[Rooster Cogburn]

In my opinion we will never be able to really start a move towards full Fledged D1 (football FBS) athletics until we ditch the Big South. The conference hurts us in so many ways. If we are in the SoCon or CAA, we were in the playoffs the last 2 years. It will hurt the women in seeding tonight. What are your thoughts? Will we ever Move? Where?

[Fumblerooskies]

My opinion...
...we are what we are and we have to learn to deal with the Big South being what it is. Is this cynical? Maybe...but I think it is a realistic interpretation. The SoCon is pretty much a deep south leaning league right now so travel would be a nightmare. Certainly, we are competitive enough all-around to compete with the CAA...and as large as that league has become, our best bet might be if that league breaks into two...with LU joining a southern contingent.

[flamesfilmguy]

we need to oust KK then the Big south is ok with me

[jcmanson]

How many times are we going to have this conversation on here?

[Cider Jim]

I'm waiting for some freshman to suggest that we join the ACC or SEC, and then the thread gets locked before the regulars make fun of him and call him bad names.

[Rooster Cogburn]

How many times are we going to have this conversation on here?

So you love the Big South and think we should stay.

I'm just saying that we are going to need a better launchpad at some point. Teams change conferences when they need to improve, that does happen.

[flamesfilmguy]

no but seriously whats wrong with the Big south besides KK and maybe that its not a full fledged football league? look at it this way... at least we aren't the MEAC or SWAC or NEC.

[flamesfilmguy]

How many times are we going to have this conversation on here?

So you love the Big South and think we should stay.

I'm just saying that we are going to need a better launchpad at some point. Teams change conferences when they need to improve, that does happen.

Are you saying there is no room to grow in the big south?

[jcmanson]

How many times are we going to have this conversation on here?

So you love the Big South and think we should stay.

I'm just saying that we are going to need a better launchpad at some point. Teams change conferences when they need to improve, that does happen.

If you want to know what I think, do a search on here for this same subject.

[Ed Dantes]

no but seriously whats wrong with the Big south besides KK and maybe that its not a full fledged football league? look at it this way... at least we aren't the MEAC or SWAC or NEC.

KK has failed to get decent sponsors for our league.
KK has failed to get a decent exposure for our league. Sure, we're on MASN, but that's because of our staff, no thanks to him.
KK has failed to get decent teams in our league (when Charlotte was considering a football team, KK said 'not interested', even though they'd be a nice fit).
KK has failed to keep decent teams in our league (Elon would be nice)
KK's ways of growing the league include bringing in teams like Stony Brook, a New York team, to our Big South conference. Ummm, travel costs anyone? Texas Corpus Christi for softball?
KK has signed off on a rule that was aimed at one thing: screwing Liberty -- check how he re-worked the Sasser Cup points tabulation a few years ago
KK stole one of our track & field titles a few years back.
KK is the reason why Larry Blair isn't listed as a 'Tourney MVP'
Look at the way Liberty games are when our game presentation team is in charge versus when Big South is in charge (as in, we have to abide by stupid rules like 'no replays on the big screens')


Bottom line, that Keebler Elf has been in charge for more than a decade, and he has failed to grow this league athletically, academically, and financially. If that isn't the resume of a failure, I don't know what is.

[SuperJon]

Ed hit the nail on the head. If the school presidents would grow some balls and do something to get that joke out of the commissioner's seat then maybe we could do something with this conference. There is absolutely no leadership from the top in our league. The athletic departments from 3-4 schools (if that) are the only ones who have a clue on how things are supposed to work and they end up doing all the work.

Kevin Keys negotiated a better tv deal for our school than Kyle Kallander could for the entire conference. We shouldn't have to go out and make our own tv deals because the conference one sucks.

Kyle told us (Liberty) the wrong information for six months regarding the playoffs. He assured us if we did this, this, and this then we would be in. When we found out that wasn't the case, he was nowhere to be found to even offer an apology.

The guy is a joke.

[Ed Dantes]

Kyle told us (Liberty) the wrong information for six months regarding the playoffs. He assured us if we did this, this, and this then we would be in. When we found out that wasn't the case, he was nowhere to be found to even offer an apology.

What was this?

[SuperJon]

The whole "earned access" thing. Come to find out only the NEC was eligible for it. He kept telling us over and over that we were too.

[flamesfilmguy]

so why don't we threaten to leave? why doesn't every school threaten to leave the conference because of him?

[jcmanson]

If the school presidents would grow some balls and do something to get that joke out of the commissioner's seat then maybe we could do something with this conference.

There ya go FFG.

[Sly Fox]

Yes we have beaten this horse beyond death but suffice it to say that the Big South fulfills our basic needs right now. There are no other viable options at present.

But as I love saying, the landscape looks to be changing in the next few years with another big round of realignments looming. We are much better positioned now to make a move than any other time in our school's history.

[Fumblerooskies]

so why don't we threaten to leave? why doesn't every school threaten to leave the conference because of him?

...and go WHERE? Remember...it is the university PRESIDENTS that are in charge.

[ATrain]

so why don't we threaten to leave? why doesn't every school threaten to leave the conference because of him?

B/c threatening to leave the conference when you can't go somewhere else is called growling like a paper tiger. Who, in this conference, if they were to leave would immediately be picked up by another conference?

[El Scorcho]

There are no other viable options at present.

Do you see that? Yes, all of you. Read it again.

No. Viable. Options.

There are no hot girls waiting for us to ask them to the prom. We're taking the ugly one. Every year. Deal with it.

[SuperJon]

There are no viable options in terms of places to go.


With that being said, there are capable people out there that can run a league. Shoot, take the top Sport Management or Business kids from VMI, Winthrop, CCU, and Liberty and they can act as a panel for the commissioner. Couldn't do worse than what we have now.

[El Scorcho]

There are no viable options in terms of places to go.

With that being said, there are capable people out there that can run a league.

I do not disagree with you at all. Just wanted to make it clear that we have no other place to go. The Big South is ugly, but she's our girl.

[Stevev]

Aside from the lack of quality sports teams, which hurts our seedings in the postseason, the facilities of most of the teams are very subpar to poor (Most of the colleges have high school size gyms), poor scheduling, and only 3 colleges carrying the load. Other then LU, Winthrop, and Coastal Carolina the league is in seriously sad shape.

[Ed Dantes]

big round of realignments looming.

Do tell.

I can imagine that a lot of schools are going to get hammered by the economy. It's going to be pretty bad and I can imagine some schools trimming back programs and such, but I don't see that affecting conference alignment. Besides, jumping conferences is going to cost $$$, and I don't see a lot of schools having that on hand.

As for "viable options" -- I think the A-Sun came a'callin not-too-long ago, but we balked because it would have hurt our football program. The places it would make sense for us to jump to (CAA or Southern) don't want us.

Our beef with the Big South isn't that 'we're too good for it and we want to move up', like we should be stepping gradually up conferences until we wind up in the ACC or SEC one day. Our beef is that the conference itself isn't improving, even though the teams are.

I mean, Coastal Carolina is a top-25 quality baseball team. Coastal got to the playoffs in football, and they've been around like 5 years. Winthrop is right there next to Coastal in baseball, and they've won an NCAA tournament game. Yet the Big South still gets no respect. It's dirt. There's no reason that, with intelligent management, the Big South shouldn't be seen as a step below the Southern or the CAA.

There is precedence for conferences getting better. Everyone thought the Big East was doomed after Tech, Miami and BC left. Instead, they regrouped and got stronger. Conference USA emerged from practically nothing, and has been knocking on the door to get FBS cash.

And while I'm at it, a decent commissioner wouldn't stand to see half the schools in his conference have high school quality facilities. I'm sorry, but if you don't have more than 2,500 seats in your arena, you shouldn't be Division I. That's why we're a joke. Can you imagine ESPNU coming to broadcast a game at CSU?

[Ed Dantes]

Aside from the lack of quality sports teams, which hurts our seedings in the postseason, the facilities of most of the teams are very subpar to poor (Most of the colleges have high school size gyms), poor scheduling, and only 3 colleges carrying the load. Other then LU, Winthrop, and Coastal Carolina the league is in seriously sad shape.

Wow, you got that out before I finished typing.

Gardner-Webb is a solid mid-to-low major school and wouldn't be embarrassing in any other conference. VMI can be strong (football is looking up, and who knows how the post-Holmes basketball era will go). Radford needs a football program.

[Hold My Own]

VAconn