(04-10-2015 04:55 AM)theothermav Wrote:  

(04-09-2015 08:46 PM)runamuck Wrote:  

(04-09-2015 04:09 PM)rknj8993 Wrote:  I would love to welcome JMU to the Sun Belt, but until the administration and a few fans decide to lower the noses, I don't see them ever joining the Sun Belt, let alone the FBS.

I googled them up. they dont seem to have anything very special. only 8 phd level programs. not many tech fields. not many international students. plenty of sbc schools offer more stuff..I think they would fit in better than they think.

I believe JMU is a regional school with an emphasis in the humanities at the undergraduate level and offers doctorate programs at limited research capacity. So, if you ask a 25-year-old PHD candidate in mechanical engineering vs a 19-year-old liberal arts major what qualifies a superior university, you'll likely get vastly dissimilar answers.

yes they seem to be more liberal arts oriented. we offer 8 or 9 phd programs just in engineering alone I think and have nearly 10 times as many international students. at nearly 80% white, jmu is not even very diversified. the sbc might even be somewhat of a step up for them. jmu may be considered a pretty good school, but the schools in the sbc are better than people give them credit for.

(04-09-2015 04:09 PM)rknj8993 Wrote:  *Disclaimer: I have been very much pro-JMU for a while now.*

If JMU doesn't want in, then they can go on their way. At this point, I don' really know what's good enough for them short of the ACC.

If they join the Sun Belt, we know that they would shove any of us down in a heartbeat if it meant they could leave. Their fans have belittled the academics and athletics of current Sun Belt members and they continue to act as if their academics are on the level of Harvard, Yale, or Duke.

Appalachian needs a travel partner still, but getting us a travel partner is not worth the rest of the conference being told they are lesser schools and athletic programs because JMU does not feel it belongs. At this point, I believe JMU should remain in CAA with their academic peers while we wait for other programs to build upon what they have so we have more viable candidates, i.e. Missouri State, Chattanooga, Coastal Carolina, and many others. Who knows where many of these schools will be in 2025.

I would love to welcome JMU to the Sun Belt, but until the administration and a few fans decide to lower the noses, I don't see them ever joining the Sun Belt, let alone the FBS.

ETSU?