Charlie Cobb was right ---

[WVAPPeer]

Thanks to those who actually discussed the question I posed --- and thanks to whomever pointed out that my OP was a statement not a question - I changed it and added the ? where it should have been ---

And again, this is not about amount of coverage, national "respect", etc., I'm simply talking about the football played on the field ---

[WVAPPeer]

And by the way, Moose and I had this same discussion about a week or two ago - seems some on here don't have the temperament and/or the brain cells to have an actual discussion ---

[ASUTodd]

You sure you mean to use that emoji face.... looks like...well...

[JTApps1]

So can we all agree that the move was the correct decision now? Some were very vocal against the move, some very vocal for, and some on the fence. It seems like everyone has positive things to say now which is great to see.

As to the OP, the Sun Belt is definitely a step up from the FCS. There may be 1 or 2 programs left that could compete as so many top tier schools have moved up already. Looking at the results from OOC games and bowls there is little difference between the G5's overall minus a few teams here and there. Let's not forget that for every App or GS there have been schools like FAU, Texas At, and UTSA.

It's all about the individual programs.

[hotrod2001]

You have to look at the two teams. 22 SoCon Conference Titles between them, 9 FCS National Championships between them. That's a LOT of hardware. I remember I called into a show in SiriusXM to hype up the game between the two teams and Brady Hoke, former Michigan Head Coach himself said that the two teams were the FCS equivalent of Alabama and Ohio State. So outside of anyone who only knows of us because 1. We beat Michigan and 2. GS beat Florida, it shouldn't have been a shock to anyone that the rich pedigree the two teams had in the FCS followed them both up to the FBS levels.

We're not like a bunch of C-USA's teams who are practically start-ups and got the nods due to their markets (UTSA, ODU, UNCC, FAU, FIU) and not their history. We're here because we've cut our teeth in the lower leagues and have proven time and time again that we belong here and if you think differently, then by all means ask the boys over at Ohio, Bowling Green, Old Dominion, Wyoming, and Western Michigan (and maybe even Georgia Tech, Georgia and NC State who barely escaped the Stink) how they feel. And in all honestly, if teams like North Dakota State, Montana and Jacksonville State ever jumped up to the FBS, I would think they too would find success based on their histories.

And yes, historically the Sun Belt has been made up of lousy teams...but look at how well FIU, FAU, and North Texas are faring due to their "promotion" to C-USA, they're still crappy teams. Honestly next year will be interesting. Troy's record doesn't reflect their abilities and I think the Trojans can mount a resurgence next year, Georgia State, who we all thought was a laughing stock barely lost their bowl and looks to make next year interesting as well. Throw in the perennial conference title contender stAte and you have 5 teams who can be a threat to have winning seasons (the same amount of teams that C-USA had this year and one less than MW had). Throw in the possibilities of a well-resourced Coastal Carolina coming into the fold and I don't think the conference on paper would be any worse than the MW, MAC or C-USA.

[Yosef10]

App1990:
First: a COUPLE FCS teams can compete with a FEW FBS teams

Second: during the FCS title runs App wasn't on the main ESPN more than once, and a couple times the FCS championship was on ESPN2. Ratings were also higher for this bowl game, you can look at the numbers and get back to me on T at. We also received top 25 votes this year.

Third: anyway you cut it we are more relevant as an FBS school than FCS. Just stop.

[appbio91]

With ESPN involvement in the bowls it was certainly hyped much more than the FCS playoffs or NC. I remember being annoyed because there was almost no promotion of the NC games. On the other hand everyone who watches ESPN knew APP was playing Ohio in a bowl game.

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[CVAPP]

With ESPN involvement in the bowls it was certainly hyped much more than the FCS playoffs or NC. I remember being annoyed because there was almost no promotion of the NC games. On the other hand everyone who watches ESPN knew APP was playing Ohio in a bowl game.

WBTV aired and re-aired a commercial promoting the game in heavy rotation. Far more often than I have ever seen anything promoting a game APP would be participating in. That was an added bonus of playing in a Raycom sponsored event.

[WVAPPeer]

App1990:
First: a COUPLE FCS teams can compete with a FEW FBS teams

Second: during the FCS title runs App wasn't on the main ESPN more than once, and a couple times the FCS championship was on ESPN2. Ratings were also higher for this bowl game, you can look at the numbers and get back to me on T at. We also received top 25 votes this year.

Third: anyway you cut it we are more relevant as an FBS school than FCS. Just stop.

Yosef10 - I know you are young guy but again - the question was about Football Competition On The Field - NOT Relevancy ---

[Yosef10]

App1990:
First: a COUPLE FCS teams can compete with a FEW FBS teams

Second: during the FCS title runs App wasn't on the main ESPN more than once, and a couple times the FCS championship was on ESPN2. Ratings were also higher for this bowl game, you can look at the numbers and get back to me on T at. We also received top 25 votes this year.

Third: anyway you cut it we are more relevant as an FBS school than FCS. Just stop.

Yosef10 - I know you are young guy but again - the question was about Football Competition On The Field - NOT Relevancy ---

WVAPPerr - I know you are an old guy but again - the football competition on the field is better in FBS, even in the SunBelt, which in turn leads to more relevancy. There's a reason kids go play FCS...they can't play FBS. Not sure what you tried/are trying to accomplish with this thread.

[AppinVA]

The 2005-07 teams were as good as the Sun Belt for a game, but not for an entire season. Injuries would've killed them by season's end. It almost did us in this year. That's the biggest difference between the two.

[Yosef84]

In a single statement, Charlie Cobb was WRONG in his statement. To call the Sun Belt a "glorified FCS" conference is a comment on the overall level of competition. There is absolutely NO conference in FCS that offers the level of competition in the Sun Belt. Even if you put together an "all star dream conference" of current FCS teams, it couldn't compete with the top half of the Sun Belt. Liberty squeaked out a win against a Georgia State team that had not yet found its stride. If that game were played in the second half of the season, Liberty would have been dominated.

I will be the first to acknowledge that the top teams in FCS are capable of being competitive in most G5 conferences, although they would have trouble sustaining their performance without beefing out scholarships.

App and Georgia Southern have transitioned well. We haven't just continued playing at our high FCS level. We have IMPROVED our level of performance through depth and recruiting. We need to continue that growth and see where it takes us.

I absolutely believe we could perform well in most G5 conferences. I think we would have achieved success in either a CUSA, MAC or MWC schedule. The AAC would probably have been more challenging and would take a little longer.

[appbio91]

Relevance? FBS = Miami, Wake, Marshall etc. OOC games at KBS.
No way no how would we even get Wyoming, Akron, ODU or UNCC as FCS let along any big names.

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[T-Dog]

You have to look at the context where Cobb's statement came from. In 2010 when the FBS feasibility study started, the Sun Belt was under previous commissioner Wright Waters, who was staunchly against FCS move-ups thus where the friction came from. If Waters remained in charge of the Sun Belt, it would have died in 2013 when almost everyone left. For the faults Karl Benson has, he kept the Sun Belt from dying and is now in a position to rise going forward, a lot better than CUSA which made some media markets moves that haven't done anything for them.

[WVAPPeer]

" Not sure what you tried/are trying to accomplish with this thread."

It's called a "discussion" - there is nothing to be accomplished in the discussion - it is for opinions/thoughts about that comment from CC ---

[WVAPPeer]

I went back and looked up this info - Some I did not remember, one I had tried to forget --- FCS wins in the last 5 years ---
2011
September 3: Richmond 23, Duke 21
Sacramento State 29, Oregon State 28 (OT)
September 17: Indiana State 44, Western Kentucky 16
September 24: Sam Houston State 48, New Mexico 45 (OT)
North Dakota State 37, Minnesota 24
Southern Utah 41, UNLV 16

2012
August 30: McNeese State 27, Middle Tennessee 21
Eastern Washington 20, Idaho 3
September 1: Tennessee–Martin 20, Memphis 17
Youngstown State 31, Pittsburgh 17
September 8: Illinois State 31, Eastern Michigan 14
Sacramento State 30, Colorado 28
North Dakota State 22, Colorado State 7
Northern Arizona 17, UNLV 14
September 15: Cal Poly 24, Wyoming 22
September 29: Stony Brook 23, Army 3

2013
August 29: #11 Towson 33, Connecticut 18
Southern Utah 22, South Alabama 21
August 30: Samford 31, Georgia State 21
#1 North Dakota State 24, Kansas State 21

August 31: #4 Eastern Washington 49, #25 Oregon State 46 (this is the third time an FCS team has beat an FBS team that was ranked in the AP poll, after James Madison's victory over #13 Virginia Tech in 2010 and Appalachian State's upset of #5 Michigan in 2007).
McNeese State 53, South Florida 21
#17 Northern Iowa 28, Iowa State 20
#21 Eastern Illinois 40, San Diego State 19
September 7: Chattanooga 42, Georgia State 14
Maine 24, Massachusetts 14
Nicholls State 27, Western Michigan 23
September 14: Fordham 30, Temple 29
#23 Bethune-Cookman 34, Florida International 13
September 21: Jacksonville State 32, Georgia State 26 (OT)
November 9: Old Dominion 59, Idaho 38
November 23: Georgia Southern 26, Florida 20
2014
August 30: #2 North Dakota State 34, Iowa State 14
#22 Bethune-Cookman 14, Florida International 12
September 6: Eastern Kentucky 17, Miami (OH) 10
September 13: Indiana State 27, Ball State 20—The Victory Bell Game
Abilene Christian 38, Troy 35
September 20: Northwestern State 30, Louisiana Tech 27
September 27: Yale 49, Army 43 in Overtime
October 11: Liberty 55, Appalachian State 48 in Overtime

2015
September 4: #20 Fordham 37, Army 35
September 5: #16 South Dakota State 41, Kansas 38
Portland State 24, Washington St 17
North Dakota 24, Wyoming 13
September 19: Furman 16, UCF 15
September 26: #9 James Madison 48, SMU 45
October 3: #18 Liberty 41, Georgia State 33
October 10: #25 Portland State 66, North Texas 7 This game saw the largest victory margin ever by an FCS team over an FBS team, surpassing Lehigh's 58–0 win over Harvard in 1981, the year before Harvard and the rest of the Ivy League moved from FBS to FCS (then Divisions I-A and I-AA respectively). Portland State also became the first FCS team to defeat two FBS teams in the same season since North Dakota State in 2007.[2] North Texas' head coach, Dan McCarney, was fired later in the day.
November 21: #25 The Citadel 23, South Carolina 22

[Yosef10]

" Not sure what you tried/are trying to accomplish with this thread."

It's called a "discussion" - there is nothing to be accomplished in the discussion - it is for opinions/thoughts about that comment from CC ---

A "discussion" to stir the pot about FCS and FBS, I gotcha. You kinda settled the "discussion" by saying "Charlie Cobb was right" from the get-go. You knew what you were doing man, just stop.

[AppinVA]

Would you quit? FCS is done for App, thankfully, and we are not going back. Quit trying to drive a divide through App nation in order to achieve your dreams of moving Appalachian a level below your beloved WVU.

[Yosef10]

I went back and looked up this info - Some I did not remember, one I had tried to forget --- FCS wins in the last 5 years ---
2011
September 3: Richmond 23, Duke 21
Sacramento State 29, Oregon State 28 (OT)
September 17: Indiana State 44, Western Kentucky 16
September 24: Sam Houston State 48, New Mexico 45 (OT)
North Dakota State 37, Minnesota 24
Southern Utah 41, UNLV 16

2012
August 30: McNeese State 27, Middle Tennessee 21
Eastern Washington 20, Idaho 3
September 1: Tennessee–Martin 20, Memphis 17
Youngstown State 31, Pittsburgh 17
September 8: Illinois State 31, Eastern Michigan 14
Sacramento State 30, Colorado 28
North Dakota State 22, Colorado State 7
Northern Arizona 17, UNLV 14
September 15: Cal Poly 24, Wyoming 22
September 29: Stony Brook 23, Army 3

2013
August 29: #11 Towson 33, Connecticut 18
Southern Utah 22, South Alabama 21
August 30: Samford 31, Georgia State 21
#1 North Dakota State 24, Kansas State 21

August 31: #4 Eastern Washington 49, #25 Oregon State 46 (this is the third time an FCS team has beat an FBS team that was ranked in the AP poll, after James Madison's victory over #13 Virginia Tech in 2010 and Appalachian State's upset of #5 Michigan in 2007).
McNeese State 53, South Florida 21
#17 Northern Iowa 28, Iowa State 20
#21 Eastern Illinois 40, San Diego State 19
September 7: Chattanooga 42, Georgia State 14
Maine 24, Massachusetts 14
Nicholls State 27, Western Michigan 23
September 14: Fordham 30, Temple 29
#23 Bethune-Cookman 34, Florida International 13
September 21: Jacksonville State 32, Georgia State 26 (OT)
November 9: Old Dominion 59, Idaho 38
November 23: Georgia Southern 26, Florida 20
2014
August 30: #2 North Dakota State 34, Iowa State 14
#22 Bethune-Cookman 14, Florida International 12
September 6: Eastern Kentucky 17, Miami (OH) 10
September 13: Indiana State 27, Ball State 20—The Victory Bell Game
Abilene Christian 38, Troy 35
September 20: Northwestern State 30, Louisiana Tech 27
September 27: Yale 49, Army 43 in Overtime
October 11: Liberty 55, Appalachian State 48 in Overtime

2015
September 4: #20 Fordham 37, Army 35
September 5: #16 South Dakota State 41, Kansas 38
Portland State 24, Washington St 17
North Dakota 24, Wyoming 13
September 19: Furman 16, UCF 15
September 26: #9 James Madison 48, SMU 45
October 3: #18 Liberty 41, Georgia State 33
October 10: #25 Portland State 66, North Texas 7 This game saw the largest victory margin ever by an FCS team over an FBS team, surpassing Lehigh's 58–0 win over Harvard in 1981, the year before Harvard and the rest of the Ivy League moved from FBS to FCS (then Divisions I-A and I-AA respectively). Portland State also became the first FCS team to defeat two FBS teams in the same season since North Dakota State in 2007.[2] North Texas' head coach, Dan McCarney, was fired later in the day.
November 21: #25 The Citadel 23, South Carolina 22

Hahaha even more proves the point of what your agenda has been the whole time. You can go watch Glenville State to watch ****ty football.

[AppinVA]

You, Cline and ASU 90, or whatever he's called, love FCS so much, Western is ready when you are.