JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

[ODUalum11]

Also, I don't understand hostility among other FCS schools to prospective schools that might make the jump. Is it a breach of integrity/tradition issue, or a misinterpretation on my end?

A lot of it is that we think those schools are delusional about their own capability to compete with...I don't know....LSU. A few years ago, ULM beat Alabama and nobody really cared (ULM is FBS).

Western Kentucky, Marshall, these are just a few of the once-great FCS names that you never associate with championship ever again. Then, WKU loses to Indiana State and just embarasses itself. Don't be WKU 2.0. Stay where you belong.

or you could become a USF, Boise State, or UConn and have a good amount of success.....

[rufus]

Well, JMU could host Penn State and Notre Dame too if had an NFL stadium

I have no issue with playing the occasional big game at FedEx. We could essentially take the same approach that UMass plans to take once its on-campus stadium is expanded to 30k.

Amherst-Foxboro and Harrisonburg-DC Area are both about 2 hour drives. We can play most games (and even some BCS games) at Bridgeforth with the occasional big BCS game at FedEx. The WVU game at FedEx in 2012 could be a test run of sorts. Personally, I wouldn't want to play at FedEx too often, but the occasional game would be great for the majority of our alums (like myself), who live in the DC area.

[CatMom]

FWIW - the NCAA does not recognize the BCS champion as a national champion. They are just that....the BCS champion.
The NCAA DI Champion for 2011 is EWU.

[BDKJMU]

FWIW - the NCAA does not recognize the BCS champion as a national champion. They are just that....the BCS champion.
The NCAA DI Champion for 2011 is EWU.

Well, FWIW 99.99% of the rest of the sports following country when you ask them who was the Div I national champ in football will say Auburn.

[alvin kayak]

or you could become a USF, Boise State, or UConn and have a good amount of success.....

ODU, I love you brother, but Boise State is the exception not the rule.

UConn already had Big East athletics in other sports, so that's no real surprise. Plus, they have benefited from proximity to ESPN HQ and get night games all the time.

USF is no comparison for any ODU/JMU/App/GaSo as USF is like the 5th biggest school in the nation or something like that. IT IS HUGE.

Boise is an exception, I grant that. But I still think Marshall, Idaho, WKU and others are prime examples of who not to be.

[alvin kayak]

FWIW - the NCAA does not recognize the BCS champion as a national champion. They are just that....the BCS champion.
The NCAA DI Champion for 2011 is EWU.

It's only on ESPN where they have contracts to the BCS that you hear Auburn is the NCAA Champion. Then it gets promulgated elsweher.

[89Hen]

or you could become a USF, Boise State, or UConn and have a good amount of success.....

ODU, I love you brother, but Boise State is the exception not the rule.

UConn already had Big East athletics in other sports, so that's no real surprise. Plus, they have benefited from proximity to ESPN HQ and get night games all the time.

USF is no comparison for any ODU/JMU/App/GaSo as USF is like the 5th biggest school in the nation or something like that. IT IS HUGE.

Boise is an exception, I grant that. But I still think Marshall, Idaho, WKU and others are prime examples of who not to be.

Pretty well said. Just make a list of all the teams that have moved up and it's easy to see what the odds are.

[Seawolf97]

When JMU moves to FBS any idea where they might go? I see the MAC as more Midwest oriented, C USA has teams in your backyard-ECU, Marshall. This could be an interesting move. UMass was good fit for the MAC and a potential rivalry with Buffalo. Maybe a new FBS conference all sports - JMU, App St, Charlotte etc. ? Would that even be possible given events that went down this week ? Gotta watch and see. Good Luck though .

[JmuSkinsfan]

SeaWolf ... here is the "best case scenario" as a lot of us see it...

The PAC12 refusing to expand is going to force the Big12 to stick together ... they're down to 9 teams with A&M leaving and the speculation is Missouri would likely go to be the SEC's 14th team. Big12 would be down to 8 ... and could look to try and bring TCU in ... as well as teams like SMU, Houston, Rice, UTEP, etc, to go to 12 or 14 teams and stick to their geographical footprint.

It's widely speculated that CUSA will probably disband ... they are not geographically conducive and having some of the CUSA west teams raided by the Big12 will speed up the process. That would leave eastern teams like UCF, Marshall, ECU, Memphis, UAB and Tulane looking for a new conference.

The Big East could very well disband ... with schools like Georgetown, Villanova, DePaul, Marquette, Providence, St. Johns, etc. joining with some A10 teams to form a basketball conference of smaller, private schools. That would leave UConn, WVU, Rutgers, Cincinatti, USF and Louisville looking for new members. IF the ACC expands to 16 ... they could very well add Rutgers and UConn.

A new east coast conference could form with the remaining CUSA East and former Big East football schools. Depending on how big the conference would want to be, they could look to add Temple and UMass from the MAC, as well as take some FCS teams looking to move up, plus you can't discount Army and Navy if they want to join a conference ... which could lead to a conference made up of any of the following schools:

WVU, Louisville, Cincinatti, USF, UCF, ECU, Marshall, Temple, UMass, Army, Navy, Memphis, UAB, Tulane, JMU, App State and ODU ... that's 17 teams ... obviously not all of them would piece together ... but I would imagine you could pluck anywhere from 10-16 of those teams and make a pretty formidable East Coast Conference ... probably no BCS tie-in ... but certainly not a Sun Belt or CUSA quality ...

Just some thoughts ... like I said ... best case scenario for those in FCS looking to jump up ... we shall see soon enough, though.

[GannonFan]

WVU, Louisville, Cincinatti, USF, UCF, ECU, Marshall, Temple, UMass, Army, Navy, Memphis, UAB, Tulane, JMU, App State and ODU ... that's 17 teams ... obviously not all of them would piece together ... but I would imagine you could pluck anywhere from 10-16 of those teams and make a pretty formidable East Coast Conference ... probably no BCS tie-in ... but certainly not a Sun Belt or CUSA quality ...

Aren't half of those teams already in the Sun Belt or CUSA, or even lower, in the MAC? And without a BCS tie-in, what makes you think they would somehow rise above that status? What were Cincinnatti or Louisville before they got into the Big East and got access to the BCS tie-in (hint, the answer is CUSA teams)?

[JmuSkinsfan]

WVU, Louisville, Cincinatti, USF, UCF, ECU, Marshall, Temple, UMass, Army, Navy, Memphis, UAB, Tulane, JMU, App State and ODU ... that's 17 teams ... obviously not all of them would piece together ... but I would imagine you could pluck anywhere from 10-16 of those teams and make a pretty formidable East Coast Conference ... probably no BCS tie-in ... but certainly not a Sun Belt or CUSA quality ...

Aren't half of those teams already in the Sun Belt or CUSA, or even lower, in the MAC? And without a BCS tie-in, what makes you think they would somehow rise above that status? What were Cincinnatti or Louisville before they got into the Big East and got access to the BCS tie-in (hint, the answer is CUSA teams)?

None of those schools are in the Sun Belch. The Sun Belt is far and away the worst conference in football. Also, the above conference would also include the more attractive CUSA teams (from the east), 5 former Big East schools, a couple top MAC schools (UMass and Temple have much more to offer than, say, Toledo and Central Michigan) ... and top FCS schools ... I can see many reasons why that would be better than, say, joining UL-Monroe, UL-Lafayette, North Texas and Troy in the Sunbelt ...

[Seawolf97]

Really good input. Hope you guys at JMU go for it and do well

[Aho Old Guy]

It's been alluded to but bears repeating: any new FBS conference conflagellation (NEW WORD! combining conflagration & flagellation) without significant TV-market exposure will crash and burn under the weight of itself.

Low- to mid-tier bowl tie-ins do NOT generate sufficient funds for success, and it's just plain masochistic without that big long-term TV contract to guarantee future cash flow to athletic departments. They will perpetually be cash poor.