ODU an Up and Comer

[GannonFan]

I don't want to steal ODU's fan's thunder, but when ODU takes the field for the first time come 2009, they are going to be near the very top of the FCS world in terms of attendance. Season ticket's just went on sale two days ago and they already have over 6,500 season tickets sold. To put that in persepective, UD leads the CAA in season ticket sales with over 11k, and JMU is a distant second (third now) at about 4,300. ODU already has 50% more than JMU does and they've only been selling tickets for two days and don't play a game for another 500 some days. ODU's stadium will seat 20k and from the sounds of what's going on down in Norfolk, it looks like it will be a fun, and full, venue to visit.

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/wigfall-will-wait-nearly-3-years-between-games


Season Ticket sales surpass 5,600

Associate athletic director Debbie White reports that season-ticket sales had reached 5,681 Thursday afternoon. The tickets are selling at a far swifter pace than ODU officials anticipated.

The 24 suites that will be positioned beyond the south end zone have already sold out and hold 20 people in each. The loge seating packages, which cost $3,500 for four seats, have sold 76 of the 100 available sets.

That means that in all, ODU has sold 6,465 seats for the Monarchs' initial season.

Loge seating will be positioned below the suites in the south end zone and will provide parking and a private climate-controlled clubhouse that will serve upscale food.

Mark Benson, assistant vice president for athletic development, reports that about 3,000 sideline seats at Foreman Field will be premium sideline seats, meaning they will be wider, made of plastic and padded. They will be available in groups of four to Big Blue contributors who annually donate $1,000.

[NYJMUSupporter]

Very impressive! It sounds like it will be a tough place to play. I will be interested to see what happens if you have a few 1or 2 win seasons. Will the support remain at that level? I am not saying it wont, I am just curious. Congrats though!

[danefan]

Wow! That is impressive!

This is a great selling point for recruiting also.

[Eight Legger]

Agree that it will be interesting to see how the fans stick it out through the first year or two, but they certainly have the fan base to draw from down there. I think a lot of schools that large that just started a program up again after so many years could sell a bunch of season tickets for year one, but it's still impressive.

[GannonFan]

I think people will certainly hang around enough to see ODU fully enter the CAA in 2011. I can't imagine people have delusions of grandeur that they'll be a world beater in year 1. But with that said, they aren't going to be playing a full CAA schedule until 2011 - they will have a chance to win plenty of games in those first two years as the schedule will not be that daunting.

[Seahawks Fan]

That is very impressive. Congrats! xthumbsupx

[JMU2004]

I think people will certainly hang around enough to see ODU fully enter the CAA in 2011. I can't imagine people have delusions of grandeur that they'll be a world beater in year 1. But with that said, they aren't going to be playing a full CAA schedule until 2011 - they will have a chance to win plenty of games in those first two years as the schedule will not be that daunting.

being in a metro area of 3 million + with no pro sports teams or major colleges helps!

[GannonFan]

being in a metro area of 3 million + with no pro sports teams or major colleges helps!

Take that W&M and Hampton and Norfolk St. :D

[mcveyrl]

I think people will certainly hang around enough to see ODU fully enter the CAA in 2011. I can't imagine people have delusions of grandeur that they'll be a world beater in year 1. But with that said, they aren't going to be playing a full CAA schedule until 2011 - they will have a chance to win plenty of games in those first two years as the schedule will not be that daunting.

I agree. ODU fans have waited a while for this and will not be expecting National Championships the first few years.

It doesn't hurt that their basketball teams have created quite a non-student fan base!

(BTW, they will be our new biggest rivals I think and it absolutely kills me to write the above)

[JMU2004]

Take that W&M and Hampton and Norfolk St. :D

W&M is in Williamsburg...45 miles away. Also, W&M is will never attract the masses due the exclusivity of the university.

Hampton and NSU simply don't attract the local population.

I don't get it, but for some reason, the tidewater area loves ODU. It really is the only game in town! Norfolk businesses account for a HUGE chunk of their season ticket sales for basketball....in other cities, these companies would buy tickets at pro events.

It pains me to say, but ODU will be a major player. They won't stay in FCS very long.

[GannonFan]

I agree. ODU fans have waited a while for this and will not be expecting National Championships the first few years.

It doesn't hurt that their basketball teams have created quite a non-student fan base!

(BTW, they will be our new biggest rivals I think and it absolutely kills me to write the above)

New biggest rivals???? What about Towson????? xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx

I agree, the key to big attendance is the non-student fan base - you can't rely on just alumni and students to fill a big stadium, you need to have the local populace be interested in the program as well. ODU certainly does that.

[GannonFan]

It pains me to say, but ODU will be a major player. They won't stay in FCS very long.

They have the same problem as everyone else - where to go? While they're in a better position than an East Carolina, they still don't have a BCS conference to go to. They turned down the A10 for basketball a little while back so playing in CUSA probably wouldn't be attractive to them. I think they're here for longer than you think. They've got a nice setup and a great conference to play in. No rush to go elsewhere.

[bostonspider]

I'd say their hope is that when / if the Big East has their separation, that if ODU is far enough along, they could pull a South Florida and make the move. That would give the Big East Football (or whatever it is called) a nice bridge between the mostly northern school, and the far southern schools. They are in a large metropolitan are, they would just need a larger football stadium, but maybe an Forman Field can be expanded enough.

[Hoyadestroya85]

Wow! That is impressive!

This is a great selling point for recruiting also.

I disagree.. it helps but we sell very little tickets, have next to no student support and still recruit well..
i think it comes down to the staff

[Monarch History]

I don't see us leaving the CAA and FCS for FBS. Our renovation of Foreman Field (22,000) is great for FCS but would needs to be much larger to entertain thoughts to go FBS. The historic stadium has no room for expansion. Why spend $30 million on a stadium that you would leave in a few years?xeekx

I think the school would just like to be a player on the FCS national scene in a few years. What a great way to start than to become a member of the CAA, arguably the toughest and best conference top to bottom in FCS. xnodx

Regarding ticket sales (I bought six yesterday), Hampton Roads is a large metropolitan area which is starved for football. I think is is obvious with ticket sales for a team that won't play their first game until September 2009.

[danefan]

I disagree.. it helps but we sell very little tickets, have next to no student support and still recruit well..
i think it comes down to the staff

You also have an established program.

When you have no history to rely on you have to rely on something else. Being able to say we have 7,000+ season tickets it definitely a recruiting plus.

[ODUfootballfan]

ODU recently announced that it appears that they are ready to break a record for the number of freshman applicants, a record they keep surpassing each of the last few years. Football should only help to raise the school's profile. Additionally, they have increased their entrance requirements on a steady basis and the school has increasingly gained recognition for their academics, as well as a leading research university. The fact that they are a school of over 20,000 certainly makes it a very significantly-sized university, and one that I always refer to as the largest school that many are not aware of. Football often helps to bring attention to a school. Some academics resist sports, as they feel it takes away from the focus on learning, but that is where good balance must be managed effectively. ODU will be one of those schools that many will be hearing about more and more over the next decade. They have grand plans, and they have steadily been acting on them. Having a high profile football team (one that sells lots of season tickets and has good fan support), as well as equally high quality teams in other sports (which it already has), will only help to bring attention to the school, and help both with recruiting good students and quality athletes. I for one am excited about the future of ODU, as you may have surmised from my comments here.

[jmuroller]

JMU could easily sell that many season tickets. We have been sold out of season tickets for the last 3 years by the end of July. Because of Parents Weekend and Homecoming, they can only sell so many with our small stadium. We will see how many JMU can sell when we get our new stadium. Congrats to ODU though....they are going to only make our conference stronger!

[Monarch History]

JMU could easily sell that many season tickets. We have been sold out of season tickets for the last 3 years by the end of July. Because of Parents Weekend and Homecoming, they can only sell so many with our small stadium. We will see how many JMU can sell when we get our new stadium. Congrats to ODU though....they are going to only make our conference stronger!

Thanks jmuroller, I'm excited about what's happening at ODU and look forward to playing JMU, W&M, Richmond and the other CAA schools.xrotatehx

On a sidenote I hope Coach Matthews decides to stay at JMU.

[ODUfootballfan]

Does JMU really have enough local support to sell that many season tix (for every game, esp with a larger stadium) ?

[Tribe4SF]

Does JMU really have enough local support to sell that many season tix (for every game, esp with a larger stadium) ?

It's hard to get a handle on the breadth of local support for JMU football. They have to dedicate about a third of the stadium for students. As they expand, they'll get a better picture of their draw with the ticket buying public.

[ODUfootballfan]

Being somewhat remote in its location, the fan base to fill an expanded must either grab a vast majority of locals and students, or must rely on people traveling some distance to attend. I guess my question is, will they travel? I am not trying to be critical in any way, just curious. As this thread began about ODU, which is lucky to have the tidewater area to draw from, which has a pretty large population (and growing), not to mention that the school continues to grow as well.

[JMU2K_DukeDawg]

Does JMU really have enough local support to sell that many season tix (for every game, esp with a larger stadium) ?

Does Tech in Blacksburg? Does Charlottesville?

If and when JMU goes FBS, then yes, 40,000 is not a reach.

20,000 range is max for JMU at the FCS level. Too much good football throughout the state and region to have more support at this level. As long as the team is winning more then not, and as long as the majority of alumni are in arms length (2 hrs from DC and/or Richmond), we should not have much problem filling the stadium.

Of course, early games - usually due to TV coverage - are always less full even if sold out. The admin. may at some point have to institute a "no tailgating" during the game policy. If and when they do this, riots will break out for sure as half the student pop. watches the game, the other half gets drunk in the parking lots.

Good luck ODU! It will be interesting to see how long it takes for ODU to become competitive. My guess - first CAA winning record sometime around 2013. xthumbsupx

[JMU2004]

JMU has a huge alumni base in both D.C. and Richmond. Both are 2 hours away. We should be able to do pretty well.

JMU will have over 22,000 students within in 10 years, and Harrisonburg is growing quickly as well. We may not sell out every game, but Homecoming, Parents weekend, and any big games(W&M, UR, UD, etc) will sell out a 24,000 seat stadium.

[NYJMUSupporter]

We do have enough support. Our enrollment is growing significantly each year and local support has been growing since 2004.

[bluehenbillk]

I too have had the same questions as to how many seats they'll fill. Before the 2004 season I never saw JMU necessarily pack them in year in & year out and it is an attendance figure proportionally driven by mostly students and very little alums. As was said earlier, we can debate it all we want, but we'll get the answer in a couple years when it plays out.

I've always thought that ODU, VCU, GMU & GSU were missing the boat by not having football teams. Not that I visit the CAA Board that much anymore, but it's funny to see some of the same posters that called 1-AA "minor league football" now being heavy on the ODU FB bandwagon.

[Longhorn]

JMU has a huge alumni base in both D.C. and Richmond. Both are 2 hours away. We should be able to do pretty well.

JMU will have over 22,000 students within in 10 years, and Harrisonburg is growing quickly as well. We may not sell out every game, but Homecoming, Parents weekend, and any big games(W&M, UR, UD, etc) will sell out a 24,000 seat stadium.


I agree with your main points, but JMU's growth to 22k students on campus is actually planned to occur within the next 6 years (or less).

The official enrollment target for JMU is 21,500, a number to be achieved in staged, planned growth between now and 2013. As of the Fall '07 term JMU's enrollment was right at 18k; F'08 enrollment will be around 18.5k+; F'09 19.k+; F'10 19.5k+; F'11 20k+; F'12 21k+; and stopping at 21.5k in the F'13.

[jonmac]

How long did it take Coastal Carolina to become competitive? If they have...xsmiley_wix just joking CCU, you have. I think we may be surprised, the Tidewater/Hampton Roads(I, like most folks in the area, don't really know what to call it, those from there will understand) area is loaded with football talent. I don't think ODU will compete with VPI in recruiting, Beamer works this area hard, but they will and are already, landing many of the "next tier" of recruits, a la ASU. Look out CAA it will be interesting and I am one ASU fan who in some ways covets what the CAA has going for it. I look forward to heading up to Norfolk to catch a few games when it doesn't interfere with listening to/watching the Apps.

[Eight Legger]

I have a feeling that within the next 5 years VCU will have plans in place for a football program. And I say that realizing that its current president has said that it will never happen under his watch. He's led quite an academic and construction revitilization on the VCU campus, and I suspect he wiill be calling it a career before too much longer, once he's been able to see these projects through to completion.

VCU is the biggest school in the state, in an urban setting and could become a huge player if it wanted to. I think for the long-term goals of that school, football would be a natural fit. And even though it could hurt us a bit, I'm kind of hoping they do start a program at some point.

[Monarch History]

My question for VCU would be where would they play? ODU at least has an on campus facility. As UR already knows, an off campus facility doesn't help develop a fan base.

I would love seeing a team at VCU, but I'm not sure it will happen anytime soon. I could see it happening at UNCW before VCU and Mason.

[Tribe4SF]

My question for VCU would be where would they play? ODU at least has an on campus facility. As UR already knows, an off campus facility doesn't help develop a fan base.

I would love seeing a team at VCU, but I'm not sure it will happen anytime soon. I could see it happening at UNCW before VCU and Mason.

An on-campus stadium would be nearly impossible for VCU. City Stadium, however, will be on the market in a couple of years.

[jmu_duke07]

They could use the stadium Richmond played at...

[jmuroller]

Being somewhat remote in its location, the fan base to fill an expanded must either grab a vast majority of locals and students, or must rely on people traveling some distance to attend. I guess my question is, will they travel? I am not trying to be critical in any way, just curious. As this thread began about ODU, which is lucky to have the tidewater area to draw from, which has a pretty large population (and growing), not to mention that the school continues to grow as well.


Remote? You act like Harrisonburg is located off a dirt road. If you consider JMU remote, what is VT? We have 1-81 splitting our campus right in half. You can get to Philadelphia in 4 hours(not that fans are coming from there) but between NoVA, Richmond, and everywhere else in the middle, there are plenty of fans. At ODU, if you're caught on the wrong side of the tunnel you could easily miss most of the game on a Saturday afternoon.

[GannonFan]

Remote? You act like Harrisonburg is located off a dirt road. If you consider JMU remote, what is VT? We have 1-81 splitting our campus right in half. You can get to Philadelphia in 4 hours(not that fans are coming from there) but between NoVA, Richmond, and everywhere else in the middle, there are plenty of fans. At ODU, if you're caught on the wrong side of the tunnel you could easily miss most of the game on a Saturday afternoon.

I hate that tunnel - almost missed a W&M/UD game going that way. xsmhx

[ODUfootballfan]

I was not trying to insult the area by saying it was "remote," I was only stating that it is not a major metropolitan area, I mean the whole county is less than 70,000 people. It is not even considered a medium-sized city, that was my point. You have a challenge when it comes to attracting people. When you compare against VT, even though b-burg is quite remote, they get an enormous turnout from the student body and they do get lots of people that travel significant distances each home game, something that JMU does not get, or at least to the same degree. My other point was that ODU is lucky to sit in Norfolk, a city of 240,000+ people, plus a significant additional population in the greater Hampton Roads region. My point was not to insult, but only to point out the obvious.

[Longhorn]

I was not trying to insult the area by saying it was "remote," I was only stating that it is not a major metropolitan area, I mean the whole county is less than 70,000 people. It is not even considered a medium-sized city, that was my point. You have a challenge when it comes to attracting people. When you compare against VT, even though b-burg is quite remote, they get an enormous turnout from the student body and they do get lots of people that travel significant distances each home game, something that JMU does not get, or at least to the same degree.

Well technically, you're still wrong. You must be using 2000 (or earlier) census data. Rockingham county's current estimated census put's the population close to 90k, and the city of Harrisonburg close to 47k, for a combined population of over 130k. For the record, that makes the region an official "metropolitan" census area. It's still small by standards that compare the area's population to major cities, but it's a fair bit bigger than you are aware of, or are seemingly willing to admit...and it's growing.

As for your point about student turn out at FB games, the last time I looked the student population at VT (25k+) isn't going to be much larger than JMU's in about 5years (21k+), and as we should be able to agree, not every student attends (or is interested in attending) a FB game. Yet, for the sake of this discussion, let's say they do. All VT students go to games, and all JMU students go to games. As far as "raw" numbers of students available to fill their respective stadia...JMU is looking at 21k+ students to help fill a 25k seat facility vs. VT's 25k+ students for 66k+ seats. By percentage, JMU's student population could possibly fill 84% of a 25k stadium, vs. VT student's filling 37.9% of a 66k stadium. Even when built out to it's projected max of 40k, JMU's student population would still top VT, with potential to fill 52.5% of all seats. xwhistlex Bottom line, the idea that turnout from VT students is an advantage in filling their school's respective facilities is hogwash.

So what else you got? The number of people willing to travel? It would be interesting to know how many living VT alums are within traveling distance to Lane Stadium. There are about 70k+ living JMU alums living within easy driving distance to H'Burg. As to whether they'll travel to JMU in even larger numbers than they do now only time will tell, but it's an easy bet that they will do so once the new facility is online.

The only real advantage I can see (if you think this way) that might attract people from greater distances to VT (as opposed to JMU) is that VT plays FBS ball in a BCS conference. That's no small difference, but not everyone thinks that way, and personally, I (and most of the posters on this board) prefer FCS level play and the gameday experience at places like JMU, UD, and ASU, and we'll travel every bit as far as the fans of any other school to cheer for our team. Heck, we'll even travel to ODU. ;)

[ODUfootballfan]

I am not trying to argue with you, though you seem to want to argue with me. I was asking questions only. Thanks for the update, perhaps my pop data was dated. I hope you are at the top of attendance for the sake of your school, I hope all programs do well. I was honestly not trying to insult you or JMU, just stating that your location and population is more of something to overcome than it could be for a school in a more populated area. I wish JMU luck in the coming year, and beyond. that's it.

[slycat]

congrats on the ticket sales. its great yall are getting the support this strong already. it seems like people are really excited about this happening which makes it shocking that it didnt happen earlier.

[Monarch History]

congrats on the ticket sales. its great yall are getting the support this strong already. it seems like people are really excited about this happening which makes it shocking that it didnt happen earlier.

In the past we never had a President or administration that had much interest in starting a program. That all changed when President Runte came to ODU. She will be leaving to return to a University in Canada where she has dual citizenship. She has promised to return to ODU on September 5, 2009 and run on the field with the team before our first game. ODU fans will sorely miss her leadership.xnodx

[slycat]

In the past we never had a President or administration that had much interest in starting a program. That all changed when President Runte came to ODU. She will be leaving to return to a University in Canada where she has dual citizenship. She has promised to return to ODU on September 5, 2009 and run on the field with the team before our first game. ODU fans will sorely miss her leadership.xnodx

good for her. sounds like you lost a good president.

[Monarch History]

She attends most men's and women's BB games. She is also known to bake fresh cookies and take them to the dorms during freshmen orientation week. xrotatehx

[slycat]

She attends most men's and women's BB games. She is also known to bake fresh cookies and take them to the dorms during freshmen orientation week. xrotatehx

now thats a school presidentxthumbsupx

[mathman]

ODU recently announced that it appears that they are ready to break a record for the number of freshman applicants, a record they keep surpassing each of the last few years. Football should only help to raise the school's profile. Additionally, they have increased their entrance requirements on a steady basis and the school has increasingly gained recognition for their academics, as well as a leading research university. The fact that they are a school of over 20,000 certainly makes it a very significantly-sized university, and one that I always refer to as the largest school that many are not aware of. Football often helps to bring attention to a school. Some academics resist sports, as they feel it takes away from the focus on learning, but that is where good balance must be managed effectively. ODU will be one of those schools that many will be hearing about more and more over the next decade. They have grand plans, and they have steadily been acting on them. Having a high profile football team (one that sells lots of season tickets and has good fan support), as well as equally high quality teams in other sports (which it already has), will only help to bring attention to the school, and help both with recruiting good students and quality athletes. I for one am excited about the future of ODU, as you may have surmised from my comments here.
ODU would naturally have to have the athletic facilities, but you'd have to at least double your endowment and research, after that, considering your market and if you come through with a strong fan base....yeah....the Big East might be interested. Definitely more doable for ODU than for Georgia Southern despite their head start in football.

[Monarch History]

ODU gets a commitment from first team All-Tidewater RB Hykeem Brodie out of Western Branch High in Chesapeake, VA.

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/football-recruiting-western-branchs-brodie-commits-odu

This is based on information from a combine last summer.
Hykeem Brodie
School: Western Branch
Height: 5-10
Weight: 200
Position: Running back
40 time: 4.7
Bench press: 185 (26 times)

What others say: Brodie, a first-team All-Southeastern District selection last fall, rushed for more than 700 yards as he shared touches in a wing-T offense. This year, he'll be the featured back and should run for more than 1,000 yards. Brodie is a strong, punishing back. He benched 185 pounds an incredible 26 times. He has a tremendous work ethic. The knock against him is a lack of breakaway speed.

Being recruited by: Delaware, East Carolina, Kent State and Delaware State.

[ODUfootballfan]

Is Brodie an early commit for 2009, or is this still for this current recruiting class?

[ODUfootballfan]

never mind my previous question, I asked it before reading the attached article, which is below:

By Rich Radford
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 19, 2008
Western Branch’s Hykeem Brodie, a first-team All-Tidewater selection, committed to Old Dominion’s football team, bringing the number of commitments for the Monarchs’ first recruiting class to 22.

Brodie, who ran for 1,281 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior, said the coaching staff expects to look at him at running back and linebacker. He expects to sign a national letter of intent in the next few days.

Brodie, 5-foot-11 and 196 pounds, said he was considering attending a military academy – either Fork Union or Hargrave – for a year. Then ODU made an offer.

“It’s a chance to make history,” Brodie said. “It’s going to be a great next five years with this program.”

ODU will begin play at the Division I-AA level in 2009. All signees in this year’s class will redshirt next fall and play four years after that. The Monarchs are slated to join the Colonial Athletic Association in 2011.

[GannonFan]

never mind my previous question, I asked it before reading the attached article, which is below:

By Rich Radford
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 19, 2008
Western Branch’s Hykeem Brodie, a first-team All-Tidewater selection, committed to Old Dominion’s football team, bringing the number of commitments for the Monarchs’ first recruiting class to 22.

Brodie, who ran for 1,281 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior, said the coaching staff expects to look at him at running back and linebacker. He expects to sign a national letter of intent in the next few days.

Brodie, 5-foot-11 and 196 pounds, said he was considering attending a military academy – either Fork Union or Hargrave – for a year. Then ODU made an offer.

“It’s a chance to make history,” Brodie said. “It’s going to be a great next five years with this program.”

ODU will begin play at the Division I-AA level in 2009. All signees in this year’s class will redshirt next fall and play four years after that. The Monarchs are slated to join the Colonial Athletic Association in 2011.


So he was about to attend a prep school and then decided on ODU? What was the prep school going to be for, grades or more physical maturation? Kind of odd to have it down between a prep school and a 4 year DI college with scholarship.

[ODUfootballfan]

Well, that is hard to discern at this point. I think maybe it came down to that "tweener" label perhaps. So, I think of your two options, it would be physical maturation. An article I read said that he qualified academically early on, so that was not the issue. If physical maturation is the issue, then ODU is a good place for him, as he will be guaranteed that red shirt year to do what is required to get himself ready to take on the rigors of D1football. We shall see....

[Tribe4SF]

As the article says, he was considering Fork Union or Hargrave, and THEN ODU made an offer. Doesn't sound like he needed anything but the offer to decide, and was considering prep because he didn't have an offer. The Monarchs are obviously continuing to make offers, as they have up to 30 to fill this year.

[Monarch History]

According to Coach Wilder, as of yesterday, ODU has already sold 9,500 season tickets. Added to the student's section of 4,000 and the visiting team's 500, it appears 13,000-14,000 seats of Foreman Field's nearly 22,000 are gone. Pretty good since our first game isn't until September 5, 2009.xnodx

[Tribe4SF]

That's more than pretty good!xthumbsupx

[furman94]

Wow! That's great news!

[Seawolf97]

According to Coach Wilder, as of yesterday, ODU has already sold 9,500 season tickets. Added to the student's section of 4,000 and the visiting team's 500, it appears 13,000-14,000 seats of Foreman Field's nearly 22,000 are gone. Pretty good since our first game isn't until September 5, 2009.xnodx

That is great !xnodx

[ODUfootballfan]

I guess that there indeed is a market for ODU football (sarcasm) !!??!!! This is something that the student body has been saying for MANY years, I remember bitching and moaning about it back in '81, so now 28 years later it will be a reality....FINALLY !!! Those of you that attended a school with a football team (you are lucky) may have a hard time understanding how important this is for ODU. It has been a huge (negative) topic amongst the students for MANY MANY years. So, to be getting a team is just so exciting for current and former ODU students (and the local community). It kinda makes us feel that we are finally going to be a "real" university (and don't over analyze that, I know of the other very valuable aspects of ODU academics and other sports), but football just seems to be one of those things that can define a school in such a positive way.