CAA to Expand to 16 teams??

[bluehenbillk]

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/additonal-football-expansion-could-be-coming-soon-caa

So much for the 20-some page thread on splitting. This article talks about adding two teams, Fordham & Stony Brook. I could see them going to 16 but I'd think Charlotte would be too attractive to pass.

Hey LFN, how bout these apples!

[93henfan]

That would allow everyone to stay where they are now, in terms of North or South. Sorry Andy, no North for Towson.xnonoxxlolx

This would also make two nice new conferences if a split was ever desired or necessary. The CAA South will get even tougher.

[andy7171]

That's OK, there are strong transfer winds blowing around the area just north of Baltimore.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. xsmiley_wix

[Dukie95]

That proposed split will further widen the competitive gap between the southern and northern teams. The northern teams will lose the leverage they currently enjoy for funding because they'd only really competing against other northern teams. If at least one northern team ends up with at least an at-large bid each year, they're really only in a race against teams from their own division.

While that model makes sense in the short-term, it's a house of cards.

[GA St. MBB Fan]

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/additonal-football-expansion-could-be-coming-soon-caa

So much for the 20-some page thread on splitting. This article talks about adding two teams, Fordham & Stony Brook. I could see them going to 16 but I'd think Charlotte would be too attractive to pass.

Hey LFN, how bout these apples!

This was posted in the midst of that that thread -> http://www.anygivensaturday.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1358344&postcount=179

[Lehigh Football Nation]

It would be even more interesting to see how a 16-team conference without a championship game determines their champion. (7 conf. games in each division, 1 inter-division game, and 3 OOC games? Suuuuure... xlolx )

It would basically force a nine-game mandate. Wonder how popular that would be with the membership? xlolx Even that won't solve much. Imagine William & Mary playing 2-9 Hofstra and 1-10 Northeastern from the North, while Richmond played 9-2 UNH amd 8-3 UMass.

Be careful what you wish for.

[henfan]

That proposed split will further widen the competitive gap between the southern and northern teams. The northern teams will lose the leverage they currently enjoy for funding because they'd only really competing against other northern teams.

I'm not sure I buy that. UMaine, UNH & UMass seem to do darn well competitively, not only against teams in the southern half of the conference but against nonconference teams nationally.

URI continues to be an enigma.

[andy7171]

What would stop a 7 in division 3 OOC and a final game with the other divison. 1 v. 1, 2 v. 2, ect.
The 1 v. 1 winner would be the CAA champion.

[Ken_Z]

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/additonal-football-expansion-could-be-coming-soon-caa

So much for the 20-some page thread on splitting. This article talks about adding two teams, Fordham & Stony Brook. I could see them going to 16 but I'd think Charlotte would be too attractive to pass.

Hey LFN, how bout these apples!

the idea of expanding to 16 teams expressed in this article has no more value or basis (nor any less merit) than any of the posts in that 20+ page thread. in other words these apples are as rotten as the rest of 'em.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/additonal-football-expansion-could-be-coming-soon-caa

So much for the 20-some page thread on splitting. This article talks about adding two teams, Fordham & Stony Brook. I could see them going to 16 but I'd think Charlotte would be too attractive to pass.

Hey LFN, how bout these apples!

So G State and ODU get left out in the cold?

[EDIT] Never mind

[mainejeff]

Going to 16 teams will hasten an eventual split which wouldn't be a bad thing.

JMU, ODU, Charlotte, and Georgia State would form a solid base for a FBS conference........they could probably attract East Carolina, Central Florida, Memphis, UAB, and Southern Miss to form a pretty solid 9 school all-sport conference:

JMU
ODU
Charlotte
East Carolina
Georgia State
Central Florida
UAB
Memphis
Southern Miss

[bandit]

Going to 16 teams will hasten an eventual split which wouldn't be a bad thing.

JMU, ODU, Charlotte, and Georgia State would form a solid base for a FBS conference........they could probably attract East Carolina, Central Florida, Memphis, UAB, and Southern Miss to form a pretty solid 9 school all-sport conference:



Didn't Bill Curry say that Georgia State has no intention of going FBS? And Charlotte seems to be having difficulty getting an FCS program up and running, let alone FBS.

That said, I think there are a number of current FCS schools (JMU, ODU, Delaware, App State and Ga Southern) that could fit into such a configuration as you suggested.

[appfan2008]

Going to 16 teams will hasten an eventual split which wouldn't be a bad thing.

JMU, ODU, Charlotte, and Georgia State would form a solid base for a FBS conference........they could probably attract East Carolina, Central Florida, Memphis, UAB, and Southern Miss to form a pretty solid 9 school all-sport conference:

JMU
ODU
Charlotte
East Carolina
Georgia State
Central Florida
UAB
Memphis
Southern Miss

ASU would be included in that mix...

[Jackman]

16 doesn't work in a two division format playing 8 league games. You'd get a home game against members of the other division once every 16 years. It's just plain silly, UMass would be playing Boston College more often than we play members of our own conference.

16 only makes sense if we realign into 4 divisions of 4 teams each, NFL-style, but that would create a problem because we'd have to break up the 5 New England members and move one of the 4 Virginians northward to make room for Georgia State. 15 we could easily do with 3 divisions of 5, so long as the 15th member comes from somewhere between Maryland and New York. But there isn't any theoretical 16th member we could add that wouldn't completely screw things up.

On second thought, I guess we might be able to do 16 in a 5-6-5 alignment, or 5-5-6 if Charlotte is involved. Haven't thought that through though, not sure if the scheduling works.