A Sea Of Red

http://anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?t=69539

It looks like the MEAC champ will be giving up it's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs in favor of playing in a Legacy Bowl. Could the Big South sway SC State?

Bring them on! And the same goes for Hampton since the subject has been broached. Let's hope Kyle puts some effort into his outreach (if he has the gumption to even make an attempt).

A few of the best things from threads I've read on the topic:

"The MEAC champ should go to the playoffs and let the Legacy Bowl have the MEAC runner-up."

"The SWAC has the attendance and name recognition, but the brand has transformed from athletic excellence to entertainment."

Also was rumored that the game would be played beginning in 2011, on ESPN, with a $3 million total payout divided among the schools (presumably every school, not just the game participants - I'm not sure).

If those numbers are true, it shocks me. Does ESPN really believe such a game would draw enough to make that happen? But if it's billed as a game to kick-off Bowl Week, maybe...

Another interesting nugget regarding the $$$:

That is the basic question we are being presented with, people will throw around this $3 million figure like it seems like a lot of money, but after you figure in taxes, conference fees and being split amongst all 13 schools in the MEAC this is what were left with. Hell, most if not all of our schools clear more than $80K for a home game, and some DOUBLE that amount. DSU got $550K for the Michigan game and even after expenses and the fines, we still had about $300K to show for it. So WTF is $80K going to do for us? Especially when the average budget in the conference is $9.5 MILLION!!! If we can figure out a way to do both (Playoffs/Bowl Game), then it will definitely have all of our support. But if its the either/or proposition that these SWACites are presenting to us then I say Hell to the Nizz-aw!

ps - lines like that last one have made me an instant fan of MEAC and SWAC boards .. the message board lingo they use is on a level far above ours

This has always been a SWAC-driven initiative but certain weaker sister elements of the MEAC have drooled at the prospect of tapping into some of the money.

Objectively, I think it's a bad decision. On so many levels, it's like resigning their ability to compete nationally. The lower-tier MEAC's have given up their ability to compete against the higher-tier, and both conferences are giving up their shot at a national title.

But for the SWAC, its not like this attitude is anything new.

A decade or so ago, the SWAC level of play on the field was considerably higher than it is today. I think most have resigned themselves to cashing checks from classics and staying in their insulated little worlds.