Athlon Predictions

[AppWyo]

Big Donors is a relative term in the realm of college football.

"Big Donors," People who donate large sums of money.

Big donors at App and Bama are not the same.

No, the return on investment is better at Appalachian.

[Stonewall]

I’m not sure that’s accurate.

[ericsaid]

It will be closer to 90 than 40 that break away. There will be programs that will sacrifice everything to keep up with the jones, no difference than society at large.

And some of those are going to really make our fanbase jealous. Might want to mark this post for future reference.

Basically, most of the haves wish they had what Notre Dame has.

Several schools have tried to be independents like South Carolina, ECU, FAMU, UMASS, etc. and it has not worked out in their favor.

Even Notre Dame saw that it was advantageous to join a conference in their other sports.

I am sure there were people that thought integration, Title XI, and Televised games would be the end of college sports too, this is just the current phase of the evolution of college sports.

Many people stopped watching NASCAR when Dale Earnhardt died, but the fact is, if he were still alive today, he would not be racing.

When it’s discussed and announced that there will be a breakaway, there will be three tiers of candidates. Those that will spearhead the club. Texas, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio St and the like that want to be grouped together. Then you have the ones that want to sit at the “cool kids” table to belong but are really there for the others to make fun of. I’m talking about schools like Michigan St, Wisconsin, and South Carolina. Then you will have the ones that the kids at the cool kids table don’t find to be worth sharing the table with. The Maryland’s, Pretty much the northern teams of the ACC, Rutgers and the Big IX.

That last group will also have a few members of the G5 which will lead to epic threads on message boards like this one. South Florida, SDSU, etc. will not go quietly. Do not underestimate the pride of "wealthy" individuals, "we can believe almost anything if necessary to protect our pride".

I remember during the FBS feasibility study sitting in meetings where alums/fans asked why settle for CUSA we should be calling the ACC!

I do not want App to be in an ACC that does not include the Big Four...

You wouldn't want to be in the ACC with ECU and the remaining programs, including SMU? Probably Memphis as well?

That would be insanity considering if App turned it down, Charlotte probably gets the call. Or they could go all in and add App, Charlotte, and ECU to backfill the Carolinas and bring in Memphis. Would be complete idiocy to turn that down.

[AppfaninCAALand]

Basically, most of the haves wish they had what Notre Dame has.

Several schools have tried to be independents like South Carolina, ECU, FAMU, UMASS, etc. and it has not worked out in their favor.

Even Notre Dame saw that it was advantageous to join a conference in their other sports.

I am sure there were people that thought integration, Title XI, and Televised games would be the end of college sports too, this is just the current phase of the evolution of college sports.

Many people stopped watching NASCAR when Dale Earnhardt died, but the fact is, if he were still alive today, he would not be racing.

When it’s discussed and announced that there will be a breakaway, there will be three tiers of candidates. Those that will spearhead the club. Texas, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio St and the like that want to be grouped together. Then you have the ones that want to sit at the “cool kids” table to belong but are really there for the others to make fun of. I’m talking about schools like Michigan St, Wisconsin, and South Carolina. Then you will have the ones that the kids at the cool kids table don’t find to be worth sharing the table with. The Maryland’s, Pretty much the northern teams of the ACC, Rutgers and the Big IX.

That last group will also have a few members of the G5 which will lead to epic threads on message boards like this one. South Florida, SDSU, etc. will not go quietly. Do not underestimate the pride of "wealthy" individuals, "we can believe almost anything if necessary to protect our pride".

I remember during the FBS feasibility study sitting in meetings where alums/fans asked why settle for CUSA we should be calling the ACC!

I do not want App to be in an ACC that does not include the Big Four...

You wouldn't want to be in the ACC with ECU and the remaining programs, including SMU? Probably Memphis as well?

That would be insanity considering if App turned it down, Charlotte probably gets the call. Or they could go all in and add App, Charlotte, and ECU to backfill the Carolinas and bring in Memphis. Would be complete idiocy to turn that down.

It would take more than 4 ACC departures for App to get a call - probably 8 schools gone. Honestly even if it was just a handful of teams clinging to the ACC name and trying to rebuild, App still would have to seriously consider it, though the ACC could get so bad, App would have to turn them down. It really all comes down to who the ACC loses.

If it is down to perhaps WF, GT, BC, SMU, Duke, Miami, a football-less ND, Syracuse, Cal, and Stanford, than they will just add a few high-brow schools (even ones with low tier or no football) like Georgetown, Rice, and Tulane and rebrand themselves a (mostly) Southern Ivy League. William & Mary or Richmond (maybe even Furman) have a better chance getting into that league than App.

[ericsaid]

When it’s discussed and announced that there will be a breakaway, there will be three tiers of candidates. Those that will spearhead the club. Texas, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio St and the like that want to be grouped together. Then you have the ones that want to sit at the “cool kids” table to belong but are really there for the others to make fun of. I’m talking about schools like Michigan St, Wisconsin, and South Carolina. Then you will have the ones that the kids at the cool kids table don’t find to be worth sharing the table with. The Maryland’s, Pretty much the northern teams of the ACC, Rutgers and the Big IX.

That last group will also have a few members of the G5 which will lead to epic threads on message boards like this one. South Florida, SDSU, etc. will not go quietly. Do not underestimate the pride of "wealthy" individuals, "we can believe almost anything if necessary to protect our pride".

I remember during the FBS feasibility study sitting in meetings where alums/fans asked why settle for CUSA we should be calling the ACC!

I do not want App to be in an ACC that does not include the Big Four...

You wouldn't want to be in the ACC with ECU and the remaining programs, including SMU? Probably Memphis as well?

That would be insanity considering if App turned it down, Charlotte probably gets the call. Or they could go all in and add App, Charlotte, and ECU to backfill the Carolinas and bring in Memphis. Would be complete idiocy to turn that down.

It would take more than 4 ACC departures for App to get a call - probably 8 schools gone. Honestly even if it was just a handful of teams clinging to the ACC name and trying to rebuild, App still would have to seriously consider it, though the ACC could get so bad, App would have to turn them down. But it really all comes down to who the ACC loses.

If it is down to perhaps WF, GT, BC, SMU, Duke, Miami, a football-less ND, Syracuse, Cal, and Stanford, than they will just add a few high-brow schools like Georgetown, Rice, and Tulane and rebrand themselves a (mostly) Southern Ivy League. William & Mary or Richmond have a better chance getting into that league than App.

Obviously what you've discussed changes the premise. The premise was "Big Four is gone" implying all else remains unchanged. Even considering Notre Dame gone, you still take that spot if it's offered under that scenario.

Under your scenario, App never gets a call because the ACC has gone basketball. I don't think the ACC would do this though and I could easily see a reformation of sorts to something akin to what the SoCon did, albeit at a higher level. Time will tell.

[Bootsy]

The common theme among P4 member institutions is they’re all research universities with professional programs like law, medicine, etc. Most former teacher’s colleges don’t have all of these, so they have little chance of getting a golden ticket.

[AppSt94]

That last group will also have a few members of the G5 which will lead to epic threads on message boards like this one. South Florida, SDSU, etc. will not go quietly. Do not underestimate the pride of "wealthy" individuals, "we can believe almost anything if necessary to protect our pride".

I remember during the FBS feasibility study sitting in meetings where alums/fans asked why settle for CUSA we should be calling the ACC!

I do not want App to be in an ACC that does not include the Big Four...

You wouldn't want to be in the ACC with ECU and the remaining programs, including SMU? Probably Memphis as well?

That would be insanity considering if App turned it down, Charlotte probably gets the call. Or they could go all in and add App, Charlotte, and ECU to backfill the Carolinas and bring in Memphis. Would be complete idiocy to turn that down.

It would take more than 4 ACC departures for App to get a call - probably 8 schools gone. Honestly even if it was just a handful of teams clinging to the ACC name and trying to rebuild, App still would have to seriously consider it, though the ACC could get so bad, App would have to turn them down. But it really all comes down to who the ACC loses.

If it is down to perhaps WF, GT, BC, SMU, Duke, Miami, a football-less ND, Syracuse, Cal, and Stanford, than they will just add a few high-brow schools like Georgetown, Rice, and Tulane and rebrand themselves a (mostly) Southern Ivy League. William & Mary or Richmond have a better chance getting into that league than App.

Obviously what you've discussed changes the premise. The premise was "Big Four is gone" implying all else remains unchanged. Even considering Notre Dame gone, you still take that spot if it's offered under that scenario.

Under your scenario, App never gets a call because the ACC has gone basketball. I don't think the ACC would do this though and I could easily see a reformation of sorts to something akin to what the SoCon did, albeit at a higher level. Time will tell.

The notion that we are going to move up to any existing P whatever is just delusional. Any future membership to an “ACC” conference will be akin to a lateral movement. The juice has to be worth the squeeze and an “ACC” with Charlotte and ECU is not the hill you want to conquer.

[Bigdaddyg1]

Wouldn’t a strengthened Sunbelt- maybe with an ECU and UNCC be better than a weakened ACC? If most of the big name ACC teams leave does the conference stay that name? The ACC is in danger of being a horribly geographically based league. If a couple of the major teams leave the remaining schools will spend a fortune on travel.

[AppStFan1]

Wouldn’t a strengthened Sunbelt- maybe with an ECU and UNCC be better than a weakened ACC? If most of the big name ACC teams leave does the conference stay that name? The ACC is in danger of being a horribly geographically based league. If a couple of the major teams leave the remaining schools will spend a fortune on travel.

I agree with the general premise but here is a question. Would the name recognition of the ACC not be valuable? Would even the bottom 6 left in the league that are on east coast that would add schools like App, ECU, Memphis, JMU, Marshall, etc. not be stronger than the current bottom of the Sun Belt?

None of this really matters until those top teams from the ACC bolt but here is a question. When does that legal stuff come to a close and we see the exodus that would make any of this relevant on our end? And when we do what is the most likely outcome on our end? 1. Some of the disgruntled teams left behind want to get with us, Memphis, ECU, etc types to form a really good G5 caliber league? 2. Add 2-4 teams to the current Sun Belt 3. Nothing?

[AppSt94]

Wouldn’t a strengthened Sunbelt- maybe with an ECU and UNCC be better than a weakened ACC? If most of the big name ACC teams leave does the conference stay that name? The ACC is in danger of being a horribly geographically based league. If a couple of the major teams leave the remaining schools will spend a fortune on travel.

I agree with the general premise but here is a question. Would the name recognition of the ACC not be valuable? Would even the bottom 6 left in the league that are on east coast that would add schools like App, ECU, Memphis, JMU, Marshall, etc. not be stronger than the current bottom of the Sun Belt?

None of this really matters until those top teams from the ACC bolt but here is a question. When does that legal stuff come to a close and we see the exodus that would make any of this relevant on our end? And when we do what is the most likely outcome on our end? 1. Some of the disgruntled teams left behind want to get with us, Memphis, ECU, etc types to form a really good G5 caliber league? 2. Add 2-4 teams to the current Sun Belt 3. Nothing?

Let’s see how much weight that name thing carries with the new PAC whatever.

[Stonewall]

BOT member says they have been advised that FBS number will likely be cut in half , leaving I suppose 70 or so competing for the CFP. Money people want us in the top tier. We have work to do.

[AppStFan1]

Wouldn’t a strengthened Sunbelt- maybe with an ECU and UNCC be better than a weakened ACC? If most of the big name ACC teams leave does the conference stay that name? The ACC is in danger of being a horribly geographically based league. If a couple of the major teams leave the remaining schools will spend a fortune on travel.

I agree with the general premise but here is a question. Would the name recognition of the ACC not be valuable? Would even the bottom 6 left in the league that are on east coast that would add schools like App, ECU, Memphis, JMU, Marshall, etc. not be stronger than the current bottom of the Sun Belt?

None of this really matters until those top teams from the ACC bolt but here is a question. When does that legal stuff come to a close and we see the exodus that would make any of this relevant on our end? And when we do what is the most likely outcome on our end? 1. Some of the disgruntled teams left behind want to get with us, Memphis, ECU, etc types to form a really good G5 caliber league? 2. Add 2-4 teams to the current Sun Belt 3. Nothing?

Let’s see how much weight that name thing carries with the new PAC whatever.

I did not say weight of the name. I said name recognition. People will still know the name. I will admit I would rather see the ACC dissolve just so it would be easier for the Sun Belt to pick up a couple of those teams or for us and a few powers in the Sun Belt to join those remaining and form a new league.

[AppSt94]

Wouldn’t a strengthened Sunbelt- maybe with an ECU and UNCC be better than a weakened ACC? If most of the big name ACC teams leave does the conference stay that name? The ACC is in danger of being a horribly geographically based league. If a couple of the major teams leave the remaining schools will spend a fortune on travel.

I agree with the general premise but here is a question. Would the name recognition of the ACC not be valuable? Would even the bottom 6 left in the league that are on east coast that would add schools like App, ECU, Memphis, JMU, Marshall, etc. not be stronger than the current bottom of the Sun Belt?

None of this really matters until those top teams from the ACC bolt but here is a question. When does that legal stuff come to a close and we see the exodus that would make any of this relevant on our end? And when we do what is the most likely outcome on our end? 1. Some of the disgruntled teams left behind want to get with us, Memphis, ECU, etc types to form a really good G5 caliber league? 2. Add 2-4 teams to the current Sun Belt 3. Nothing?

Let’s see how much weight that name thing carries with the new PAC whatever.

I did not say weight of the name. I said name recognition. People will still know the name. I will admit I would rather see the ACC dissolve just so it would be easier for the Sun Belt to pick up a couple of those teams or for us and a few powers in the Sun Belt to join those remaining and form a new league.

Isn’t that really the same thing? The ACC without the Tobacco Road teams isn’t the ACC. The PAC whatever isn’t the same without the LA schools or Oregon or Washington. They can backfill however they wish but the name is just the name. The media valuation isn’t the same. Sure, there could be some sort of more regional alignments but whoever is left out of the tier 1 group are just going to be tier 2 teams and will be left to get what they get.

[AppStFan1]

BOT member says they have been advised that FBS number will likely be cut in half , leaving I suppose 70 or so competing for the CFP. Money people want us in the top tier. We have work to do.

There were 70 teams in the P5 last year and I always thought they would try to squeeze it down to 60 or so to drop more teams like OSU and WSU. We definitely have some work to do and have to hope that a few more are dropped or else we will definitely be in tier 2, which is what I expected all along.

[AppStFan1]

Wouldn’t a strengthened Sunbelt- maybe with an ECU and UNCC be better than a weakened ACC? If most of the big name ACC teams leave does the conference stay that name? The ACC is in danger of being a horribly geographically based league. If a couple of the major teams leave the remaining schools will spend a fortune on travel.

I agree with the general premise but here is a question. Would the name recognition of the ACC not be valuable? Would even the bottom 6 left in the league that are on east coast that would add schools like App, ECU, Memphis, JMU, Marshall, etc. not be stronger than the current bottom of the Sun Belt?

None of this really matters until those top teams from the ACC bolt but here is a question. When does that legal stuff come to a close and we see the exodus that would make any of this relevant on our end? And when we do what is the most likely outcome on our end? 1. Some of the disgruntled teams left behind want to get with us, Memphis, ECU, etc types to form a really good G5 caliber league? 2. Add 2-4 teams to the current Sun Belt 3. Nothing?

Let’s see how much weight that name thing carries with the new PAC whatever.

I did not say weight of the name. I said name recognition. People will still know the name. I will admit I would rather see the ACC dissolve just so it would be easier for the Sun Belt to pick up a couple of those teams or for us and a few powers in the Sun Belt to join those remaining and form a new league.

Isn’t that really the same thing? The ACC without the Tobacco Road teams isn’t the ACC. The PAC whatever isn’t the same without the LA schools or Oregon or Washington. They can backfill however they wish but the name is just the name. The media valuation isn’t the same. Sure, there could be some sort of more regional alignments but whoever is left out of the tier 1 group are just going to be tier 2 teams and will be left to get what they get.

I would say similar but the ACC would be still be a very well known name that just does not carry the same power that it once had.

Do you think a revamped ACC with say 8 of the current teams along with the top 6 G5 schools on the east coast would be lesser or equal than the current Sun Belt?

[AppSt94]

I agree with the general premise but here is a question. Would the name recognition of the ACC not be valuable? Would even the bottom 6 left in the league that are on east coast that would add schools like App, ECU, Memphis, JMU, Marshall, etc. not be stronger than the current bottom of the Sun Belt?

None of this really matters until those top teams from the ACC bolt but here is a question. When does that legal stuff come to a close and we see the exodus that would make any of this relevant on our end? And when we do what is the most likely outcome on our end? 1. Some of the disgruntled teams left behind want to get with us, Memphis, ECU, etc types to form a really good G5 caliber league? 2. Add 2-4 teams to the current Sun Belt 3. Nothing?

Let’s see how much weight that name thing carries with the new PAC whatever.

I did not say weight of the name. I said name recognition. People will still know the name. I will admit I would rather see the ACC dissolve just so it would be easier for the Sun Belt to pick up a couple of those teams or for us and a few powers in the Sun Belt to join those remaining and form a new league.

Isn’t that really the same thing? The ACC without the Tobacco Road teams isn’t the ACC. The PAC whatever isn’t the same without the LA schools or Oregon or Washington. They can backfill however they wish but the name is just the name. The media valuation isn’t the same. Sure, there could be some sort of more regional alignments but whoever is left out of the tier 1 group are just going to be tier 2 teams and will be left to get what they get.

I would say similar but the ACC would be still be a very well known name that just does not carry the same power that it once had.

Do you think a revamped ACC with say 8 of the current teams along with the top 6 G5 schools on the east coast would be lesser or equal than the current Sun Belt?

I don’t think that it really matters. If you aren’t one of the teams in the tier 1 schools, you are just tier 2. But to answer,your question, I don’t think that it would be better.

[AppStFan1]

Let’s see how much weight that name thing carries with the new PAC whatever.

I did not say weight of the name. I said name recognition. People will still know the name. I will admit I would rather see the ACC dissolve just so it would be easier for the Sun Belt to pick up a couple of those teams or for us and a few powers in the Sun Belt to join those remaining and form a new league.

Isn’t that really the same thing? The ACC without the Tobacco Road teams isn’t the ACC. The PAC whatever isn’t the same without the LA schools or Oregon or Washington. They can backfill however they wish but the name is just the name. The media valuation isn’t the same. Sure, there could be some sort of more regional alignments but whoever is left out of the tier 1 group are just going to be tier 2 teams and will be left to get what they get.

I would say similar but the ACC would be still be a very well known name that just does not carry the same power that it once had.

Do you think a revamped ACC with say 8 of the current teams along with the top 6 G5 schools on the east coast would be lesser or equal than the current Sun Belt?

I don’t think that it really matters. If you aren’t one of the teams in the tier 1 schools, you are just tier 2. But to answer,your question, I don’t think that it would be better.

For me to say firmly either way I would need to see the complete list of teams in the league. I would be happy staying in the Sun Belt but I think we could be in a better league if we formed one of the best AAC, Sun Belt, and those left behind in the current ACC. I would be interested to see exactly how it would look before going all in though.

[AppWyo]

I did not say weight of the name. I said name recognition. People will still know the name. I will admit I would rather see the ACC dissolve just so it would be easier for the Sun Belt to pick up a couple of those teams or for us and a few powers in the Sun Belt to join those remaining and form a new league.

Isn’t that really the same thing? The ACC without the Tobacco Road teams isn’t the ACC. The PAC whatever isn’t the same without the LA schools or Oregon or Washington. They can backfill however they wish but the name is just the name. The media valuation isn’t the same. Sure, there could be some sort of more regional alignments but whoever is left out of the tier 1 group are just going to be tier 2 teams and will be left to get what they get.

I would say similar but the ACC would be still be a very well known name that just does not carry the same power that it once had.

Do you think a revamped ACC with say 8 of the current teams along with the top 6 G5 schools on the east coast would be lesser or equal than the current Sun Belt?

I don’t think that it really matters. If you aren’t one of the teams in the tier 1 schools, you are just tier 2. But to answer,your question, I don’t think that it would be better.

For me to say firmly either way I would need to see the complete list of teams in the league. I would be happy staying in the Sun Belt but I think we could be in a better league if we formed one of the best AAC, Sun Belt, and those left behind in the current ACC. I would be interested to see exactly how it would look before going all in though.

If the current Sun Belt East Teams left to form a new conference with the addition of UNC-C and ECU. That would be a real power house of a conference that would save a ton of money on travel.

[AppWyo]

Isn’t that really the same thing? The ACC without the Tobacco Road teams isn’t the ACC. The PAC whatever isn’t the same without the LA schools or Oregon or Washington. They can backfill however they wish but the name is just the name. The media valuation isn’t the same. Sure, there could be some sort of more regional alignments but whoever is left out of the tier 1 group are just going to be tier 2 teams and will be left to get what they get.

I would say similar but the ACC would be still be a very well known name that just does not carry the same power that it once had.

Do you think a revamped ACC with say 8 of the current teams along with the top 6 G5 schools on the east coast would be lesser or equal than the current Sun Belt?

I don’t think that it really matters. If you aren’t one of the teams in the tier 1 schools, you are just tier 2. But to answer,your question, I don’t think that it would be better.

For me to say firmly either way I would need to see the complete list of teams in the league. I would be happy staying in the Sun Belt but I think we could be in a better league if we formed one of the best AAC, Sun Belt, and those left behind in the current ACC. I would be interested to see exactly how it would look before going all in though.

If the current Sun Belt East Teams left to form a new conference with the addition of UNC-C and ECU. That would be a real power house of a conference that would save a ton of money on travel.

Heck if the Sun Belt East added ECU and UNC-C and the Sun Belt West added two more schools as well in their foot print then that would be a total of 18 teams, that would be a conference that would be tough to tangle with over time.

[AppStFan1]

Isn’t that really the same thing? The ACC without the Tobacco Road teams isn’t the ACC. The PAC whatever isn’t the same without the LA schools or Oregon or Washington. They can backfill however they wish but the name is just the name. The media valuation isn’t the same. Sure, there could be some sort of more regional alignments but whoever is left out of the tier 1 group are just going to be tier 2 teams and will be left to get what they get.

I would say similar but the ACC would be still be a very well known name that just does not carry the same power that it once had.

Do you think a revamped ACC with say 8 of the current teams along with the top 6 G5 schools on the east coast would be lesser or equal than the current Sun Belt?

I don’t think that it really matters. If you aren’t one of the teams in the tier 1 schools, you are just tier 2. But to answer,your question, I don’t think that it would be better.

For me to say firmly either way I would need to see the complete list of teams in the league. I would be happy staying in the Sun Belt but I think we could be in a better league if we formed one of the best AAC, Sun Belt, and those left behind in the current ACC. I would be interested to see exactly how it would look before going all in though.

If the current Sun Belt East Teams left to form a new conference with the addition of UNC-C and ECU. That would be a real power house of a conference that would save a ton of money on travel.

That is kind of what I want but to also add in Memphis, South Florida, and be able to snag 2-4 of the current ACC programs in the area. I think it would be a heck of a conference and save money on travel like you said.