(01-28-2018 04:02 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(01-27-2018 10:40 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(01-27-2018 07:09 PM)MKPitt Wrote:  

(01-27-2018 05:59 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(01-27-2018 05:47 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  There are people on the ODU board that would jump out of their skin to throw themselves at a deal like that, and it's understandable. But ODU approached the A-10 when it appeared that the CAA was about to destabilize a few years ago and were told thanks but not thanks. I swear on a stack of AP Style books that this story was published, but the original piece about VCU and George Mason being A-10 targets noted that ODU wasn't a consideration out of fear that they'd elevate their football to FBS and become a flight risk (oddly enough, if the story about the A-10 turning ODU down is true, they ended up being part of the impetus for a move up themselves).

But even if the A-10 did an about-face, an FBS indy schedule isn't easy to build by any stretch, even taking into account the presence of Eastern indy programs. The CUSA, warts and all, is still more stable than football independence as of now and I think that ultimately informs ODU's decision making.

Should not ODU want the American now? The A-10 is not exactly an upcame move even if VCU and George Mason have done it?

The A-10 is leaps and bounds ahead of C-USA in basketball. ODU may choose to stay in C-USA if they ever were invited to the A-10 but that’s solely because of football. For other sports, it would be a no-brainer move for them.

My point seems to have been missed. ODU should vastly prefer the AAC over the A-10, as it gives better competition for its both its major sports. The A-10 should be totally off ODU's radar.

For sure but that's not an option as it stands today. If the AAC loses an odd number of schools then it's possible but not certain, because there's plenty of competition for whatever spots might be available.

I don't think the A-10 is much of an option either because basketball conferences aren't as hung up on even numbers, they've shown no interest in adding a school with FBS football and they're more likely to go back to their roots (Northeast private) for a future member. But a conference that has rivals VCU, Richmond and George Mason along wth regional foes in GW and Davidson would at least rate a tire-kicking if the circumstances allowed and they could make the football work.

There is zero interest at GW in FBS. Any school with plans for FBS has pretty much removed themselves from consideration from the league. The A10 was lucky to dump their FCS league onto the CAA and wants no part of the additional chaos that FBS requires. Besides, while many of our schools (La Salle is an exception), are wealthy schools, most of our schools are private schools with relatively small undergraduate enrollments for FBS.


Here are our undergrad numbers

Davidson - 1950
Dayton - 8095
Duquesne - 5000
Fordham - 9200
George Mason - 24,000
GW - 11,200
LaSalle - 3100
UMass - 23,000
URI - 15,000
Richmond - 3052
SBU - 1700
SJU - 4800
SLU - 9000
VCU - 24,000

There are exactly four schools that have more than 15k undergraduates. All of them are public schools.

URI (FCS) - loses 20 million a year on athletics
UMass (FBS) - loses 34 million a year on athletics (2nd worst loss in all of FBS)
VCU (no football) - loses 20 million a year on athletics
GMU (no football) - loses 22 million a year on athletics

Duquesne plays a few miles from P5 Pitt, GW plays 10 miles from P5 Maryland, GMU is also in the P5 Maryland market, LaSalle and SJU have Temple and Rutgers nearby (and more importantly Penn State to compete with). Davidson is in the same market as a poorly performing G5.

And private schools...traditionally suck at getting casual fans (yes there are a few exceptions). Most people in our communities didn't go there, can't afford to send their kids there either.

My guess is that the private schools have similar losses to the public schools listed above. Our schools aren't big enough, are already expensive, dont have a lot of students that expect football to be an integral part of college, aren't in areas where football ls really that important, and ..... many of our schools already have decent brand names. In GW's case, we wouldn't pass Georgetown no matter how much money we spent. We're maxing out in athletics in the A-10 as it is as far as return goes.