[JakeP50]

Unless we somehow go to the CAA, the Blue Hens will NEVER come to Lynchburg, and even if we do schedule them most of their fans wont make the 4 1/2 hour trek down to Lynchburg. UD tailgates are nothing more than an excuse to drink before noon with a few people that actually care, mostly students that are under 21, sprinkled in. And if they lose in Lynchburg no matter how much money we offer them they wont come back. I would love for this game to happen but I just don't see it.

[Purple Haize]

Ball State was awful. Granted, they are FBS but losing to them would have been embarrassing. Obviously, we couldn't build on the 2008 season.
As for getting teams to Lynchburg, that will be the case regardless of what level we play at

[Liberty22]

Because of the nature of my job, I know many of the SoCon and a few CAA athletic directors. I will tell you this. The SoCon 2 years ago brought us up in terms of realignment. The reason we were not invited and NEVER WILL be is NOT because we made an FBS commitment. The current AD's in the SoCon see how much money we have and said, "how can we compete against that budget wise". They can't afford to do the things we can afford to do (facilities, etc) so we will never get out of the big south unless its FBS or there is a massive explosion of those leagues and they are desperate to stay alive.

[LUconn]

Athletic Directors don't make those kinds of decisions.

[Liberty22]

Athletic Directors don't make those kinds of decisions.

Hmm you don't think the presidents listen to the AD's that they placed in that position to help with these decisions?

[Purple Haize]

Athletic Directors don't make those kinds of decisions.

But they do influence them

[SuperJon]

The current AD's in the SoCon see how much money we have and said, "how can we compete against that budget wise". They can't afford to do the things we can afford to do (facilities, etc)

This is a bigger deal than most realize. Our money is negated by the Big South. People know that if they allow us to attach a better conference to us, our ability to recruit higher quality athletes goes up significantly. We've missed out on kids who loved Liberty, loved our coaches, and loved our facilities because they wanted to play on a higher level than the Big South.

[Liberty22]

The current AD's in the SoCon see how much money we have and said, "how can we compete against that budget wise". They can't afford to do the things we can afford to do (facilities, etc)

This is a bigger deal than most realize. Our money is negated by the Big South. People know that if they allow us to attach a better conference to us, our ability to recruit higher quality athletes goes up significantly. We've missed out on kids who loved Liberty, loved our coaches, and loved our facilities because they wanted to play on a higher level than the Big South.

Bingo!

[JakeP50]

So other conferences are scared by our money? I would think having money would help, because the move would look good right away because we would be immediately competitive, at least in most sports, in a much stronger conference.

[BCXtreme]

Unless we somehow go to the CAA, the Blue Hens will NEVER come to Lynchburg, and even if we do schedule them most of their fans wont make the 4 1/2 hour trek down to Lynchburg. UD tailgates are nothing more than an excuse to drink before noon with a few people that actually care, mostly students that are under 21, sprinkled in. And if they lose in Lynchburg no matter how much money we offer them they wont come back. I would love for this game to happen but I just don't see it.

You've just illustrated my point beautifully. Kudos.

Ball State was awful. Granted, they are FBS but losing to them would have been embarrassing. Obviously, we couldn't build on the 2008 season.
As for getting teams to Lynchburg, that will be the case regardless of what level we play at

UNLESS we can get into a conference where our conference-mates ARE quality opponents. I agree that we will always struggle to get good OOC teams to Lynchburg, that's why we need to join a bigger, better conference.


I can't believe we might actually be the first school who isn't allowed into the major college sports world because we have TOO MUCH money.

[Liberty22]

So other conferences are scared by our money? I would think having money would help, because the move would look good right away because we would be immediately competitive, at least in most sports, in a much stronger conference.

Exact opposite. They are scared of our money because of the facilities, scholarships, recruits we can afford to build, fund, and convince to come. This is straight from the mouths of the AD's.

[BCXtreme]

So other conferences are scared by our money? I would think having money would help, because the move would look good right away because we would be immediately competitive, at least in most sports, in a much stronger conference.

Exact opposite. They are scared of our money because of the facilities, scholarships, recruits we can afford to build, fund, and convince to come. This is straight from the mouths of the AD's.

Last time I checked, the Sun Belt West Division is scared of us for the same reason. We better hope they get over it, cause if it keeps them from adding us just as it did the SoCon, then it's safe to say we will never leave the Big South, too rich to attract a conference with our strength, and too weak to attract a conference with our wealth. It's a lame excuse on their part IMHO, because even though a SoCon or FBS Liberty would definitely pull more recruits, there are and will always be more than enough high school athletes who have no interest in a conservative Baptist school with strict rules. For every Tim Tebow that might come to an FBS Liberty, there are 10 cussing, drinking recruits that wouldn't touch us even if we were in the mighty SEC itself.

[Blessed1]

Because of the nature of my job, I know many of the SoCon and a few CAA athletic directors. I will tell you this. The SoCon 2 years ago brought us up in terms of realignment. The reason we were not invited and NEVER WILL be is NOT because we made an FBS commitment. The current AD's in the SoCon see how much money we have and said, "how can we compete against that budget wise"...

That's a darn shame. If the FBS dream was not going to be a short-tern reality, I felt that Liberty would fit in very well in the SoCon. The SoCon has a nice mixture of private and public schools just like the Big South. It's unfortunate that in their eyes we're the FCS version of the Texas Longhorns, at least money-wise.

We are and probably will forever be 'misfits'. This is why I posted the WAC idea on here (for fun). Sure, its a pipe-dream, but at least we'll be in a conference with other outcasts, bandits and misfits. Case in point: YSU is not wanted by the MAC; Lamar, SHSU & Jax St. are not wanted by the Sun Belt; and ND State is not anyone's footprint outside of the Big Sky.

If the Sun Belt does not call our name this round, maybe it's time for Liberty to spearhead its own thing and use the LFSN as a launching pad for its new-found group of unwanted misfits...Just a thought.

[JakeP50]

This group of unwanted misfits would be almost identical to the Big South in level of competition. We would be football versions of Gonzaga or Wichita St. By far the best team in a conference full of OOC fodder for the big boys. LU has a much bigger athletic budget than all of the other misfits. The only conferences I see as a good fit, if the other schools would accept us, are the CAA, C-USA, AAC and Sun Belt. And maybe the ACC if we pump even more money into athletics but knowing the ACC they don't want a state other than North Carolina to have more than 2 members.

[JakeP50]

The only conferences I see as a good fit, if the other schools would accept us, are the CAA, C-USA, AAC and Sun Belt.

Notice how only one of those is FCS and is probably one of the deepest FCS conference in the country. But unlike the FCS conference that's better than the CAA it has ties to major cities and we are actually in their footprint.

[BCXtreme]

The only conferences I see as a good fit, if the other schools would accept us, are the CAA, C-USA, AAC and Sun Belt.

Notice how only one of those is FCS and is probably one of the deepest FCS conference in the country. But unlike the FCS conference that's better than the CAA it has ties to major cities and we are actually in their footprint.

Our program has outgrown and outspent the FCS for the most part. That's why I wanted us to move ahead to FBS regardless of skill. That said, I would be thrilled at a CAA invite, even just for football. IMHO I would rank those options, what do you think:

1. AAC/American: A G5 with arguable P-5 potential and three existing private school members (starting July 1). Also has Central Florida, which anyone at Liberty should have tremendous respect for given the school's sudden, meteoric rise, similar to what we want to do. But definitely not interested in adding FCS move-ups, AFAIK.

2. Sun Belt: Concentrated in the Bible Belt, with multiple FBS newcomers already who like us and want us in their division. Focused on cooperative growth and ending its reputation as the bottom of the FBS barrel, again similar to some of Liberty's own goals.

3. C-USA: Strong conference, decent number of Bible Belt schools, soon to have 2 FBS newcomers, including ODU who likes us and wants to play us. However, inviting us would probably require them and ODU to forget about ever getting JMU in there, which they may not want to do.

4. CAA: FCS level, but one of the best. Instant bitter rivalry with JMU if they are still there by then. Separate football league that might ease our transition by going from football member to all-sports member. If JMU and Delaware leave for the MAC, I'd be happy to see LU and Coastal go together to CAA Football at least, if not all sports right away.

EDIT/PS: AFAIK, LU would be a committed member of the Sun Belt until/unless a P-5 comes calling someday far in the future. I don't really see LU bolting the Sun Belt for another G5 (even the American), so nobody in the Sun Belt should be worried about that. We aren't pulling a JMU/MAC, we do consider the Sun Belt a great fit.

[Purple Haize]

How in the world have we 'outgrown' FCS when we've never even been to the playoffs?

[SuperJon]

Our program has not outgrown the FCS by any way, shape, or form. Step away from the kool aid. We're a good athletic program, but we're not even a Top 20 program in FCS yet.

[BCXtreme]

How in the world have we 'outgrown' FCS when we've never even been to the playoffs?

Same way that Georgia State outgrew FCS: support. Our fan base, athletic budget, and facilities quality all hover near the very tip-top of the FCS, well within FBS reach. Georgia State, ODU, and Charlotte are all in / headed to FBS primary or entirely on growth and potential, not on postseason record. The primary distinction between FBS/FCS/DII/DIII is support, funding, and attendance, which in turn leads to skill, which is why FBS conferences will take a risk with schools like GA State and Charlotte. This is just my opinion of course, but I'd say our win record is basically the ONLY thing about our program that is not far above the majority of FCS schools.

[JakeP50]

CAA would be my back-up plan if FBS completely fails. Not as many Bible-belt connections as the Sun Belt but JMU would be an instant rivalry and I have family that went to Towson so that would be fun for me. Most likely the only way that happens is if Coastal comes with us so that rivalry carries over to a new league and we have 2 big rivalries instantly and one that would build quickly with the alumni and students from Maryland and spread to the rest of the fan base. Or if the Sun Belt does add us as #12 and later decides to go to 14 they should add Towson/UD for the East division,if they'll accept,just to spite JMU.

[JakeP50]

Our program has not outgrown the FCS by any way, shape, or form. Step away from the kool aid. We're a good athletic program, but we're not even a Top 20 program in FCS yet.

We may not have outgrown FCS but we've outspent FCS and we've DEFINITELY outspent the Big South. Other than Coastal the other football stadiums in the conference look like high school fields and all of them have a capacity under 10,000. Williams Stadium is close to 20,00 and has a capacity higher than FCS National Champion North Dakota State(The Bill capacity 19,200, Fargodome 19,000, not much of a difference but still higher). Thank you for the info Wikipedia.

[Purple Haize]

How in the world have we 'outgrown' FCS when we've never even been to the playoffs?

Same way that Georgia State outgrew FCS: support. Our fan base, athletic budget, and facilities quality all hover near the very tip-top of the FCS, well within FBS reach. Georgia State, ODU, and Charlotte are all in / headed to FBS primary or entirely on growth and potential, not on postseason record. The primary distinction between FBS/FCS/DII/DIII is support, funding, and attendance, which in turn leads to skill, which is why FBS conferences will take a risk with schools like GA State and Charlotte. This is just my opinion of course, but I'd say our win record is basically the ONLY thing about our program that is not far above the majority of FCS schools.

That's absolutely not true. If it were, our records, which you cavalierly dismiss would be better. Ga State and certainly UNCC don't have a track record, so yes, in a small part their conferences are banking on potential. Their media markets would be a bigger reason for their invites. On the other hand we have a track record. So when people judge us on potential, they can legitimately ask 'Why haven't they done it thus far'.
Plus, GaSt is a mess. Not sure I'd want to be compared to them.

[SuperJon]

Our program has not outgrown the FCS by any way, shape, or form. Step away from the kool aid. We're a good athletic program, but we're not even a Top 20 program in FCS yet.

We may not have outgrown FCS but we've outspent FCS and we've DEFINITELY outspent the Big South. Other than Coastal the other football stadiums in the conference look like high school fields and all of them have a capacity under 10,000. Williams Stadium is close to 20,00 and has a capacity higher than FCS National Champion North Dakota State(The Bill capacity 19,200, Fargodome 19,000, not much of a difference but still higher). Thank you for the info Wikipedia.

So we're the new kids to the table with a bunch of money but no history, tradition, or prestige. We offer nothing but a ton of money and a legitimate threat at future success. Georgia State brought Atlanta. Charlotte brought Charlotte. We bring Lynchburg. And Roanoke! Yipee!

I think we would be an asset to any conference, but to think we deserve it or have earned it is completely wrong.

[Purple Haize]

Our program has not outgrown the FCS by any way, shape, or form. Step away from the kool aid. We're a good athletic program, but we're not even a Top 20 program in FCS yet.

We may not have outgrown FCS but we've outspent FCS and we've DEFINITELY outspent the Big South. Other than Coastal the other football stadiums in the conference look like high school fields and all of them have a capacity under 10,000. Williams Stadium is close to 20,00 and has a capacity higher than FCS National Champion North Dakota State(The Bill capacity 19,200, Fargodome 19,000, not much of a difference but still higher). Thank you for the info Wikipedia.

So we're the new kids to the table with a bunch of money but no history, tradition, or prestige. We offer nothing but a ton of money and a legitimate threat at future success. Georgia State brought Atlanta. Charlotte brought Charlotte. We bring Lynchburg. And Roanoke! Yipee!

I think we would be an asset to any conference, but to think we deserve it or have earned it is completely wrong.

The power is strong in you

[JakeP50]

All I said was we have the budget to hang with any of those conferences, and I know Lynchburg isn't a top media market by any stretch of the imagination. But the rest of the Sun Belt, other than GaSt, doesn't have a huge market either. But do people in Atlanta really care about GaSt or are there just kinda there? To me it seems like Atlanta belongs to the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets.