[ToTheLeft]

Liberty always exceeds it's goals .... If D1-A is it .... it will happen! Watch!

Liberty as a university maybe.

The football team hasn't exceeded it's goals for about 3 seasons now. I think I heard someone (in football) say 'Frisco or bust" last year... hmm!

[Kricket]

I think there is a difference between this team disappointing us over the past couple of seasons, and saying our entire athletics program isn't going where we want it to.

I'm both optimistic and skeptical about our current football team. I think we can win it all, but I can't expect us to given our history.

However, I'm still very much a believer in the bigger vision of our founder. Call me whatever you want to, but I'm definitely with Logic on this one. I expect we will be talking about competing for a national championship at the FBS level (or whatever it's called then) in my lifetime. Which is hopefully give or take another 50 years at least.

Very well said. I agree.

[jcmanson]

When the opportunity presents itself, we're gone. I don't know if that will be next week, next month, or in 5 years, but we will be FBS. If you don't like that go cheer for Radford. It won't matter if we've been to the FCS playoffs or not. It won't matter if it's the WAC or the SEC. When the opportunity presents itself, we're gone. All this debating is pointless. We will be FBS its just a matter of time.

[jbock13]

I personally don't think we're ready, but don't think for a moment I don't want us to go when the time is right.

[Purple Haize]

Think the key debating points are:
Do we move at the first opportunity or do we move at the right opportunity. Yes these can be mutually exclusive.

[RVAparks]

Per Joe Schad, Conference USA and Mountain West are having an announcement tonight. Apparently, the MWC-CUSA champs will play each other, cooperative agreement to support stability for both groups.

Very interesting stuff.

[bradyfan]

When the opportunity presents itself, we're gone. I don't know if that will be next week, next month, or in 5 years, but we will be FBS. If you don't like that go cheer for Radford. It won't matter if we've been to the FCS playoffs or not. It won't matter if it's the WAC or the SEC. When the opportunity presents itself, we're gone. All this debating is pointless. We will be FBS its just a matter of time.

I completely agree with this. After hearing Jerry Jr. speak in convo today, even though football had nothing to do with it, you can tell where he wants this university to be. He wants it to go big...really big. The right time to move was yesterday and he knows it. It really wouldn't surprise me if LU starts calling the C-USA, MAC, Sun-Belt, Big-East...etc and start asking for an invite. We'll be there soon.

[Kricket]

If were calling conferences it looks like we should be calling C-USA...

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ ... 50776562/1

The link above says that C-USA and MWC are forming a huge super conference that will be 22 teams IF none of the teams go to the Big East. The article says they expect to be 20 to 24 teams consistently. If C-USA is set to lose UCF, SMU, and Houston and MWC is set to lose Air Force and Boise, they would already be down to 17 teams potentially meaning that C-USA and MWC could add 7 more teams.

Who knows, this may even lead to the C-USA/MWC stealing the automatic qualifier. It could happen...

[jbock13]

These "super conferences" are not going to work. Just to explain the obvious you can't have 22 football teams in one conference... see the old WAC.

[SumItUp]

See, cusa teams will be in 2 divisions, MWC teams will be in 2 divisions. Each will play their own conference championship game, and then the winners will play each other for a bigger inter-conference title and possibly a BCS bid. This is huge news. I hope we end up a part of it.

Per NCAA, a conference must have 12 teams if they want to have a conference championship.

[jcmanson]

They want 24 teams, and if all invitations are accepted from the Big East they will be down to 17. Who are the other 7?!

And what will the MAC do? They'll have to do something.

IMO, the news continues to improve for LU. That doesn't mean we're definitely gone, but all the "stars" are aligning how we wanted them.

[NotAJerry]

I would say the stars are aligning for Liberty to be in the next wave of moves, not this one. This time around, it looks like we could be in prime position to jump to the CAA, or I would prefer the Southern Conference. The SoCon has a better southeastern footprint while the CAA could help us further in the 757 recruiting area.

From the rumblings I've read through sources like Phil Steele (best college football coverage on the planet) there are definite FBS moves ( UT San Antonio and Texas State to the WAC, UMass probably the MAC, South Alabama to Sun Belt), an expected move (Villanova to the Big East), and a couple of schools positioning themselves for a jump without specific FBS destinations in hand (JMU expanded their stadium, App. St. is a nice get for something like CUSA, Towson upping their facilities and telling everyone in sight they are the 2nd biggest school in Maryland). It will be interesting to see where it all shakes out.

I'd love to have the excuse to wander back down to Lynchburg some time for games against folks like Wofford, Furman, Georgia Southern and Elon than yet another VMI or Chuck South game. If App St moves up and that SoCon spot comes open, I like recruiting in Georgia Southern (Statesboro is within shouting distance of Atlanta, Jacksonville and Tallahassee), Chattanooga (within 150 miles of Nashville, Atlanta, Knoxville, and Birmingham), Souf Cackalackay (Wofford, Furman and Citadel give a strong presence there with Greenville and Statesboro close to Charlotte and you get to keep going to Charleston), Elon/W. Carolina (Raleigh-Durham 20 miles one way, Greensboro/Winston-Salem 20 miles the other for Elon), and Samford (in Birmingham). That's legitimate recruiting access to a couple of states that we don't currently play in and a better/broader mix than the CAA.

[jbock13]

App. St. is too small (by that I mean the area, roads, infrastructure) to move up.

Besides, unlike us, they've actually accomplished things in the FCS.

[NotAJerry]

App. St. is too small (by that I mean the area, roads, infrastructure) to move up.

Besides, unlike us, they've actually accomplished things in the FCS.

App St is being rumored to move up though. CUSA is what I've read to this point. Good sized stadium that can be expanded (what's with averaging 25k in a 21k stadium?), good endowment, and a consistently good program. They aren't going to make the jump to a BCS conference, but they're situation can be improved enough to at least get to the Sun Belt (they took Western Kentucky of all people) if they really want to move up. They will need to figure out the infrastructure aspect of it if they want to go beyond 30k per game.

[Kricket]

App. St. is too small (by that I mean the area, roads, infrastructure) to move up.

Besides, unlike us, they've actually accomplished things in the FCS.

Typical jbock13 post.

[jbock13]

Ever been to Boone? Tell me how you'd get 50,000 fans up those roads? Yikes.

To be honest kricket, I've just become to the point where I don't want to get into a long drawn out debate with people regarding this issue. I'm just resolved to saying my piece and being letting those who agree or disagree explain.

[Kricket]

Ever been to Boone? Tell me how you'd get 50,000 fans up those roads? Yikes.

To be honest kricket, I've just become to the point where I don't want to get into a long drawn out debate with people regarding this issue. I'm just resolved to saying my piece and being letting those who agree or disagree explain.

You're fine. I'm just messing with you a bit.

[jbock13]

Ever been to Boone? Tell me how you'd get 50,000 fans up those roads? Yikes.

To be honest kricket, I've just become to the point where I don't want to get into a long drawn out debate with people regarding this issue. I'm just resolved to saying my piece and being letting those who agree or disagree explain.

You're fine. I'm just messing with you a bit.

lol its all good kricket. I don't take criticism too seriously lol.

[Purple Haize]

I sorta like the marketing possibilities of the MAC-WAC Challenge. I mean it's just fun to say!

[ToTheLeft]

Well, I'll steal this idea from the Petros and Money show, but yesterday Money suggested they call the new merged conference...

Conference Mountain, USA!

It could double as a themepark!

[alabama24]

I sorta like the marketing possibilities of the MAC-WAC Challenge. I mean it's just fun to say!

Actually, you have it backwards. Kraft already has it trademarked. It's WACky MAC.

[NotAJerry]

Ever been to Boone? Tell me how you'd get 50,000 fans up those roads? Yikes.

To be honest kricket, I've just become to the point where I don't want to get into a long drawn out debate with people regarding this issue. I'm just resolved to saying my piece and being letting those who agree or disagree explain.

What does 50k have to do with anything? I made that trip to Boone in the mid 90s during near the end of Coach Cuss Em Out Sam Rutigliano's era. Unless things have gotten significantly worse, it's not that bad of a trip.

Let's say they make the jump to the Sun Belt. Currently Lousiana has the largest stadium at 31k even. Most of the others are right around 30k and Western Kentucky has 22,113. When South Alabama joins the Sun Belt in 2013 they will have the largest stadium in the conference, by far, at 38,888. Right now App St. has 21,650 capacity with an average attendance last year of 25,715. They would fit right in the Sun Belt without any changes. The infrastructure wouldn't take much upgrading to handle a stadium that gets expanded to a bit closer to 30k, their record crowd is just over 30k, in actual seats.

The issue, like it is with everyone else, is whether they want to move and have the money to make it work. They have the money, and supposedly want to move. If I'm the Sun Belt, I jump all over a team like App St.

[Sly Fox]

The only problems with the Sunbelt analogy is that Appy has made it clear it isn't interested in either the SBC or MAC. And for the SBC's perspective, unless they are raided by C-USA they have made it clear they have no interest in expanding.

But I agree that people often make the false assumption that going FBS would be a significant infrastructure challenge for schools like LU or ASU. It simply isn't the case. Both schools have plans to expand their stadiums to what would be more than adequate initially for mid-major FBS football.