Seawolves Fans

The MAC would be great .  From what I have heard we have some support in that conference from Buffalo and few others .  Just gotta get that invite and build from there.

I believe we have support yes and there were talks with the MAC several years ago, however I don't believe Buffalo will be in favor of our membership. If we go FBS, their program becomes even more irrelevant than it already is since the only thing they have on us right now is being FBS. I suspect they'd fight against our inclusion into the MAC, but I'm happy to be wrong there.

Hammertime, yes the 15k average is a requirement for FBS, but nobody enforces that rule, it's not in the interest of the P5 to do so. If that rule were enforced, most of the MAC and Sun Belt would be relegated back down to FCS. Besides, I don't believe schools literally buy back their tickets at face value. You're in a way just buying your own product back at that point and paying yourself. Not sure I even see the point. Coastal Carolina got an invite to the Sun Belt when their stadium was smaller than ours is currently. If they can manage to be FBS, so can we. It may not happen tomorrow, but I can certainly see it within a decade. What Hofstra did with their program is of no concern to me. They have less than half the enrollment we do. All of our peer institutions and fellow public AAU members with football are FBS with the lone exception of UC Davis.

Being FBS gives you a huge boost as far as exposure and media dollars which would help to offset many of the increased costs we'd incur. Not only that, but FBS games tend to be much better attended than FCS games since it's difficult for FCS teams in large markets to be relevant. Attendance wouldn't be an issue if we were getting Army, Uconn, Temple, Buffalo etc. coming to Lavalle.

Chairman, I do worry about money, but on the same token we're already spending FBS level dollars on our athletic programs without the FBS exposure and revenues to offset that. With that information, no, I don't think FBS football is a huge stretch for SBU in the near future. Give the link below a look if you get the chance, it's updated NCAA financial data for public schools for the 2016-17 school year and it's very eye opening.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/