http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/college ... st?id=3586


Liberty in discussions with Sun Belt
April, 3, 2013
APR 3
9:13
AM ET
By Brent Sobleski | ESPN.com
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UPDATE: James Madison's lack of interest in making an immediate jump to the FBS ranks has Liberty in a prime position to become the Sun Belt's 12th member. The two sides have already engaged in preliminary talks.

Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would prefer JMU but they need to get rid of some of that Virginia superiority complex that bleeds over from Charlottesville.

Great facilities, very close, vast bank account, TV NETWORK INCLUDED, we could do alot worse.

With the 2 schools being so close, maybe we can get most of our games televised?

I'd have preferred JMU, but what can you do.

JMU is blowing their chance to move up anytime soon, they just announced they are in the process of doing a feasability study about moving up, and it will be months before the BOT gets the report in their hands. Realistically, it probably would be the end of the year before they are ready to make a decision, the SBC isnt going to wait that long. If USA or the MAC doesnt offer them membership, which, at this moment that seems to be the case, they are going to die a slow death in the CAA, bottom line is they got caught unprepared for the CAA breaking up, and now they are in alot of trouble, they better hope someone, the MAC or USA throws them a lifeline. As far as LIberty, hell no, they have accomplished absolutely nothing in athletics, atleast APP and GS were top programs in the FCS, there has to be someone better than Liberty.

As far as the JMU study goes, dont underestimate the will to leave FCS's sinking ship.

Our study took forever, cost a cool million, and took us 2 years to get an invite, Georgia Southern's took 2 weeks, and payed off much sooner.

My fear is that adding LIberty to the SBC may harden the already sizable opposition to the move to the SBC within the ASU community. It is louder and more pronounced than some may believe.

In order for us to make it at the FBS level, we will need to see an increase in fund raising. Folks are going to have reach down and give some more and hopefully we find some new contributors that want to be a part of this move. I do worry that some folks will choose to reduce their giving or withdraw altogether. I'm not sure Liberty helps us on that front.

hapapp wrote:My fear is that adding LIberty to the SBC may harden the already sizable opposition to the move to the SBC within the ASU community. It is louder and more pronounced than some may believe.

I believe certain SB schools are gone whenever they get an invite anyway.

Better to add now, and hope the current schools dont find an exit till everyone has transitioned.

Ok, I'm trying to look at this objectively.

The good:
-Facilites
-Offering plate $ and lots of it
-Independent TV deal
-Travel
-More eastward shift in the conference
-Another likely 'W' on the schedule for the forceable future

The bad:
-Jerry Fallwel's legacy and the stigma of religious extremism
-PR nightmare. Since gay marriage is so topical right now and LU's anti-gay hiring practices ect
-Relatively poor sports programs overall
-Lack of fan support
-Private school/possible conflicting interest in the future (similar to what we deal with in the SoCon)


It certainly could be worse, but it could be much better in JMU. I feel like the Dukes either have another offer on the table or they are about to be royally screwed by poor leadership.

Not as terrible for us as Idaho.

the JMU message board says that the study will not be ready until Sept. As far as APP's study vs GS study goes, it shows how one University did the study correctly, taking their time, strong preparation, planning for every contingency possible, and taking an unbias view of whether the University could/should move up, while the other University (GS), got caught unprepared, put togeather a joke of a study, (they had decided to move up before they got the results from the study), and in my option are going to struggle alot more than App.

moehler wrote: while the other University (GS), got caught unprepared, put togeather a joke of a study, (they had decided to move up before they got the results from the study), and in my option are going to struggle alot more than App.

GSU may struggle, but I dont think it will be because of the short study.

GlassOnion wrote:Great facilities, very close, vast bank account, TV NETWORK INCLUDED, we could do alot worse.

With the 2 schools being so close, maybe we can get most of our games televised?

I'd have preferred JMU, but what can you do.

I agree, would have rather had a school with a better competitive history, but it's better than a school across the country.

You know, this may further our ultimate goal of a regional conference.

LU would be a big asset in a move like that, a conference with the ability already to broadcastst its own games.

GlassOnion wrote:You know, this may further our ultimate goal of a regional conference.

LU would be a big asset in a move like that, a conference with the ability already to broadcastst its own games.

The only negative in that would be if they refused to to give up their rights as part of larger SB package deal in order to maintain/build their own network. I doubt that would really be an issue unless the SB just had to have them. At this point I don't think it would really matter, but I would think that anyone bidding on a large dollar package would want the only rights to at least the games they pick.

I'm sure that can be all worked out and at face value it looks like a plus.

Maddog1956 wrote:

GlassOnion wrote:You know, this may further our ultimate goal of a regional conference.

LU would be a big asset in a move like that, a conference with the ability already to broadcastst its own games.

The only negative in that would be if they refused to to give up their rights as part of larger SB package deal in order to maintain/build their own network. I doubt that would really be an issue unless the SB just had to have them. At this point I don't think it would really matter, but I would think that anyone bidding on a large dollar package would want the only rights to at least the games they pick.

I'm sure that can be all worked out and at face value it looks like a plus.

From what I understand, LU is desperate for an invite, so our chances are good. They would probably be worth a yes vote for the facilities and travel savings alone.

I wouldnt mind pulling both JMU and Liberty. Let them fight it out in state.

Like I said in the football folder Liberty is probably the only option after JMU that is ready to make a move at this point. They aren't a perfect fit by any means, but it would be a lot worse for App if the Sun Belt went West. I'm just happy to discuss adding teams with 20K seat stadiums, and enrollments of over 10K to the conference instead of small private schools with no fan base.

GlassOnion wrote:

hapapp wrote:My fear is that adding LIberty to the SBC may harden the already sizable opposition to the move to the SBC within the ASU community. It is louder and more pronounced than some may believe.

I believe certain SB schools are gone whenever they get an invite anyway.

Better to add now, and hope the current schools dont find an exit till everyone has transitioned.

Hapapp was referring to resistance from within Appalachian to the FBS move, not Sun Belt school resistance (which also exists). The former is more concerning, though. I'd like to know how hapapp knows there is a sizable opposition. Other than Facebook, and some on AppFan, it is hard to quantify how much resistance there really is to this move.

In all honesty i believe no matter if liberty joins or not attendance will be about the same at the rock as long as we have good games/wins. i don't put it all on wins at home because this year we sucked at home (as compared to years before) however people still showed up to games. If liberty comes to the Rock people will still come to games, we only get about 6 games a year in the high country people will show up

ASU-FTW wrote:it is hard to quantify how much resistance there really is to this move.

It will be an easy question to answer in the near future. Do Yosef membership numbers and donations go up or down?

ASU-FTW wrote:

GlassOnion wrote:

hapapp wrote:My fear is that adding LIberty to the SBC may harden the already sizable opposition to the move to the SBC within the ASU community. It is louder and more pronounced than some may believe.

I believe certain SB schools are gone whenever they get an invite anyway.

Better to add now, and hope the current schools dont find an exit till everyone has transitioned.

Hapapp was referring to resistance from within Appalachian to the FBS move, not Sun Belt school resistance (which also exists). The former is more concerning, though. I'd like to know how hapapp knows there is a sizable opposition. Other than Facebook, and some on AppFan, it is hard to quantify how much resistance there really is to this move.

I obviously don't have any hard evidence at this point. But, I have heard from some folks who are more connected than I, that there has been some grumbling. To what extent and how deep, I don't know. As TheMoody1 suggests, Yosef numbers will give us some idea.