BBall in demand? – “The Colonial’s loss of Georgia State (to Sun Belt) and VCU (to Atlantic 10, immediately) — and possible move of Old Dominion to CUSA — means league could be looking for new members. Media reports have mentioned Davidson and CofC as possible targets. SoCon’s annual meetings are set for May 29-June 1, with realignment at top of the agenda.” SoCon commish has secret list of schools to target as additions, “it might be time to share it at our upcoming meetings.”
First Down tried out for the Panthers – “If he sticks with the Panthers, he’ll be an H-back, lining up in the backfield and blocking and running routes. Tight end Greg Olsen often played the position last season. Jorden is a superior runner of routes who has been working out with the Panthers in informal offseason workouts since he was an Appalachian State sophomore. Can you do this? “Oh, yeah,” says Jorden. “I definitely think so.”” Fifty-six players were at the camp.
Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. announced on Saturday that a feasibility study recommends a move to the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Liberty joins Appalachian State, which released its own recent study that suggested a move. Old Dominion is another program possibly in the mix, having added football in 2009 but experiencing immediate success both at the ticket window and on the field. ODU reached the 2011 NCAA Playoffs, and is likely to crack the top 10 in pre-season FCS polls.
So we got App State, JMU, Liberty, Stink and Old Dominion … that makes five. Maybe get Richmond, Villanova and … we don’t know …. ‘Nooga, and BAM! Penthouse, baby!
Magic number is 4 – “Two ASU players are close to breaking school records. Daniel Kassouf has 16 HRs this season, and needs one more to break a record he now shares with Pete Camelo and Andre Crawford. Ryan Arrowood has 26 career pitching victories. He needs one more to break the record he shares with Matt Andress.”
More – “FCS is on the verge of expanding its playoff system from 20 to 24 teams by 2013. The proposal goes before an NCAA championships cabinet next month and will be subject to final approval by an executive committee on Aug. 2. It is expected to pass and be in place for the 2013 playoffs, which will include three more at-large bids and one more automatic qualifier in the Pioneer League.”
This morning App State AD Charlie Cobb sent out an email regarding makin’ like the Jeffersons.
Nothing new said, of course. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Geography is being explained. Everything’s fine. Nothing to see here.
Well, maybe one thing. One line gets the this is important so we’ll bold it treatment.
It is our hope that with this wave of expansion and the reality of actual competition still several years away, conferences will start to look at the core value of geographic rivalries (specifically competitive success, the accessibility and affordability for teams and fans to travel, ticket sales, actual television and internet viewers, regional marketing partnerships and other fan-based revenue streams) as an important component to complete their membership.
Translation – Eventually there’s going to be a regional FBS league that will want us.
That further feeds the notion that if when App State goes FBS, it will probably be en masse with Stink, JMU, and others in what will be, basically, a super CAA/SoCon combo.
And that “actual competition” is “still several years away.”
We’ll cut and paste the full email below, but two lines did make us LOL.
Also, while other institutions have the ability to use student fees as the major investment in growing athletics on their campus, our committee made a strong statement that student fees would only be a portion of our athletics funding model.
So other than funding a $60 million-plus stadium expansion, various coaching salaries, out-of-state athletic scholarships and who knows what else, student fees won’t be all that important.
Also, “our financial base is strong.” Just don’t ask him to prove it.
App State went 2-1 against UNCG over the weekend, while setting new individual marks in wins and home runs. More importantly, the good guys remain in first place and have a finish line in sight – “Regardless of what the other three teams in title contention (CofC, Samford and Elon) do down the stretch, the Mountaineers can clinch no less than a share of the SoCon championship with four wins in their final six league games.”
Hmmmm – “Presidents and chancellors of Sun Belt Conference schools will meet Monday “to discuss the next course of action” regarding its membership. The Sun Belt also is known to be considering whether to try to push its membership, which as of now will include 10 football-playing schools and one non-football-playing school in 2013, to 12 football-playing members.” If invites come out today, they’re the best kept secrets since the colonel cooked his first chicken.
STOP THE PRESSES! Some unnamed person on a random message board talked to some other unnamed person who is right “about 90% of the time” and suddenly OMG! Grain of salt people.
“We’ve mostly talked about our great athletic facilities and success in football and other sports as our main selling points,” said Cobb, whose football program won consecutive FCS titles in 2005-07. “But what I’ve heard is that it seems like the geography is pretty important. We have to answer to the accessibility issue to our campus. It seems like we have to validate that now.”
“We’ve probably got to do a better job of communicating our proximity to large media markets and the depth of our alumni and fan base,” Cobb said. “And, I think as much as anything, the accessibility to Boone. Fifteen years ago it might have been a legitimate concern of how to get in and out of here, but the reality is … it’s no different than a lot of (other FBS member locations) in terms of getting in and out.”
You mean, marketing a program to a new league consists of more than repeating, “Ain’t we great? Ain’t we … sex-A!”
App State opened a three-game homestand against UNCG today. Ryan Arrowood started, and got the win, his 26th. That ties him with most all-time in school history. Not that he cares – “I’ve definitely heard people talking about it, but it’s not one of the top things on my mind right now,” Arrowood said. “All I’m thinking about is us winning games and finishing first in the Southern Conference.” Series continues Saturday at 3. Apps still in first, but CofC threatening.
BBall in demand? – “The Colonial’s loss of Georgia State (to Sun Belt) and VCU (to Atlantic 10, immediately) — and possible move of Old Dominion to CUSA — means league could be looking for new members. Media reports have mentioned Davidson and CofC as possible targets. SoCon’s annual meetings are set for May 29-June 1, with realignment at top of the agenda.” SoCon commish has secret list of schools to target as additions, “it might be time to share it at our upcoming meetings.”
First Down tried out for the 
Magic number 
This morning App State AD Charlie Cobb sent out an email regarding makin’ like the Jeffersons. 
App State went 2-1 against UNCG over the weekend, while setting new individual marks in wins and home runs. More importantly, the good guys remain in first 
App State opened a three-game homestand against UNCG today. Ryan Arrowood started, and got the win, his 26th. That ties him with most all-time in school history. Not that he 
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