One thing that realignment has shown us is that the landscape can shift quickly. Consequently, every school sitting just on the outside, looking in, has to position themselves for potential opportunities. Ostensibly, at this point, ECU's best shot for a relatively quick P5 status upgrade would be the Big 12. Even though the Big 12 doesn't seem ready to make a move right now, everything may be different in 5 years.

Most speculation would suggest that ECU is approximately the 4th or 5th team on the Big 12's radar for consideration. However, it is very possible that if Big 12 expansion does come to fruition, likely only 2-4 teams would be added. Accordingly, ECU probably needs to boost its resume a little more. Perceptions have a way of changing and with good leadership and perhaps a little bit of luck, ECU is looking to leapfrog the other candidates.

We all know what the inherent obstacles are: ECU's directional school/rural stigma and US News ranking is currently at #181 (lowest Big 12 schools are Texas Tech at #161 and WVU at #170).

However, ECU does have some things already going in its favor:

(1) Good recruiting area (new footprint)

(2) Good TV ratings (despite conventional wisdom & flawed Big East logic) some may be surprised that ECU's ratings against BCS opponents in Raleigh/Charlotte are on par with NCSU and UNC.

(3) Continuity and momentum (Coach Ruff has the ship headed in the right direction)

(4) Averaging 48 K per game over the last 4 seasons (already the best attendance throughout the G5 (except BYU) & those numbers could rise now that ECU has just moved into the American)

(5) Only NC school with a football 1st mentality/culture and a pretty decent football pedigree

(6) good travel partner for WVU with a long history of home-and-homes (drivable trip that WVU fans like to make in the fall)

(7) Big state school (almost 30k students (same size as UNC/NCSU), with many living alumni)

So what are the most important things that ECU can do in the immediate future to make themselves a more &/or the most attractive candidate for Big 12 expansion? Winning is an obvious answer but we all know it's not just that simple.

1. Wins. Maybe crack the CFP in the next 5 years.
2. See #1

My bigger question considering the shifting landscape as it relates to your school...
Can ECU pay to play with the big boys across the board?

I think we're going to see the "bill" for playing at the elite level go through the roof in the next few weeks when the restructuring is announced/begun. It's not just about football...it's going to be about paying ALL of your athletes the same amount...food, stipends, medical, continuing ed., etc.

I really don't know ECU's situation well...and I'm sure you guys are comparable in many ways with Duke and Wake (and maybe even some ways with NCSU and UNC)...but as their TV deal keeps pouring in extra millions each year that you WON'T be getting.

I think even when the super division of 65 is announced...the cream of that crop of 65 will rise to the top too...as schools like Wake and Iowa State and Purdue need to pour every spare dollar into "paying up" into the system...whereas your Texas, UCLA, Florida schools have extra to pay coaches, improve facilities, etc.

5 buy crack

10 buy brass choreboys

20 buy small butane torch

30 break hollow car antennas off of cars

40 smoke crack

50 tell yourself you are in Big 12

60 realize you are not in Big 12

70 go to 5

80 end

1. Move your school and fanbase to Missouri. If you had a school with similar results located in Missouri, the big 12 would consider taking you. Of course the same could be said for a dozen other schools in the AAC or MWC.

2. Or Get Texas, TT, Ok, Ok St. To leave the big 12. At that point the big 12 would then take Cincy, Uconn, UCF, USF, Memphis and then maybe, maybe ECU

(07-19-2014 05:47 AM)TodgeRodge Wrote:  5 buy crack

10 buy brass choreboys

20 buy small butane torch

30 break hollow car antennas off of cars

40 smoke crack

50 tell yourself you are in Big 12

60 realize you are not in Big 12

70 go to 5

80 end

Not Necessary. he brought out some fine points about ECU. Most of which is the new territory for recruiting and tv

ECU has the rabid fan base & now must use its AAC oppertunity to set themselves apart from the rest of the conference. Dont just win, win the big games. Win conference championships, P5 games & bowl games. Make ECU the football power in NC. Your biggest point against you are your 4 other P5 in your state, separate yourselves from them on the field. Upgrade all of your programs, make post season tourneys. Put your new found wealth into your coaching staffs & facilities. Weeknight ESPN football games can be huge in helping a program get noticed nationaly, use them to make an impact Show a serious commitment to football by hiring a football name, like maybe Tressel when he is off of sanctions for example. Just find some way to make a national impact. There is no easy answer & its a lot of work that takes years. Hope that the Big 12 doesnt expand any time soon!

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ECU biggest problem is branding. Drop the East. Just be Carolina University. Heck go with The Carolina University.

The ECU program has been at the level its right now for quite sometime so I don't see where the trajectory is for it to take off and become a playoff contender like Boise State.

IMO, the AAC is the perfect fit for ECU. It gives the program a chance to play a higher level than the normal G5 competition and against schools with a lot of tradition.

(1) Get Dowdy-Ficklen up to 65,000 seats and keep it full for most games.

(2) Get basketball to a level where making the NCAA tournament is not a rarity.

(3) Get alumni to invest in the school; grow the endowment to $750,000,000 or more.

(4) Hope that schools that are better geographic fits (IE Tulane) don't get their stuff together.

LOL, we've just been in the American for 3 weeks and people are already talking about how to get out! I'd like to think that 1-3 are our goals regardless of any desire to leave for a P5 conference, because these things are doable within the American.

(07-19-2014 07:50 AM)hawghiggs Wrote:  ECU biggest problem is branding. Drop the East. Just be Carolina University. Heck go with The Carolina University.

It sounds shallow, but this might be true. I honestly feel that schools like ECU and UCF would already be P5 programs if they had more mainstream names. If ULL can pass themselves off as "Louisiana" then ECU could probably do the "Carolina" moniker. UCF has a tougher branding issue, but if we could get the Florida Tech name back it would improve a lot of outside perspective. UCF works better than Central Florida but its not the perfect situation.

(07-19-2014 08:14 AM)Chappy Wrote:  LOL, we've just been in the American for 3 weeks and people are already talking about how to get out! I'd like to think that 1-3 are our goals regardless of any desire to leave for a P5 conference, because these things are doable within the American.

Why would you want to leave the American when the champion won the Fiesta Bowl last year and UConn is national champs in basketball. That is a tremendous start to the conference and if it can continue this pace you are going to be happy being there over the B12 playing Kansas and Oklahoma schools.

South Carolina and North Carolina already refer to themselves as 'Carolina', so I don't think that's a road we could go down.

I've seen people suggest things like Carolina Tech, but we're not really a tech school so it seems silly to me (makes more sense for UCF, who was once actually the Florida Tech Citronauts).

I actually like the name, and think any negative connotation it has could be overcome by winning, but for conversation's sake, the best way around it would have been to name the school after a person like Clemson or Rutgers("Jenkins University"?) or a less specific regional name ("Atlantic University"?) but I think something like that would have had to be done decades ago.

(07-19-2014 08:21 AM)Knightsweat Wrote:  

(07-19-2014 07:50 AM)hawghiggs Wrote:  ECU biggest problem is branding. Drop the East. Just be Carolina University. Heck go with The Carolina University.

It sounds shallow, but this might be true. I honestly feel that schools like ECU and UCF would already be P5 programs if they had more mainstream names. If ULL can pass themselves off as "Louisiana" then ECU could probably do the "Carolina" moniker. UCF has a tougher branding issue, but if we could get the Florida Tech name back it would improve a lot of outside perspective. UCF works better than Central Florida but its not the perfect situation.

I think its true. If UCF was called Florida Tech they would stand a better chance of being considered a national brand. The central makes them ya'll sound like a small directional school. Which ya'll are not.

Getting the Texas AD drunk and swapping life stories seems to help.

(07-19-2014 09:02 AM)Dasville Wrote:  Getting the Texas AD drunk and swapping life stories seems to help.

I think the OP is already drunk if he thinks there is a snowball's chance in hell. ECU was the last school invited to the AAC. They're probably not in the top 25 on the Big 12's list of candidates.

Best suggestion was from the poster who said they should move the university to Missouri. ECU has a better chance of joining the SEC than the Big 12. That would be a better thread. What does ECU have to do to get considered by the SEC? They probably are in the top 4 or 5 non P5 candidates for the SEC.

(07-19-2014 09:15 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(07-19-2014 09:02 AM)Dasville Wrote:  Getting the Texas AD drunk and swapping life stories seems to help.

I think the OP is already drunk if he thinks there is a snowball's chance in hell. ECU was the last school invited to the AAC. They're probably not in the top 25 on the Big 12's list of candidates.

Tulsa was the last school invited to the AAC officially but some had said that Tulane got in because Tulsa was on the fence so maybe ECU was really the last option for the AAC.

Win. Just win.

No offense guys but if BSU didn't get a Big 12 invite then there is no way in hell ECU gets one.

The Big 12 is not going to be expanding, ever. My apologies as ECU and more importantly, the ECU following, deserves a shot. I do think ECU would drastically improve and perhaps even become the top football program in the State of North Carolina if they had the chance to compete on equal terms with the ACC four. Unfortunately, The Big 12 has made it pretty obvious that their plans do not include expansion.

(07-19-2014 09:02 AM)Dasville Wrote:  Getting the Texas AD drunk and swapping life stories seems to help.

Damn!!! You beat me to it.