That was a very insightful post, please continue to add nothing to the conversation.

(03-10-2016 10:55 AM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  

(03-10-2016 10:48 AM)eagle9098 Wrote:  

(03-03-2016 01:43 PM)ericsaid Wrote:  

(03-02-2016 06:54 PM)KeyWestTROYTrojan Wrote:  I have read and continue to read where schools are "working" to get out of the SBC. There does not appear to be a lot of evidence of this that I can see. Where are these schools "working" to go...CUSA? There simply is not enough difference between CUSA and SBC in terms of money or competition for schools to be clamoring to leave IMO. The article referenced at the beginning of this thread is one person's somewhat grandiose opinion of one school in the conference. I doubt Presidents and ADs are spending inordinate amounts of time "working" to leave. Would some consider if the opportunity presented itself? Perhaps some would but things are not like they were a few years ago when a conference change might have been more lucrative and the benefits were more obvious. One more thing...it simply is not true that the SBC has been the bottom of all conferences every year. I seem to remember a few years back we would have been at least second and perhaps first in the G5. We are not destined to always be ranked last and I believe we will earn our way to higher rankings with the group of tough and competitive schools we have collected together.

For App State, the opportunity to have more regional games would be a reason to leave. To play UNCC, ODU, Marshall, and WKU would be greater than playing ULL, Troy, and Arkansas State. This is not to say the programs I mentioned from the Sun Belt aren't any better (they are), it's the geography and the overlapping of fanbases that occurs.

That said, I enjoy seeing App take on Arkansas State, but the Thursday night game last year showed that a lot of the fans were generally unaware of what that game meant.

What you said, but also one of the big reasons IMO is simply Perception! The way other conferences and the Sunbelt are perceived by the masses and the media. The Sunbelt is simply looked at as the bottom of Div 1. I think most of our teams are as good as the best teams in Conf USA, better than the MAC, and as good as many of the AAC teams, but the country sees us at the bottom. Schools that want to get out of the Sunbelt IMO maybe want out because they want to be perceived as a better program. If the AAC came calling to GS I would be all for it. If Conf USA came calling I would probably be for it as well just because of the perception by most that Conf USA is better. Plus the more you win in your conf the more attractive you become.

I understand this but I can't agree I would be for a move to CUSA. To me it seems a move to CUSA would be lateral at best and actually be a step back in football. SBC if it stays in it's current form is strong enough to overcome those "worst in Div I" naysayers.

In reality yes it would be a lateral move, no doubt in my mind, but the perception of the rest of the country is that Conf USA is better than the SB. Both conferences have about the same potential to grow IMO so unless the SB starts kicking some butt the perception may stay like it is.

(03-10-2016 03:33 PM)AlwaysSunny Wrote:  

(03-10-2016 02:10 PM)Saint3333 Wrote:  The difference between CUSA and SBC in football isn't too wide. However if either conference lost two of it top five programs to the other the gap would widen.

If for some reason Marshall and S. Miss joined the SBC that would clearly make the SBC better than CUSA. So if you asked me if App would join CUSA with another SBC member (any one of GS, ULL, or Ark St.) I'd have to say yes because CUSA with two of those programs would be better SBC without two of those.

Do any of you even understand how athletics programs work? lol. These are probably the least possible important reasons for joining a conference.

Of course not but im just a fan, a donor fan, who wants to see my program excel. I get the TV, money, fit, Travel, and all those types of factors, I am just speaking of perception.