Official 2015 Sun Belt Football Thread

[CID1990]

All but two of The Citadel's games are on ESPN3 this year.

So you're saying there's "good" ESPN3, and then there's the non-leet ESPN3?

No, just saying there is ESPN programming on ESPN3 and there are school feeds using ESPN3 for access.

and in terms of "exposure" one is better than the other?

[Killamike296]

I can see Georgia Southern and Arkansas State topping the conference this year(not like it matters in all fairness)

The only 2(maybe 3) teams I'd call legit FBS teams are Georgia Southern, Arkansas State, and loosely App State

The rest I'd say belong in FCS as they are not competitive in the slightest in the FBS.

If the majority of the schools dropped down to the FCS(excluding the ones I listed above) you would have potential expansion candidates for conferences like the BSC, OVC, Patriot, and maybe the PFL.

[clenz]

All but two of The Citadel's games are on ESPN3 this year.

So you're saying there's "good" ESPN3, and then there's the non-leet ESPN3?

No, just saying there is ESPN programming on ESPN3 and there are school feeds using ESPN3 for access.

UNI uses a school media production for ESPN3 - every single home football game, volleyball game, mens and womens basketball game, wrestling meet, and softball/soccer/track events TBD are broadcast in full 1080p to ESPN3 with professional commentators. The schools media program has students work for the broadcast for resume builders as well.

I assume every Sun Belt program can say the same, right? Every single home event held indoors is broadcast in full HD nationally through ESPN3 right? I mean that's a conference wide thing for the MVC. Even Evansville has the same set up.

Oh, and every UNI football home game is broadcast in statewide in Iowa, with decent sized portions of Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, and South Dakota getting each game in full 1080p. The extreme majority of mens basketball games are as well - when we aren't on CBS, CBSSports, or one of the main ESPN stations.


But...FCS is small time - amirite?

[Baldy]

No, just saying there is ESPN programming on ESPN3 and there are school feeds using ESPN3 for access.

UNI uses a school media production for ESPN3 - every single home football game, volleyball game, mens and womens basketball game, wrestling meet, and softball/soccer/track events TBD are broadcast in full 1080p to ESPN3 with professional commentators. The schools media program has students work for the broadcast for resume builders as well.

I assume every Sun Belt program can say the same, right? Every single home event held indoors is broadcast in full HD nationally through ESPN3 right? I mean that's a conference wide thing for the MVC. Even Evansville has the same set up.

Oh, and every UNI football home game is broadcast in statewide in Iowa, with decent sized portions of Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, and South Dakota getting each game in full 1080p. The extreme majority of mens basketball games are as well - when we aren't on CBS, CBSSports, or one of the main ESPN stations.


But...FCS is small time - amirite?

1. I was talking about the SloCon.
2. The MVC and the MVFC are not the same thing.
3. The only person who said anything about FCS being "small time" is you.

[CID1990]

UNI uses a school media production for ESPN3 - every single home football game, volleyball game, mens and womens basketball game, wrestling meet, and softball/soccer/track events TBD are broadcast in full 1080p to ESPN3 with professional commentators. The schools media program has students work for the broadcast for resume builders as well.

I assume every Sun Belt program can say the same, right? Every single home event held indoors is broadcast in full HD nationally through ESPN3 right? I mean that's a conference wide thing for the MVC. Even Evansville has the same set up.

Oh, and every UNI football home game is broadcast in statewide in Iowa, with decent sized portions of Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, and South Dakota getting each game in full 1080p. The extreme majority of mens basketball games are as well - when we aren't on CBS, CBSSports, or one of the main ESPN stations.


But...FCS is small time - amirite?

1. I was talking about the SloCon.
2. The MVC and the MVFC are not the same thing.
3. The only person who said anything about FCS being "small time" is you.

Im familiar with how to find the game link for El Cid games on ESPN3 - I go to the "live now" tab and scroll down until I find the game

how do I find GSU games? Ive never seen the tab that says "extra exposure by professional production" tab

i could swear Ive see the GSU feeds in the same place I saw the FCS feeds

is there some special clickbait on the GSU games that ESPN puts in there so that sun blet teams get that "extra exposure"?

[clenz]

1. I was talking about the SloCon.
2. The MVC and the MVFC are not the same thing.
3. The only person who said anything about FCS being "small time" is you.

Im familiar with how to find the game link for El Cid games on ESPN3 - I go to the "live now" tab and scroll down until I find the game

how do I find GSU games? Ive never seen the tab that says "extra exposure by professional production" tab

i could swear Ive see the GSU feeds in the same place I saw the FCS feeds

is there some special clickbait on the GSU games that ESPN puts in there so that sun blet teams get that "extra exposure"?

There is no extra exposure. Being that I live in Iowa - and not the SoCon/Sun Belt area I can speak to the true exposure the SBC gets compared to the SoCon

The Sun Belt hosted media day the Mercedes Benz Dome, wow. Great. Guess how much ESPN covered it? Zero. Want proof? The only reason I know that is because you told me. However, I can tell you where the P12, B1G, B12, ACC and SEC had their media days. Essentially what the Sun Belt did was blow a bunch of money to stroke their own ego. There was no added exposure from that.

ESPN3 gets zero attention from the ESPN hype machine. It doesn't matter who produces an ESPN3 broadcast. Why? Because ESPN doesn't give a flying fuck. The Sun Belt doesn't get preferred placement at being towards the front of the list when showing games on the ESPN3 guide. It doesn't get extra characters around it to set it off as FBS or FCS. It doesn't get you on any TV in the state of Iowa any more than the SoCon being on ESPN3 does.

The 1, maybe 2, game they get on Tuesday night on ESPNU is something the FCS doesn't get. It does go to show you where the Sun Belt ranks on ESPN's pecking order though. If it wasn't for the Sun Belt they'd just show a replay of the WSOP. Good job for being filler. The ratings for SBC games are actually worse than WSOP, or high school sports on ESPNU/2 a majority of the time.

Guess how many commercials I see for SBC games on ESPN? The same number of commercials I see for SoCon ESPN3 games - zero.


There is no real extra exposure. The only extra exposure is what they want to make believe exists.

[Baldy]

Im familiar with how to find the game link for El Cid games on ESPN3 - I go to the "live now" tab and scroll down until I find the game

how do I find GSU games? Ive never seen the tab that says "extra exposure by professional production" tab

i could swear Ive see the GSU feeds in the same place I saw the FCS feeds

is there some special clickbait on the GSU games that ESPN puts in there so that sun blet teams get that "extra exposure"?

There is no extra exposure. Being that I live in Iowa - and not the SoCon/Sun Belt area I can speak to the true exposure the SBC gets compared to the SoCon

The Sun Belt hosted media day the Mercedes Benz Dome, wow. Great. Guess how much ESPN covered it? Zero. Want proof? The only reason I know that is because you told me. However, I can tell you where the P12, B1G, B12, ACC and SEC had their media days. Essentially what the Sun Belt did was blow a bunch of money to stroke their own ego. There was no added exposure from that.

ESPN3 gets zero attention from the ESPN hype machine. It doesn't matter who produces an ESPN3 broadcast. Why? Because ESPN doesn't give a flying fuck. The Sun Belt doesn't get preferred placement at being towards the front of the list when showing games on the ESPN3 guide. It doesn't get extra characters around it to set it off as FBS or FCS. It doesn't get you on any TV in the state of Iowa any more than the SoCon being on ESPN3 does.

The 1, maybe 2, game they get on Tuesday night on ESPNU is something the FCS doesn't get. It does go to show you where the Sun Belt ranks on ESPN's pecking order though. If it wasn't for the Sun Belt they'd just show a replay of the WSOP. Good job for being filler. The ratings for SBC games are actually worse than WSOP, or high school sports on ESPNU/2 a majority of the time.

Guess how many commercials I see for SBC games on ESPN? The same number of commercials I see for SoCon ESPN3 games - zero.


There is no real extra exposure. The only extra exposure is what they want to make believe exists.

Who knew clenz was a SloCon fanboy.

Not falling for the bait. I have never said and will never say that FCS is small time. There is some damn good football played at this level and I miss it. I will always be a fan, but times change.
Unfortunately, gone are the days of a great quality viable second level of Division I football. The level that got great national coverage, games on national TV, etc. I remember some of our championship games being televised nationally on CBS...on a Saturday afternoon. Too many great, good, and solid programs have left. Too many have moved into FCS who probably shouldn't, and too many left this division who probably shouldn't have either.

You will never hear me claim we are "too good" for FCS, but I will say that we have outgrown it. For proof, just look at the Southern Conference attendance numbers from last weekend. Mercer led the league with over 11K, the next team had just over 9K. It rained all day Saturday and a thunderstorm hit Statesboro about 1.5 hours before game time. The rain finally stopped about 30 minutes before kickoff and we were still able to put 23.5K+ actual fannies in the (wet) seats. Yes, there are FCS teams who draw 18, 19, 20K plus, but those are few and far between and certainly much too far apart to form a legitimate FCS power conference.

Hindsight is 20/20, and, unfortunately, we hit our ceiling in I-AA or FCS 25 years ago...back in the glory days of FCS. Only this year were we able to hit season ticket numbers we had back in 1989. Coincidentally, 1989 was the year we had our highest average annual attendance...that is until we entered FBS last season. Interestingly enough, I'd be willing to bet that most of the NDSU fans will say that they felt the same way about DII. They probably should have transitioned to FCS several years ago themselves.

There is no doubt that the Sun Belt is nothing more than an afterthought for ESPN, but the plain fact is that Georgia Southern is getting 10X the media exposure now than we did in 2010 or 2011. Relatively speaking, we probably get the same amount now that we got in the 1980's. Again, unfortunately, as a whole that's more than FCS gets today.

[AZGrizFan]

Well, at least the Sun Belt looks more like a non-power FBS league so far this year. ULL, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Troy, and App would all be considered top 10 or 15 teams if they were FCS with what they've done so far. Laugh at that sentence if you want, but contrary to what certain Lehigh posters on AGS suggest that's pretty much what a good non-power FBS league is.

The W/L record against other FBS leagues isn't pretty, but what really matters is how we do in the G5 non-conference games over the next couple of weeks. Idaho's loss to Ohio doesn't look all that bad considering Ohio just beat Marshall (hahahahahaha) and Georgia Southern just whipped one of the top teams in the MAC, so we're not off to a bad start. All in all I think the SBC can finish ahead of at least one of the CUSA and MAC.

As for the TV deal, the Belt's TV deal certainly isn't anything to brag about but at least we don't have to pay people to put us on TV and we have ESPNU games even if they are on weekdays. Honestly, I do hope ESPN3 will continue to show as many FCS games as they are.

Y'all wish you had Temple right now, don't you!

[Pwns]

There is no extra exposure. Being that I live in Iowa - and not the SoCon/Sun Belt area I can speak to the true exposure the SBC gets compared to the SoCon

The Sun Belt hosted media day the Mercedes Benz Dome, wow. Great. Guess how much ESPN covered it? Zero. Want proof? The only reason I know that is because you told me. However, I can tell you where the P12, B1G, B12, ACC and SEC had their media days. Essentially what the Sun Belt did was blow a bunch of money to stroke their own ego. There was no added exposure from that.

ESPN3 gets zero attention from the ESPN hype machine. It doesn't matter who produces an ESPN3 broadcast. Why? Because ESPN doesn't give a flying fuck. The Sun Belt doesn't get preferred placement at being towards the front of the list when showing games on the ESPN3 guide. It doesn't get extra characters around it to set it off as FBS or FCS. It doesn't get you on any TV in the state of Iowa any more than the SoCon being on ESPN3 does.

The 1, maybe 2, game they get on Tuesday night on ESPNU is something the FCS doesn't get. It does go to show you where the Sun Belt ranks on ESPN's pecking order though. If it wasn't for the Sun Belt they'd just show a replay of the WSOP. Good job for being filler. The ratings for SBC games are actually worse than WSOP, or high school sports on ESPNU/2 a majority of the time.

Guess how many commercials I see for SBC games on ESPN? The same number of commercials I see for SoCon ESPN3 games - zero.


There is no real extra exposure. The only extra exposure is what they want to make believe exists.

So because you don't see anything in Iowa means there is no extra exposure? No one said exposure in a G5 league reaches the far corners of the country or that it compares to the SEC or ACC, just that it beats any FCS league. I don't know where some fans of FCS teams get the idea that we think we're even in the same stratosphere as the P5 leagues as far as exposure. Guess how many commercials I see for the MAC or CUSA (recently) on ESPN? Zero.

I do know that when Georgia Southern and NDSU (two FCS teams with large fan bases) played in the semi-finals the game was lower in the hierarchy than a nothing bowl game between Temple and Wyoming.

[Ibanez]

No, just saying there is ESPN programming on ESPN3 and there are school feeds using ESPN3 for access.

UNI uses a school media production for ESPN3 - every single home football game, volleyball game, mens and womens basketball game, wrestling meet, and softball/soccer/track events TBD are broadcast in full 1080p to ESPN3 with professional commentators. The schools media program has students work for the broadcast for resume builders as well.

I assume every Sun Belt program can say the same, right? Every single home event held indoors is broadcast in full HD nationally through ESPN3 right? I mean that's a conference wide thing for the MVC. Even Evansville has the same set up.

Oh, and every UNI football home game is broadcast in statewide in Iowa, with decent sized portions of Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, and South Dakota getting each game in full 1080p. The extreme majority of mens basketball games are as well - when we aren't on CBS, CBSSports, or one of the main ESPN stations.


But...FCS is small time - amirite?

It depends on the school. I watched Furman & CCU on ESPN3 and it was shitty quality, as was the Citadel/WCU game. The Troy/CSU game was good quality. Those are examples from our market.

[Ibanez]

1. I was talking about the SloCon.
2. The MVC and the MVFC are not the same thing.
3. The only person who said anything about FCS being "small time" is you.

Im familiar with how to find the game link for El Cid games on ESPN3 - I go to the "live now" tab and scroll down until I find the game

how do I find GSU games? Ive never seen the tab that says "extra exposure by professional production" tab

i could swear Ive see the GSU feeds in the same place I saw the FCS feeds

is there some special clickbait on the GSU games that ESPN puts in there so that sun blet teams get that "extra exposure"?

You're a dick. You're adorable, but a dick. The production quality (and sometimes the commentating) is vastly different. Again, watch a replay of the WCU/Citadel game vs the USC/Kentucky game. Vast difference.

That's all i'm saying. And nothing more.

[Grizalltheway]

Im familiar with how to find the game link for El Cid games on ESPN3 - I go to the "live now" tab and scroll down until I find the game

how do I find GSU games? Ive never seen the tab that says "extra exposure by professional production" tab

i could swear Ive see the GSU feeds in the same place I saw the FCS feeds

is there some special clickbait on the GSU games that ESPN puts in there so that sun blet teams get that "extra exposure"?

You're a dick. You're adorable, but a dick. The production quality (and sometimes the commentating) is vastly different. Again, watch a replay of the WCU/Citadel game vs the USC/Kentucky game. Vast difference.

That's all i'm saying. And nothing more.

Coastal ain't USC or Kentucky, and neither is anyone else in the Sun Belch.

Little ol' FCS Montana and NDSU did recently have a game on the mothership with Musberger and Palmer calling it, though.

[Ibanez]

You're a dick. You're adorable, but a dick. The production quality (and sometimes the commentating) is vastly different. Again, watch a replay of the WCU/Citadel game vs the USC/Kentucky game. Vast difference.

That's all i'm saying. And nothing more.

Coastal ain't USC or Kentucky, and neither is anyone else in the Sun Belch.

Little ol' FCS Montana and NDSU did recently have a game on the mothership with Musberger and Palmer calling it, though.

No shit. When Coastal plays at home, it's done through the American Sports Network and the quality is sub par.

But, I never compared CCU to USC or UK. So....

[Grizalltheway]

Coastal ain't USC or Kentucky, and neither is anyone else in the Sun Belch.

Little ol' FCS Montana and NDSU did recently have a game on the mothership with Musberger and Palmer calling it, though.

No shit. When Coastal plays at home, it's done through the American Sports Network and the quality is sub par.

But, I never compared CCU to USC or UK. So....

Cid's argument was that there's no difference between a Sun Belch game on ESPN3 and an FCS one on ESPN3. The USC/Kentucky game was not on ESPN3, so why did you even bring it up?

[Ibanez]

No shit. When Coastal plays at home, it's done through the American Sports Network and the quality is sub par.

But, I never compared CCU to USC or UK. So....

Cid's argument was that there's no difference between a Sun Belch game on ESPN3 and an FCS one on ESPN3. The USC/Kentucky game was not on ESPN3, so why did you even bring it up?

There is a difference in the production quality between schools like USC and The Citadel. FBS and FCS, Sun Belt and SoCon..in this market.

The Troy/CSU game was pretty good ( which I mentioned and it was on ESPC3). Smooth viewing, graphics, etc...


But, good job at ignoring both posts and focusing on an outlier.


His thing, is the exposure. Citadel was on ESPN3 just like GSU was. The only thing that 'ranked' them was the start time (on the Roku app where I viewed it). Is there more exposure for GSU than the Citadel being that the two are on the same channel? That's debatable (and only those two care). I watched the Citadel game b/c I'm a fan. But, i'll tell you this, I didn't see a single SoCon or Citadel commercial. During the Troy/CSU game, the first few commercials were Troy and Sun Belt.

[Grizalltheway]

Now you're just throwing shit against the wall and hoping something sticks. The bottom line is no one gives a shit about the SB outside of alumni (and not even them in the case of Ga. State), just like FCS schools. The exposure argument is laughable.

[ASUG8]

Now you're just throwing shit against the wall and hoping something sticks. The bottom line is no one gives a shit about the SB outside of alumni (and not even them in the case of Ga. State), just like FCS schools. The exposure argument is laughable.

Yet someone thought it was important enough to start another bashing thread about the SB.

[Pwns]

It's the week of Georgia Southern at App State! The two teams come into the game with a combined 18-1 record against the other 9 teams in the league.

[CID1990]

who gives a flying fark

[JohnStOnge]

It does add to the information showing how bad the Sun Belt is in the context of FBS. I mean the fact that two teams left FCS from the Southern and immediately started dominating the Sun Belt.

But at least the Sun Belt doesn't have North Texas in it any more.

[ASUG8]

who gives a flying fark

....says the guy who had to open and then post in this thread.

[Baldy]

who gives a flying fark

Nice win against Sammy there CID.

[Baldy]

It does add to the information showing how bad the Sun Belt is in the context of FBS. I mean the fact that two teams left FCS from the Southern and immediately started dominating the Sun Belt.

But at least the Sun Belt doesn't have North Texas in it any more.

It should also show you how much we have outgrown the SoCon, John.
(For reference, watch our game vs. 1st place el Cid)

We can't control how bad the rest of our conference is. If we go out and keep winning (Appy too), good things will come. Hell, even GA State had an OOC win this weekend. That's more shocking than NDSU getting beat by South Dakota.

[Pwns]

It does add to the information showing how bad the Sun Belt is in the context of FBS. I mean the fact that two teams left FCS from the Southern and immediately started dominating the Sun Belt.

But at least the Sun Belt doesn't have North Texas in it any more.

This is the kind of comment I was trolling for.

Honestly, I would argue it has more to do with the myth that playing in the G5 is a significant step up in competition from the best of the FCS. I will give the AAC credit that they are on an entirely different level than the rest of the G5 this year but they don't and won't keep it up year-in and year-out.

BTW, since you're a fan of computer rankings, both App State and Georgia Southern are rated higher than any FCS team in Sagarin, are both top 15 G5 teams, and are rated higher than all but one CUSA team and all but two MAC teams.

Not that I need computer rankings to know we could compete in the MAC or CUSA when we clobbered the only team that could probably challenge Toledo for the MAC west…with our backup QB.

[kalm]

It does add to the information showing how bad the Sun Belt is in the context of FBS. I mean the fact that two teams left FCS from the Southern and immediately started dominating the Sun Belt.

But at least the Sun Belt doesn't have North Texas in it any more.

This is the kind of comment I was trolling for.

Honestly, I would argue it has more to do with the myth that playing in the G5 is a significant step up in competition from the best of the FCS. I will give the AAC credit that they are on an entirely different level than the rest of the G5 this year but they don't and won't keep it up year-in and year-out.

BTW, since you're a fan of computer rankings, both App State and Georgia Southern are rated higher than any FCS team in Sagarin, are both top 15 G5 teams, and are rated higher than all but one CUSA team and all but two MAC teams.

Not that I need computer rankings to know we could compete in the MAC or CUSA when we clobbered the only team that could probably challenge Toledo for the MAC west…with our backup QB.

Wait a second! Whoa!

You could compete in the MAC or CUSA with the same schollies!