First, I would swap place with Coastal if LU could be FBS. They are becoming FBS and LU is still FCS. An observation on CCU as they depart the BCS.

As Coastal begins it's transition year, they enter the SBC with other than a bang and more of a bust. Yes, CCU did get an at-large bid to post season but it limped in with conference loses to Charleston Southern and LU and got the ball rammed down their throat in a first round playoff loss.

CCU's first round was a home game against in-state rival Citadel. The suspect defense of Coastal was exploited as the Bulldogs ran for 524 of its 556 total yards. The posts of many here and on the JMU board were proven true of Coastal being overrated and playing a weak schedule.

BBS posts and interest are no indication of the success or interest of a team. It is one facet that can be scrutinized. There was a game day thread posted by chiefsfan on the SBC board just before the game. Interest is now up to 31 replies and 1158 views. If it had been JMU or LU, interest would have been double or triple that. Granted there are other bbs board and csnbbs is not inclusive. It's just a observation of the online interest of the program here. There was a lot of conference support from SBC members and less interest from CCU fans.

Coastal biggest challenge is being supported and becoming relevant in the SBC and not falling into the lower tier with wins/loses and attendance and support. CCU is unlike App St or GaSo who brought strong fan support on both home and away games. 20K+ for home games is the norm for App and GaSo as Coastal tries to break the 10k home attendance.

Coastal's will try to emulate App St and GaSo with their on-field and attendance success. That is a tall order to fill. CCU has an uphill battle to have FB facilities and attendance that presently will place it last in the SBC.

App St and GaSo were strong, competitive programs with strong fan support that entered a entry level FBS conference and were immediately competitive. Can Coastal repeat their success? It's going to be a much more difficult time for Coastal and likely take much longer. And I would still trade places with Coastal as they are becoming FBS and LU is still FCS.

The Big South and Sun Belt are very equal in most sports. Coastal Carolina will not be a fish out of water for long if at all except for football. They paid the price for their cupcake schedule and fooled the playoff committee but it backfired. At least they had a good enough reputation that they could beat nobody and lose to the only good teams and still make the playoffs. I remember 2007 I think where Liberty went 10-2 and was ranked 15th I think and was left out of a 16 team playoff before it expanded.

Coastal was/is a paper tiger. Their schedule is so soft year after year. They run into a decent team and they lose. They'll be cellar dwellers in the Sunbelt.

Looking beyond the play on the field, as that can be overcome, their biggest struggle is going to be getting support. They do not have FBS numbers of fans, of course GSU doesn't either.

Take a quick look at what happens the first few years. The short term numbers do not show improvement for those who have made the move (see Appy). The number one reason GA South did ok (remember I am only speaking of butts in seats) they had the advantage of hosting Appy their first season which drove their season average attendance up.

Nevertheless, a school needs to build up that support to at least that NCAA number of averaging 15K prior to the leap, otherwise, would be supporters will write the team off as they maneuver through the lean years.

(11-30-2015 04:05 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  Looking beyond the play on the field, as that can be overcome, their biggest struggle is going to be getting support. They do not have FBS numbers of fans, of course GSU doesn't either.

Take a quick look at what happens the first few years. The short term numbers do not show improvement for those who have made the move (see Appy). The number one reason GA South did ok (remember I am only speaking of butts in seats) they had the advantage of hosting Appy their first season which drove their season average attendance up.

Nevertheless, a school needs to build up that support to at least that NCAA number of averaging 15K prior to the leap, otherwise, would be supporters will write the team off as they maneuver through the lean years.

Coastal is ready for FBS for several of it's programs on the field. Their support and attendance figures will have them last in the SBC. Granted they will get a bump in the SBC, but to a program that really has to stretch to get 10k at a game, that will be a 50% increase to achieve the 15k stated NCAA minimum.

Support and attendance are the weak links for CCU. Now if they stumble in the SBC, which is likely due to their consistent weak schedules, their stretching to achieve 10k for FB games could be much less. And they are soon to be FBS so that opportunity exists unlike LU and JMU at the present.

I've seen Coastal fans use the excuse of relying on an FBS schedule to fill their stadium up to the 15,000+ instead of a Big South schedule (which we do already by the way so by their logic we should be that much better once FBS). It sounds like a poor excuse to me.

If you can't get people to show up to your games as a ranked FCS program, there isn't much of a difference compared to a G5 program except you'll be relying on the visitor's fans to fill your stadium. Most of the local hometown fans coming to the games don't know much, if at all, about an opponent if it isn't a big name program so if Coastal is having a bad year then the locals won't show up. If I remember correctly, USC sold out their stadium for years despite being win-less so maybe there is something in the water down there that will have fans showing up when Coastal is having a down year but thus far, attendance has been less than ideal.

I'm not trying to pick on Coastal. They are a relatively young school and not particularly big so their alumni base isn't great yet to really make a huge impact. I believe they will be fine in the long run and they should do well competitively on the fields and courts in the Sun Belt. They just have some hurdles to jump as they transition into FBS like any school would have.