NC A&T Opener vs. Team Weeks Old

[Sly Fox]

VUL to field first football team since 1954 this fall
Historically black college expects about 800 students next semester

By LIZ BARRY
Published: July 01, 2011

Virginia University of Lynchburg plans to launch a football program this fall, more than a half-century after disbanding the team in 1954.

The team will begin practice on Aug. 1 and play its first game against North Carolina A&T State University on Sept. 3.

Click Here for Full Story (http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2011/jul/01/vul-field-first-football-team-1954-fall-ar-1146887/)

The school has a cooperative relationship with Liberty and as a result will be playing some home games at Williams Stadium.

[dgtw]

I can tell a lot of planning went into this. It looks like they just threw the whole athletic department together at the last minute and are making things up as they go along. I've never heard of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.

[TexasTerror]

I can tell a lot of planning went into this. It looks like they just threw the whole athletic department together at the last minute and are making things up as they go along. I've never heard of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.

Virginia-Lynchburg is putting football together for one reason... to help them get into the NCAA and find a conference home.

I've heard of the USCAA... some in the south (particularly the SWAC) may be familiar with Concordia-Selma

[Redhawk2010]

I've never heard of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.

It's designed for a lot of smaller schools. One of the schools near us is in this league for their satellite campus.

[dgtw]

Virginia-Lynchburg is putting football together for one reason... to help them get into the NCAA and find a conference home.

I've heard of the USCAA... some in the south (particularly the SWAC) may be familiar with Concordia-Selma

I live in Alabama and I'm familiar with Selma's program. I thought they were an independent, didn't know they were with this group. According to the USCAA webiste, they don't sponsor a football championship, must not be enough schools.

[WestCoastAggie]

xdontknowx

[DFW HOYA]

The USCAA is an umbrella for a number of small church affiliated schools that do not meet NCAA minimums.

And even though A&T has had its struggles, a score of less than 70 would be surprising.

[Seawolf97]

So I'm guesing they are less than a D-3 program? Hey give them credit at least they are going to give it a shot!

[Redhawk2010]

So I'm guesing they are less than a D-3 program? Hey give them credit at least they are going to give it a shot!

That's about how I would put it. Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO is currently moving from NAIA to NCAA DII. 2 or 3 years ago LU opened a campus in Belleville, IL and have started athletics at this new campus. They are in the process of adding sports. At this smaller campus (maybe 1,000 students?) they participate in the USCAA. They plan to add football in 2012 and I think shortly after that they plan to move to NAIA.

[ccd494]

There's a USCAA conference in Maine, it's where the four state community colleges are playing (Eastern, Northern, Southern and Central Maine CCs), as well as UMaine-Augusta (mostly distance learning) and UMaine-Fort Kent (a school that shouldn't exist).

Not much to do with churches, unless the university system in the nation's most secular state has completely changed their remit.

[dgtw]

The USCAA is an umbrella for a number of small church affiliated schools that do not meet NCAA minimums.

And even though A&T has had its struggles, a score of less than 70 would be surprising.

What do you mean by NCAA minimums? Does that refer to number of sports offered?

[GA St. MBB Fan]

UMaine-Fort Kent (a school that shouldn't exist).


Just curious...why shouldn't it exist?

[ccd494]

Just curious...why shouldn't it exist?

Short Answer: It should have been merged with the University of Maine at Presque Isle a few years ago.

Long Answer: Both are tiny, 4 year schools in the far northern county in Maine (Aroostook County, population 71,000, size of Connecticut geographically). There is also a 2-year community college up there (Northern Maine Community College). Neither UMFK nor UMPI are any great shakes academically (basically just show up, sign up, no admissions structure or anything). About 30 years ago, the two similar schools in southern Maine (University of Maine at Portland and University of Maine at Gorham), were combined to be one school (University of Southern Maine) on two campuses in order to share costs. USM services a MUCH larger population (Cumberland County is about 4 times the population size of Aroostook, and smaller geographically so it draws students from numerous surrounding counties), but no one wanted to take on the political firestorm of combining the two northern schools despite the cost savings. The University Chancellor tried it a few years ago, basically keeping the two campuses but having one administration, you can attend either, do distance learning, whatever. It would have been more than sufficient to serve the 19 people who live up there, but it didn't work out. So now, we get a lot of repetition between the two campuses (UMFK has 1400 students, and is in the USCAA, UMPI has 1600 students and is a D3 independent), kinda silly, especially when they are making cuts at the state's flagship (UMaine) and the only other legitimate school in the system (UMaine Farmington, decent liberal arts) in order to placate a tiny amount of people.

[superman7515]

VU-Lynchburg Steps Back on the Athletic Field (http://www.examiner.com/black-college-sports-in-national/vu-lynchburg-steps-back-on-the-athletic-field)


In 1954, America underestimated the size of the first hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll and contaminated half of the Pacific Ocean. Rosa Parks was arrested for riding a bus. Elvis Presley cut his first commercial record, while Sidney Poitier starred in Blackboard Jungle. Steve Allen debuted The Tonight Show on NBC and J.R.R. Tolkien hit the shelves with the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Condoleeza Rice was born while Godzilla turned Tokyo into a smoldering reminder of the unknown.

1954 also happened to be the last year that Virginia University of Lynchburg played its last football game...

...until now.

For the first time in 57 years, Virginia University of Lynchburg relaunches its athletics program for the first time in 57 years.

That last line seems a bit redundant...

[DFW HOYA]

What do you mean by NCAA minimums? Does that refer to number of sports offered?

The NCAA requires a number of measures for a school to be a full member, from number of sports (a min. of 10 in Division II-III), compliance review, peer reviews, membership fees, etc. For schools like VUL, they may not be ready to do all of that and umbrella organizations like USCAA are available where the bar is set much lower.