[jmclaughlin]

If we are being realistic, we are 3 years ahead of the curve from what would have been reasonable at the FBS jump. Most even thought that was too big of a leap at the time.

In comparison to SMU, the Mustangs have 20+ years of base build on us. The SWC days were fruitful and in those crazy times in the 80's they became a national brand in football...before becoming a marked program by the NCAA. I had lunch with one of their active boosters a month ago and his take on why they were willing to buy their way into the ACC was because: 1. they could afford to 2. because of the TV revenue the ACC brought 3. because they are a private institution without the athletic budget restrictions = they can also buy the athletes needed. I would also add, they are a snooty institution with a beefy tuition cost. Lots of potential donor money from alums.

SMU's program has some built in advantages being in a major market and the only major university in Dallas proper. Attendance growth has huge upside potential. Lynchburg can not match that. This is where any comparison breaks.

This has been a fun ride and I am happy if we can just continue building at the pace we are. While continuing to build Champions for Christ.

[Tothehoopyall1]

If we are being realistic, we are 3 years ahead of the curve from what would have been reasonable at the FBS jump. Most even thought that was too big of a leap at the time.

In comparison to SMU, the Mustangs have 20+ years of base build on us. The SWC days were fruitful and in those crazy times in the 80's they became a national brand in football...before becoming a marked program by the NCAA. I had lunch with one of their active boosters a month ago and his take on why they were willing to buy their way into the ACC was because: 1. they could afford to 2. because of the TV revenue the ACC brought 3. because they are a private institution without the athletic budget restrictions = they can also buy the athletes needed. I would also add, they are a snooty institution with a beefy tuition cost. Lots of potential donor money from alums.

SMU's program has some built in advantages being in a major market and the only major university in Dallas proper. Attendance growth has huge upside potential. Lynchburg can not match that. This is where any comparison breaks.

This has been a fun ride and I am happy if we can just continue building at the pace we are. While continuing to build Champions for Christ.

In comparison to SMU, the Mustangs have 20+ years of base build on us. The SWC days were fruitful and in those crazy times in the 80's they became a national brand in football...before becoming a marked program by the NCAA. I had lunch with one of their active boosters a month ago and his take on why they were willing to buy their way into the ACC was because: 1. they could afford to Liberty can as well 2. because of the TV revenue the ACC brought I would think we would want in on this as well 3. because they are a private institution without the athletic budget restrictions So is LU = they can also buy the athletes needed LU can as well. I would also add, they are a snooty institution with a beefy tuition cost They have this on us but don’t have the online cash generating machine that we have. Lots of potential donor money from alums I would agree but I would think we have more than one might think on this.

SMU's program has some built in advantages being in a major market and the only major university in Dallas proper Definitely an advantage for SMU. Attendance growth has huge upside potential. Lynchburg can not match that I agree to some extent but if we can get in a decent conference and dominate the fans will come. This is where any comparison breaks.

This has been a fun ride and I am happy if we can just continue building at the pace we are. While continuing to build Champions for Christ I agree.

[Humble_Opinion]

I don't think fully understand or appreciate the changes that revenue sharing with athletes will bring to the landscape. Anything that increases the financial investment required to be successful is a good thing for us. Why? Other G5s are not going to be able to keep up. The SunBelt schools notoriously blocked us from joining for three reasons: 1) Political/Religions activism 2) MONEY (they have none) and 3) We're private. We're always going to have 1) as a negative in the eyes of other conferences, but 2) and 3) are going to be a huge benefit to us moving forward. The increase in Scholarships from 85 to 105 is going to be an issue in and of itself for those member institutions. Now add to that having to pay a portion of their revenues to their athletes -- there's simply no avenue present right now for them to absorb these changes without taking a hit from a recruiting perspective.

I would imagine that LU seems this change as a competitive advantage athletically speaking and we are going to be aggressive in going after the best recruits in the portal simply because we can afford it.

[phoenix]

If we are being realistic, we are 3 years ahead of the curve from what would have been reasonable at the FBS jump. Most even thought that was too big of a leap at the time.

The first four words here are the key, and are the reason that many Liberty fans seem unhinged. They have VERY unrealistic ideas of where Liberty should be as a football program.

[JK37]

“Realistic” was the fifth word.

Just saying.

[sstaedtler]

I am not letting Ian off the hook with scheduling. We prematurely scheduled Maine for no reason, when other opportunities became available. Schools like Washington St and Oregon St were desperate for games that we could have filled.

[jbock13]

We can't even beat one of the worst FBS teams in football, yet all of you are whining about not playing every P5 we possibly can.

As far NIL, yes, we know Liberty has a lot of money, and our fans contribute plenty. I wouldn't bet on spending it wisely, however.

[ballah09]

I am not letting Ian off the hook with scheduling. We prematurely scheduled Maine for no reason, when other opportunities became available. Schools like Washington St and Oregon St were desperate for games that we could have filled.

Let it go with scheduling. A lot of schools don’t want to play us for various different reasons.

[cruzan_flame13]

We can't even beat one of the worst FBS teams in football, yet all of you are whining about not playing every P5 we possibly can.

[b[/b], yes, we know Liberty has a lot of money, and our fans contribute plenty. I wouldn't bet on spending it wisely, however.

Supposedly, I hear that LU's NIL is doing well. I don't know about that, but I will say that it will matter way more than what most here realize in the future. It's already evident that NIL and rev share is a big deal for coaches to stay at a program or go for a better offer (Look at Bill Belichick with UNC and Dan Mullin's discussions with UNLV). As I stated, some of the folks here are still thinking of the old ways and believe it will be reliable/valid long term. News flash, it will not. If LU doesn't put their money where their mouth is (and they will likely need to put more money than the usual favored G5's since they're not liked or respected in this business), they will be stuck in CFB limbo with the majority of G5 teams even with the money that they have. In a way, with what's going on in the college world, I can't blame the players coming here, getting some change in their pockets, play mediocre/average against this soft strength of schedule and then looking at better opportunities post season if there's any. I guess keeping ones head in the sand and thinking things will be fine in due time is better than the reality of the chaos going on.

[cruzan_flame13]

That’s not the same.

What am I missing?

NIL money doesnt come directly from the school, it mostly comes from boosters and local businesses. SMU is Infamous for having a very wealthy alumni base.

Is SMU a non-profit school? No. They need that wealthy alumni to do what they're doing now. LU doesn't need that to survive with athletics, etc. Actually, LU have to spend in order to remain in that category based mission of its status. The eveidence is all around campus since 2013, so they can definitely make similar choices as SMU did of it would work (LU is not liked or favored like SMU though).

[cruzan_flame13]

That’s not the same.

What am I missing?

NIL money doesnt come directly from the school, it mostly comes from boosters and local businesses. SMU is Infamous for having a very wealthy alumni base.

Is SMU a non-profit school? No. They need that wealthy alumni to do what they're doing now. LU doesn't need that to survive with athletics, etc. Actually, LU have to spend in order to remain in the "nonprofit" category as long as it's based on the mission of the organization. Athletics is involved in that mission. The eveidence is all around campus since 2013, so they can definitely make similar choices like what SMU did if it would work (LU is not liked or favored like SMU though). I mentioned awhile back coach Dot mentoned [in an interview] that LU should've considered making the negotiation just like SMU proposed since it's all about money. 5 years later and the evidence proved that she was on to something (very obvious btw).

[Sly Fox]

SMU is one of the more expensive schools in the nation. They also are one of the smallest FBS schools. It is a notorious rich kid school.

[Humble_Opinion]

You have no idea whether or not similar pitches have been made from our Administration to other conferences. I can almost guarantee other conferences are aware of our ability to forgo revenue payouts for a period of time to join. There needs to be a catalyst/reason for them to want us and the circumstances that would require that have not yet occurred. NIL is important, but for us, Revenue sharing w/ student athletes will be more important. Regardless of how well-funded our NIL is amongst other G5s, I doubt it will be able to match the up to $22M that colleges/universities can pay their athletes. There will be VERY few G5s able to pay this amount as well, which may be the start of the circumstances required for a conference (like the AAC) to move us up towards the top of the list. Winning and success is going to become more important moving forward.

[Ill flame]

You have no idea whether or not similar pitches have been made from our Administration to other conferences. I can almost guarantee other conferences are aware of our ability to forgo revenue payouts for a period of time to join. There needs to be a catalyst/reason for them to want us and the circumstances that would require that have not yet occurred. NIL is important, but for us, Revenue sharing w/ student athletes will be more important. Regardless of how well-funded our NIL is amongst other G5s, I doubt it will be able to match the up to $22M that colleges/universities can pay their athletes. There will be VERY few G5s able to pay this amount as well, which may be the start of the circumstances required for a conference (like the AAC) to move us up towards the top of the list. Winning and success is going to become more important moving forward.

Based on what I'm reading it seems like most NIL will move in house and that will be part of the revenue sharing. If and when this happens we will be able to match the $20-30 million maximum thats being discussed. Whether or not we should is a different conversation. This won't put us on true even footing with P4 schools because non school funded NIL will still be a (more regulated) thing but it will give us a huge advantage over most of the G5. Imo the fanbase needs to grow to a point where tv networks are forcing conferences hand on adding us like BYU with the big 12.

[ballcoach15]

I think in the future, some AAC schools will be sucking wind, with all this paying players, buying players, etc.
And some P4 schools bailing out, and dropping down.
NCAA should eliminate transfer portal, or open it up for only 1 week in June, after school year ends.

[Purple Haize]

You have no idea whether or not similar pitches have been made from our Administration to other conferences. I can almost guarantee other conferences are aware of our ability to forgo revenue payouts for a period of time to join. There needs to be a catalyst/reason for them to want us and the circumstances that would require that have not yet occurred. NIL is important, but for us, Revenue sharing w/ student athletes will be more important. Regardless of how well-funded our NIL is amongst other G5s, I doubt it will be able to match the up to $22M that colleges/universities can pay their athletes. There will be VERY few G5s able to pay this amount as well, which may be the start of the circumstances required for a conference (like the AAC) to move us up towards the top of the list. Winning and success is going to become more important moving forward.

Ironically bearing Oregon or even being competitive with them would have been very helpful. Just making it probably hurt a little at this point

[Humble_Opinion]

I would agree PH. That was my fear all along with that game. We started off looking good but ultimately laid an egg in front of a national audience.

[Tnobes]

I would agree PH. That was my fear all along with that game. We started off looking good but ultimately laid an egg in front of a national audience.

You can call it "laying an egg" if you want but we really didn't do any worse than the power 5 schools did against them, Oregon rolled everyone that year, it's not getting blown out by a typical school in a typical season, they rocked everyone and would have been playing for the national championship if not for Washington upsetting them

[TH Spangler]

G5s looking pretty good this year. I believe they've won 4 bowl games against Power teams.

[LUOrange]

I would agree PH. That was my fear all along with that game. We started off looking good but ultimately laid an egg in front of a national audience.

I love Chadwell, but he got outcoached. The talent gap didn't help either. But winning that game would've been hugefor us. But no one's holding getting curb stomped by Oregon against us except the haters. I don't think that loss hurts us in realignment.

[TH Spangler]

G5s looking pretty good this year. I believe they've won 4 bowl games against Power teams.

Picked up 2 more. ECU and UConn.

[Purple Haize]

I would agree PH. That was my fear all along with that game. We started off looking good but ultimately laid an egg in front of a national audience.

I love Chadwell, but he got outcoached. The talent gap didn't help either. But winning that game would've been hugefor us. But no one's holding getting curb stomped by Oregon against us except the haters. I don't think that loss hurts us in realignment.

It doesn’t necessarily hurt but it does reinforce the perception that LU doesn’t belong. Getting there was absolutely awesome and amazing. Leading after 1 qtr was unbelievable. But after that all the criticism and stereotypes were just reaffirmed. Not being able to follow up with another CUSA championship continues to cement the perception

[Sly Fox]

We live in a different world in 2024 heading into 2025. Being good one year really assures you of very little the following season in a world of unabated Transfer Portal & NIL paydays. Case in point: Florida State.

Consistently winning in today's environment is very different than it was just five years ago.

[flamehunter]

I would agree PH. That was my fear all along with that game. We started off looking good but ultimately laid an egg in front of a national audience.

I love Chadwell, but he got outcoached. The talent gap didn't help either. But winning that game would've been hugefor us. But no one's holding getting curb stomped by Oregon against us except the haters. I don't think that loss hurts us in realignment.

Coaching is easier when the players on your side of the ball are bigger, faster, stronger and more talented.

[Humble_Opinion]

I feel like the next 2 weeks are going to be a frenzy heading towards the start of the spring semester. I think there are quite a few portal commits waiting to see if they get any bigger bites than us… if not, maybe we get our shot.

Sidebar… I was in the Natatorium yesterday and saw they already have all of the AAC stuff up. Have to wonder if that does anything for us insofar as future realignment goes?