(04-05-2017 08:13 PM)sparty54 Wrote:  

(04-05-2017 02:59 PM)Usajags Wrote:  I like the idea of FGCU, but Ft Myers is way the heck down in Florida. Not exactly a quick car ride from any other school currently in the conference.

north florida good fit for sunbelt

Maybe in 10 years. They've been a tournament eligible D1 program for 6 years. Been decent in the last couple of years, but they're going to lose their coach.

(04-05-2017 02:59 PM)Usajags Wrote:  I like the idea of FGCU, but Ft Myers is way the heck down in Florida. Not exactly a quick car ride from any other school currently in the conference.

I would like FGCU for selfish reasons as I only live about 5 miles away from their campus. They are growing crazy fast and would not be surprised to see them announce football in the next few years or so.

(04-05-2017 08:04 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  If there's a spot available, I'd rather see if Belmont wanted to join....They are private, but they're a better fit with the Eastern and Western schools.

SW Florida is a trap. None of us recruit down there, and the schools are all very new, have very few local alumni and the population down there is transitory. Nashville would be a good addition to the conference again.

With regards to FGCU, they do have a good basketball product.....but they won't have any travel partners...and there's no one even remotely close to them that we're considering in the next 20 years for membership.

If we feel we have to get a 12th basketball school if we lost Little Rock or UTA....Here's what I'd do.

1) See if Missouri State wants to join WITHOUT football for the time being. Because they aren't ready to move up yet in football. Remember that the Missouri Valley Football Conference is a completely different conference than the Missouri Valley Conference.
2) Belmont - I know, they're private, but they're in Nashville and they've got a long history of doing well.
3) Stephen F Austin - Why the hell not? Would provide a travel partner for Texas State. One potential problem..they'd need a place to play FCS football because they'd get tossed from the Southland. And we aren't taking them to FBS.
4) Murray State - Unfortunately they play football in the OVC.
5) NMSU - If we're going to consider a team 8 hours away from our nearest team....then why not NMSU?

All of these schools are 'better' INHO because they combine good basketball with travel partnerships. Of these four, Belmont has the advantage of not playing football.

And then, FGCU I suppose. I'm not intractably opposed, but you might as well invite a team in Massachusetts or New Jersey. None of our teams are bussing to them. Cleveland OH and Philadelphia are closer to our footprint than Fort Myers. Heck, even NMSU isn't much further from San Marcos as Ft Myers is from Statesboro (about an hour or so further)

Missouri State isn't going anywhere. They are facing a huge financial crisis as of now.

I'd be OK with FGCU simply because my two favorite cities in the United States are San Marcos, TX and Fort Myers Beach, FL.

(03-31-2017 12:37 AM)APPdiesel Wrote:  I wish sports writers would man up and name their sources.

twitter.com/DieselOnRadio

Would be nice if "journalists" did that anyway. The profession has most certainly devolved in the last 30 years.

If UTA or Little Rock moved on to the MVC, I would just hold at 11 members for Olympic sports and not make any hasty moves.

I'm 100% behind Belmont as a new member if we lose either LR or UTA. Drivable for the BooneTeam and the Belt needs to be back in Tennessee. However that doesn't help out TxSt and I feel for them being on an island.

MoSt (oly only) or UNO are both closer.

I don't think UT Arlington would leave for MVC, but if they did I would love it. I'm living in St Louis currently so I could take in Arch Madness without having to travel.

(04-06-2017 08:47 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  I'm 100% behind Belmont as a new member if we lose either LR or UTA. Drivable for the BooneTeam and the Belt needs to be back in Tennessee. However that doesn't help out TxSt and I feel for them being on an island.

MoSt (oly only) or UNO are both closer.

Add Belmont and FGSU

Belmont becomes travel partner to Georgia State
FGSU and GS become travel partners.

Of course GS to Ft Myers would be a heck of a trip but all of the other partnerships would still be in place.

Wichita State is now a member of the AAC.



Let's not be reactive. Add Belmont before the SoCon does. (They'll add another Soccer member for the Belt as well as good oly). And either FGCU or UNO. Stat.

(04-07-2017 12:09 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Wichita State is now a member of the AAC.



Let's not be reactive. Add Belmont before the SoCon does. (They'll add another Soccer member for the Belt as well as good oly). And either FGCU or UNO. Stat.

I kinda like the idea of 2 olympic sports members in the east to balance out the ones in the west. How receptive do you think those schools would be?

FGCU certainly screws up the travel partner plan though.

What about UNCG?

UNCG can suck it. Rather have Radford to get into VA.

No need to make any moves, either now or if we lost one or both of Little Rock and UTA. Absolutely no need to move just to move.

Adding Belmont/FGCU would definitely help both the conference in BBall/Soccer but also weaken our competitor leagues. It's really a win/win.

Gents, one of the reasons you move up is to get away from schools like UNCG and Belmont and their perceptions.

No, thanks.

App moved up in Football. There was no "move up" in other sports. The Sun Belt is better than the SoCon in just about every sport. Adding two schools that add winning traditions to Olympic Sports (like FGCU/Belmont) would add to the Belt's perception.

(04-07-2017 12:27 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  UNCG can suck it. Rather have Radford to get into VA.

Hard NO to both of them.

(04-06-2017 08:47 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  I'm 100% behind Belmont as a new member if we lose either LR or UTA. Drivable for the BooneTeam and the Belt needs to be back in Tennessee. However that doesn't help out TxSt and I feel for them being on an island.

MoSt (oly only) or UNO are both closer.

If UTA leaves (which I think is an unlikely hypothetical at this point), I'm not sure there's much that can be done for them.

Here's the problem.

1) Even if there's an end to the 'no Southland team' rule, all of the Southland teams would need to find a place to play FCS football. The Southland would kick them out and there's really nowhere for them to go.

2) We're not taking TAMU-CC, which is the only Texas non-football school in the Southland.

3) We're also not taking UT-RGV, which was in the Sun Belt and was kicked out for a variety of very justified reasons.

----

Basically, if UTA left, we'd be looking for a team that fit the following characteristics.

1) Good basketball
2) No issues with football placement
3) In or close to the footprint

Basically, that leaves us with

Missouri State (can leave football in the MVFC), Belmont (no football), or perhaps FGCU (but they're way outside the footprint).

Or, we're looking at trying to add an all sports member....Not sure if there's really anyone out there. Missouri State isn't ready to move up and is broke, NMSU was turned down by the league, JMU isn't interested, EKU is not an optimal option, etc. And if we did that, then we'd need to find a 12th for scheduling....and the only option realistically at this point is a football only to UMass

In the unlikely event that the Belt loses UTA or UALR, we're not doing anything.

(04-07-2017 01:01 PM)TheOriginalBigApp Wrote:  Gents, one of the reasons you move up is to get away from schools like UNCG and Belmont and their perceptions.

No, thanks.

I don't want schools that aren't serious about football starting football and then pulling us down in the conference ratings.

Now I agree that I wouldn't have any interest in adding someone like UNCG, but if it's someone who doesn't play football and is good at basketball, bring 'em on.

(04-07-2017 01:01 PM)TheOriginalBigApp Wrote:  Gents, one of the reasons you move up is to get away from schools like UNCG and Belmont and their perceptions.

No, thanks.