AZGrizFan wrote:I'm sorry to interject, but I can't help but sit here and laugh at posters who want to develop conferences in which there's NO flying and no drive longer than 6 hours.
To us in the West, that's "Inconceivable!"
Go back in your large, unoccupied corner of the country and whine about how far you have to travel for a game...
“Tolerance and Apathy are the last virtues of a dying society.” Aristotle
Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.
AZGrizFan wrote:I'm sorry to interject, but I can't help but sit here and laugh at posters who want to develop conferences in which there's NO flying and no drive longer than 6 hours.
To us in the West, that's "Inconceivable!"
Go back in your large, unoccupied corner of the country and whine about how far you have to travel for a game...
And we like it that way, so keep your ilk out of our side of the country!
"Ah fuck. You are right." KYJelly, 11/6/12
"The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." Barack Obama, 9/25/12
I would pay to be able to drive 6 hours through Montana to anywhere out west. I also would pay to have someone drive me the lousy 4 hours between Washington and anywhere.
magnolialeague wrote:I would pay to be able to drive 6 hours through Montana to anywhere out west. I also would pay to have someone drive me the lousy 4 hours between Washington and anywhere.
And there it is folks. The end of the internet. Magnolia has, in two short sentences, completely outlined the difference between East and West.
"Ah fuck. You are right." KYJelly, 11/6/12
"The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." Barack Obama, 9/25/12
magnolialeague wrote:Why doesn't the CAA North talk about Holy Cross?
Holy Cross is a small college that does not wish to grant football scholarships. If they did decide to grant scholarships, they would prefer to do it within the Patriot League. Fordham has also strongly implied that they would prefer to stay in the Patriot League over the CAA for football if the PL decides to permit athletic scholarships.
Stoney Brook can join the NEC in place of Albany.
Stony Brook is full scholarship and just won the Big South championship, so it'd be strange for them to go back to a limited scholarship conference. Until Albany builds a stadium, Stony is the more desirable SUNY anyway. We don't need another Northeastern.
Anyway, who would we play non-conference if we turn all our usual non-conference opponents into conference opponents?
Anyway, who would we play non-conference if we turn all our usual non-conference opponents into conference opponents?[/quote]
Thanks for the reply. If you played 8 CAA games and played 1 or maybe 2 FBS games for more revenue, then you could schedule the Patriot or NEC for the OOC games.
With Hofstra gone (quite unfortunately), conditions for LI football will be changing substantially. The school already posted a gain of nearly 50 slots in attendance this year, and with Hofstra gone Stony Brook is officially "Long Island's Football Team". Listen again - whether LI's biggest sport is football or not (it's not), we're now the hometown team for a region of nearly 3 million. Whether NY is a pro sport state or not, people would kill for this with proper marketing. Look for far better attendance next season, and, thanks in part to the Hofstra players, our new Rutgers transfer, and JC additions we took on and the new undisputed recruitment field for hometown LIers, a very good program going forward. Need I also remind you of our FBS opponents next year (USF, then Buffalo, then Army)?
That being said, Stony Brook made a move to the Big South for a reason. This reason was well thought out, well analyzed, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was something either written or agreed upon prior to the initial move. While our athletic program's budget is equivalent to low/mid tier Conference-USA budgets (= very high by FCS standards), it's not equipped for a long term engagement to a wholly southern league, esp one whose biggest name recognition in the Northeast is Liberty (no offense you guys. You're fine institutions, your names just don't resonate up here). Thus, as most of you came to conclude already, the Big South is temporary.
Now, I don't know the future. I also don't believe we're ahead of Albany in the pecking order of who CAA North wants added. Just doesn't make geographic sense for U Mass, Maine, UNH, or URI to prefer SBU over Albany. I don't care how well we play, in FCS ball costs tell ALL. Fordham I believe even now is too committed to the PL to make a move. Beyond this, even a CAA move wouldn't give SBU any sort of rivalry we want (no demographic similarity except for Delaware, who's engaged w/Villanova, and U Mass, who isn't interested), and honestly we all know that rivalry games are the real money-makers and attendance boosters. Hofstra/SBU, whether they like it or not, was their highest grossing game.
My prediction - SBU is a 26+K and growing student institution with a tremendous endowment in a field of small colleges/mid-size publics (in the Northeast, I know the situation in the South is much different). With Hofstra gone, there is no rivalry of interest, except with Albany, who, without a double move to the CAA, cannot be in the same conference as SBU ever again (thus, unreasonable to expect consistently or with value). After casual conversations with people who are in the know here, and seeing that our new school President seems committed to D1 development....I'm optimistic about our future, no matter in what conference...or division...we end up. However, I don't believe the CAA is a lasting answer, and I think they want a school who would be satisfied being there. That's NOT Stony Brook.
I don't know much about the SUNY/CUNY systems but can the state support both Buffalo and Stony Brook at the FBS level? Would SBU look to fund stadium expansions/scholarships via private funding?
dbackjon wrote:So are you thinking SBU will eventually go FBS?
A very loaded question....
I like where we are in the Big South, because the smaller division gives us a bit of scheduling mobility. It also gives us far easier access to the playoffs NOW, which is a major recruiting tool. I also believe FCS ball is far more noble than its overbuilt FBS brethren.
However, it's hard to justify a program that's so expensive if there's no rivalry, no appropriate regional alignment, and no hope of one emerging soon. The CAA is a wonderful league, arguably better than the MAC, Sun Belt, and a good percentage of the WAC. However, the MAC actually has two programs - Temple and Buffalo, that are better demographic matches than any FCS in the Northeast can offer. The Big East has Syracuse (who dub themselves NYC's team), Rutgers, and U Conn, all of whom are equivalent in size. Humorously, it'd be a cheaper road trip some years (the ones with USF at home) to be in the Big East than any FCS league!
This being said, the only thing SBU has in common with these programs right now is size. We need to continue to push football, continue to add depth, media attention, and, most importantly, winning seasons to this team. I have no idea if we'll move up, but the admins have decided football is the way to go. I can't wait to see what's in store for us
dbackjon wrote:
If Rutgers ended up in the Big 10-14, how badly would the Big East want another NYC-Metro team?
SBU's hoop team had better start getting better FAST!
Welllll, Rutgers did just lose to an America East team, and we DID beat Penn State a couple years ago.....
I'm of the conviction that this wouldn't be about athletic talent. It'd be about media market share. Big leagues have always been about that. So we don't need to be overwhelmingly good, just good enough to get a market share.
mainejeff wrote:Stony Brook is light years away from the FBS and the Big South ain't getting you there!
I disagree. I think the Big South will be very effective at getting us there, though, as I've already written, it's too far down the road to see. The key, however, is playoff time. The more we're there, the better we recruit, the more who show to watch. Stadium expansion at SBU has been pegged to attendance. Just a matter of time there.
mainejeff wrote:Stony Brook is light years away from the FBS and the Big South ain't getting you there!
I disagree. I think the Big South will be very effective at getting us there, though, as I've already written, it's too far down the road to see. The key, however, is playoff time. The more we're there, the better we recruit, the more who show to watch. Stadium expansion at SBU has been pegged to attendance. Just a matter of time there.
Redwyn wrote:
I disagree. I think the Big South will be very effective at getting us there, though, as I've already written, it's too far down the road to see. The key, however, is playoff time. The more we're there, the better we recruit, the more who show to watch. Stadium expansion at SBU has been pegged to attendance. Just a matter of time there.
Have you heard anything about your 2010 schedule?
Away - South Florida, Brown, Lafayette, Coastal Carolina, Liberty, and Presby
Home - U Mass, VMI, Chuck South, G-Webb, Open (Was Hofstra).
I'd love to see another FCS fill that open home slot. I take pretty great pride that SBU doesn't cop out with D2 programs. Maybe a team that's open from Northeastern's disbanding?
It's been sad to see two FCS football programs in the northeast dropped in Northeastern and Hofstra. Especially when I feel so strongly that had both programs remained in the America East, that right now we'd have either the A10 or America East sponsoring football.
Instead, we had Delaware and Hofstra leave for the CAA (along with non-A10 football schools Towson and Drexel). Towson then upgraded football to join the A10. As we know, when NU left the AE for the CAA, the CAA had the 6 schools to take over football sponsorship. But NU and Hofstra have not made more revenue by being in the CAA vs the AE.
Had Hofstra and NU never left the AE, we'd have a stable group of football schools in the northeast that would be in it's own FCS football conference:
Maine, UNH, Northeastern, UMass, URI, Stonybrook and now Fordham.
Albany might have more incentive to upgrade if this were the case, much like Towson had to upgrade when joining the CAA for all-sports.
Fast forward to 2010, and there are less programs in the region.
And I for one would support any conference shift that would bring stability and cut travel costs in order to preserve football in the region.
If that means a CAA split and form a new conference with Maine, UNH, UMass, URI, Stonybrook, Fordham and Albany, so be it.
If it means the Patriot League decides to make scholarships an option for it's schools ANd extends invitations to Maine, UNH, UMass and URI, then I'd be fine with that as well:
Patriot League Football:
North:
* Maine
* UNH
* UMass
Holy Cross
* URI
Colgate
2 Questions -
1. Would Colgate agree to go in a different subdivision from Bucknell, Lafayette, and Lehigh?
2. The South division seems rather weak...I would wonder if SBU wouldn't be better served by even the Big South in terms of RPI for an at-large spot.
T-Dog wrote:Anyone have a clue what the CAA schedule will be next year? Will they just fill in the holes in the best they can or will they wipe the slate clean?
No clear picture yet...the conference head shed is still working on it...the comish, in an interview, said they had presented him with three different versions, and he told them to keep working on it...so who knows when we'll have a firm schedule...
“Tolerance and Apathy are the last virtues of a dying society.” Aristotle
Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.
T-Dog wrote:What were the original schedules? It would be easier to decipher a solution going off what they were.
From what I've heard, that not exactly true...because I've heard that teams not scheduled to play from the north and south will ply...that teams scheduled to play a road game my get a home match against a scheduled team...
It's really a mess...especially due to the expressed concerns from Maine, UNH, UMass and URI about potential excess travel...
“Tolerance and Apathy are the last virtues of a dying society.” Aristotle
Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.
