[Liberty22]

App. State is announcing today that they are going to pursue a move to FBS. Who is next?

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co ... -1-a-move/

[Sly Fox]

Appy has simply announced their intentions to pursue moving up. That just puts them 5 years or so behind us dating back to when Doc announced it.

All any of can do is keep preparing to make ourselves attractive to potential conferences and work the back channels with other likeminded schools.

Until realignment finally starts shaking out some openings in lower level FBS leagues, we are all just playing the waiting game.

[PAmedic]

http://www.flamefans.com/forums/viewtop ... 12&t=17732

[flameshaw]

We may have announced our intentions 5 years before them, but they will find an fbs home before we do. We have everything in place and ready to go, I just don't think we are taken seriously yet.

Actually there are still some details to be worked out. Just guessing.......... but I expect we will hear something before the calendar year is up. We really haven't made a formal announcement equal to what ASU has made. Doc has said for a long time we will eventually go FBS. However ASU has had an outside consultant come in and work with them to prepare a formal announcement, our time will come very soon.

[TH Spangler]

LINK - LA Times http://www.latimes.com/sports/sns-tsn-a ... 9137.story

[logic]

I will not lie - I am jealous. I want this to be LU, now.

[Sly Fox]

There is nothing to be jealous of regarding them right now. We are in the exact same boat. We both have made it known that we want to join an FBS conference. We both have nowhere to go right now. Our administration is doing everything within their power to position us well for the right opportunity. In the meantime, we can #BeatNCState.

[BJWilliams]

SLy's right logic...I mean we can want to be FBS but we dont have a standing offer right now (and neither does Appalachian State) so what's the point of getting all bent out of shape just because another school did the same thing we did?

[logic]

More so because they are much further ahead...obviously we all know their football success and they have 18,000 kids on campus and fill 30,000+ on satrudays. The only thing we have them beat in right now is endowment / budget numbers, but unfortunately the average high school senior doesn't care much about that. (how much do the FBS leagues?)

[BJWilliams]

Really none of that stuff matters if they dont have a standing invite from an FBS league...and until that happens we are on the same level they are

[rogers3]

More so because they are much further ahead...obviously we all know their football success and they have 18,000 kids on campus and fill 30,000+ on saturdays. The only thing we have them beat in right now is endowment / budget numbers, but unfortunately the average high school senior doesn't care much about that. (how much do the FBS leagues?)

Last time I saw LU's endowment listed it was ~ 6M, while ASU list its endowment as 56M. They also only have about 2,000 more undergrads than we do. That being said, I think that they are further ahead only in regards to their football history. LU can and will move much faster than any state school when the time is right- case in point, the baseball stadium. I get a kick out of all the folks posting on various blogs that discount LU's ability to get to the next level, suggesting that schools such as JMU, Delaware or Towson are more prepared for a move. Things happen slowly at state schools and with a lot of planning. If LU wanted to go FBS and an opportunity was available, I have no doubt that we would be moving immediately- no issues of governmental interference, no issues with a board of visitors, no issues with state budgets.

[From the class of 09]

It's just a matter of buying growth vs value...if you want the safe buy paying a little dividend you go with App if you want the growth potential with a little more risk you'll take Lib. This does probably work against us because we need someone willing to take a little risk with us and none of the conference moves, so far, show much appetite for risk.

[mlschubert]

While it can never happen fast enough from a fan's perspective;

remember:

A. we are making one of the fastest ascensions ever from college inception (1971) to D1 competitive programs

B. we have significantly more potential for national exposure compared to many of the regional schools referenced - the vision that we would one day beat Notre Dame in Football, speaks not only to a goal but to the type of national program/following we are building towards as the largest Christian University

C. don't underestimate the impact of our growing online programs in creating a national brand and following

D. Liberty is taking this seriously; you can see it in the national level consultants they are engaged with - expect to see more announcements later this fall; we will be well positioned come 2012 ..

E. you don't have to dig too deep in our recent recruiting classes to see that we are attracting candidates that would typically overlook a similar FCS offer but chose Liberty because of who we are .. this bodes well for the future

Now let's hope we can magnify the exposure by getting it done in the playoffs in 2011

a fellow fan ..

[logic]

Agree Schubert, we are certainly a sleeping giant that is for sure. But yes, Duke hit what I was saying exactly as Appy will make the move sooner and probably JMU as well.

Rogers - Endowment is somewhere around 600 million and will hit 1 billion by 2014, and I agree we are much more mobile. The question is whether we would be first in line and right now the answer would be no, or so it seems.

It is hard for us young fans to have the patience the older ones do. We will try!

[jcmanson]

Rogers - Endowment is somewhere around 600 million and will hit 1 billion by 2014,

You can't just throw out numbers like that - where are you getting this from?

[flamesfan30]

jerry's thrown that number out at convo a couple times. ive heard him say it myself

and there's this:

http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2010/d ... ar-702763/

[From the class of 09]

Rogers - Endowment is somewhere around 600 million and will hit 1 billion by 2014,

You can't just throw out numbers like that - where are you getting this from?

Exactly messages boards are only for those with hard facts.

[From the class of 09]

jerry's thrown that number out at convo a couple times. ive heard him say it myself

and there's this:

http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2010/d ... ar-702763/

That's some very impressive inflows since Dec 2010 as no portfolio I've seen has approached +13% in that time.

[logic]

Haha where have you been JC? Can't have net revenues of 150m+ a year for the last few years and only have a 6 million endowment.

[LUGrad2000]

Has anyone outside of Liberty mentioned our desire for FBS?

[ballah09]

There was also an article awhile back before the bonds etc...stating Liberty's endowment was around 40 million...obvious that has changed...

anyway Liberty isnt that far off now with the new baseball facility and more than likely new civic center along with the football expansion, etc....

Carr’s Liberty consultation isn’t being done with a specific goal in mind -- i.e., a quick move from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision once the NCAA moratorium on moving between subdivisions ends in August 2011.

With conference affiliations in a state of flux right now, though, Liberty wants to be in the best position possible when the next shift happens.

“For us to get better -- and we’re not good enough at anything yet -- we need an outside set of eyes to say, you know what, we need to do X, Y and Z,” Barber said. “That’s what he’s going to do.”

http://www2.newsadvance.com/sports/2010 ... ar-539544/

[kuntryboimike]

There was also an article awhile back before the bonds etc...stating Liberty's endowment was around 40 million...obvious that has changed...

anyway Liberty isnt that far off now with the new baseball facility and more than likely new civic center along with the football expansion, etc....

Carr’s Liberty consultation isn’t being done with a specific goal in mind -- i.e., a quick move from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision once the NCAA moratorium on moving between subdivisions ends in August 2011.

With conference affiliations in a state of flux right now, though, Liberty wants to be in the best position possible when the next shift happens.

“For us to get better -- and we’re not good enough at anything yet -- we need an outside set of eyes to say, you know what, we need to do X, Y and Z,” Barber said. “That’s what he’s going to do.”

http://www2.newsadvance.com/sports/2010 ... ar-539544/

Moratorium end August 2011 as in....this month? So we might see changes as soon as September?

[Cider Jim]

Rogers - Endowment is somewhere around 600 million and will hit 1 billion by 2014,

You can't just throw out numbers like that - where are you getting this from?

I have no idea if Wikipedia is accurate, but they list Liberty's endowment at $530 million.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_South_Conference

[Sly Fox]

Yes, the moratorium is schedule to be ending. But there are motions to extend it. Plus with the new rules enacted during the moratorium that only schools invited by current FBS leagues can step up, essentially a de facto moratorium now exists.

[rogers3]

Rogers - Endowment is somewhere around 600 million and will hit 1 billion by 2014, and I agree we are much more mobile. The question is whether we would be first in line and right now the answer would be no, or so it seems.

Well, this old fan hates to break the news to you, but last year, Wiki was listing LU's endowment at the 6M mark, and the numbers you are using came from Jerry's quote that flamefan30 is referencing.

jerry's thrown that number out at convo a couple times. ive heard him say it myself

and there's this:

http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2010/d ... ar-702763/

Just a clarification- Liberty's endowment is not 530M approaching 1B. That was Jerry's estimation of net assets. Net assets are not the same as an endowment any more than our personal net assets are the same as our savings account. If LU had a tremendously large endowment, you better believe that it would be posted front and center on databases such as Wikipedia. Yes, LU has a lot of assets, but they are for the most part unmarketable and therefore they are not liquid.
If my net assets were the same as cash, I'd be sitting pretty right now!

All the same, App, JMU, et al (especially the fans) are all talking FBS, but no matter how you cut it, it is all about money and LU can spend at will and make big moves without asking anyone for permission. If leadership wanted to go FBS indy and the NCAA would allow it, we could do it immediately. Facilities could be expanded in less than 18 months, and to attain the capacity that Appy or JMU has, the work could be finished in between seasons. Remember, Jerry decided to build a new baseball stadium, and voila, it is going to get done. That is why I think that we are better positioned for such a move than any state school is today.