(02-26-2018 04:32 PM)orangefan Wrote:  

(02-26-2018 09:05 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  

(02-25-2018 03:28 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(02-25-2018 02:38 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(02-25-2018 01:02 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  I don't like ESPN either but pointing out facts is hardly a conspiracy to "kill" anything.

There's a serious level of butthurt here over really benign terms.

It's always a conspiracy theory!

That's easier to handle than facing reality--which is harsh.

That is the world we live in now......

Verucca Salk had it - I want it now, I want it all, and I want it handed to me, I don't want to work for it.


It is much easier to tell everyone it was stolen from you rather putting in the work and earning it.

It is not ESPN that is keeping them down, it is their inability to earn an invitation to a P5 conference. In this regard the deck is stacked against them. A quick review of the profile of schools that are in P5 conferences demonstrates why.

First, aside from Texas, there is no state with more than two public universities that are members of P5 conferences. These are primarily the state flagship university and, if it is a different school, the Land Grant university for the state. This is not a coincidence. Such schools have large statewide alumni bases and community contacts. In addition, these schools have generated many of the business leaders within their states, creating a strong pool of potential donors and season ticket holders. In states where the Land Grant and Flagship are the same (California, Florida, and Pennsylvania for example) the second highest ranked public research university can grab the second slot (UCLA, Florida State, Pittsburgh, for example). Only in hugely populated, football crazy Texas is there a third P5 public university - Texas Tech.

The private universities are all academically excellent - all are at a minimum top 100 in the USNWR rankings. Many fill a niche that is not fully covered by the public universities in their states - Syracuse and BC are in states without a public P5 school, Vandy and Northwestern are in large cities in states with only one public P5 school. Notre Dame is a national Catholic university.

Finally, all P5 universities have been playing at a high national level for a very long time. Syracuse committed to competing in athletics at the highest level when it decided to build Archbold Stadium in 1905 and has never wavered in its commitment.

ECU is not a flagship and is not land grant university. It is located in a state that has separate flagship and land grant schools. In addition, there are two other P5 schools in the state, which further dilutes the potential fanbase and recruiting pool. It has been competing at the Division 1 level only since 1966, which may seem like a long time, but it is less than half of almost every school in P5 conferences. Finally, its academics are not exceptional, currently being ranked outside the top 200 by USNWR. Earning a P5 invite with a Texas Tech type "exception" therefore seems very unlikely.

Like many schools, there is actually very little that ECU can do to change the status quo. It should continue to focus on improving is academics and research - try to reach the top 100 in USNWR and achieve Doctoral Universities: Highest Research Activity classification from Carnegie. Winning is also important. TCU pretty much knocked the P5 door down by earning multiple BCS bids. However, they also had strong academics (USNWR #76), a long history of playing at the highest level (1938 AP National Champions), and a large local market.

Having said this, the American Conference offers a great opportunity to compete. It gives ECU access to the Texas and Florida recruiting markets. ECU appears to have a strong fanbase capable of supporting a successful ECU program. The American is the strongest non-P5 conference, and its champion should be able to earn an NY6 bid every other year on average. That bid could be ECU's on a consistent basis if it uses its already existing resources effectively.

As a football fan who cheers for all the North Carolina schools, including East Carolina, I wish that were realistic. The reality is that, while the Pirates often punch above their weight class when matched against OOC opponents like UNC, NC State and Virginia Tech, overall their record isn't very strong. Since the FBS split, when ECU upgraded the quality of its schedules significantly, they have won fewer than half of their games. That has been true also over the most recent 20 years.

ECU may occasionally win the AAC championship, but I wouldn't expect them to do so with any consistency unless something in their environment changes significantly.