[ATrain]

Personally, if I was CCU, I'd pitch to the CAA...they seem to be getting more exposure on ESPN than any other mid-major conference, except the Missouri Valley. The SoCon is a conference in decline (at least when talking about competitiveness in everything but football), the Big South is an athletic roller coaster (some years better and some years worse overall than SoCon), and the CAA continues to climb upwards in everything. If only LU didn't drop the ball (pun definitely intended) this year in football and men's bball, we'd have a legitimate case for joining the CAA...I'm sure Jerry could bribe some of the schools into letting us in...and if CCU did get invited, we can't really say too much about their bolting...we'd do the same to them if the CAA ever invited us.

[Sly Fox]

The Colonial has been our primary target for the past 15 years or so after the SoCon first blew us off. But we haven't been able to swing an invite based on a number of factors. With them now bursting at the seams, the possible of a split in the future is plausible. The much discussed Virginia contingent could be part of a new league along with the other Southern members of the CAA. But it is far from impending.

Keep in mind that we do have the I-A aspirations. With them public it does actually hurt our chances of being invited into some circles.

Joining a current or totally new I-A league is our ultimate longterm goal. Perhaps some SoCon, CAA and Big South schools might become partners in a new conference. Its not as farfetched as you might think.

I don't think any of us on this board would blame the Chants for jumping to the SoCon. But its certainly in our best interest for them to stick around.