The absurdity of this situation continues...

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...all-return

Will be interesting to see how the program is able to do with a short gap like this. A year of not playing and no recruiting for six months after the program was finally getting some momentum could be very hard to overcome.

(06-01-2015 04:05 PM)hktribefan Wrote:  The absurdity of this situation continues...

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...all-return

Will be interesting to see how the program is able to do with a short gap like this. A year of not playing and no recruiting for six months after the program was finally getting some momentum could be very hard to overcome.

I still would take UAB over JMU as an FBS program.

CUSA needs to think long and hard about holding hands with a program given the school's promise to invest very little into the well-being of the program. And, why would a HS athlete sign up for that instability?

Because they want to play a D 1 schedule.

[quote='Tribal' pid='12101440' dateline='1433209283']
CUSA needs to think long and hard about holding hands with a program given the school's promise to invest very little into the well-being of the program. And, why would a HS athlete sign up for that

It looks like raising approximately $27 million and reciving a strong commitment from the business community is pretty strong. Very similar to when The College installed lights, field turf and built a football only facility that demonstrated a pretty large commitment to the program here. The money being raised would show a HS athlete UAB is serious and will be a viable place to play football if the young man wants to stay in Alabama but cannot play for either of the in state SEC schools. With the business community behind the program then that normally means more tickets sold and more probably a better game day atmosphere.

Okay, so why did they have to shut down the program before the community decided to support the team? I think this is an emotional response by the community and their zest will fade. UAB may find itself in the same spot in 3 years.

Also, we raised money for a product (i.e. lights). Once we had the money, we made a one time purchase. The UAB community is going to need to continuously foot the bill year in year out.

The funny part about them shutting down the program is there was finally some interest in the program with attendance being up and they were bowl eligible . The money raised will go to improve the product with better football facilities , also.
If memory serves me correct, many speculated our friends in Norfolk would see the initial excitement of having football would fade as time went on and especially when there were no longer playing natural rivals. ODU still sells out and gets a ton of media coverage in the Tidewater market.
Granted they do not have the 800 ton gorillas in this area like UAB does in its.
Hey, I wish them luck. It just pains me to see schools drop sports.

(06-02-2015 10:52 AM)Tribe Fan Wrote:  The funny part about them shutting down the program is there was finally some interest in the program with attendance being up and they were bowl eligible . The money raised will go to improve the product with better football facilities , also.
If memory serves me correct, many speculated our friends in Norfolk would see the initial excitement of having football would fade as time went on and especially when there were no longer playing natural rivals. ODU still sells out and gets a ton of media coverage in the Tidewater market.
Granted they do not have the 800 ton gorillas in this area like UAB does in its.
Hey, I wish them luck. It just pains me to see schools drop sports.

Speaking of the lovely folks down in Norfolk, for a good laugh go read the thread about the recently released C-USA TV schedule on their board. The problem they face is the stadium. Easy to fill a 20,000 stadium for FBS when you're the only thing in the area and you have an electric player like Heinicke. Yes they redshirted a bunch of (what they would say are) highly touted prospects, but that Defense needs a complete overhaul and it's going to be tough to replace Heinecke's passing yards. Even if they are able to be successful for the next few years, it will be hard for the program to really grow until they can get a stadium sorted out.

If you listen closely, you can hear weeping from Harrisonburg as their sure avenue to 1-A riches has closed.

(06-02-2015 12:45 PM)Rocco Wrote:  If you listen closely, you can hear weeping from Harrisonburg as their sure avenue to 1-A riches has closed.

That's right, June 1st was the deadline for announcing any move for 2016-2017.