[i]Originally posted by Mike_Persinger[/i]@Jul 6 2005, 09:46 AM [b] Davidson plays Southern Conference in all sports except football, where they play in the Pioneer League. Seems to me a key for Charlotte starting football would be to get a football-only spot in the Southern Conference. That would guarantee regional rivalries and opposing fans in the stands, and increase the likelihood that the guy sitting in the cubicle next to you has at least SOME interest, and possibly a rivalry interest, in the Niners. Appalachian has a high number of grads in Charlotte, higher than I would have thought. That means Division I-AA, which is a high level of commitment with something like 60 full scholarships. That's expensive. But that's the only kind of investment that makes sense to me. Home games against App, Western Carolina, even L-R (they'd love to beat up on some city boys) would sell a reasonable number of tickets. I don't know if it's feasible to have football at Charlotte, but that seems to me like a spot in the Southern Conference for football would be a good place to start. [/b]Good points Mike. Seems like the ideal fit for the first phase of the program. I hear you guys may be working on something in this area?
[i]Originally posted by ApexNiner[/i]@Jul 6 2005, 10:49 AM [b] Second choice would be the A10 ... [/b]I think football in the A-10 would be a recipe for disaster.
[i]Originally posted by Mike_Persinger+Jul 6 2005, 11:00 AM-->
[b]QUOTE[/b] (Mike_Persinger @ Jul 6 2005, 11:00 AM) <!--QuoteBegin-ApexNiner[/i]@Jul 6 2005, 10:49 AM [b] Second choice would be the A10 ... [/b] I think football in the A-10 would be a recipe for disaster. [/b][/quote] A10 football will soon be gone (moving to CAA as Apex said) so there's no pressure to play in-conference. Southern or Colonial are the only real options and fairly good ones.
[i]Originally posted by Mike_Persinger[/i]@Jul 6 2005, 11:00 AM [b] I think football in the A-10 would be a recipe for disaster. [/b]Agree totally.
I would love So. Con football for Charlotte to start out. Grew up going to WCU and App. St games and it would be a great fit. Easy to travel to away games since practically every school is within 2 to 4 hours. Plus, as Mike said, the regional interest would be greater.
Short of a huge donor and recurring funds through an endowment or something, I canāt see Charlotte football surviving in the CAA, the A-10 or anything other than the Southern Conference. In the short term, youād get fans of the other schools to help sustain/build your program. In the long term, short of DI, can you imagine a better IAA situation to be in other than one of the strongest IAA conferences in the country? If I were AD, thatās the first call Iād make, to the Southern Conference commissioner. If that left me with hope, Iād start calling donors. If it didnāt, I might not go any further at this point. There might be another business model, but Iām not sure what it would be.
A10/CAA has some Div1AA powers. The league actually finished 9th out of all div1 leagues last season with the Dvi1AA national champ James Madison. I do agree that the Southern is a better fit but the A10/CAA is not a lost cause and thereās several VA teams in it.
DIVISION I SAGARIN CONFERENCE RANKINGS (Final)
- Atlantic Coast (77.91)
- PAC-10 (77.84)
- I-A Independents (76.98)
- Big XII (76.42)
- Big Ten (75.63)
- Southeastern (74.13)
- Mountain West (72.08)
- Big East (71.98)
- Western Athletic (67.40)
- ATLANTIC 10 (65.74)
- Conference USA (65.66)
- Sun Belt (60.24)
- Great West (56.73)
- Big Sky (55.90)
- Mid-American (55.69)
- Southland (55.53)
- Ivy (54.93)
- Southern (52.40)
A10/CAA teamsā¦ ODU and GaState are looking into membership now and both are members of the CAA in all other sports.
Richmond
William&Mary
Delaware
Towson
JamesMadison
Villanova
NewHampshire
UMass
Northeastern
Hofstra
Maine
RhodeIsland
[i]Originally posted by ApexNiner[/i]@Jul 6 2005, 11:17 AM [b]Richmond
William&Mary
Delaware
Towson
JamesMadison
Villanova
NewHampshire
UMass
Northeastern
Hofstra
Maine
RhodeIsland [/b]
Iām not arguing that the CAA/A10 isnāt a good conference, just that, for Charlotteās business model, thereās no comparison between that list and one that includes Appalachian State, Western Carolina, The Citadel, Wofford, Chattanooga, Georgia Southern ā¦
Richmond and W&M both have very good programs a six-hour drive away. JMU a little further. ALL are a longer drive than any of the schools I listed, with possible exception of Georgia Southern. Thatād depend on how fast you drive.
[i]Originally posted by Mike_Persinger+Jul 6 2005, 12:24 PM-->
[b]QUOTE[/b] (Mike_Persinger @ Jul 6 2005, 12:24 PM) <!--QuoteBegin-ApexNiner[/i]@Jul 6 2005, 11:17 AM [b] Richmond
William&Mary
Delaware
Towson
JamesMadison
Villanova
NewHampshire
UMass
Northeastern
Hofstra
Maine
RhodeIsland [/b]
Iām not arguing that the CAA/A10 isnāt a good conference, just that, for Charlotteās business model, thereās no comparison between that list and one that includes Appalachian State, Western Carolina, The Citadel, Wofford, Chattanooga, Georgia Southern ā¦Richmond and W&M both have very good programs a six-hour drive away. JMU a little further. ALL are a longer drive than any of the schools I listed, with possible exception of Georgia Southern. Thatād depend on how fast you drive. [/b][/quote]
MikeP, Iāve felt all along it had to be Div1AA. Thatās why I listed the schools that I did. And yes, the Southern Conference makes a lot of sense. Anybody who is thinking Div1 from the start is not being realistic. UAB is probably the most comparable for us. Iām still not quite sure how theyāve done it and pay their basketball coach more than we do. But outside of UAB, the examples of going to Div1 are very few.The Wofford graduate question was sort of rhetorical, but nice job with Richardson. And he probably does have more money than all of our donors put together.
[i]Originally posted by Normmm[/i]@Jul 6 2005, 01:35 PM [b] UAB is probably the most comparable for us. I'm still not quite sure how they've done it and pay their basketball coach more than we do. But outside of UAB, the examples of going to Div1 are very few. [/b]Not sure we want to go the UAB model...From earlier post:
Build it and they will come?? Sure, we can be the next UAB who fired up a program in a rent free stadium in the middle of the biggest college football market in America, and hemorage cash (reportedly over $6.0 million a year). And then have the board of trustees threaten to shut down the WHOLE athletic dept, and not have a sports program at all. After over 10 years of football, they still have less than 3000 season ticket holders and spent (public record) over $250,000 on glitzy TV ads, billboards and radio spotsā¦all because a hand full of alumni, students and interested parties decided they HAD to have football. And they have been successful on the field (bowl game last year), beat LSU a couple years agoā¦
Also, as you well know, Alabama is all about college football. NC is a college bball state. I think itās clear thatās another reason why UAB pursued football and we did not. I like the idea of drawing off the fan bases of App, WCU, Furman, etc. as a way to survive in the early years.
And if Iām not mistaken, UAB is using University money (endowment/foundation) to pay Mike Andersonās salary.
[i]Originally posted by Mike_Persinger[/i]@Jul 6 2005, 11:12 AM [b] ..................I can't see Charlotte football surviving in the CAA, the A-10 or anything other than the Southern Conference. In the short term, you'd get fans of the other schools to help sustain/build your program. In the long term, short of DI, can you imagine a better IAA situation to be in other than one of the strongest IAA conferences in the country? If I were AD, that's the first call I'd make, to the Southern Conference commissioner. If that left me with hope, I'd start calling donors. If it didn't, I might not go any further at this point. There might be another business model, but I'm not sure what it would be. [/b]
Mike, I completely agree with you on this one.
[i]Originally posted by Chisox17[/i]@Jul 4 2005, 02:18 AM [b] Hello and welcome to the last several years [/b]Welcome to life as 'Forty-Niner' ..... until I become ruler of the world and the 49ers become the official team of 49ersMan's realm.
Seriously though - we just all need to do our partā¦SUPPORT SUPPORT SUPPORT in every way we canā¦TALK TALK TALK about what needs to be doneā¦and DO DO DO what alumni and fans should do: GO TO EVENTS.
Guys letās go back to sqaure one! Should have taken care of business in 1st round of NCAA tourney last season period!! Looks like that NCSU āLā didnāt shut some of you up for a while!
[i]Originally posted by LeftyNiner+Jul 6 2005, 02:52 PM-->
[b]QUOTE[/b] (LeftyNiner @ Jul 6 2005, 02:52 PM) <!--QuoteBegin-Normmm[/i]@Jul 6 2005, 01:35 PM [b] UAB is probably the most comparable for us. I'm still not quite sure how they've done it and pay their basketball coach more than we do. But outside of UAB, the examples of going to Div1 are very few. [/b] Not sure we want to go the UAB model...From earlier post: Build it and they will come?? Sure, we can be the next UAB who fired up a program in a rent free stadium in the middle of the biggest college football market in America, and hemorage cash (reportedly over $6.0 million a year). And then have the board of trustees threaten to shut down the WHOLE athletic dept, and not have a sports program at all. After over 10 years of football, they still have less than 3000 season ticket holders and spent (public record) over $250,000 on glitzy TV ads, billboards and radio spotsā¦all because a hand full of alumni, students and interested parties decided they HAD to have football. And they have been successful on the field (bowl game last year), beat LSU a couple years agoā¦
Also, as you well know, Alabama is all about college football. NC is a college bball state. I think itās clear thatās another reason why UAB pursued football and we did not. I like the idea of drawing off the fan bases of App, WCU, Furman, etc. as a way to survive in the early years.
And if Iām not mistaken, UAB is using University money (endowment/foundation) to pay Mike Andersonās salary. [/b][/quote]
I agree, UAB may not exactly be the model we want to follow. I was just saying they were probably in the most similar situation as we are in (size of school, # of alumni, conference, etc). The main excuse we hear for not starting football is cost. I was trying to show that UAB was able to afford it, being in a similar situation. And, not only did they afford it, they play in the highest division and pay their basketball coach more than we pay ourās.