Liberty next SBC addition?

[AppDawg]

In relationship to other FCS schools, Liberty's facilities dwarf those of any private school in FCS and superior and equal to everyone else in the division. They are a lot like App and Ga Southern in that they simply do not fit the FCS model any longer.

Too me Liberty has done nothing but put lipstick on a pig. Sure they have all of this money and facilities, but what have they done on the field to indicate they could compete in FBS. Heck they havent won anything in the big south.

[DaphneUrquhart]

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?

My experience with our donor base and others is that some of the most vocal supporters or detractors do not donate actual dollars as loudly as they donate words.

App State has done a thorough job of examining and deciding on the move to the SunBelt. One of the things we need now is for all App State supporters to join Yosef or renew their Yosef memberships. I hope no one decides to throw 450 student athletes under the bus because they don't agree with our conference affiliation, though I'm certain there will be those who use the SunBelt acceptance for their excuse not to donate.

Personally, I'm a Yosef member for our student athletes ... all of them ... every year.

Great post. Maybe those who were gung-ho for this move will help off set those donations that will be lost. I will certainly re-evaluate what I am giving and see if I can squeeze a bit more out of my teacher's salary.

Thanks! Any little bit more you can give helps. Can you imagine all 107k alumni each giving $10 to Yosef? Then add the "I have a degree from fill-in-the-blank but App State has captured my heart" folks like me. We could fund 20 extra football scholarships in a heartbeat. If everyone does something, no one has to do everything.

[goapps93]

From the Sun Belt board:

Benson: "Everyone thinks that Liberty is next in line, but that is Far far far from the case."

He was speaking on a Lafayette radio station today.

http://csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=628032

This goes to show that, yet again, we have some posters who are jumping the gun on making decisions about our future based on twitter posts. Everybody just take a deep breath and give Benson a little leeway. He did, though kind of late, have the wherewithall to finally add us and GSU. I think he has a plan that only includes LIberty as a last resort. I think they have a lot to do before they get an invite. They'll realize soon that money will not buy there way up. I have a feeling JMU is going to come around and make the leap. They don't have much choice.

[MAD Doctor]

If Liberty is the best available, God help the SBC if there are more defections. They would be a middle of the pack SoCon team, and would solidify the SBC as the weakest, most desperate conference. They are a private school/borderline online diploma mill, and are an obvious bad fit with the other conference schools. Their unrealistic self-perception as a valuable football program is far ahead of their current status. I am surprised they have not petitioned the SEC. As for facilities, you may recall the incredible facilities at Heritage USA and PTL.
I have no problems with Liberty being Liberty; I just don't see them as deserving of what we have worked for so long and hard to attain. Just because they are in the east, doesn't mean they are entitled to fast-track to FBS. We were afraid if we stayed in the SoCon we'd end up playing schools like this.

Benson, just say no.

[GoApps70]

We have not been willing to play Liberty in football for years. Understood our student council requested that after some way out Jerry Falwell quotes. Believe it was the one concerning the 9/11 Terrorist attack where Falwell said that America deserved to be attacked. May have been, "Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan in America."

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/stup ... quotes.htm

Their online diploma mill scam, as some call it, has garnered them, according to a Washington Post article, over one Billion dollars in the last few years. Increasing the worth of Liberty by 10 times since 2006 - 2012. Makes me wonder why App State doesn't take more advantage of online income. The WP article questioned the quality of Liberty's online courses though. Many seem to feel that Liberty is using high pressure tactics to sign up online students. Have another article somewhere that talks to an online student that complains of not being able to tell LU no.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/edu ... story.html

Just do not want us to be associated with Liberty. They will hire ex-convicts to work there as long as they claim their religious beliefs are like theirs, but not a gay person. They are doing exorbitant contracts on things being built, but many feel these only go to their own people, and some posters have sent questions about kick backs. Jerry Falwell, Sr. would still head it if he were still alive, but one of his sons took over when he died. It is quoted by posters that the two head people in Liberty's legal dept. wrote that gays and lesbians should all be jailed permanently.

Another quote, . "AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh's charioteers ... AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."

Just do not see Liberty being an asset to App State in the Sun Belt. They are only about 200 miles away from Boone, located in Lynchburg, kind of East of Roanoke. Could even destroy the Sun Belt. Doubt it, but do not want to take the chance. Hopefully JMU will at least go Sun Belt in Football if not all-sports right now.

[HkyMtneer]

In relationship to other FCS schools, Liberty's facilities dwarf those of any private school in FCS and superior and equal to everyone else in the division. They are a lot like App and Ga Southern in that they simply do not fit the FCS model any longer.

Too me Liberty has done nothing but put lipstick on a pig. Sure they have all of this money and facilities, but what have they done on the field to indicate they could compete in FBS. Heck they havent won anything in the big south.

Seriously? Umm, Liberty dominates the Big South, in pretty much every sport. They have to fight to win the marquee sports but when you add in the Olympic sports the league is pretty much Liberty's playground, as evidenced by all the Sasser Cup (top all-around athletics program) wins (9 of the last 14 years, last 4 years in a row, on pace to easily win this year's Sasser).

[HkyMtneer]

If Liberty is the best available, God help the SBC if there are more defections. They would be a middle of the pack SoCon team, and would solidify the SBC as the weakest, most desperate conference. They are a private school/borderline online diploma mill, and are an obvious bad fit with the other conference schools. Their unrealistic self-perception as a valuable football program is far ahead of their current status. I am surprised they have not petitioned the SEC. As for facilities, you may recall the incredible facilities at Heritage USA and PTL.
I have no problems with Liberty being Liberty; I just don't see them as deserving of what we have worked for so long and hard to attain. Just because they are in the east, doesn't mean they are entitled to fast-track to FBS. We were afraid if we stayed in the SoCon we'd end up playing schools like this.

Benson, just say no.

I will just say that I disagree with your statement of "borderline diploma mill". I was at Liberty for two years (99-01), when Liberty was held in much less regard then than now, and in my 5 years (undergrad & graduate) at ASU (I lost one year because of the religious classes not being transferable) I only had one, ONE, class at Appalachian that was more difficult than ANY class I took at Liberty. I'm not saying this is the case school-wide, apples to apples, but as far as my programs (poli-sci at Liberty, TCCM & MPA at ASU) every class at Liberty was a challenge academically, with lots of out-of-class work/study/projects required. I can't recall ever really needing to do anything other than cram (save my MPA Capstone project) at ASU. That would not have been "good enough" at Liberty. Granted, as a fresh-out-of-high school student at Liberty grades, specifically A's, meant a lot more to me than they did a mid-to-late 20's student at ASU, where the occasional B was no big deal but as far as my experience, and just my experience, Liberty was academically much more of a challenge than anything that came my way in Boone.

[MAD Doctor]

Hky, Glad you had a good experience there, and I am sure opinions would vary greatly. My wife completed a course in sign language at CPCC and said it was better and more challenging than most of her classes at Carolina. I do know of several Liberty students who told me that their online program was a joke and one said he was paying his sister to take his tests. While I can only speak about a few cases, there have been a number of negative reports, as mentioned in a previous post. Maybe this has come about because of the recent explosive growth of the online programs.
Regardless, i just don't believe that nice facilities and a windfall from online education is enough to make LU attractive as a conference football member. Big South- sure, SoCon-OK, but if our "historic leap" puts us in the same league with Liberty, how far have we really come?

[ASUMountaineer]

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.

If we jump in the sack with Liberty, I'm done with giving to athletics. I will redirect to academics.

That is certainly your choice, but it reeks of ego and shortsightedness. Please keep in mind that we are not "jumping in the sack with Liberty." Liberty would be "jumping in the sack" with us. You may see that as semantics, but at least it is accurate. We don't know if the SBC will add Liberty, and I'm not convinced that Liberty is #2 on the list as many say.

[asumike83]

Geography is convenient and facilities are great but theology aside, I'm not convinced Liberty (or any Big South program, for that matter) is ready to compete at the FBS level. They've never made the FCS playoffs, have not won more than 6 DI games since 2010 and aside from a win over a 4-8 Ball State team during that 2010 season, have no marquee non-conference wins to speak of.

Transitioning from the SoCon to FBS will be difficult enough and the jump is about twice as large coming from the Big South. IMO, they need to spend a few years in the SoCon/CAA and compete with the best programs at the FCS level before they are ready to play FBS football.

Not to get into the religious side of things but Liberty does not have the reputation of a BYU or Notre Dame. Finding 85 FBS-caliber athletes that are willing to play at Liberty and abide by their code of conduct would be an uphill battle for them as well.

I think everyone wants JMU and hopefully they will accept an invite, which they are reportedly reconsidering. If they decline, the SBC should give Jacksonville State a hard look. Many of the current members would supposedly block any Southland programs but when faced with a decision between JSU and Liberty, I think they might reconsider. I could be wrong but I just don't see Liberty passing the vote.

[appst89]

Been reading that Missouri State may be coming back into the picture for SBC membership.

[JTApps1]

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?

My experience with our donor base and others is that some of the most vocal supporters or detractors do not donate actual dollars as loudly as they donate words.

App State has done a thorough job of examining and deciding on the move to the SunBelt. One of the things we need now is for all App State supporters to join Yosef or renew their Yosef memberships. I hope no one decides to throw 450 student athletes under the bus because they don't agree with our conference affiliation, though I'm certain there will be those who use the SunBelt acceptance for their excuse not to donate.

Personally, I'm a Yosef member for our student athletes ... all of them ... every year.

Great post. Maybe those who were gung-ho for this move will help off set those donations that will be lost. I will certainly re-evaluate what I am giving and see if I can squeeze a bit more out of my teacher's salary.

I plan on increasing my donation this year as a sign of support for the move. It may not be much more but it will go up no matter who the Sun Belt adds.

[GlassOnion]

I plan on increasing my donation this year as a sign of support for the move. It may not be much more but it will go up no matter who the Sun Belt adds.

Same here. The next few years are critical to what App will be in the future. The momentum can carry us to Boise status, or relegate us to perpetual bottom dweller. This is a window of opportunity we will never get again, the chance to shape peoples' perception of App as an FBS program. We'll never get a clean slate like this again.

Conferences are temporary, the SB maybe more than most. The program will go on.

[asumike83]

Been reading that Missouri State may be coming back into the picture for SBC membership.

That would be an incredible pick-up for baseball and basketball. It would also appease the members in the West.

[bcoach]

Well I turned on the news this morning and Liberty was in it. I will now completely reverse my stand on Liberty. I DO NOT WANT THEM IN ANY CONFERENCE WE ARE IN. I don't get a vote but I will NEVER step on their campus. They are stone cold nuts!

[Appsolutely]

Well I turned on the news this morning and Liberty was in it. I will now completely reverse my stand on Liberty. I DO NOT WANT THEM IN ANY CONFERENCE WE ARE IN. I don't get a vote but I will NEVER step on their campus. They are stone cold nuts!

Liberty University: where one Christian can pop a cap in another Christian's ass without having to go home and get a gun to do it.

http://articles.wdbj7.com/2013-04-03/li ... y_38256924

[HkyMtneer]

Well I turned on the news this morning and Liberty was in it. I will now completely reverse my stand on Liberty. I DO NOT WANT THEM IN ANY CONFERENCE WE ARE IN. I don't get a vote but I will NEVER step on their campus. They are stone cold nuts!

You'd be missing out then! I'd love to travel back to the 'burg to see our Mountaineers play my other team, the Flames. The only way you wouldn't love the Liberty campus is if you don't like seeing a beautiful Jeffersonian campus develop before your eyes, and don't enjoy being greeted by the friendliest college fans anywhere, free of inebriation and cursing. As for me, that would be a welcome change from the Statesboro's of the world. Seeing the Mountaineers play without having to wonder if you'll get back to your car only to find it keyed would be a nice change of pace.

I remember when I went to Liberty we had groups (usually brother/sister dorms) that would take flashcards and write small notes like: "Thanks for coming to Lynchburg. We hope we beat you on the field (or court, etc.) today but more than that, we hope you had a great time on our campus and in our town and we hope to see you next time. Safe travels home!" under the windshield wipers of the cars of clearly visiting team's fans. Little things like that are hard to find these days.

[bcoach]

Well I turned on the news this morning and Liberty was in it. I will now completely reverse my stand on Liberty. I DO NOT WANT THEM IN ANY CONFERENCE WE ARE IN. I don't get a vote but I will NEVER step on their campus. They are stone cold nuts!

You'd be missing out then! I'd love to travel back to the 'burg to see our Mountaineers play my other team, the Flames. The only way you wouldn't love the Liberty campus is if you don't like seeing a beautiful Jeffersonian campus develop before your eyes, and don't enjoy being greeted by the friendliest college fans anywhere, free of inebriation and cursing. As for me, that would be a welcome change from the Statesboro's of the world. Seeing the Mountaineers play without having to wonder if you'll get back to your car only to find it keyed would be a nice change of pace.

I remember when I went to Liberty we had groups (usually brother/sister dorms) that would take flashcards and write small notes like: "Thanks for coming to Lynchburg. We hope we beat you on the field (or court, etc.) today but more than that, we hope you had a great time on our campus and in our town and we hope to see you next time. Safe travels home!" under the windshield wipers of the cars of clearly visiting team's fans. Little things like that are hard to find these days.

See when you say "the only way" you would be making assumptions and those assumptions would be wrong. My opinion has nothing to do with how the place looks. It looks great. I drive past there 7-8 times a year. I have also been there when we played them. I was defending them (for sports only) yesterday on here. But today on the news they announced that all faculty AND STUDENTS with concealed carry will be able to carry everywhere on campus except dorms. Sorry but I don't want to be around 5-6 thousand students with guns. That is just plain stupid. At our next game just look around and tell me you would feel good if even 100 were packing. Their decision making ability is insane.

[ASUPATCH]

Though I disliked the school before today's news this is insane. Why in the world would I come to a game with a soon to be 3 year old son and have to be worried that a pissed off drunk Liberty student might wanna take out frustration of our drubbing of them on me. I myself am not going to conceal carry on a campus wearing an opponents colors. This has disaster written all over it. Yes college kids at Liberty drink just as much as the kids in Boone do. So in closing Liberty U went from being a fringe University to a ultra conservative collegiate cult today. This isn't a school for high learning its a tea party PAC.

Mr. Benson please do not add Liberty at any cost. Ill take a west coast team at this point. You don't want to have to be interviewed about the tailgating or post game shooting that is going to occur at some point.

[3rd]

Well I turned on the news this morning and Liberty was in it. I will now completely reverse my stand on Liberty. I DO NOT WANT THEM IN ANY CONFERENCE WE ARE IN. I don't get a vote but I will NEVER step on their campus. They are stone cold nuts!

You'd be missing out then! I'd love to travel back to the 'burg to see our Mountaineers play my other team, the Flames. The only way you wouldn't love the Liberty campus is if you don't like seeing a beautiful Jeffersonian campus develop before your eyes, and don't enjoy being greeted by the friendliest college fans anywhere, free of inebriation and cursing. As for me, that would be a welcome change from the Statesboro's of the world. Seeing the Mountaineers play without having to wonder if you'll get back to your car only to find it keyed would be a nice change of pace.

I remember when I went to Liberty we had groups (usually brother/sister dorms) that would take flashcards and write small notes like: "Thanks for coming to Lynchburg. We hope we beat you on the field (or court, etc.) today but more than that, we hope you had a great time on our campus and in our town and we hope to see you next time. Safe travels home!" under the windshield wipers of the cars of clearly visiting team's fans. Little things like that are hard to find these days.

See when you say "the only way" you would be making assumptions and those assumptions would be wrong. My opinion has nothing to do with how the place looks. It looks great. I drive past there 7-8 times a year. I have also been there when we played them. I was defending them (for sports only) yesterday on here. But today on the news they announced that all faculty AND STUDENTS with concealed carry will be able to carry everywhere on campus except dorms. Sorry but I don't want to be around 5-6 thousand students with guns. That is just plain stupid. At our next game just look around and tell me you would feel good if even 100 were packing. Their decision making ability is insane.

whats the difference between students with guns and people at bars with guns? You are making an unfair assumption against students with permits. I would rather someone who is trying to better themselves by going to college have guns than someone who i have no idea what they are doing with their life have a gun at the bar im at