[LUaddict]

When there's smoke,there's fire for Georgia Southern FBS Invite.
https://twitter.com/BrentThibodeaux
Lots of smoke surrounding Georgia Southern getting a potential #SunBelt invite and soon. Trying to get more details from sources.

https://twitter.com/SunBeltInsider
Inside Source tell me that Georgia Southern will receive an invite from the #SunBelt soon, and they are expected to accept

[Liberty22]

When there's smoke,there's fire for Georgia Southern FBS Invite.
https://twitter.com/BrentThibodeaux
Lots of smoke surrounding Georgia Southern getting a potential #SunBelt invite and soon. Trying to get more details from sources.

https://twitter.com/SunBeltInsider
Inside Source tell me that Georgia Southern will receive an invite from the #SunBelt soon, and they are expected to accept

Zero smoke for LU.

So either we are REALLY good at keeping things a secret or we have all gotten our hopes up for nothing. I guess there is always another or, and that is we could still have smoke happen later...or smoke something later.

[lynchburgwildcats]

When there's smoke,there's fire for Georgia Southern FBS Invite.
https://twitter.com/BrentThibodeaux
Lots of smoke surrounding Georgia Southern getting a potential #SunBelt invite and soon. Trying to get more details from sources.

https://twitter.com/SunBeltInsider
Inside Source tell me that Georgia Southern will receive an invite from the #SunBelt soon, and they are expected to accept

Zero smoke for LU.

So either we are REALLY good at keeping things a secret or we have all gotten our hopes up for nothing. I guess there is always another or, and that is we could still have smoke happen later...or smoke something later.

Too many people would have to be involved for something to not leak. There's always a yapper somewhere.

[jbock13]

What? Us get our hopes up for nothing? Never!

[jbock13]

It is possible we could have some legitimate news later today. I am tied up in meetings all day so I am relying on you guys to bring the scoop here.

Bah, you should know better than to leave the news scooping to us. You are our eyes and ears Sly!

Where did he say he's talking about us? Nowhere.

[LUconn]

Plus you've got Barber out there saying "we're doing everything we can". That never sounds very positive. I just will never understand why Georgia Southern.

[Liberty22]

Side Note* I love that a couple of Belt fans came out of the woodwork today on the CSN boards to defend us against a few of the haters, ie. Tom and Paul. Makes my heart glad lol

[SuperJon]

If a conference representative comes on our campus and leaves without inviting us while they are here, we won't get invited. It's the same reason our coaches push so hard to get a commitment from a recruit while they're on a visit.

When you go to Liberty, see everything we are doing, see our facilities, etc you are impressed. You have a completely different opinion of the school than when you first got there.

Once you leave the Liberty Bubble, you start hearing all of the other things about Liberty and people start trying to convince you why Liberty isn't good enough.

Once you get to know us we're impressive, but until you get to know us, our reputation makes you hate us.

[BJWilliams]

If a conference representative comes on our campus and leaves without inviting us while they are here, we won't get invited. It's the same reason our coaches push so hard to get a commitment from a recruit while they're on a visit.

When you go to Liberty, see everything we are doing, see our facilities, etc you are impressed. You have a completely different opinion of the school than when you first got there.

Once you leave the Liberty Bubble, you start hearing all of the other things about Liberty and people start trying to convince you why Liberty isn't good enough.

Once you get to know us we're impressive, but until you get to know us, our reputation makes you hate us.

Haven't used this one in a while but QFT

[bluedevilflame]

If a conference representative comes on our campus and leaves without inviting us while they are here, we won't get invited. It's the same reason our coaches push so hard to get a commitment from a recruit while they're on a visit.

When you go to Liberty, see everything we are doing, see our facilities, etc you are impressed. You have a completely different opinion of the school than when you first got there.

Once you leave the Liberty Bubble, you start hearing all of the other things about Liberty and people start trying to convince you why Liberty isn't good enough.

Once you get to know us we're impressive, but until you get to know us, our reputation makes you hate us.

This.

[RVAparks]

Some northern movement today. Looks like Quinnipiac and Monmouth are leaving the NEC for the MAAC. This probably means NJIT finally finds a home in the NEC.

Obviously, no ramifications on Liberty but its interesting to see how all the mid-major conference are responding or not responding.

[LUconn]

Don't we have like 80,000 paying students who have never set foot on campus?

[SuperJon]

We do. And we keep saying that those students are a selling point to why we'll do well. What they don't say is that at least 50% (probably more) of those online students are only part of Liberty Online because it's a super easy way to get a degree without really working at anything while still living where they live and not changing their life.

For the most part, LU Online is more about credit card numbers than students.

[Humble_Opinion]

We do. And we keep saying that those students are a selling point to why we'll do well. What they don't say is that at least 50% (probably more) of those online students are only part of Liberty Online because it's a super easy way to get a degree without really working at anything while still living where they live and not changing their life.

For the most part, LU Online is more about credit card numbers than students.

I don't know that I've seen a more cynical post than this one... I usually have a high tolerance for statements like these, but not this time around. I don't know you, and I don't know if you have ever taken online courses - so I'll leave that out of this. Online education is all about what you make of it, as the student. You can choose to just do the work required and check off the weekly list of assignments and leave it at that, or you can exercise some self-discipline and do the work that is suggested, not just required. Ultimately, it's all about what you want out of the experience. There's no doubt that online is a money maker for the university, but are you really sure you want to use that phraseology in this case? Do you really want to characterize half of the 80,000+ students that take classes online as lazy? That's essentially what you're doing when you say: "...it's a super easy way to get a degree without really working at anything while still living where they live and not changing their life."

Give me a break dude. I've seen you talk about your feelings regarding the university's handling of politics and the PR that comes from that. And then you go off and call 40,000+ students you've never met, or talked to lazy... Good thing you don't have JM's job... We'd be a sinking ship.

[LUconn]

I wasn't making any reference to the difficulty of the program but rather the thousands of other online school choices you could have made if your nose is so stuck up in the air with regards to Liberty.

[LUGrad2000]

Has anyone been our our campus lately?

[flameslinger]

Don't we have like 80,000 paying students who have never set foot on campus?

We do have 80,000+ online students, some of whom live locally and others who live across the country/globe. A percentage have been on campus (taking intensives) and other will proudly come to walk for graduation. How many fans does Notre Dame have who have never and will never set foot on campus but will buy merchandise and tune in to watch them play?

[Sly Fox]

First off, conference invitations are not handed out on site visits. I school presidents vote based on info provided by the league officials. In a perfect world, we'd have all the league presidents come see our place for themselves.

Second, it takes some real stretches of reality to try and classify our online success as a liability. It is far from the ultimate Trump card but clearly an asset.

[SuperJon]

I never once said those students were lazy. The truth is that online education, in general, is an easier route than traditional education. It is what you make it. I took both residential classes and online classes. It's completely possible to coast through the online classes just to get a degree. To think that the majority of the people in an online school are "making the most out of it" is ignorant. It's the easy way to get a degree for people who want a degree.

Also, I'd say close to 75% or more of the people getting an online degree from Liberty would even consider going to a game because they are enrolled online.

[jinxy]

SJ, that is a super sized generalization. There are certain parts of your statements that are true but that is a very cynical post. I did finance on campus and then did the MBA online. There were several courses that required quite a bit of work and with limited intereaction with prof's can make it very difficult to learn. Take the finance and policy courses for instance.

BTW your earlier comment was spot on regarding the invite and recruiting.

[SuperJon]

First off, conference invitations are not handed out on site visits. I school presidents vote based on info provided by the league officials. In a perfect world, we'd have all the league presidents come see our place for themselves.

Second, it takes some real stretches of reality to try and classify our online success as a liability. It is far from the ultimate Trump card but clearly an asset.

Our online isn't a liability by any means. It's just not a selling point.

And you proved my point about site visits. Until those presidents come see us for themselves, they will continue to look down on us.

[SuperJon]

SJ, that is a super sized generalization. There are certain parts of your statements that are true but that is a very cynical post. I did finance on campus and then did the MBA online. There were several courses that required quite a bit of work and with limited intereaction with prof's can make it very difficult to learn. Take the finance and policy courses for instance.

A lot of people do put a lot of work into their classes. When you get 80,000 people though you start to have a large enough sample size to model society. When has our society chose self-discipline over the easy way out? MBA students aren't the majority. I'm not trying to be cynical but I have been out of the bubble and off the payroll long enough to see how people truly view us.

[flameslinger]

SJ, that is a super sized generalization. There are certain parts of your statements that are true but that is a very cynical post. I did finance on campus and then did the MBA online. There were several courses that required quite a bit of work and with limited intereaction with prof's can make it very difficult to learn. Take the finance and policy courses for instance.

A lot of people do put a lot of work into their classes. When you get 80,000 people though you start to have a large enough sample size to model society. When has our society chose self-discipline over the easy way out? MBA students aren't the majority. I'm not trying to be cynical but I have been out of the bubble and off the payroll long enough to see how people truly view us.

SJ, I think you make some valid observations in this response. Of course, the same can be said for a residential student population as it grows larger, as well. Student will be students, and they do reflect society at large. Some will focus and excel. Some will try to coast to a degree and are smart enough to do it in many classes. Some will try to slide through and fail. This is reality. However, reality is also that a large percentage of LUO students choose LU because of our brand, not in spite of it. If a potential conference recognizes this, then they will understand that this is an asset when looking at TV market potential, which is what seems to be driving these decisions. I attended three universities other than Liberty, and if any of them are playing on TV, I will tune in to watch.

[logic]

Cruising the Sun Belt forums, it seems our politics and putting our foot in our mouth one too many times has pretty much made any type of middle ground impossible. My guess is the university presidents feel the same way.

We all play the tough guy role and say we aren't sorry, that we're politically incorrect and what not since 1971...how does staying in the Big South feel? Is it worth it? I don't know about you, but I would trade some of the political nonsense over the years for an FBS invite in 2012.

[jbock13]

I agree with SJ. Just so he will cringe when he reads that.

Anyone who has taken LUO classes knows they are always easier than on campus ones. There's also an added benefit to finishing things whenever you want to. I was usually done with all five classes in two days, which left me five days just to goof around.

Now, I'm not saying they aren't beneficial to people who have jobs and can't afford to move to college. They were beneficial. But let's not get carried away. One discussion board is about Jesus, and we just recite some line we heard in sunday school.