Who's on board for a new I-A conference?

[Dukester]

Before I start - I know many on here think this is maddeningly rediculous idea for any 1AA team to do unless they average more then 30,000 fans a game and they've won the last 5 1AA titles.

But for those who enjoy 1AA, but think 1A is in your future in the next 5-10 years - let's hear it.

On the east coast - I'm envisioning a 1A conference with JMU, App State, perhaps Navy, Army, ECU, etc.

Do the App State fans feel the same?

How about other regions?

Who has the ambition to move up and feel it might work for their school?

:)

[OL FU]

Before I start - I know many on here think this is maddeningly rediculous idea for any 1AA team to do unless they average more then 30,000 fans a game and they've won the last 5 1AA titles.

But for those who enjoy 1AA, but think 1A is in your future in the next 5-10 years - let's hear it.

On the east coast - I'm envisioning a 1A conference with JMU, App State, perhaps Navy, Army, ECU, etc.

Do the App State fans feel the same?

How about other regions?

Who has the ambition to move up and feel it might work for their school?

:)

What is etc.'s mascot:confused:

:smiley_wi

[Pard4Life]

Army and Navy will remain independent and should rightly so. Frankly, I would like these teams to stay in I-AA.

[colgate13]

Army and Navy will remain independent and should rightly so. Frankly, I would like these teams to stay in I-AA.

:confused:

Army and Navy are in I-A...

[Dukester]

I think he was talking about JMU and ASU. :eyebrow:

[OL FU]

Army and Navy will remain independent and should rightly so. Frankly, I would like these teams to stay in I-AA.

I too would like to see them stay I-AA. I have to believe that sometime in the future ASU will move on. :nod:

[Go...gate]

Army, Navy and ND are the only true "national" teams who can pretty much play who they want. I can't see them having conference affiliations in the forseeable future. Army was especially anxious to relinquish its conference affiliation.

[chrisattsu]

In Texas, as I am sure it is the same in other regions, people aren't nearly as interested on how you do at the national level as how you compare to other regional teams. That's not to say that a NC isn't important, but beating up your neighbors or coworkers team is important too.

People joke about bringing back the Southwest Conference and consolidating a lot of the Mid-major Texas teams back into one conference.

Houston
SMU
Rice
North Texas
TCU
UTEP
(Plus Texas State and Sam Houston, if/when we choose to move up)

[mainejeff]

Only way that I see another I-A conference on the East Coast is to have the following schools in it:

UMass
Delaware
JMU
Marshall
Appalachian State
East Carolina

Maybe WAY down the road......Albany and ODU.

[rufus]

You already know my opinion on the subject Dukester. This hypothetical new conference can't happen soon enough, but a new northeastern/mid-atlantic conference will never actually happen. The Big East would sit back and watch the new conference for a few years to figure out which teams perform the best in I-A, before raiding the conference for it's best 2-3 teams. I have trouble even getting to the 8 teams required, so I definitely can't think of teams to replace them after a raid. If a team wants to move to I-A in this region of the country, they better be looking out for themselves.

Now throwing all that out, I can tell you what I would do if I were the A-10 commish. Having a I-A football conference could go a long way to boosting the A-10's image as a whole. With their I-AA football operations moving to the CAA, they should consider starting a I-A football conference with all-sports members Temple and UMass. (Hey, if Albany and Stony Brook can form the basis of a new conference, so can Temple and UMass.) Add JMU, Delaware, and App State to start, then look for three more teams. Youngstown State and Georgia Southern both come to mind as possibilities, but the A-10's reputation may allow them to steal a couple teams from other I-A conferences.

Of course, it's just a matter of time until the Big East raids the new conference....

[Dukester]

Army, Navy and ND are the only true "national" teams who can pretty much play who they want. I can't see them having conference affiliations in the forseeable future. Army was especially anxious to relinquish its conference affiliation.

Wasn't Army in such a rush because they could not compete? I could see Army and Navy moving into a regional league that they could be competitive in that was small enough to allow enough OOC games.

[colorless raider]

I wsrote the Commandant at the time and told him that it was a big mistake. Glad to be validated.

[catdaddy2402]

In Texas, as I am sure it is the same in other regions, people aren't nearly as interested on how you do at the national level as how you compare to other regional teams. That's not to say that a NC isn't important, but beating up your neighbors or coworkers team is important too.

People joke about bringing back the Southwest Conference and consolidating a lot of the Mid-major Texas teams back into one conference.

Houston
SMU
Rice
North Texas
TCU
UTEP
(Plus Texas State and Sam Houston, if/when we choose to move up)


The biggest problem with a "new" SWC is the biggest reason the SWC broke up....no TV network is going to give up a huge amount of $$$ for a conference based in one state compared to a more regional conference.

[henfan]

When considering these wild fantasy FB scenarios, you might want to also consider minutae such as:

1) How do these schools match up academically?
2) In which conferences will these schools compete for Olympic sports?
3) Are their Olympic sport programs even compatible?
4) Will the new conference have NCAA auto bids Olympic sports and bowl tie for FB?

You know, little issues like that. xidiotx :bang:

[colgate13]

When considering these wild fantasy FB scenarios, you might want to also consider minutae such as:

1) How do these schools match up academically?
2) In which conferences will these schools compete for Olympic sports?
3) Are their Olympic sport programs even compatible?
4) Will the new conference have NCAA auto bids Olympic sports and bowl tie for FB?

You know, little issues like that. xidiotx :bang:

It is amazing how many sports fans just cast this teenie reason aside... :nod:

[carney2]

Kind of a MAC East. Just what the world needs. Personally, I can't wait.: retard :

[Franks Tanks]

Wasn't Army in such a rush because they could not compete? I could see Army and Navy moving into a regional league that they could be competitive in that was small enough to allow enough OOC games.


You clearly dont know much about service academy football if you think Army and Navy they will join a league anytime soon. It was a disaster for Army and they realized they need a few 1-AA games a year, and they just like the flexibility in scheduling since they can pretty much get anyone to agree to play them because they have a large national following and they stink, although Navy has been decent the last few years

[Go...gate]

Since the days of Red Blaik, Army's preferred scheduling was 3-4 games a year against teams which they had a reasonable chance to beat; 3-4 games against teams which were "stretch" games; and 3-4 games against teams with whom they stood on a relatively even competitive footing. Army gave this up as an Independent and have been quick to correct the mistake. It makes a lot of sense considering the tremendous demands placed upon the students.

[mainejeff]

You clearly dont know much about service academy football if you think Army and Navy they will join a league anytime soon. It was a disaster for Army and they realized they need a few 1-AA games a year, and they just like the flexibility in scheduling since they can pretty much get anyone to agree to play them because they have a large national following and they stink, although Navy has been decent the last few years

Agreed. Any time someone mentions Army or Navy Football joining some new conference.....it makes me chuckle xlolx.

[NoCoDanny]

Yet Air Force has done quite well in the Mountain West and WAC.

[dbackjon]

Yet Air Force has done quite well in the Mountain West and WAC.

Air Force did not have nearly the national profile that Army/Navy did when it joined the WAC/MWC - and still doesn't. The MWC works well for Air Force - but that level of conference is just not available in the East Coast for all sports.

[CollegeSportsInfo]

Before I start - I know many on here think this is maddeningly rediculous idea for any 1AA team to do unless they average more then 30,000 fans a game and they've won the last 5 1AA titles.

But for those who enjoy 1AA, but think 1A is in your future in the next 5-10 years - let's hear it.

On the east coast - I'm envisioning a 1A conference with JMU, App State, perhaps Navy, Army, ECU, etc.

Do the App State fans feel the same?

How about other regions?

Who has the ambition to move up and feel it might work for their school?

:)

Dukester, this is a subject that I brought up about 6 years ago on the Conference Realignment forums, and have been revisited on CSI. A new conference could happen, but it is doubtful.

A few reasons:

Looking at the members you've listed, we can already cross ome off the list: ECU (would not leave CUSA for such a lesser conference at this time), Army and Navy (yes, it would make sense based on geography, but both schools have turned down potential invites from stronger conferences and even left a conference (Army) in favor of an independant schedule.

As for JMU...

They were a school in the middle of the late 90's UMass-CAA discussions. The idea was that a group of CAA schools that included an all-sports membership in the form of UMass, JMU and Delaware, would all move up to I-A. It seems like a stretch now.

I would say that there do exist some options, but it will take some time. It woul dmake more sense for given schools such as App St. to make the move up in the Sunbelt. In time if others followed and conferences such as the Sunbelt and MAC grew too big, then a new conference could be formed to house likeminded schools. So if over the years JMU, Delaware, UMass, App St did move up to I-A, then schools like Buffalo could potentially be convinced into joining.

I would say it is highly doubtful anything happens in the near future. The best bet would be the old scenario: that some of the current A10/CAA members collectively made the move together. But right now it's a stretch.

[Dukester]

I guess this board is where threads are tranferred to die. xlolx

[dbackjon]

I guess this board is where threads are tranferred to die. xlolx

Or when they are non I-AA....

[Mr. C]

Agreed. Any time someone mentions Army or Navy Football joining some new conference.....it makes me chuckle xlolx.
Actually, Army and Navy discussed doing just that a few years back. There was a meeting in 1995 in Pittsburgh where Army, Navy, Appalachian State, Marshall, Georgia Southern, The Citadel and some other schools I can't remember discussed forming a new I-A league. Talks kind of died out when Marshall got an invite from the Mid-American Conference and decided to take that route into I-A. But these talks were very hush, hush at the time and had some seriousness to them.

[Tribefan]

You already know my opinion on the subject Dukester. This hypothetical new conference can't happen soon enough, but a new northeastern/mid-atlantic conference will never actually happen. The Big East would sit back and watch the new conference for a few years to figure out which teams perform the best in I-A, before raiding the conference for it's best 2-3 teams. I have trouble even getting to the 8 teams required, so I definitely can't think of teams to replace them after a raid. If a team wants to move to I-A in this region of the country, they better be looking out for themselves.

Now throwing all that out, I can tell you what I would do if I were the A-10 commish. Having a I-A football conference could go a long way to boosting the A-10's image as a whole. With their I-AA football operations moving to the CAA, they should consider starting a I-A football conference with all-sports members Temple and UMass. (Hey, if Albany and Stony Brook can form the basis of a new conference, so can Temple and UMass.) Add JMU, Delaware, and App State to start, then look for three more teams. Youngstown State and Georgia Southern both come to mind as possibilities, but the A-10's reputation may allow them to steal a couple teams from other I-A conferences.

Of course, it's just a matter of time until the Big East raids the new conference....

The Big East wouldn't raid this new conference. If the Big East is that desperate then they would have taken ECU, Memphis and/or UCF in that last round. None of the the teams in this hypothetical conference add anything to the current BE revenue wise or market wise. Why would the BE who splits a BCS paycheck only 8 ways shoot themselves in the balls like that?