan."The Mountaineers returned to Ann Arbor this season, but this time they lost 52-14.Seven years later, however, their win there remains etched in college football lore."Back in the day, when Bo Schlembechler was (at Michigan), and Bear Bryant and Woody Hayes and all those guys were stockpiling all the players," Miles said, "that wouldn't have happened."But now, at 85 (scholarships) — I would never say it balances it, but it gives you an opportunity, because if they can only take only 85 and you can only take 85, there's some guys (at lower-level FBS programs) that could be playing at that (higher) level."

"MOVIN' ON UP
A look at the first transition year in which current Sun Belt Conference football programs moved up to FBS (or Division I) status since the inception of the Sun Belt:•Appalachian State: 2014 – From: FCS•Georgia Southern: 2014 – From: FCS•Georgia State: 2013 – From: FCS; founded in 2010•South Alabama: 2012 – From: FCS; founded in 2009•Texas State: 2011 – From: FCS through the WAC•Troy: 2001 – From: I-AA

Hudspeth has certainly changed his tune for what he said this summer about transitionals.

(12-07-2014 08:28 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  Hudspeth has certainly changed his tune for what he said this summer about transitionals.

Yes he has.

(12-07-2014 08:28 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  Hudspeth has certainly changed his tune for what he said this summer about transitionals.

He has indeed....

Recruiting is the key. Kids also want to play for a winner that's why ULL and Arkst have done well recently. GS & Appst have always recruited well I know because I have followed both for about 10 yrs. Southern is now getting to the point where we are getting second generation kids.

Assuming that the money, facilities, and support are in place, one other thing is needed: an invitation to join a FBS conference.

Oh Fran. Making excuses while App St and GS just won.

(12-07-2014 05:57 PM)appsfan Wrote:  Assuming that the money, facilities, and support are in place, one other thing is needed: an invitation to join a FBS conference.

Thanks for the reminder.

All you need for an invitation to the Fun Belt is to have nice golf courses for Krazy Karl to visit while in your market!

(12-07-2014 11:11 PM)epiccajun Wrote:  All you need for an invitation to the Fun Belt is to have nice golf courses for Krazy Karl to visit while in your market!

(12-07-2014 08:28 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  Hudspeth has certainly changed his tune for what he said this summer about transitionals.

What did Hudspeth originally say?

(12-07-2014 08:28 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  Hudspeth has certainly changed his tune for what he said this summer about transitionals.

In his defense, so did I.

To do it successfully, it takes a set of these to begin with. Then several other wheel barrows full of hundred dollar bills makes the transition smoother.