A Sea Of Red

I know that I was ticked off the night we got left out and cried about the Big South, but it made me think of something...

What if you could make your own conference for LU to be in?

What would it look like?

I would make something like this:

Liberty
Western Carolina
William and Mary
The Citadel
Eastern Kentucky
Tennessee-Martin
Furman
Coastal Carolina

So, who would you like to see LU in a conference with, in a perfect world?

No CAA schools, please!

I wouldn't call it a perfect world (because that would include the Horns) but a somewhat realistic FBS league:

• Liberty
  JMU
  Appalachian St
  Temple
  East Carolina
  Marshall (shout out to CJ)
  Georgia Southern
  Old Dominion

Yeah, I know it is unlikely right now. But we are speaking hypothetically in this thread.

Cider Jim wrote:No CAA schools, please!

Hey we'd be stealing teams from their league. There would have to be some sort of pleasure in that scenario.

Sly Fox wrote:I wouldn't call it a perfect world (because that would include the Horns) but a somewhat realistic FBS league:

• Liberty
  JMU
  Appalachian St
  Temple
  East Carolina
  Marshall (shout out to CJ)
  Georgia Southern
  Old Dominion

Yeah, I know it is unlikely right now. But we are speaking hypothetically in this thread.

Cider Jim wrote:No CAA schools, please!

Hey we'd be stealing teams from their league. There would have to be some sort of pleasure in that scenario.

At least we could have a couple wins every year. Sad thing is they would be against the current FBS teams on that list.

Add William and Mary, Richmond, or maybe WCU and we could call it the Appalachian Mountain conference or something like that...

Big South Conference... I assume no CAA teams would want to move over:

COMMONWEALTH DIVISION

Liberty University
Virginia Military
Norfolk State
Hampton
Elon
Campbell

CAROLINA DIVISION

Appalachian State
Western Carolina
Coastal Carolina
Gardner-Webb
Davidson
NC Central

By the way, is it disturbing that I am a political junkie, yet I was less angry when Barack Obama won the presidency?

Sly Fox wrote:I wouldn't call it a perfect world (because that would include the Horns) but a somewhat realistic FBS league:

• Liberty
  JMU
  Appalachian St
  Temple
  East Carolina
  Marshall (shout out to CJ)
  Georgia Southern
  Old Dominion

Yeah, I know it is unlikely right now. But we are speaking hypothetically in this thread.

Cider Jim wrote:No CAA schools, please!

Hey we'd be stealing teams from their league. There would have to be some sort of pleasure in that scenario.

Added UNCC to your list, Sly. As much as I do not think moving up is a good idea...your idea of a league makes good sense.

• Liberty
  JMU
  Appalachian St
  Temple
  East Carolina
  Marshall (shout out to CJ)
  Georgia Southern
  Old Dominion
  UNCCharlotte

Take two, once again assuming that no CAA schools will want to move...

There really are only a few conferences we can purge from, the Big South, the Pioneer League (Davidson & Campbell), the Southern, and the Southland conferences. All the others are too far away for regional purposes, or have history to them (Ivy, Patriot, MEAC).

How I would re-align:
SE Missouri moves from the Ohio Valley to the Pioneer Conference. OVC left with 8 teams.
Georgia Southern leaves the Southern Conference to go to the Pioneer Conference.
Davidson & Campbell leave the Pioneer Conference. Pioneer left with 9 teams, 10 once Marist joins in 2009.
Samford & Chattanooga leave the Southern Conference to go to the Southland Conference. Southland now has 10 teams.
Stony Brook leaves the Big South to go to the Northeast Conference. Northeast has 9 teams, 10 once Bryant joins.

That leaves the Big South, minus Stony Brook, and the Southern, minus Samford, Georgia Southern and Chattanooga, plus four teams on the outskirts: Davidson, Campbell, and the two Indys, NC Central and Savannah State. And Charlotte, whenever they start up. 17 teams, actually.

Let's divy them up...

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE:
Appalachian State
Western Carolina University (should be in the same conf. as Appy State)
Elon University
Liberty University
Gardner-Webb University
Coastal Carolina (should be in the same conf. as Liberty)
Davidson University
Campbell University

BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE:
NC Central
Charleston Southern
Presbyterian College
Wofford University
Furman University (should be in the same conf. as Wofford)
Savannah State
Virginia Military Institute
The Citadel (I think they should be in the same conf. as VMI & Furman)

I'd also put UNC Greensboro, Radford, Winthrop and Charlotte into the Southern for basketball.

I think this gives the SoCon more depth (CCU, Liberty & GW are serviceable, plus adding Winthrop & Davidson for b'ball helps), and the Big South has better top-of-the-line talent (Wofford & Furman).

Assuming the CAA splits once Georgia State, ODU, VCU and UNCC football comes online and since this is technically hypothetical and our ideal world:
Commonwealth Conference:
1. Liberty
2. VCU
3. ODU
4. VMI
5. W&M
6. Richmond
7. JMU
8. Norfolk State
9. Hampton

Future FBS:
1. Liberty
2. JMU
3. East Carolina
4. Appalachian State
5. ODU
6. Georgia Southern
7. Georgia State
8. Marshall
9. UNCC
Or if we want to go the conference championship game route:
Southern Division
1. Georgia State
2. Georgia Southern
3. Coastal Carolina
4. East Carolina
5. Appalachian State
6. UNCC

Northern Division:
1. Liberty
2. JMU
3. ODU
4. Marshall
5. Temple
6. Villanova

Again, this is all hypotethical, just for fun and trying to reflect my ideal vision, so I can be as unrealistic as I want here.

I know it's the break, but you guys have way too much time on your hands!

But thanks for the Marshall reference, Sly.

I thought you might appreciate some Herd love after they got smoked by the Owls here in Houston this weekend.

Please, don't remind me. The Herd's record this year is UGLY.

Ed Dantes wrote:
By the way, is it disturbing that I am a political junkie, yet I was less angry when Barack Obama won the presidency?

This was more of a shock. I had a feeling that Obama would win, but I really thought that LU had a better shot at the playoffs.