[jbock13]

TDDance, that's totally not true. All you have to do is cross the state line and you're in mountaineer nation. Lone exception being Greenbrier County, and that's pretty obvious as to why.

I will say this. My family is all from Parkersburg, and they are plenty of Ohio State fans there. But the reason is obvious, it's right across the river from Ohio.

[soccer7]

Well I am glad you are not leading the way for LU athletics. At least I hope that they are not as closed minded as you and lay our future on ONE game and not the potential we have as a program going forward.

You should be!

But you've taken whats been said about our immediate "competitiveness" with a BCS conference right now and applied it to much more. In fact, nothing has been said about the program's potential....only the current standing in comparison to the Big East. We would get smoked right now in most sports, as would be the expectation. Apparently you cant make the distinction between current ability and potential.

So you are saying that we would not be competitive with a few other FCS schools moving up and a few lower tier FBS teams moving into the BIG EAST? If that is what you are saying then yes you are close minded. If the Big East were to stay in tact the way it is right now, which we all know it will not, I agree that we would have a hard time being competitive. However, we know that it is going to change and with that change in mind I do see us being competitive in the new look Big East!

[lynchburgwildcats]

I agree, hoops is at best an afterthought in the realignment discussions. Today we should find out from Oklahoma and Texas about the fate of the Big XII.

Unless it's the ACC we are talking about. You don't add such football powerhouses like Syracuse and potentially UConn and Rutgers if it was all about football! All three of those schools will most years not improve the ACC in football and probably even make it worse. Pitt gives them another team to give VA Tech, FSU, and Miami a competitive contest.

ACC will be the only one of the four big mover and shaker conferences that will have actually made their self worse at football before all is said and done.

You're thinking on-the-field, which is not where such decisions are made. Consider, rather, that by enhancing their viewership, the ACC will in-turn increase their TV revenue. This increases each member school's share. More money + more exposure means better football.

While Syracuse may be down, and Pitt had had better days, the addition of these two does not make ACC football worse. The bottom half of ACC football was doing a fine job of that on their own.

The ACC may have thought that by making such a move, they would placating their basketball base. But don't kid yourself: this move is about money, in which case it's about football. Fans may not understand that, and that's reasonable. But thankfully for those same ACC fans, Swofford et. al., get it.

More money and more exposure does not equal better football. If that was the case, then why is Notre Dame mired in a decade and a half of mediocrity? They have every single game on TV, they make a crap load of money, yet they have been mediocre at best for right at 15 years.

If you want better football, you go get the coaches that recruit well and win games, just like how low exposure, low profit teams/schools like Boise State and TCU have done. Sure they get more exposure now obviously, but they didn't always have it and never will have it to the level that a Texas, Notre Dame, or Alabama does.

[lynchburgwildcats]

Sure, LU has the potential to be competitive on the D1-A level (I refuse to use the terms FBS and FCS).

With the admission standards at LU, they can get just about anyone in without a problem as long as they make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse. There's nothing wrong with that either, I'm just stating a fact. Schools like that are needed, so long as they aren't diploma mills which LU, of course, isn't. Some D1 schools don't have that luxury.

LU has a lot going for it athletically, financially, and in academic facilities. Lynchburg is a good town, I know a lot of people like to hate on it, but you can do a heck of a lot worse than Lynchburg. With the growth the local colleges and the metropolitan areas of Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Roanoke, etc. growing, Lynchburg is going to be continually improving and becoming more attractive to 17 and 18 year olds. If other real religious schools (as in one that are legitimately religious, not just having a loose religious affiliation) like Notre Dame, BYU, Utah, TCU, and Baylor - sometimes - can get it done, why not Liberty? It wouldn't happen immediately, but there is potential.

Am I saying they will be competitive at D1-A? No, but the potential is there.

[JK37]

This might be the best article I've ever read on conference realignment. It delivers near-scientific defense for the decisions conferences are making right now.

It also shows that WVU is a better brand with a greater following than some previous posters wanted to believe.

I encourage you all to read it, then ponder: with a national brand due to religious appeal and online education, albeit an alumni base still in it's infancy, where would LU rank?
http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/0 ... imessports

[jbock13]

Hate on WVU all that you want, some of you here, but I'm telling you, when they played in Charlotte for their bowl game against UNC, you would think there would have been more UNC fans? Wrong you would be. It was about 3/4th Gold and Blue.

In case it isn't already obvious, I'm a bit partial to West Virginia

[Sly Fox]

It is an interesting read but it has little to no correlation to how television contracts are negotiated. It is 100% correct that A&M is a very attractive brand on both a regional & national level despite their lack of success on the field.

With UT & OU both giving their presidents the authority to move the negotiations are heating up. Both schools seem to be in the quandary over whether to head to the Pac-12 or try to find a way to keep the Big XII alive. The OU Prez said those are their only two options they are considering and it seems to be the case in Austin as well. Frankly I am starting to get the feeling that the Big XII may not be dead after all. The Pac-12 appears to be playing hardball and UT really wants to hang onto their Longhorn Network that hardly anybody can see thanks to ESPN greed.

[alabama24]

I have literally know idea how all these conference changes are going to shake out

Did you say that you were a WVU fan?

[pbow]

I have literally know idea how all these conference changes are going to shake out

Did you say that you were a WVU fan?

Hahaha ouch...my mind is overly filled with medical school studies, the big LSU game, and conference junk to spell things correctly.

[alabama24]

I have literally know idea how all these conference changes are going to shake out

Did you say that you were a WVU fan?

Hahaha ouch...my mind is overly filled with medical school studies, the big LSU game, and conference junk to spell things correctly.

That's ok. At least you no better. (this coming from a BAMA fan)

[ALUmnus]

For something that is affecting pretty much every school and every sport with HUGE ramifications....the NCAA doesn't seem to have anything to say about any of this? Why?

[lynchburgwildcats]

For something that is affecting pretty much every school and every sport with HUGE ramifications....the NCAA doesn't seem to have anything to say about any of this? Why?

Because they can't decide for a school what conference they can or can't be in. They have no power in the realignment. All they NCAA Pres. can do is consult - he can tell Texas to stay in the Big XII until he is blue in the face but it won't matter.

[ALUmnus]

But can't the NCAA set rules for the conference? Aren't they the ones that said you have to have X number of teams to have a tournament?

[lynchburgwildcats]

It is an interesting read but it has little to no correlation to how television contracts are negotiated. It is 100% correct that A&M is a very attractive brand on both a regional & national level despite their lack of success on the field.

With UT & OU both giving their presidents the authority to move the negotiations are heating up. Both schools seem to be in the quandary over whether to head to the Pac-12 or try to find a way to keep the Big XII alive. The OU Prez said those are their only two options they are considering and it seems to be the case in Austin as well. Frankly I am starting to get the feeling that the Big XII may not be dead after all. The Pac-12 appears to be playing hardball and UT really wants to hang onto their Longhorn Network that hardly anybody can see thanks to ESPN greed.

I'm a bit to surprised to see that A&M is sixth for # of fans. That was a huge get for the SEC, the biggest they will have in terms of fans.

I think a better study would be the likelihood of watching a team play on TV since that is going to equate to more money than simply being a fan would. Sure, Iowa has more alleged fans, but would I be more willing to watch the 15th ranked team for fans more than I would LSU, which is 16th? Nope, if I had to choose, LSU is going to win every time. Likewise, there is no way I would ever choose to watch Northwestern football over Maryland, Oregon State, Utah, Stanford, Boise State, or TCU unless Northwestern all of a sudden turned into a top-10 to top-25 type team somehow. Yet Northwestern has more alleged fans than those schools do.

[lynchburgwildcats]

But can't the NCAA set rules for the conference? Aren't they the ones that said you have to have X number of teams to have a tournament?

NCAA President's or Athletic Directors would likely have to approve that.

[LUconn]

I think if the NCAA could do something they would. The superconference thing is the way to circumvent the NCAA altogether. I don't think that's what will happen but I think they would want to avoid being any closer to that.

[jmdickens]

WVU fans are always hyping themselves up more than they really are. The reality is nobody outside of Northern WV really give a rip about the 'Eeers.

This isn't even close to true. You're telling me that the only place WVU matters is in Northern WV? Not the people in the Eastern Panhandle, Charleston, or the coal fields? I'm not by any means saying that WVU has a massive fan base like Texas, Bama, Florida, etc. But WVU is always in the top 15 in branding, which makes little to no sense if WVU only matters in the northern part of a state that probably doesn't even have 2 million people.

I'm guessing your maybe from a southern state or maybe Huntington? Because WVU's fan base isn't that great there. WVU has an excellent reach in Pittsburgh and DC, and a pretty good reach in some Northeastern cities because so many of the students come from Jersey, NYC, and Philly.

To comment on the actual topic I have literally know idea how all these conference changes are going to shake out. I'm just upset right now about the loss of the Big East basketball tourney in MSG. As a WVU fan I'm trying to stay positive that we'll end up in a good spot for all sports, but who knows...people generally do not care for us haha.

Well the SEC and ACC feel that WVU is not a good market.....lol pbow

[jbock13]

WVU fans are always hyping themselves up more than they really are. The reality is nobody outside of Northern WV really give a rip about the 'Eeers.

This isn't even close to true. You're telling me that the only place WVU matters is in Northern WV? Not the people in the Eastern Panhandle, Charleston, or the coal fields? I'm not by any means saying that WVU has a massive fan base like Texas, Bama, Florida, etc. But WVU is always in the top 15 in branding, which makes little to no sense if WVU only matters in the northern part of a state that probably doesn't even have 2 million people.

I'm guessing your maybe from a southern state or maybe Huntington? Because WVU's fan base isn't that great there. WVU has an excellent reach in Pittsburgh and DC, and a pretty good reach in some Northeastern cities because so many of the students come from Jersey, NYC, and Philly.

To comment on the actual topic I have literally know idea how all these conference changes are going to shake out. I'm just upset right now about the loss of the Big East basketball tourney in MSG. As a WVU fan I'm trying to stay positive that we'll end up in a good spot for all sports, but who knows...people generally do not care for us haha.

Well the SEC and ACC feel that WVU is not a good market.....lol pbow

Cause the ACC and SEC are stupid and us WVU fans want nothing to do with them anyway!

West Virginia doesn't have a market by city, which is what conferences look at. They have alumni everywhere, especially in Florida.

[lynchburgwildcats]

I heard one of the reasons why WVU was denied is because of academics. When you don't even fit in the SEC academically, where do you fit? lol

[jbock13]

I love how people watch ESPN and believe everything they hear.

[Cider Jim]

I heard one of the reasons why WVU was denied is because of academics.

All Marshall fans would agree with that.

[From the class of 09]

I don't know anything about WVU but I'm fairly sure that academics have nothing to do with realignment. Although I'm sure it's a nice talking point for the world wide leader.

[TDDance234]

LOL. Enjoy the Big East.

[Hold My Own]

Watch4this:

JMU to another conference Big East? Something like that

LU is going to the colonial...not that I care or anything

[Purple Haize]

I'm still on my WVU to the big Formerly 10.

Soccer you made two different arguments. In your first you never referenced that you were talking about a 'new' Big East just the current one. So before you blast someone make sure you put all ur info out there.