DSUrocks07 wrote:
MEAC has 13 teams now. We're not the CAA and we're not going to withdraw and have a MEAC title game and Legacy Bowl. Up to 4 teams can leave and they will be just fine. But I feel that the whole "Legacy Bowl" cloud that is hanging over the conference will lead to its eventual breakup.
Potential choices:
AEast/NEC: DSU, UMES (no-football)
SoCon: SC State, A&T, FAMU, BCU
Big South: SSU, NC Central, Howard, Coppin State (no-football*), Morgan State
CAA: NSU, Hampton
*Coppin has a club team that has administration support
Hey how come UMES has no football program?
They had one years ago but dropped it. They have been talking about bringing it back for years now.
I know they & the SWAC have this ESPN deal on Thursdays & late Saturday nights based on race, but man, I wish the CAA or some other FCS league would step up & try to replace this schlop.
Race? Really?? The SWAC has led the FCS in attendance in each of the last 5 seasons, and will likely do so again this year. In four of those 5 seasons, the SWAC has led the nearest competitor by at least 1,500 patrons per home game.
I know they & the SWAC have this ESPN deal on Thursdays & late Saturday nights based on race, but man, I wish the CAA or some other FCS league would step up & try to replace this schlop.
Race? Really?? The SWAC has led the FCS in attendance in each of the last 5 seasons, and will likely do so again this year. In four of those 5 seasons, the SWAC has led the nearest competitor by at least 1,500 patrons per home game.
...and why is that. I think the post answered that - they play huge games against other HBCU's which inflates the attendance. The games I watch on Thursday are not well attended and sometimes is not good football. Every team would have a hard time putting a lot of buts in the seats on a Thursday so why doesn't the CAA have an ESPN contract - that would be fun football to watch
"Born in other countries, yet believing you could be happy in this, our laws acknowledge, as they should do, your right to join us in society, conforming, as I doubt not you will do, to our established rules. That these rules shall be as equal as prudential considerations will admit, will certainly be the aim of our legislatures, general and particular." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to Hugh White, 1801
I think South Carolilna State played very respectably in 2008 and 2009 against two very good Appalachian State teams.
Beyond that, I was pleased when the MEAC rejected the SWAC effort to entice it into the legacy bowl. I think having the MEAC in the fold is important to the FCS tournament. I think the MEAC has a larger following and more name recognition than most FCS conferences. For the same reason I wish the SWAC and the Ivy participated.
Well, I believe that I must tell the truth
And say things as they really are
But if I told the truth and nothing but the truth
Could I ever be a star? Deep Purple: No One Came
JohnStOnge wrote:I think South Carolilna State played very respectably in 2008 and 2009 against two very good Appalachian State teams.
Beyond that, I was pleased when the MEAC rejected the SWAC effort to entice it into the legacy bowl. I think having the MEAC in the fold is important to the FCS tournament. I think the MEAC has a larger following and more name recognition than most FCS conferences. For the same reason I wish the SWAC and the Ivy participated.
JohnStOnge wrote:I think South Carolilna State played very respectably in 2008 and 2009 against two very good Appalachian State teams.
Beyond that, I was pleased when the MEAC rejected the SWAC effort to entice it into the legacy bowl. I think having the MEAC in the fold is important to the FCS tournament. I think the MEAC has a larger following and more name recognition than most FCS conferences. For the same reason I wish the SWAC and the Ivy participated.
Me too.
The only thing stopping the SWAC from fully participating in the playoffs is that the first round is on Thanksgiving weekend where Alabama State has the Turkey Day Classic and Grambling/Southern has the Bayou Classic. If the playoffs were pushed back to the following weekend then there would be no reason to why the SWAC champ wouldn't be able to go as an auto.
That's more of a product of their 9 game conference mandate more than anything. That only leaves room for two OOCs which are usually filled with FBS games for money or D2 for the home revenue.
DSUrocks07 wrote:The only thing stopping the SWAC from fully participating in the playoffs is that the first round is on Thanksgiving weekend where Alabama State has the Turkey Day Classic and Grambling/Southern has the Bayou Classic. If the playoffs were pushed back to the following weekend then there would be no reason to why the SWAC champ wouldn't be able to go as an auto.
So, the SWAC is waiting for the other 112 1-AA programs (and the NCAA) to alter their schedules to accommodate them?
DSUrocks07 wrote:The only thing stopping the SWAC from fully participating in the playoffs is that the first round is on Thanksgiving weekend where Alabama State has the Turkey Day Classic and Grambling/Southern has the Bayou Classic. If the playoffs were pushed back to the following weekend then there would be no reason to why the SWAC champ wouldn't be able to go as an auto.
So, the SWAC is waiting for the other 112 1-AA programs (and the NCAA) to alter their schedules to accommodate them?
Nope! Southern & Grambling told the NCAA what they could do with there title 38 years ago, and have not looked back or or lost one wink of sleep
btw you can check out our game on NBC every Thanksgiving weekend and the SWAC champ game is on ESPN family of networks
JohnStOnge wrote:I think South Carolilna State played very respectably in 2008 and 2009 against two very good Appalachian State teams.
Beyond that, I was pleased when the MEAC rejected the SWAC effort to entice it into the legacy bowl. I think having the MEAC in the fold is important to the FCS tournament. I think the MEAC has a larger following and more name recognition than most FCS conferences. For the same reason I wish the SWAC and the Ivy participated.
kdinva wrote:
So, the SWAC is waiting for the other 112 1-AA programs (and the NCAA) to alter their schedules to accommodate them?
Nope! Southern & Grambling told the NCAA what they could do with there title 38 years ago, and have not looked back or or lost one wink of sleep
btw you can check out our game on NBC every Thanksgiving weekend and the SWAC champ game is on ESPN family of networks
one other thing where can I watch your team?
ESPN. Oh, and 84 different bars across America.
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kdinva wrote:
So, the SWAC is waiting for the other 112 1-AA programs (and the NCAA) to alter their schedules to accommodate them?
Nope! Southern & Grambling told the NCAA what they could do with there title 38 years ago, and have not looked back or or lost one wink of sleep
btw you can check out our game on NBC every Thanksgiving weekend and the SWAC champ game is on ESPN family of networks
one other thing where can I watch your team?
Good post, up until the last sentence.
FWIW - there were more UD games on TV here this year than there were SWAC games. But that isn't really important. Grambling and Southern have a great tradition, I'd like to see them in the playoffs, but I understand why they are not.
GAD_SU wrote:
Nope! Southern & Grambling told the NCAA what they could do with there title 38 years ago, and have not looked back or or lost one wink of sleep
btw you can check out our game on NBC every Thanksgiving weekend and the SWAC champ game is on ESPN family of networks
one other thing where can I watch your team?
ESPN. Oh, and 84 different bars across America.
I was asking kdinva.
I like watching UD heck of a defense you guys had last year
Nope! Southern & Grambling told the NCAA what they could do with there title 38 years ago, and have not looked back or or lost one wink of sleep
That's not entirely true. Don't know what all the details are of how they worked around it but Grambling was in the I-AA playoffs a three times. They were also competetive all three times; though they lost. They lost by 14-9 to national champ Boise State in 1980, by 10-7 to Arkansas State in 1985, and by 59-56 to national runner up Stephen F. Austin in 1989. So it, at the least, hasn't been 38 years.
BTW, the talk around Baton Rouge this morning was that attendance at the Bayou Classic is really flagging. I was listening to the radio this morning on the way to work and the story was that this past weekend's was the lowest attendance ever.
It was still a high attendance by FCS standards. But, it's clearly in decline.
Well, I believe that I must tell the truth
And say things as they really are
But if I told the truth and nothing but the truth
Could I ever be a star? Deep Purple: No One Came
DSUrocks07 wrote:The only thing stopping the SWAC from fully participating in the playoffs is that the first round is on Thanksgiving weekend where Alabama State has the Turkey Day Classic and Grambling/Southern has the Bayou Classic. If the playoffs were pushed back to the following weekend then there would be no reason to why the SWAC champ wouldn't be able to go as an auto.
So, the SWAC is waiting for the other 112 1-AA programs (and the NCAA) to alter their schedules to accommodate them?
Maybe not...word is that the Turkey Day Classic is on its last legs and Alabama State's AD came out publicly and stated that ASU is striving to be a successful FCS program and is looking at ALL of their options to making that happen. And with their new stadium currently under construction they would be a pretty good pick up for another conference. Depending on how the realignment goes over the next few years.
The only thing stopping the SWAC from fully participating in the playoffs is that the first round is on Thanksgiving weekend where Alabama State has the Turkey Day Classic and Grambling/Southern has the Bayou Classic. If the playoffs were pushed back to the following weekend then there would be no reason to why the SWAC champ wouldn't be able to go as an auto.
The SWAC gave up its automatic playoff birth back in the year '00 due to financial constraints unfortunately hope the problem has been dealt with by now.As stated before due to the emergence of Prairie View it would have been nice to the Panthers in the playoff picture had they won the SWAC just to see how they would play against a non-conference foe.
Oh, and 84 different bars across America. 
