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Post by Sly Fox on Oct 27, 2005 22:05:41 GMT -5
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Post by PAmedic on Oct 27, 2005 23:53:23 GMT -5
wow. A lot to digest. Hadn't heard the Delaware St rumor before.
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Post by Sly Fox on Oct 28, 2005 0:26:01 GMT -5
Delaware State has been talking about leaving the mEAC for a LONG time. I'm sure they have had at least minor discussions with the Big South.
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Post by Stevev on Oct 28, 2005 8:24:27 GMT -5
I hope not! I know DE State well since they get a lot of press where I live. Believe me, DE State would not offer any credibility at all to the Big South. They are second rate all the way down to their poor athletic facilities and poor scheduling not to mention poor performance on the football field. They have also been in trouble with grade fixing so it is possible they could be looking at some kind of probation. 2 teams in my area get local press where I live. U of Delaware and Delaware State and believe me there is no comparison whatsoever between the 2. Believe me when I say this because I know where the 2 stand right now.
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Post by youcantsaythat on Oct 28, 2005 16:18:00 GMT -5
Delaware St. is not the right fit for the Big South. I think geographically it's too far north. One of the other schools from the MEAC would be better. Also, It will be interesting to see what happens if Coastal wins out but somehow is left out of the playoffs. I think you will start to hear a lot more rumblings from them wanting to leave the conference or a lot more pressure put on Commissioner Kyle Kallander to get football playing schools in the conference. Does anyone know what D II Presbyterian is doing? I heard they were making a move to 1-AA but that was a long time ago. By the looks of their new press box, it appears they are making plans.
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Post by Sly Fox on Oct 28, 2005 22:18:43 GMT -5
PC allegedly is preparing to make the jump. But they would prefer it be to the SoCon. More likely is the notion that they'll be joining us in the Big South. But since they'll be new Division I members, they'll have several years of probation before they'll be able to help us become auto-bid eligible.
Delaware State is a strange situation. They don't seem to fit much of anywhere. They've been trying like crazy to find a way out of the MEAC and yet they don't seem a natural fit anywhere else. Considering many of the other non-football schools we already have in the league, I wouldn't consider them a terrible addition. But they certainly aren't ideal either. Hampton would come much closer to that description for us.
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Post by Chris Lang on Oct 28, 2005 22:28:40 GMT -5
I'm going on record now: No matter what Coastal does, it won't make the playoffs. There are too many good teams in other conferences that get auto bids. The Chants are going to get squeezed out by someone from the Gateway, SoCon or Big Sky.
Mark it down.
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Post by ATrain on Oct 28, 2005 23:54:25 GMT -5
You left out the A10, Chris.
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Post by bigsmooth on Oct 29, 2005 14:54:47 GMT -5
i would have no problem with del. st. joining. they are an established I-AA program, though not very good. and if we could land PC, you have a seven team league. if anyone thinks we are going to get in one of the super conferences, it not going to happen. plus with NCCU and WSSU on the verge of announcing joing the MEAC by december 1, im sure the MEAC would not care if del. st. leaves.
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Post by PAmedic on Oct 31, 2005 11:55:58 GMT -5
I'm going on record now: No matter what Coastal does, it won't make the playoffs. There are too many good teams in other conferences that get auto bids. The Chants are going to get squeezed out by someone from the Gateway, SoCon or Big Sky. Mark it down. CHRIS wearing the target on his back; COASTAL89, ROK, and SJ are sighting in the scopes now. |
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Post by Chris Lang on Oct 31, 2005 12:55:29 GMT -5
And I'll be glad to take the heat if I'm wrong.
After this weekend, though, I think the A-10 may actually help the Chanticleers.
New Hampshire may be the only team that gets in. JMU is done. William & Mary and Richmond both need to win out, and they play each other, so one will be out. I think Richmond will beat W&M and lose to Towson on the road. So they're both out.
UMass has to still play Delaware, Army and Hofstra on the road, and the Minutemen probably need two wins in those three to get in.
After last weekend's A-10 games, I'm amending my prediction and saying that I think Coastal gets in, because Cal Poly is in a lot of trouble and at most, it looks like two A-10 teams will go.
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Post by youcantsaythat on Oct 31, 2005 13:31:49 GMT -5
Chris, the Coastal Carolina beat writer has an article on Sun News website about his prediction that Coastal will be in the SOCON within 2 years. I know it's just his opinion, but are you hearing anything about Coastal actually leaving the Big South? Apparently they have made a proposal but that was a while ago. Do you know if the the SOCON is actually looking to expand?
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Post by LUconn on Oct 31, 2005 13:41:41 GMT -5
The trick there is that would be for all sports. It'd be risky for them to bail on us, I think, in favor of SoCon. It worked out so well For Elon.
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Post by realist on Oct 31, 2005 13:55:10 GMT -5
I read that Sun article. Based on a sports perspective, he's probably right. The thing he doesn't account for is CCU's academic reputation, which is horrible. Schools like Davidson, Furman, Elon, all very good private academic institutions will have nothing to do with CCU.
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Post by ccufan on Oct 31, 2005 14:56:35 GMT -5
The thing he doesn't account for is CCU's academic reputation, which is horrible.
That's garbage and you know it. CCU is every bit as good of a school as GSU, UTC, WCU, The Citadel, or the school we'd be replacing ETSU. We are also improving every year as our school grows and more and more applications are coming in.
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Post by Sly Fox on Oct 31, 2005 15:21:24 GMT -5
ccufan - For the record, Realist is a Winthrop fan.
As for the academic reputation, it has played a factor. No matter how much improvement the school has made across the board in the past decade, some of the powers that be at some of the SoCon schools still hold CCU in very low regard. Perception often trumps reality in these cases. We get painted with the same brush as well.
The bid by CCU to join the SoCon is not a news flash by any stretch of the imagination. Its been well-documented. But to this point, the SoCon hasn't been in any rush to fill the vacancy left by the departure of East Tennessee State. Many in the Southern think that CCU should be invited along with non-football school UNC-Wilmington. But at this point, rumor has it that certain schools in the State of South Carolina are lobbying against bringing CCU into their little clique.
I think that the process has dragged on so long that some of the CCU administrators may be reconsidering their desires to join the SoCon. It would certainly be in Lu's best interests to keep Coastal as a partner. That's why it is so important for us to find some new football members in the Big South.
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Post by bigsmooth on Oct 31, 2005 15:25:17 GMT -5
could not agree with you more sly! in the past LU's academic reputation was a hinderance in our SoCon journey, as was the flirtation with the A-10. bottom line we need more members in the big south. get off your rump kallander and do something!!!!
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Post by youcantsaythat on Oct 31, 2005 18:24:05 GMT -5
Sly you make some good points but I think Coastal would jump at the opportunity to get into the Southern even though the process has dragged on. At one point I was all for LU getting out of the the B-S but I'm now leaning more toward staying. Football has yet to prove it can win in the conference, the jury is still out on men's basketball and the other sports outside of track and womens b-ball have not been dominate. I hope B-S basketball grows in stature and more football playing schools are added but it seems like there is just no interest in any programs coming into the B-S.
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Post by Chris Lang on Oct 31, 2005 18:45:15 GMT -5
I haven't heard anything new on the Coastal to the SoCon rumors. I know Coastal wants in. Adding UNCW would be smart, too. I've heard talk that Wilmington wants out of the CAA now that it's grown to like 10,000 teams. (Northeastern vs. Georgia State is a league game?)
If Coastal gets snubbed by the playoff committee this season, there's going to be a lot of pressure to find any way possible into a league with an auto bid. At best, even if Presbyterian joins, you're looking at 2011 before a six-team Big South would even be eligible to lobby for an auto bid.
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Post by rokamortis on Oct 31, 2005 19:05:29 GMT -5
I'm going on record now: No matter what Coastal does, it won't make the playoffs. There are too many good teams in other conferences that get auto bids. The Chants are going to get squeezed out by someone from the Gateway, SoCon or Big Sky. Mark it down. CHRIS wearing the target on his back; COASTAL89, ROK, and SJ are sighting in the scopes now. Eh - I could care less what Chris thinks. He has his opinion and I have mine - so we'll see how it all works out. For the record - I haven't amended my prediction  |
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Post by realist on Oct 31, 2005 23:31:58 GMT -5
It's not garbage, I know for fact that is how Furman views Coastal, and while I do not have a first hand account from the other schools mentioned, they are all part of that private institution clique and will band together. CCU has made some strides recently in academics but they still have a long way to go.
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Post by rokamortis on Nov 1, 2005 6:48:56 GMT -5
It's not garbage, I know for fact that is how Furman views Coastal, and while I do not have a first hand account from the other schools mentioned, they are all part of that private institution clique and will band together. CCU has made some strides recently in academics but they still have a long way to go. Compared to other public schools in SC and the SoCon we compare pretty evenly. We don't with The Citadel but they are more or less a private school anyway. We can't compete with the private schools - just no way it will happen. We have different missions - if they start to b!tch and moan about academics then it hints to the private vs public battle in the SoCon. Wofford and Furman don't want to compete with us for in-state recruits and be in the same conference, simple as that. |
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Post by ATrain on Nov 1, 2005 7:30:53 GMT -5
Maybe CCU and LU should join forces, that way the SoCon gets both a public and a private school...but then again, with our football team looking the way it has this year, there is no way we deserve to move outta the Big South. Lets hope our men's basketball team can make a better impression this year.
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Post by realist on Nov 1, 2005 8:37:15 GMT -5
Rok, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. It may be more of an excuse than real reason, and I don't know the numbers today but you're probably right when talking about public. But perception has a lot to do with it, and it wasn't too long ago that CCU I think had the highest drop out rate in the country. You have to overcome that perception.
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Post by bigsmooth on Nov 1, 2005 18:46:39 GMT -5
the SoCon has some inflated egos. when i worked at VMI, schools like ga. southern and furman thought very highly of themselves, and back then they were the dominant conference in football, but not now. i was once all for the SoCon, but now im firmly for staying in the big south. i think we just need to get a more aggressive commissioner. do ya think john swofford would have some new members by now???
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Post by WinthropEagleFan on Nov 1, 2005 20:44:31 GMT -5
I haven't necessarily agreed with everything the commish has done, but I'm pretty sure getting at least one more football team is the top priority for him...there just aren't alot of viable options right now...
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Post by rokamortis on Nov 1, 2005 22:04:38 GMT -5
Rok, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. It may be more of an excuse than real reason, and I don't know the numbers today but you're probably right when talking about public. But perception has a lot to do with it, and it wasn't too long ago that CCU I think had the highest drop out rate in the country. You have to overcome that perception. I understand - we are fighting some true and some embellished history. Our academic statistics are improving rapidly. We are growing and adding more programs so the best is yet to come  But in all fairness - we do have a high percentage of people leaving CCU. I don't know how many fail out or simply transfer - but I think it is the price to pay when you have 50% incoming freshman classes - but we are increasing our in-state numbers as well. |
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