I see there is a battle of unbeatens in sprint football this weekend with Bellarmine (3-0).

Is it even possible, that with 3-4 years of success, Bellarmine will decide to move up a level or two in football?

I think they should've just started with non-scholarship FCS and joined the Pioneer League. But they didn't ask me.

I'm not too optimistic about BU adding "regular" pigskin, but it would be cool if they did.

I'm really not an "I told you so" guy, but I though the novelty of "sprint" football against a bunch of no-names would wear off, and it seems to already have started.

They had a nice crowd of 2200 or so for the first game, but the second game only drew half of that. After the initial fun of seeing some sort of BU football team hit the field, this version just doesn't seem to "move the sports needle."

(10-16-2022 08:16 PM)BellarmineGrad Wrote:  I'm really not an "I told you so" guy, but I though the novelty of "sprint" football against a bunch of no-names would wear off, and it seems to already have started.

They had a nice crowd of 2200 or so for the first game, but the second game only drew half of that. After the initial fun of seeing some sort of BU football team hit the field, this version just doesn't seem to "move the sports needle."

I have a grandson playing football at Butler U up in Indy which is in the Pioneer League and I have been pleasantly surprised that its great to see college football, albeit the FCS version in a non-athletic scholarship conference (some call it the midwest "Ivy League" conference). Game day is exciting on a smaller scale than the big time FBS state universities. Although it does take $ to equip and travel costs for away games, it does do something to boost male enrollment which would help a school like Bellarmine that has 65% or so female enrollment. Butler dresses over 95 guys for the home games. I kid my wife that they look like a team of "walk-ons".

I think non-scholly FCS would be a perfect starting place for BU. Like you said, it will enhance male enrollment, it will generate some excitment and attention since you will be playing some “known” name opponents, and I believe the Louisville metro and KY/IN/OH could support it.

I know it’s non-athletic scholarship, but I wonder if football players get some type of financial benefit to help them pay for school at Pioneer Conference schools?

PIONEER CONFERENCE
Morehead St. (KY)
Butler (IN)
Valpo (IN)
Dayton (OH)
Drake (IA)
Davidson (NC)
Presbyterian (SC)
St. Thomas (MN)
Marist (NY)
Stetson (FL)
San Diego (CA)

Yeah, I've said all along they should've gone the Pioneer League route.

If they really do want to increase male enrollment (a stated goal for the current mini-pigskin) as well as maintain fan interest, I think that would be a great fit.

Heck, on a nice autumn Saturday, I could see a BU FCS non-scholarship team home game against, say, Dayton or Butler pulling in 3K-4K fans and being a really fun environment.

(10-18-2022 02:17 AM)BellarmineGrad Wrote:  Yeah, I've said all along they should've gone the Pioneer League route.

If they really do want to increase male enrollment (a stated goal for the current mini-pigskin) as well as maintain fan interest, I think that would be a great fit.

Heck, on a nice autumn Saturday, I could see a BU FCS non-scholarship team home game against, say, Dayton or Butler pulling in 3K-4K fans and being a really fun environment.

My wife and I have made the trip up to Indy to watch our grandson (a former St. X player) play home games at Butler. It has that college football fall afternoon feel to it complete with tailgating - where we get to meet the parents and grandparents of other players. With regard to financial aid without athletic scholarship - Butler's tuition is about the same as Bellarmine's and from what I know nearly everyone at Bellarmine gets some kind of financial aid, often generous. The Pioneer League is made up of mostly private schools with good academic credentials (I think Morehead is the only state school). There are lots of high school football players that don't get a shot at big time D1 football that would still love to play D1 on a lower level. Many are good students who qualify for good financial help - my grandson is majoring in Chemistry/Premed at Butler and he was a good student at St. X. Butler has a 5th year transfer who was at Harvard and got his B.A. there and is using his extra year of Covid elligibility at Butler working on his MBA - he is one of Butler's top receivers. He is obviously a good student but wants one more year of college football.

Where would BU put a football stadium?
- Use a high school field?
- Build on that property that was bought out by the old mall?
- On campus?
- Elsewhere?

Right now, they're using a high school stadium. If BU ever does construct a pigskin palace, I'm guessing it'd be at the old Bashford Manor Mall spot where the sprint team (and other programs, I think) have practice fields.

Saw some information where Xavier is thinking about starting up non-scholly FCS football in the Pioneer Conference. That would put 5 teams within a 2 hr. drive from Louisville. This seems like a fantastic opportunity for Bellarmine to move from Sprint Football to something that is actually nationally known and could generate publicity and male enrollment. All but Morehead are private also and two of them are Catholic.

PIONEER CONFERENCE
Morehead St. (KY)
Butler (IN)
Valpo (IN)
Dayton (OH)
Xavier (OH)
Drake (IA)
Davidson (NC)
Presbyterian (SC)
St. Thomas (MN)
Marist (NY)
Stetson (FL)
San Diego (CA)

(11-07-2022 11:16 AM)army56mike Wrote:  Saw some information where Xavier is thinking about starting up non-scholly FCS football in the Pioneer Conference. That would put 5 teams within a 2 hr. drive from Louisville. This seems like a fantastic opportunity for Bellarmine to move from Sprint Football to something that is actually nationally known and could generate publicity and male enrollment. All but Morehead are private also and two of them are Catholic.

PIONEER CONFERENCE
Morehead St. (KY)
Butler (IN)
Valpo (IN)
Dayton (OH)
Xavier (OH)
Drake (IA)
Davidson (NC)
Presbyterian (SC)
St. Thomas (MN)
Marist (NY)
Stetson (FL)
San Diego (CA)

Interesting -- had not heard that about XU.

I'd love this and think Bellarmine should've just gone this route from the start. As predicted, I think the novelty of the sprint effort has worn off, even with some pretty darn good weather this fall: the Knights had a nice first home game crowd around 2200, then maybe 1K at the next home game, then under 1K, and then under 700 at the final home game.

I think BU in the Pioneer League could routinely draw a crowd of 2-3K and would garner much more fan interest.

Does Bellarmine have any boosters that have suggested the school seriously look into starting football?

Not that I know of -- don't think it is a particularly hot topic.

At least that means we don't have to join the chorus of those "hot and bothered" to join C-USA!