SoCon or CAA

[Saint3333]

With recent changes to the A-10, do they raid the CAA?

IF this happens and the SoCon loses a couple members we could see a shoot out between the CAA and SoCon for membership.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Who will the battle of the second bananas?

http://www.thescarlettolive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/secondbananas.png

[Tribe4SF]

Simple solution. Richmond, and VCU come back to the CAA as all-sport members, and George Washington joins them.

[PaladinFan]

It was last year about this time that rumors swirled about the likes of Furman, Elon, and Davidson being courted by the CAA. Never heard any confirmation on whether those rumors were actually true, but I can see the attraction of adding a southern division of strong academic schools to your conference. There are really schools in both conferences that are similar enough to warrant playing one another every year.

Downside for the CAA is that, outside of Davidson, there's not a decent basketball program to be found.

[Saint3333]

It would be neat if the two could work together to combine strong football in one and strong basketball in the other.

[walliver]

It was last year about this time that rumors swirled about the likes of Furman, Elon, and Davidson being courted by the CAA. Never heard any confirmation on whether those rumors were actually true, but I can see the attraction of adding a southern division of strong academic schools to your conference. There are really schools in both conferences that are similar enough to warrant playing one another every year.

Downside for the CAA is that, outside of Davidson, there's not a decent basketball program to be found.

There have been rumors like this for years. In the late 1990's there were rumors that FU and Citadel were leaving for the CAA (A-10 football). This was also about the same time Citadel was looking to go I-A independent.

Other than Elon, which would be an outlier in both the current SoCon and current CAA football, making a move geographically doesn't make a lot of sense for anyone. I doubt CofC would want The Citadel to join the CAA. Furman is right in the middle of the SoCon, and travel expenses would go up significantly with a move. The only FCS-happy SoCon teams with incentive to move would be UTC and WCU, but OVC makes more sense for UTC, and WCU would be better off in a mostly private SoCon than the Big South, and would be a geographic outlier for the OVC or CAA.

I don't see any significant movement between the CAA and SoCon. A football conference stretching from Maine to South Carolina doesn't make sense at the FCS level (and really didn't work out well for the old Big East stretching from Boston to Miami - and probably won't work long-term for the ACC, either).

[CID1990]

There have been rumors like this for years. In the late 1990's there were rumors that FU and Citadel were leaving for the CAA (A-10 football). This was also about the same time Citadel was looking to go I-A independent.

Other than Elon, which would be an outlier in both the current SoCon and current CAA football, making a move geographically doesn't make a lot of sense for anyone. I doubt CofC would want The Citadel to join the CAA. Furman is right in the middle of the SoCon, and travel expenses would go up significantly with a move. The only FCS-happy SoCon teams with incentive to move would be UTC and WCU, but OVC makes more sense for UTC, and WCU would be better off in a mostly private SoCon than the Big South, and would be a geographic outlier for the OVC or CAA.

I don't see any significant movement between the CAA and SoCon. A football conference stretching from Maine to South Carolina doesn't make sense at the FCS level (and really didn't work out well for the old Big East stretching from Boston to Miami - and probably won't work long-term for the ACC, either).

If there were rumors that El Cid and Furman were ever sniffing the CAA, we never heard them. Particularly in the late 1990s.

Also, The Citadel has never considered a I-A independent move, ever. Seriously if you have a source on that I'd love to see it (unless you are talking about what happened when the I-A and I-AA divisions were created, but that was well before the 90s.

Lastly, if El Cid did want to goto the CAA, there wouldn't be a thing cofc could do about it, because El Cid would be an all sports member. Plus, in about 2-3 years from now you will see cofc's stock go down in the CAA just as it did in the SoCon. They look like a good fit at first glance, but they are much more like CCU than many people realize.

In not trying to depth charge what you are saying overall, but that stuff about Furman and El Cid in the 1990s was something that we've never heard. Maybe Furman was looking and somebody dropped the El Cid rumor to make things tastier, who knows?



Sent from the center of the universe.

[fc97]

now you see why richmond and uncw contacted the socon and the socon is playing the wait and see approach.

[Saint3333]

I could see Richmond wanting football only if JMU and UD leave.

I still don't see UNCW leaving unless CofC comes back.

The SoCon could come on these pretty strong, but only at the expense of the CAA, could be an interesting summer.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Mason is the top prospect for the A-10 with the defections. As for Richmond, they're in the discussion as one of the candidates to possibly join the new Big East.

[walliver]

If there were rumors that El Cid and Furman were ever sniffing the CAA, we never heard them. Particularly in the late 1990s.

Also, The Citadel has never considered a I-A independent move, ever. Seriously if you have a source on that I'd love to see it (unless you are talking about what happened when the I-A and I-AA divisions were created, but that was well before the 90s.

Lastly, if El Cid did want to goto the CAA, there wouldn't be a thing cofc could do about it, because El Cid would be an all sports member. Plus, in about 2-3 years from now you will see cofc's stock go down in the CAA just as it did in the SoCon. They look like a good fit at first glance, but they are much more like CCU than many people realize.

In not trying to depth charge what you are saying overall, but that stuff about Furman and El Cid in the 1990s was something that we've never heard. Maybe Furman was looking and somebody dropped the El Cid rumor to make things tastier, who knows?



Sent from the center of the universe.

The talk of FU and Citadel was in the Greenville News, well before online news. It jumped out at me because Wofford had just joined the SoCon.

Citadel entertained a I-A move shortly before their stadium renovations. The talk was of a 30-35K stadium. The goal was home-and-home series with Army and Navy (before Paul Johnson). I never thought it was realistic, but several Citadel alumni thought it might work due to the large number of military retires in the Charleston area. At that time, The Citadel was routinely in the top 10 for I-AA attendance. There was also talk of using the stadium for a bowl game or I-AA championship game, but that didn't go far due to the NCAA/NAACP post-season boycott (which is still in effect).

[Sandlapper Spike]

It is true that The Citadel discussed moving to I-A, around 1995. I believe a number of FCS schools did the same. That was when the NCAA had ruled that games against I-AA teams would not count to bowl eligibility, and The Citadel had lost scheduled games against LSU and Clemson because of the rule.

The NCAA changed the rule, and The Citadel stayed in I-AA. I think there was a chance the SoCon as a league may have tried to jump to I-A if the rule had not changed, though that would have created a host of other problems (because not every school in the league could make the move).

The stadium didn't really have anything to do with it. The Citadel was always going to be satisfied with a stadium of around 20K or so. The move to 35K was predicated on Charleston getting a bowl game -- in that event, city/state entities would have paid for the extra seating. That was scuttled thanks to the NCAA's ban on South Carolina.

Incidentally, Navy's appearance in Johnson Hagood Stadium in 1988 ended any ideas anyone might have had about drawing 30,000 for service academies, and Navy's loss in that game probably ended any chance of any of the service academies returning to Charleston anyway.

Also, I might point out that even with The Citadel's struggles in recent years, it still routinely finishes in the top 20 in FCS attendance.

[fc97]

everything is up in the air. there's apparently a lot of new chatter on elon and the caa. there's also chatter about davidson and the a-10. there's chatter about uncw and charleston on the socon.

everything is up in the air now.

[walliver]

everything is up in the air. there's apparently a lot of new chatter on elon and the caa. there's also chatter about davidson and the a-10. there's chatter about uncw and charleston on the socon.

everything is up in the air now.

That kind of sums it up. With so much flux going on, the greener grass on the other side may not be there when you get there.

[SpeedkingATL]

It is true that The Citadel discussed moving to I-A, around 1995. I believe a number of FCS schools did the same. That was when the NCAA had ruled that games against I-AA teams would not count to bowl eligibility, and The Citadel had lost scheduled games against LSU and Clemson because of the rule.

The NCAA changed the rule, and The Citadel stayed in I-AA. I think there was a chance the SoCon as a league may have tried to jump to I-A if the rule had not changed, though that would have created a host of other problems (because not every school in the league could make the move).

The stadium didn't really have anything to do with it. The Citadel was always going to be satisfied with a stadium of around 20K or so. The move to 35K was predicated on Charleston getting a bowl game -- in that event, city/state entities would have paid for the extra seating. That was scuttled thanks to the NCAA's ban on South Carolina.

Incidentally, Navy's appearance in Johnson Hagood Stadium in 1988 ended any ideas anyone might have had about drawing 30,000 for service academies, and Navy's loss in that game probably ended any chance of any of the service academies returning to Charleston anyway.

Also, I might point out that even with The Citadel's struggles in recent years, it still routinely finishes in the top 20 in FCS attendance.

The Citadel is still my favorite road trip in the SoCon. Great unique city, great restaurants, many neat places to stay and play golf in the area, and usually a good crowd at the stadium. I'll see you there in October!

[spdram]

I anticiapte seeing more single sport conferences, eg football and more associate members of conferences.