If you want to talk ASUN smack or ramble ad nauseum about your favorite pro or major college teams, this is the place to let it rip.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke

By JK37
Registration Days Posts
#618981
Big East has no football. Make sense if we want to stay Independent in football and do the best we can for our only other revenue sport.
By ballcoach15
Registration Days Posts
#618983
Best thing to do is get in AAC, ACC, SEC or Big 12 in all sports.
Big East is a northern basketball conference, and nothing else worth mentioning.
We should strive to be great in all sports.
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By cruzan_flame13
Posts
#618984
I did mention before that LU should try to be to the AAC
of what Notre Dame (excluding this year) is to the ACC. It would be very beneficial for our athletic program and would give note to leadership to acquire more funds to academia (residential/online). I only see one person who would disagree with this because of a favored sport that's not valuable enough to remain in our current conference. Also, as I recall, our school location isn't even considered southeast. We are mid- atlantic, which gives us the advantage to take opportunities from the north and southeast.
By ballcoach15
Registration Days Posts
#618989
We need one conference for all sports. Joining Big East (or A-10) just because of basketball, might be the dumbest thing I have ever read pertaining to Liberty Flames. Those 2 conferences would kill every other LU sport.
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By Racenut
Registration Days Posts
#618997
The travel money saved having non-revenue sports in a regional conference probably makes up for the TV cash earned by the AAC. The ACC is the only viable all-sports conference for Liberty IMHO and the chances of that happening are less than zero without devine intervention. The old Big East would have been the only other option in terms of geography and level of competition, but those days are long gone. Ian has done a great job with future football schedules and I only see that getting better. The AAC at this point is a bill of goods sold by the NCAA to the better teams in the G5 to throw them the bone of a "possible" NY6 game. The cost of travel for non-revenue sports eats up the paltry ESPN TV deal and the teams are such that they cannibalize each other in the quest for an undefeated season, only to find that they still are on the outside if that actually happens. MBB is the only sport which would rise in prestige with an AAC membership and Coach McKay has proven that he needs NO help in establishing Liberty's rep in that club. Ride the independent wave in football and the same things are possible in football without the prohibative cost of traveling to Texas and beyond for vollyball and softball.
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By Ill flame
Posts
#619003
Racenut wrote: December 25th, 2020, 5:23 pm The travel money saved having non-revenue sports in a regional conference probably makes up for the TV cash earned by the AAC. The ACC is the only viable all-sports conference for Liberty IMHO and the chances of that happening are less than zero without devine intervention. The old Big East would have been the only other option in terms of geography and level of competition, but those days are long gone. Ian has done a great job with future football schedules and I only see that getting better. The AAC at this point is a bill of goods sold by the NCAA to the better teams in the G5 to throw them the bone of a "possible" NY6 game. The cost of travel for non-revenue sports eats up the paltry ESPN TV deal and the teams are such that they cannibalize each other in the quest for an undefeated season, only to find that they still are on the outside if that actually happens. MBB is the only sport which would rise in prestige with an AAC membership and Coach McKay has proven that he needs NO help in establishing Liberty's rep in that club. Ride the independent wave in football and the same things are possible in football without the prohibative cost of traveling to Texas and beyond for vollyball and softball.
AAC teams make $7 million a year in tv money. Big East teams make a little over $4 million without football.

The big east would be the same amount or less travel for us than the A-sun. The AAC would be more but nowhere near $7 million worth of travel. In both cases they get way more exposure than we are getting now which is one of the biggest concerns with the current situation.
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By Racenut
Registration Days Posts
#619009
I was speaking of the Big East as it related to all-sports possibilities. Of course that would be a great place to land for all sports except football. To me, I would be ecstatic to be Indy in football and in the Big East for all other sports. I think a few years ago I may have thought differently, but Liberty is uniquely qualified to excel in this new media without conference affiliation in football. I have seen more Liberty games on different platforms and mainstream media this year as the AAC team that I follow. Given that much of production is in house these days, Liberty is light years ahead of the majority of G5 and P5 schools in this department. It's simply not true that we need to belong to a G5 conference to get more exposure. Since the benefit of football conference affiliation has been so drastically reduced from this standpoint, I see no reason for our other student athletes, who would play significantly more away games, to be saddled with exponentially more travel.
On top of that, Liberty has much more football scheduling flexibility as an INDY, which opens the possibility of more quality games with P5 regional foes.
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By ATrain
Registration Days Posts
#619020
ballcoach15 wrote: December 25th, 2020, 9:57 am We need one conference for all sports. Joining Big East (or A-10) just because of basketball, might be the dumbest thing I have ever read pertaining to Liberty Flames. Those 2 conferences would kill every other LU sport.
Field hockey is already a Big East member, and it hasn't killed that sport. Your argument didn't have any merit before you posted it.
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By alabama24
Registration Days Posts
#619081
I don’t think the Big East would be a good fit for other sports, but it wouldn’t kill them. However: Field Hockey. Really? There is a reason why our team is in the Big East and not in the ASUN. :lol:
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By ATrain
Registration Days Posts
#619318
alabama24 wrote: December 26th, 2020, 9:43 pm I don’t think the Big East would be a good fit for other sports, but it wouldn’t kill them. However: Field Hockey. Really? There is a reason why our team is in the Big East and not in the ASUN. :lol:
Ballcoach said that joining the Big Easy would kill every other sport with the exception of basketball and and football. I was just stating that it hasn't killed field hockey. We all know that the ASUN doesn't sponsor field hockey, but my point stands: joining the Big East won't kill our Olympic sports.
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#619910
WAC Football is Back ... as an FCS league for now.

Image

My assumption is that NM State remains an FBS Indy and WAC for everything else for the time being.
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#620775
This story came out the other day from Thamel but I didn't have an opportunity to post it:
Yahoo Sports wrote:After college football's most trying season ever, what did we learn? Seismic change is coming

Pete Thamel
Tue, January 12, 2021, 11:22 PM


MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The crimson confetti fluttering through the still South Florida sky on Monday night represented both a celebration and an exhale.

Through constant disruption, considerable risk and unprecedented circumstances, the 2020 college football season was completed with a relatively drama-less College Football Playoff title game.

The portion focused on realignment rferences the TV contracts expiration and adds these thoughts:
an a creative and dynamic solution arise — like the addition of new big-brand partners — to prompt a new deal? It’s tricky, as ESPN didn’t become a worldwide conglomerate by ripping up deals that are tilted significantly in its favor.

Also relevant is that the AAC has already engaged with Boise State and San Diego State about potentially joining. It’d be naïve to not brace for another round of realignment at both the Power Five and Group of Five level.

“It’s hard to imagine that everything is static,” said Chris Bevilacqua, the co-founder of the media consulting group BHV, which has consulted for numerous leagues in media rights deals over the year. “It seems like there will be change, it’s hard to know when it will be and what will happen.”
Click Here for Full Story
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By Jonathan Carone
Posts
#620794
Sly Fox wrote: January 6th, 2021, 2:17 pm WAC Football is Back ... as an FCS league for now.

Image

My assumption is that NM State remains an FBS Indy and WAC for everything else for the time being.
Rumor is Grand Canyon will be adding football for the new WAC and NMSU is possibly dropping down.
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By Damien Sordelett
Registration Days Posts
#620817
Jonathan Carone wrote: January 14th, 2021, 8:46 pm GCU ended up not adding it and the WAC raided the Southland.
UTRGV is exploring starting a football program and the thought is it will join the WAC either in 2023 or 2024. Also, the WAC is looking at adding an eighth team so it can be immediately eligible for an FCS auto bid in the coming years.

In regards to New Mexico State, those in Las Cruces are saying the Aggies will remain independent until the WAC moves up to FBS. It will be at that point NMSU moves its football program into the conference. (All other sports are already in the WAC.) There's no reason for NMSU to drop down to FCS if the WAC is creating the football conference to move up to FBS in a decade.

We'll know when the WAC is moving to FBS. That will be when NMSU and Liberty don't extend their series.
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#620850
In a nutshell, here is where things are standing after the movement of this past week:

ASUN
  • Bellarmine
    FGCU
    Jacksonville
    Kennesaw State
    Liberty*
    Lipscomb
    North Alabama
    North Florida
    Stetson
    Central Arkansas (Beginning Fall 2021)
Jacksonville State & Eastern Kentucky have yet to make their expected formal announcements about joining the league.


WAC
  • Cal Baptist
    Chicago State (Leaving in 2022)
    Dixie State
    Grand Canyon
    NM State*
    Seattle
    Tarleton State
    UT-Rio Grande Valley
    Utah Valley
    Abilene Christian (Joining 2022)
    Lamar (Joining 2022)
    Sam Houston State (Joining 2022)
    Stephen F. Austin (Joining 2022)
    Southern Utah (Joining 2022)
Based on all of the moving & shaking, the FCS Southland Conference has been pilfered and is on the edge of extinction. And two new FCS leagues are being formed with full intention of moving up together en masse to FBS level within a decade. Here is how the proposed leagues will look IF the expected arrivals of EKU & JSU occur:


ASUN Football
  • Central Arkansas
    Eastern Kentucky
    Jacksonville State
    Kennesaw State
    North Alabama
    TBD
The final slot could go to Monmouth which has their affiliate contract end with the Big South just in time for the launch of the league. There also is the remote possibility that JMU could find itself looking for a temprary home if the Colonial falls apart as is becoming more of a possibility by the day. The Big South will be losing at least two members and is likely going to try and pull in some more MEAC refugees to survive.

WAC Football
  • ACU
    Lamar
    Sam Houston
    SFA
    Southern Utah
    UT-RGV (Beginning 2024)
    TBD
The final slot for the WAC could go to Northern Arizona or possibly McNeese State. Another real possibility is Texas A&M-Corpus Christi & Texas A&M-Kingsville merge similar to what happened with UTRGV. TAMUK currently has D2 football and TAMUCC is currently in the Southland.
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By jinxy
Registration Days Posts
#620919
I think its a positive for the asun. This is obviously only a concept at the moment but should the asun be able to persuade a few teams away it could a fallback option should indy become unsustainable and the aac not come calling. If they could pull us uab louisiana ulm and fiu over then suddenly it looks a little more feasible. Jsu and ksu can be decent fbs programs in time i believe similar to mid tier sunbelt schools. Maybe even a Troy as well.

Im 3 to 4 years that type of conference could be better than the sunbelt and cusa easily. Louisiana and louisiana tecg are total speculation about even desiring to move but their has been some scuttle about uab for sure. If proximity truly matters in this next round i could see something like that coming together. Certainly a long shot but interesting concept and good to have options

Again i would hope we can seriously grab the attention of the aac in the next 24 mos but we ant bank on it.

Of course its a lot more complicated than that with other sports and schools that dont have football. Just a thought.
By tyndal23
Posts
#620924
jinxy wrote: January 16th, 2021, 10:12 pm I think its a positive for the asun. This is obviously only a concept at the moment but should the asun be able to persuade a few teams away it could a fallback option should indy become unsustainable and the aac not come calling. If they could pull us uab louisiana ulm and fiu over then suddenly it looks a little more feasible. Jsu and ksu can be decent fbs programs in time i believe similar to mid tier sunbelt schools. Maybe even a Troy as well.

Im 3 to 4 years that type of conference could be better than the sunbelt and cusa easily. Louisiana and louisiana tecg are total speculation about even desiring to move but their has been some scuttle about uab for sure. If proximity truly matters in this next round i could see something like that coming together. Certainly a long shot but interesting concept and good to have options

Again i would hope we can seriously grab the attention of the aac in the next 24 mos but we ant bank on it.

Of course its a lot more complicated than that with other sports and schools that dont have football. Just a thought.
All very reasonable and well thought out, pardon me if I fell asleep half way through...( just kidding). I could care less what conference our other teams play in - they all can recruit and make national title games regardless of conference. Football is a completely different animal and I want no part of any G5 designation, conference, (including AAC) or G5 Independent “equivalent”. Put the hammer down - bust out.
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By Ill flame
Posts
#620928
Image

I was looking at the basketball conference rankings from last year. Outside of the often debated conferences on here I always look at the SoCon as the perfect fit for our non football teams right now. They are strictly a one bid league but the overall quality would be so much better than what we are currently playing against. Plus there would be less travel and natural rivals.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#620929
Ill flame wrote: January 17th, 2021, 4:54 am Image

I was looking at the basketball conference rankings from last year. Outside of the often debated conferences on here I always look at the SoCon as the perfect fit for our non football teams right now. They are strictly a one bid league but the overall quality would be so much better than what we are currently playing against. Plus there would be less travel and natural rivals.
You are absolutely correct that the Southern would be a great fit for our non football sports. It's been discussed for decades. They have always had almost zero interest, for the usual reasons having nothing to do with sports. Now that we are FBS in football, I suspect that interest level has gone from zero to negative infinity.
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By LUGrad2000
Registration Days Posts
#621003
I like the expansion schools if Liberty stays independent for football. Please tell me there is NO chance we would even consider ASUN for football. I don’t see most of those schools being able to fund FBS anyway.
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