Post by Trojan Warrior on May 29, 2014 4:46:52 GMT -6
by Chris Lang
(Liberty Sports Guru)
With the Sun Belt’s decision to stand pat at 11 full-time members for the immediate future, I wanted to address a number of questions that have come my way in recent weeks in regards to Liberty’s relationship with the FBS league. After speaking with LU president Jerry Falwell Jr. and athletics director Jeff Barber on Wednesday, I have a better idea of what’s actually going on, so let’s get to it.
Did Liberty have the nine votes needed to gain a supermajority among the Sun Belt presidents?
The answer to this is clearly no, otherwise, the presidents would have voted. Conferences rarely bring up schools for membership votes when they know a prospective member will not get the necessary votes for inclusion. At that point, a vote is a formality. Now the fact that the Sun Belt chose not to vote on expansion at all rather than cast a public ‘no’ vote against Liberty is promising for the future for LU. It shows the conference is not ready to completely shut the door on Liberty.
How much does Liberty’s football track record have to do with its ability to move up?
Not much, frankly. Georgia State has one of the worst programs in the country, but the Panthers play in Atlanta and the Sun Belt was interested in moving into that market. Charlotte had yet to play a game before being invited to Conference USA. Again, a market issue. On the other hand, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State were both very attractive to the Sun Belt because of their past football success and because they were name brands at the FCS level. Still, I don’t think that this vote would have changed much had Liberty made five FCS playoff appearances in the last five years.
Liberty is a private school trying to join a conference full of state public institutions. It takes time to get the presidents of said institutions to warm up to the idea of accepting such an outlier.
Are Eastern Kentucky and Missouri State serious candidates to move up?
Those two programs were both publicly tied to the Sun Belt in recent months. Missouri State’s president denied contact with the league. Eastern Kentucky’s administration said late last year it was exploring a potential move. By spring, EKU said it was committed to staying in FCS for the time being and improving its facilities. MSU would seem to be the more logical candidate to move, though its president made it sound like basketball was much more of a priority than football to its alumni. Eastern Kentucky, from what I can surmise, is still several years away from seriously entertaining a move because it needs massive facility improvements. And from the first glance EKU’s numbers in the OPE database, it appears EKU has some work to do on the Title IX side of things to get ready for a potential move.
Missouri State would be only the second FBS program in its state, joining Missouri. EKU would join a crowded FBS scene in Kentucky that includes Louisville, Kentucky and Western Kentucky.
But what about UMass?
(Full Article)
(Liberty Sports Guru)
With the Sun Belt’s decision to stand pat at 11 full-time members for the immediate future, I wanted to address a number of questions that have come my way in recent weeks in regards to Liberty’s relationship with the FBS league. After speaking with LU president Jerry Falwell Jr. and athletics director Jeff Barber on Wednesday, I have a better idea of what’s actually going on, so let’s get to it.
Did Liberty have the nine votes needed to gain a supermajority among the Sun Belt presidents?
The answer to this is clearly no, otherwise, the presidents would have voted. Conferences rarely bring up schools for membership votes when they know a prospective member will not get the necessary votes for inclusion. At that point, a vote is a formality. Now the fact that the Sun Belt chose not to vote on expansion at all rather than cast a public ‘no’ vote against Liberty is promising for the future for LU. It shows the conference is not ready to completely shut the door on Liberty.
How much does Liberty’s football track record have to do with its ability to move up?
Not much, frankly. Georgia State has one of the worst programs in the country, but the Panthers play in Atlanta and the Sun Belt was interested in moving into that market. Charlotte had yet to play a game before being invited to Conference USA. Again, a market issue. On the other hand, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State were both very attractive to the Sun Belt because of their past football success and because they were name brands at the FCS level. Still, I don’t think that this vote would have changed much had Liberty made five FCS playoff appearances in the last five years.
Liberty is a private school trying to join a conference full of state public institutions. It takes time to get the presidents of said institutions to warm up to the idea of accepting such an outlier.
Are Eastern Kentucky and Missouri State serious candidates to move up?
Those two programs were both publicly tied to the Sun Belt in recent months. Missouri State’s president denied contact with the league. Eastern Kentucky’s administration said late last year it was exploring a potential move. By spring, EKU said it was committed to staying in FCS for the time being and improving its facilities. MSU would seem to be the more logical candidate to move, though its president made it sound like basketball was much more of a priority than football to its alumni. Eastern Kentucky, from what I can surmise, is still several years away from seriously entertaining a move because it needs massive facility improvements. And from the first glance EKU’s numbers in the OPE database, it appears EKU has some work to do on the Title IX side of things to get ready for a potential move.
Missouri State would be only the second FBS program in its state, joining Missouri. EKU would join a crowded FBS scene in Kentucky that includes Louisville, Kentucky and Western Kentucky.
But what about UMass?
(Full Article)