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How's this for a topic that can be filed under "what we think about when we're not in the playoffs":

What two schools in your conference have the biggest discrepancy in facilities? The rumblings about the addition of Monmouth to the CAA got me thinking about how wide the divide between conference facilities are.

For instance, in the CAA, I think the biggest discrepancy is between ODU/JMU/UD (I'm not sure how to pick among those three since I don't know what their workout/practice facilities are like) and Rhose Island.

I'm oblivious to the other conferences when it comes to this stuff. And I might be way off in the CAA, although I could almost guarantee that Monmouth would be near the bottom of the conference (unless they are planning a new Miles Austin Athletic Performance Center...)

What do you think is the biggest discrepancy in facilities in your conference (or other conferences that you know about)?

mcveyrl wrote:How's this for a topic that can be filed under "what we think about when we're not in the playoffs":

What two schools in your conference have the biggest discrepancy in facilities? The rumblings about the addition of Monmouth to the CAA got me thinking about how wide the divide between conference facilities are.

For instance, in the CAA, I think the biggest discrepancy is between ODU/JMU/UD (I'm not sure how to pick among those three since I don't know what their workout/practice facilities are like) and Rhose Island.

I'm oblivious to the other conferences when it comes to this stuff. And I might be way off in the CAA, although I could almost guarantee that Monmouth would be near the bottom of the conference (unless they are planning a new Miles Austin Athletic Performance Center...)

What do you think is the biggest discrepancy in facilities in your conference (or other conferences that you know about)?

I would argue that New Hampshire had the lowest grade facilities in the CAA...Rhode Island put some $$$ into theirs IIRC...

I think either UNH or URI would be bottom of the CAA now.

Albany was well on our way, but Bob Ford Field is going up nicely and ahead of schedule!

And before you ask, I have no idea what the blue stuff is they sprayed on the dirt today. I hope they don't think they're going to grow grass in the middle of the Albany winter....

danefan wrote:I think either UNH or URI would be bottom of the CAA now.

Albany was well on our way, but Bob Ford Field is going up nicely and ahead of schedule!

And before you ask, I have no idea what the blue stuff is they sprayed on the dirt today. I hope they don't think they're going to grow grass in the middle of the Albany winter....

Looks the same color as the weed killer they spray in AZ.

danefan wrote:I think either UNH or URI would be bottom of the CAA now.

Albany was well on our way, but Bob Ford Field is going up nicely and ahead of schedule!

And before you ask, I have no idea what the blue stuff is they sprayed on the dirt today. I hope they don't think they're going to grow grass in the middle of the Albany winter....

Yea, there's no question that Albany won't be anywhere close to the bottom after their upgrades.

I had thought about UNH, but didn't know much about their facilities...at any rate, I will defer to those closer to that area.

danefan wrote:

Please tell me that isn't the scoreboard to the right.

Col Hogan wrote:

mcveyrl wrote:How's this for a topic that can be filed under "what we think about when we're not in the playoffs":

What two schools in your conference have the biggest discrepancy in facilities? The rumblings about the addition of Monmouth to the CAA got me thinking about how wide the divide between conference facilities are.

For instance, in the CAA, I think the biggest discrepancy is between ODU/JMU/UD (I'm not sure how to pick among those three since I don't know what their workout/practice facilities are like) and Rhose Island.

I'm oblivious to the other conferences when it comes to this stuff. And I might be way off in the CAA, although I could almost guarantee that Monmouth would be near the bottom of the conference (unless they are planning a new Miles Austin Athletic Performance Center...)

What do you think is the biggest discrepancy in facilities in your conference (or other conferences that you know about)?

I would argue that New Hampshire had the lowest grade facilities in the CAA...Rhode Island put some $$$ into theirs IIRC...

Isn't there a MAC fans forum somewhere...

CAA Flagship wrote:

danefan wrote:

Please tell me that isn't the scoreboard to the right.

Looks like a play clock.

CAA Flagship wrote:

danefan wrote:

Please tell me that isn't the scoreboard to the right.

The site of the stadium was previously a soccer field. That is the old soccer scoreboard. We're not sure why it hasn't been taken down yet.

There will be a new HD video board in the far endzone.

danefan wrote: The site of the stadium was previously a soccer field. That is the old soccer scoreboard. We're not sure why it hasn't been taken down yet.

There will be a new HD video board in the far endzone.

Col Hogan wrote:I would argue that New Hampshire had the lowest grade facilities in the CAA...Rhode Island put some $$$ into theirs IIRC...

Beat me to it. While they didn't exactly have their football team in mind when they build the Ryan Center, I'd have to imagine that the team has benefited from that facility.

I'm not too sure about practice facilities around the Valley, but as for gameday facilities I think it's just under a 3 hour drive up and down I-29 to see the nicest and the worst. Fargo being the nicest, Brookings being the worst.

Although, with the addition of USD to the Valley Vermillion might take the crown for worst. At least there you don't have to worry about the field conditions being horrific though.

mcveyrl wrote:How's this for a topic that can be filed under "what we think about when we're not in the playoffs":

What two schools in your conference have the biggest discrepancy in facilities? The rumblings about the addition of Monmouth to the CAA got me thinking about how wide the divide between conference facilities are.

For instance, in the CAA, I think the biggest discrepancy is between ODU/JMU/UD (I'm not sure how to pick among those three since I don't know what their workout/practice facilities are like) and Rhose Island.

I'm oblivious to the other conferences when it comes to this stuff. And I might be way off in the CAA, although I could almost guarantee that Monmouth would be near the bottom of the conference (unless they are planning a new Miles Austin Athletic Performance Center...)

What do you think is the biggest discrepancy in facilities in your conference (or other conferences that you know about)?

Huh You obviously haven't been to UNH and URI....

URI: fairly new facilities that are small, but nice. Yeah, it only seats 5200, but they get bonus points for no stupid track around the field like everyone else in the CAA except for JMU and UD,and unlike Maine and UNH, they have real bathrooms for the visitors side.


UNH's Cowell stadium seats 8k. But they are ancient facilties, they have a track around the field so the stands are too far from the field, and see the woodline behind the visitor's side? That is the mens' bathroom at halftime unless you want to wait in the port a potty line.

I see SBU at 8,300 and Albany at 8k? for 2013: have no tracks around stadium. That is a big plus. Stupid to build a new stadium (UR) with a track around it- makes the fans too far from the action.

SBU:

BDKJMU wrote:

URI will have the easiest conversion to the Canadian Football League rules. So that have that going for them. Which is nice.

mcveyrl wrote:

Col Hogan wrote:
I would argue that New Hampshire had the lowest grade facilities in the CAA...Rhode Island put some $$$ into theirs IIRC...

Isn't there a MAC fans forum somewhere...

Check out my profile...

Bill & Mary all the way!!!!

For the Ivies, I'd say Princeton has the best, Brown the worst.

Videoboard size rankings for I-A and I-AA. Scroll a little less than 1/2 way down for I-AA rankings. It lists 35 I-AA schools with videoboards. (The list says 36, but JMU is actually listed twice, at #3 (new videoboard 2011) and #31 (old video board). Yeah, I'm sure its not 100% accurate and there's probably a few that aren't listed on there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... deo_boards" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've been to every CAA current CAA stadium. Since 03' I've been to all of them multiple times except for URI, which have only been to once (this past Sept). I haven't been to SBU or Albany, but am looking forward to going to games there. Again, a big negative for me is having a track around the field, and that effects how I would personally rate the CAA stadiums & facilities. Here's how I would rate the CAA Stadiums & adjacent facilities for the 2013 season:

1. JMU: 25k capacity, newly renovated, $62 million stadium, $10 million Athletic Support Center off one endzone which opened in 92'. Videoboard rank is #3, no track around field. Negative: stadium is lopsided, and on the old side the stands haven't been moved closer from when there used to be a track around the field.
2. UD: Positives: 22k capacity , high, steep, with good sight lines. No track around field. Videoboard rank is #14 (#5 in CAA). Negative: Old facilities to match their geriatric fanbase. Stadium opened in 52', last renovated in 93'. Adjacent field house opened in 1966.
3. Towson: 11.2k capacity, renovated in 02'. 03' opened 48k sq ft Field House off one endzone. Videoboard rank is #9 (#3 in CAA). Negative: track around field.
4. SBU: 8.2k capacity. Positives: Its fairly new- opened in 02'. Enclosed on 3 sides, videoboard size rank #6 (#2 in CAA), no track around field. Negative: lopsided, on the small side.
5. Albany: 8k cpacity, brand new renovation, no track around field. Videoboard???
6. UR: 8.7K, brand new stadium opened 10', very nice looking, videoboard rank #12 (#4 in CAA). Negative: track around field.
7. W&M: 12.3k capacity. Jimmy Laycock Center, $30 million, 30k sq ft, opened in 08'. Videoboard rank is #23 (#6 in CAA). Negatives:
-Track around field
-Stadium is ancient- built in 1935. Wiki: "The construction of the stadium is distinct in that the primary entrance to the stadium is at the 50 yard line on one side, eliminating prime midfield seating locations. In order to secure the stadium, college officials had it designed for agriculture expositions with a cattle entrance at midfield. No expositions, however, were ever held, but the midfield seats remained lost."
-Decrepit press box above that 50 yd entrance- view for coaches is partially blocked by an awning- they can't even see part of the field without leaning out the windows.
8. Villanova: 12.5k capacity. Postives: well, it has the 3rd highest seating capacity. Is ancient (built in 1927), but was renovated in 99' with new press box. Negatives: track around field, no videoboard.
9. URI: 5.2k capacity. Opened 1928, but major renovation in 06'. Stands on one side attached to brick & glass Ryan Center (opened 02') which looks nice and gives the stadium a bigger look. Positive: no track around field. Are the only CAA team left playing on real grass, not the fake sh*t. Unlike Maine & UNH, at least real bathrooms on the visitor's side. Negative besides being small is no videoboard.
10. Maine: 10k capacity, opened 98'. Very lopsided- probably 8k on one side, 2k on the other. Track around stadium, no videoboard. Port a potties behind the stands on the visitor's side.
11. UNH: 8k Capacity. Positive: Nothing. Negatives: Old (opened 1936). The field house attached to the main stands opend in 1938. Track around field. No videoboard. Very lopsided- the visitor side is the size of small HS stands. It looks about 6k on the main side, about 1k on the visitors side, and about 1k in the temp end zone. At halftime if there's a decent crowd on the visitor's side & a big line at the couple of port a potties the mens' bathroom is the woodline behind the stands; small, cramped press box with tiny little windows.

I got a lot of the facts/stats off of wiki, so if something is wrong here, its not my fault, its wiki.

89Hen wrote:

Col Hogan wrote:I would argue that New Hampshire had the lowest grade facilities in the CAA...Rhode Island put some $$$ into theirs IIRC...

Beat me to it. While they didn't exactly have their football team in mind when they build the Ryan Center, I'd have to imagine that the team has benefited from that facility.

Yep. Would put UNH at the bottom.

BDKJMU wrote:
1. JMU: 25k capacity, newly renovated, $62 million stadium, $10 million Athletic Support Center off one endzone which opened in 92'. Videoboard rank is #3, no track around field. Spunkiest drum line in the nation, capable of pulling off an explosive performance at a moment's notice.

Good observations.

BDKJMU wrote:I5. Albany: 8k cpacity, brand new renovation, no track around field. Videoboard???

There will be an HD video board but I'm not sure on the size yet.

BDKJMU wrote:Videoboard size rankings for I-A and I-AA. Scroll a little less than 1/2 way down for I-AA rankings. It lists 35 I-AA schools with videoboards. (The list says 36, but JMU is actually listed twice, at #3 (new videoboard 2011) and #31 (old video board). Yeah, I'm sure its not 100% accurate and there's probably a few that aren't listed on there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... deo_boards" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yeah, both Eastern and Portland State have video boards that aren't even listed. As you mentioned, there are probably a lot of others. Maybe Jalmond can give us Portland State's dimensions, it is a damn big board.