[tyndal23]

I think AAC has to be the long term goal. Power 5 is not going to happen. If BYU has never received the invite, we shouldn’t expect to. BYU will be BigXII before we go P5. I say throw $40m at the American and see what happens!

I'm not saying you're wrong, but we're not BYU. It would be a huge up hill battle, but it's not impossible in the long run. Yes, right now the American looks like the best option in some years though.

I recognize we aren’t BYU, I’m just making the comparison based on our national perception. As we all know, perception is reality. Ticket for us is to be as good as BYU in football and better than them on average in all other sports. Then we can modify that perception. I think we are on the way. I have nothing to complain about with what McCaw said at all. What he said was perfect.

Power 5 Invite - long shot, as is G5 conference if Presidents dictate who gets in. P5 “Equivalent” is very real and completely in our control based on scheduling.

[Kricket]

Maybe in football. I don't know if you've noticed, but we're projected as a 98% chance to win our conference in B Ball without playing a game in conference. The AAC would allow us to improve all other sports as well as football in the short term.

[Class of 20Something]

I'd say there are at least three schools ahead of us for AAC consideration:

Charlotte
Georgia State
Florida Atlantic

Between media market, alumni base, and future potential, those three are better than us. They also don't have the political baggage we do.

Facilities we compete in.
Budget we're there.
Media market we're lacking.
We also lead the way in extra baggage.

And before someone like ball coach comes in and points at records and success and all those things, look at how young those schools are and how young their programs are. As their alumni bases grow, it's only gonna take a couple alumni who want their team to be legit for them to take the next leap. The AAC would be banking on potential, not current results.

This is well thought out and reasoned. In addition to all of this I think the AAC would be wise to expand to 14 programs. I think poaching one of the above, Liberty, and(hear me out) invite JMU would be a strong move. The AAC wouldn't have to worry about a waiver for playoffs if they lost another school, the storylines of a school moving up a conference, one moving into a conference, and one moving to FBS would be great too.

[ballcoach15]

If charlotte , GA St and the Florida school is AAC material, Liberty is SEC or ACC material. JMU isn't a candidate for any conference except the one they're in now.
All those schools mentioned are average football schools, and nothing else. JMU does have a softball team. None of them are probably willing to fork over the $$$$$$$ to move up.

Just my opinion.

[jinxy]

Fau?? Seriously

Tbe other 2 maybe but im not convinced either is ahead of us. Market is the only advantage and i think that story has already played out and wont matter as much.

I see 4 or 5 options counting us that are all on similar footing overall but each has different weaknesses. I think the aac knows this and wants to see more before adding to get the right fit.

[Kricket]

Ian McCaw says Liberty has Power 5 potential, mentions AAC as a league LU would "carefully evaluate"

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-ad-ia ... potential/

What I like most about this is that it basically gives the finger to the Sun Belt and passes up C-USA. Basically, they had their chance now we're moving on. I like that swagger.

[cruzan_flame13]

Thought this was interesting; a bit of a girls fight but pointing out one thing AAC fans are talking about:

https://csnbbs.com/thread-889330.html

[chris leedlelee]

Ian McCaw says Liberty has Power 5 potential, mentions AAC as a league LU would "carefully evaluate"

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-ad-ia ... potential/

What I like most about this is that it basically gives the finger to the Sun Belt and passes up C-USA. Basically, they had their chance now we're moving on. I like that swagger.

With the way the C-USA and SunBelt shafted us, it is quite sweet to see us doing so well while both conferences are struggling financially and competitively. They should've taken us when they had the chance.

[Logic]

No offense to Georgia State, but they can’t afford the AAC. The average athletic budget is north of 50 mil...no way they can compete.

[ballcoach15]

A lot of schools fit that category

[cruzan_flame13]

No offense to Georgia State, but they can’t afford the AAC. The average athletic budget is north of 50 mil...no way they can compete.

That's what I was telling a friend while talking about the McCaw/AAC interview. I would assume they'll look for a surrounding athletic department that is successful. Georgia State and others like Marshall, App State are good choices right now with football, but what about long term? Could they survive long term financially?

[ballcoach15]

LU can bring the whole package, not just football.

[Jonathan Carone]

No offense to Georgia State, but they can’t afford the AAC. The average athletic budget is north of 50 mil...no way they can compete.

That’s why I said you have to look to the future. They’re investing heavily into facilities right now. As their donors get older and have more disposable income, their budget will be able to grow.

[Logic]

GA State is tapped out. Donors only go so far. Liberty could go to 50 mil athletic budget tomorrow and not skip a beat. Revenue less expenses hover around 240 million a year. Cold hard cash. Jerry wouldn’t want to go to 50 mil for athletics...but he could, and LU could handle it. https://georgiastatesignal.com/georgia- ... s-country/

[flameshaw]

GA State is tapped out. Donors only go so far. Liberty could go to 50 mil athletic budget tomorrow and not skip a beat. Revenue less expenses hover around 240 million a year. Cold hard cash. Jerry wouldn’t want to go to 50 mil for athletics...but he could, and LU could handle it. https://georgiastatesignal.com/georgia- ... s-country/

Or maybe Jr. could pay off all of the student loans with that money. LOL. It's kinda like the students didn't know they had to repay the loans when they took them out.
Hope we can make the move to the AAC or similar before long. Being an independent in football has worked out a lot better than I ever thought it would, but a conference affiliation would be real sweet.

[TH Spangler]

When UConn moved basketball and got booted, ODU or Liberty seem to be the most likely replacement. Since then, other than the new stadium, the Monarchs are trending in the wrong direction. Liberty basketball has become a BIG plus for us. App State comes up, but they are a one sport program. I think the AAC is still hoping for a P6. Liberty is ready to play at that level $$$. We have to be the front runner now.

[Jonathan Carone]

If all leagues cared about was budget and facilities, we'd be a front runner.

But they also consider location, academics, and baggage.

While we lead the way in budget and facilities, we bring nothing to the table in academics or location and we have more baggage than all the other schools combined.

There's a reason two cash strapped leagues wouldn't accept $20 million from us to join and that's only gotten worse in the past three years.

[ballcoach15]

After facilities, location is our next strongest asset. Campus is easy to reach, from anywhere in America.

[Geraldos Mustache]

Being an independent in football has worked out a lot better than I ever thought it would, but a conference affiliation would be real sweet.

Well said.
I remember how much negative chatter there was regarding Liberty making the move to FBS as an Independent. Those negative storylines turned out to be unfounded.
Liberty has made it work.

I'd like to see how the next two recruiting classes work out with Coach HF before we make any moves. There is still a lot of upside before we land in a conference.

Don't forget basketball and what appears to be multiple NCAA appearances ahead of us if they remain in the ASUN. If Liberty goes to the NCAA 2-3-4 years in a row, that has major exposure for the school nationwide.

[Jonathan Carone]

Being an independent in football has worked out a lot better than I ever thought it would, but a conference affiliation would be real sweet.

Well said.
I remember how much negative chatter there was regarding Liberty making the move to FBS as an Independent. Those negative storylines turned out to be unfounded.
Liberty has made it work.

I'd like to see how the next two recruiting classes work out with Coach HF before we make any moves. There is still a lot of upside before we land in a conference.

Liberty has made it work, but there are still some unknowns about being independent that we haven't had time to experience yet.

The Cure Bowl is new and awesome this year. But in three years, if we're still playing for the Cure Bowl or Myrtle Beach Bowl and that's the highlight of what our football season is, will our fans be bored by it?

I look at a fan base like App. They've been to the bowls in Alabama the last three years. Their fans are already tired of those bowls. They have conference championships to play for so it keeps their fans invested, but if one of the best G5 fan bases is tired of the minor bowls, I'd have to think we might be in the same boat.

I felt the lack of conference to follow this year. By the Rutgers game, I felt like something was missing from following the team. I tend to get bored easier and earlier than most fans, so I would expect others to start feeling that in a couple years.

Independence has gone much better than I expected, but to say there aren't still questions about the feasibility of it long term is a little short sighted.

[thepostman]

I do miss chasing after a conference championship every year but the move to FBS Independence has gone much better than I thought it would. I didn't think we were ready and I didn't think we would be able to schedule as well has we have. The additional bowl tie ins starting next year is something I didn't see coming either. So there are a lot of positives and we are doing things other FBS Independents have struggled to do.

I would like us to move to a conference and the AAC would be fantastic but I'm not sure that is the cards for us anytime soon for the very reasons @Jonathan Carone mentioned above.

[Geraldos Mustache]

After facilities, location is our next strongest asset. Campus is easy to reach, from anywhere in America.

I disagree on our location. Lynchburg is NOT easy to get to.
Contrast our location with the other AAC schools as 11 of 12 current members are in major metropolitan areas...

Memphis
Navy (Baltimore/DC)
SMU (Dallas)
Tulane (New Orleans)
Houston
Tulsa
Cincinnati
UCF (Orlando)
Temple (Philadelphia)
USF (Tampa)
UConn (Hartford)

ECU - not a great location, it is a 90 minute drive from Raleigh.
Liberty is under an hour from Roanoake? Not a major market. I imagine teams having to charter private planes and connecting to Lynchburg out of Charlotte or DC. It's a hassle getting in/out of Lynchburg.

[thepostman]

Lynchburg is certainly not the easiest place in the world to get to and may be one of the bigger obstacles to moving to a conference like the AAC.

[tyndal23]

Being an independent in football has worked out a lot better than I ever thought it would, but a conference affiliation would be real sweet.

Well said.
I remember how much negative chatter there was regarding Liberty making the move to FBS as an Independent. Those negative storylines turned out to be unfounded.
Liberty has made it work.

I'd like to see how the next two recruiting classes work out with Coach HF before we make any moves. There is still a lot of upside before we land in a conference.

Liberty has made it work, but there are still some unknowns about being independent that we haven't had time to experience yet.

The Cure Bowl is new and awesome this year. But in three years, if we're still playing for the Cure Bowl or Myrtle Beach Bowl and that's the highlight of what our football season is, will our fans be bored by it?

I look at a fan base like App. They've been to the bowls in Alabama the last three years. Their fans are already tired of those bowls. They have conference championships to play for so it keeps their fans invested, but if one of the best G5 fan bases is tired of the minor bowls, I'd have to think we might be in the same boat.

I felt the lack of conference to follow this year. By the Rutgers game, I felt like something was missing from following the team. I tend to get bored easier and earlier than most fans, so I would expect others to start feeling that in a couple years.

Independence has gone much better than I expected, but to say there aren't still questions about the feasibility of it long term is a little short sighted.

There are clearly some negatives to Indy that BYU and ND fans can state. However I don’t know if any .500 or better program that is happy with G5 and not desperately trying to figure out how to move up and YES they are bored by crap bowl games. We are literally the only school that can avoid G5 designation if we choose. Even the best AAC G5 fans are miserable and want P5 so badly - only reason for LU to join is if they believe in the magical P6 which isn t going to happen. Yank the band aid - schedule P5 in 2026 and no one will be bored and talking about Cure Bowl. Mean time we have 6-7 more years already built in of G5 misery - how much more do you guys want “ to prove” something or “ build” something.

[TH Spangler]

I'm not sure the P6 is just a dream. I would like to see a 6 team playoff, winner of each conference. Yes. That means only one SEC per year.