Cajuns1252
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RE: Does COVID-19 force conference realignment?
(04-07-2020 07:58 AM)mturn017 Wrote: (04-05-2020 10:34 PM)Stugray2 Wrote: (04-05-2020 08:21 PM)Wedge Wrote: (04-05-2020 02:15 PM)Stugray2 Wrote: https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/colle...story.html
One of the key items in the ODU study was this:
“Conference membership decisions need to be made” to reduce travel expenses and missed class time while generating more fan interest in the form of ticket sales.
Ah, yes, conference realignment as the solution to all problems. "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."
Changing conferences is not going to solve ODU's money shortfall. If just moving to the Sun Belt makes them happy -- they can apply any time they want to -- then great, it's their decision to make. But... Travel savings are over-exaggerated. It's just a fantasy that 26 schools are going to happily agree on how to be shuffled amongst themselves while also agreeing to let everyone move without the non-movers getting to collect those hefty exit fees.
ODU's biggest challenge is going to be raising money from donors hurt by this year's very bad economy, to compensate for the athletic department being hurt by the same very bad economy, while (if possible) maintaining that article's stated ambition to spend enough money to be as good in basketball as San Diego State was this past season and (presumably) to be one of the best G5 programs in football as well. That fundraising effort is a hard job that they will have to tackle, and IMO the idea of a 26-school conference shuffle is just a distraction from that necessary task.
Similar thoughts here.
The other key bullet item was how C-USA was materially hurt by the defections of Memphis, SMU, Houston, UCF, Tulane and ECU. That makes it sound to me like going to the American is what they have in mind, and not some restructured C-USA. That list kind of makes a lie of geographically close thing, except they don't like going to UTEP.
Are they talking to the AAC about being the 12th, replacing UConn? That is what it sounds like to me. The AAC may have to add somebody in two years when the waiver runs out.
We'd probably be OK with CUSA financially if we were still making what we made when we joined. Though fan interest is still tepid. We'd definitely be OK with the travel in the AAC with the money provided there. If we're not getting media dollars then tell me what the point of travelling to Texas is.
That’s a redundant statement who wouldn’t be ok with the travel in the AAC for the money.
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04-07-2020 09:57 AM |
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